11 Months Old

Here's our little character. I love seeing her personality growing and coming out more each day. She is a rough and tumble kind of girl. She falls, bonks her head and quickly jumps back up to keep going to her destination, she doesn't seem to let anything come in her way.She learned how to crawl in and out of the doggie-door and becomes quite upset when we block it so she can't play with the door anymore. She is starting to really tell us how she feels about everything. She finds most everything hilarious and loves playing with Maggy, our dog. The mornings are full of them playing tug-of-war, with Maggy playfully growling and Lilly laughing with everything she has.The best event of the month was that Lilly OFFICIALLY started walking on September 10th. We were in her room playing and she just pulled herself up and started walking. It was shocking and amazing, my heart just filled when I saw her finally decide to do it all by herself. Now, she hasn't slowed down. It's a lot of fun though chasing her all over the house and seeing her discovering more and more.

We have started letting her play more by herself and explore her room without us hovering over her. This picture shows just a little bit of what the room looks like afterwards, there are clothes and toys everywhere! And a true fascination of hers are her diapers (unused of course!). She will carry them all over the house.And we are continually grateful for my Mom and Dad, they watch Lilly a few times a week so that I can go to school - it's truly a blessing to have them close and it's fun to see my parents interact with our daughter and Lilly gets really excited when she sees them, and for some reason, especially my Dad.

Here's a picture I took for one of my classes at school. Now that the first year is coming to a close, we are reminiscing about what the past few years have brought us and the blessings we have received. Our sweet little Pumpkin is going to be a year old in only a few short weeks. I don't know about anyone else, but does it feel like time goes by too fast? We are trying to enjoy every second with her.

10 Months Old

It's hard to believe that in 2 months, Lilly will be a year old! She has changed so much over the past month. She is trying to stand on her own and can walk while holding on to something or someone. She hasn't quite ventured yet to walk on her own, but we can tell it won't be long. She has definitely mastered saying "mama" and "dada." Lilly is everywhere, it doesn't matter what's in her way, because she'll just climb over it, no matter how high! It's fun seeing her discovering new things. Can't wait to see what the next month brings!

Meeting Lilly's Birthfather

It finally happened. We were able to meet Lilly's birthfather, Victor, and some of his family this past weekend. So far, this is the adoption we had hoped for since the beginning. We met his family at a park in downtown Salt Lake City, UT. Lilly didn't quite know what to think of Victor, but she had no problems with his mom. So many people asked us if we were nervous or crazy for doing this and letting Victor into our lives. It has never crossed our minds to not have him be as much a part of Lilly's life as we can. We feel that it will be better for Lilly as she grows up to always know she is always loved and the choice to place her up for adoption, was not because she wasn't wanted. It is obvious to us that her birthmother and birthfather's families all love her.

We seem to always be so blindly optimistic, and we have been so blessed. Victor was such a nice person and his family that came with him was so nice. Each birthfamily is a different situation than the other. We knew Mandy's family before she became pregnant and I grew up with her stepdad and his kids. Now we are getting to know Victor and his family, it's so much fun.

Lilly was so hesitant of Victor, probably because of his facial hair, which seems to freak her out lately. But my favorite part of the day was when she crawled inbetween Victor and his brother - then she placed her hand on Victor's leg and looked up at him. We felt this was just the perfect first meeting and we can't wait to get together with them again.

Saying goodbye is always hard. ;o)

Utah Visit August 2011

We decided to visit Utah and meet Lilly's birthfather and his family (that'll be the next post). While we were there, we were able to spend a lot of time with Brandon's family. First, we stopped in Boise and ate at Cafe Rio, of course. And then drove the rest of the way to SLC. We left WA in the afternoon and got to SLC around 4 a.m. We had a lovely visit with Brandon's family and enjoyed just spending time together swimming and playing with Lilly.

We visited with Great Grandma Ungricht.

She was so surprised when we showed up on her doorstep.

Lilly thought that Great Grandma's mirrored coffee table was hilarious!4 generations of Ungricht's!

Cuddling with Great Grandma Ungricht

Great Aunt Marsha

Swimming with Daddy at Aunt Aimee's poolLilly snuggling with cousin Michelle after her swim.

Brandon's whole family (from left to right) Aimee, sister. Carolyn, mom. Jim, dad. John, brother. Malinda, John's GF. T, Malinda's son. And Brandon, Hannah & Lilly.

9 Months Old

I can't believe that little Lilly is now 9 months old. She went to the doctor today and weighed exactly 18 pounds and was 27 inches long. She is starting to really want to walk and is all over the place. She has even mastered going up the stairs. I was changing her into her pajamas, when all of the sudden she decides to just crawl at top speed to the end of the hall like she knew where she needed to go. She stood up and looked out the front window, then plopped on her bum and started crawling up the stairs. She was just so determined, it was really cute. We are loving every second with her and the BEST news of all, I am quitting my job. This friday will be my last day. I have worked for the Benton County Treasurer's Office for 5 years now, but every second away from Lilly has been torture. I can't wait to be with her every day. And I am also going back to school and studying Graphic Design at WSU Tri-Cities.

8 Months