One Year Stats

Delilah had her one year appointment today and everything is great. Here's what's going on with Delilah these days:
Weight: 21 pounds, 3 ounces (50th%)
Length: 29.5 inches (50-75th %)
Head: 18.5 inches (75th %)

Words: mama, dada, up! (when she wants to be picked up), uh-oh (when anyone drops anything or if she does something she didn't mean to do, like shut a drawer she was using), and my favorite: pup-pup ( which means puppy!! )

Sleeping: Goes to bed around 7:30 or 8pm and has recently made the transistion from wanting to be held until she falls asleep to falling asleep by herself in her crib. She wakes up around 7 or 7:30 and takes 2 naps that last about 1-1.5 hours each. For these, she stills likes to be rocked to sleep. Which I don't mind a bit.

Eating: Really can't stand baby food now. HATES baby cereal. LOVES cheese and yogurt. Also loves things that I wouldn't think a one year old would like; e.g.: salmon, gouda cheese, basil, prosciutto, and enchiladas (with the sauce and everything). To help with the eating, she has 6 teeth (2 on bottom, 4 on top) and can use a spoon well...when she's in the mood.

Sense of humor: Thoroughly developed. :) Silly dances and voices make her laugh, and putting something random on your head as a hat sends her into fits of giggles. My favorite was yesterday when she was eating a teething biscuit and she had about 2 inches left. I thought she was done so I took it out of her hand, but she started crying so I gave it back to her. She looked at the big piece, looked at me, giggled, then shoved the whole thing in her mouth. Just try and take it now, Mom!

Walking: After the past day or two, I can definitely say she's walking now. Still can get places faster by crawling, but she gets so excited when she walks. And the excitement is usually why she stops walking...she'll take 7 or 8 steps then get so excited that she starts shaking and falls down. It's pretty cute. Check out the action shots below of her walking on her birthday. The last shot is awesome.

One Year Old!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy 1st Birthday, Delilah!!!!

One year ago today our precious, perfect, tiny angel girl was born. My heart sings when I look at her and think about all the joy she's brought these past twelve months. I wrote a letter to her and I thought about posting it, but I think I will just put it in her baby book...some things are just between a mama and her baby girl. So, instead of this being all sappy, let's take a look at all the fun pics from her big day!! (BTW, we're going for her 1 year checkup next week, so I'll do another post later with all her stats, etc.) Enjoy! (And warning: there are a TON of pics!!!!)

The day started off with a trip to Delilah's baby gymnastics class. Chris's parents came to visit this week from Utah and Chris took the day off work, so all 5 of us showed up with 2 cameras. There were 2 moms who came in late and didn't hear me explain that it was Lila's birthday, so I wonder if they think that Delilah is always joined by both parents and 2 grandparents, with cameras flashing. :)

Here's Delilah in the ball pit...one of her favorite spots!

Throw me that ball, Daddy!I'm Stuck! (Notice her cute little foot sticking out!)Daddy taking her for her first climb up the rock wallBirthday trip down the dolphin zip line with her teacher, Mr. BryanI included this pic b/c I just think she looks like such a little kid holding the mini-basketballAnd here's the birthday dress I knitted and sewed for Delilah. Wanted a pic of just the dress so I could refer to it if/when I make another one.Team Huntley!Mother and DaughterHe loves me, He loves me notTosses in the air with Daddy (look at her little hand stroking his cheek)Kisses and Cuddles with Grammy Di

Playing and Cuddling on Papa H

Playing with some of her birthday toys. The table was from Aunt Kim and Uncle Ted, and the musical pony in the background was from Mimi and PopPop

Time for Birthday Cake!!! We always call her Lila Bear, so I made a teddy bear out of the cupcakes. Yes, I know my cake decorating skills are terrible, but at least everything tasted good!

First taste: gently taking the frosting eyes. No indication of the carnage that would ensue.

Daddy giving her the first cupcake bite.

And after that, Delilah had it all figured out for herself. Cupcakes are yummy!!!

Happy Birthday, Lila Bear! You are so LOVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Strawberries, Pigtails, and a Belly

Chris travels a lot for work and he's told me that the highlight of any trip is checking the blog and seeing a new post with new pics of his little girl. So this is for you sweetie...we love and miss you!!!

These first two are of Delilah with a face full of strawberries and her very first pigtails.

And this is an action shot of Delilah's latest party trick. I asked her where her belly is and the picture is her response. I love her big buddha belly!!

Happy Easter!!

Despite the rain, we had a wonderful Easter weekend. The Hauschilds came over from Baton Rouge and the 8 of us (4 adults, two girls, and two dogs) had a great time. Enjoy the pics of our sweet friends and little Delilah's first Easter.

Daddy's Little Girl
The Huntley Family
The Hauschild Family
Mommas and Daughters (notice Delilah and Avari both waving "Hi")
Avari hunting for Easter eggs (Delilah decided napping would be more fun)
And last, but not least, our precious Easter Angel

Welcome, Tucker!

This past weekend I helped host a sip & see shower for my dear friend, Emily, and her new baby boy, Tucker Rissmiller. He is absolutely precious and she looked radiant.

The hostesses (me, Natalie, Paige) with Em and Tucker

The shower theme was "Cupcakes and Champagne" so I knitted up a few cupcake rattles for Tucker.
Delilah and Paige's daughter, Lizzy
And the sweet little man himself

Hanging with Claire

Delilah and I were in Dallas this weekend to host a baby shower and hang out with some friends. Our first stop was in McKinney to visit my college roommate, Jessica, and her darling family. Jessica's daughter, Claire, is 4 months older than Delilah and we had so much fun watching them play together. Thanks for everything, sweet Green Family...love you!!!

Aren't we cute?

I'll wash your back if you wash mine
Doesn't it look like Claire's about to kiss Lila? Adorable.
Love this poseDelilah, climbing in to things as usual
Hope we see you again very soon, Greens!!!

A Tad Bit Irritated

It's 10pm, Chris is out of town, I've had a glass of red wine, and I just watched a TiVo'd episode of Oprah. (Admit it, you're hooked, aren't you?)
The episode was on The Real Truth of Motherhood that No One Ever Talks About. Of course, this piques my interest, and I'm excited to watch. By the middle, I'm disgusted, and by the end, I'm hopeful (which is pretty par for the Oprah course, right?).

Why was I disgusted? Well, b/c I'm a little sick of the whole, "Nobody tells you how hard and awful motherhood really is". Here are some quotes from the show and my internal reactions:

I feel fat and ugly and like my boobs only exist for the production of milk and then my husband gives me 'that look' and I can't believe it--doesn't he know how tired I am? I can identify with that statement. But can we please focus on the fact that you feel fat and ugly and yet your husband WANTS SEX. WITH YOU.

I don't do arts and crafts. I don't do pipecleaners. I don't do cottonballs and paint. *Studio Audience laughs knowingly. That's great and all, but you know who does do arts and crafts and pipecleaners? YOUR KID. So get some cottonballs and watch your child's face light up when he makes a caterpillar.

I would trade my husband for a housekeeper. That's ridiculous and it is trite, untrue statements like this that diminish all the hard, truthful statements that some women have the courage to make.

And, my personal favorite, or unfavorite, depending on how you look at it:
I thought that any kids I had would just seamlessly flow into my life and I would go on being my fabulous self with the same life I had before, just with kids. Really? Really?!?! Then you are just delusional. How can you NOT know that having children will forever change your life as you know it? That is just ridiculous.

And the saddest one:
I look at my children and think, 'What did I do to my life?'. Ouch. Your poor children.

I don't have a problem with women being honest about the problems motherhood poses. It is not an easy road, and I have definitely done my share of complaining. I do have a problem with the new trend of bemoaning motherhood, and having that be 'cool' and 'honest'. Just this past weekend I had a friend comment on how refreshing it was to see me enjoy Delilah so much. How sad is that? And the point there is definitely not to say, "ooh, look at me, I love my child so much" (because we all love our children)...the point is to say that enjoying your child shouldn't be refreshing!!!

Motherhood is a gift and I have too many friends struggling with infertility to sit and not be affected by a show like this.

But I must end this post with the reason that I had hope at the end. One of the last comments was one that echoed something I've been feeling for awhile:
All of these apparent battles between 'working moms' vs. 'stay at home moms' and 'mothers whose kids sleep through the night at 8 weeks' vs.' mothers whose kids don't sleep through the night until they're two', etc.--they are not really battles or competions between the mothers. They are internal battles inside each woman. The woman whose child sleeps at 8 weeks asks other moms when their child slept b/c she wants to know that she's doing a good job, not b/c she wants to brag about when her child slept.

We all just want validation for doing the most important job in the world, the best way we know how. I don't think making motherhood the punchline for wry, cynical jokes is the best way to attain that validation.

Okay, dismounting soapbox now. Goodnight everyone.

Adventures in Baton Rouge

This past weekend all of Team Huntley drove to Baton Rouge to visit our godfriends and goddaughter, The Hauschilds. It was quite the trip b/c Delilah was getting over her double ear infection, I came down with a sinus infection, and Runyon is only about 75% potty-trained. Plus, Chris had to leave for a work trip in the middle, so I was kind of a single mom for about 4 days. I say 'kind of' b/c Kurt and Joie were the best wives ever to me. :) They helped out a ton with Delilah and me, the sicko. They also ran Operation: Rescue Runyon (see below).

We had a WONDERFUL time, but a baby and a puppy never need to sleep in the same room together. Never. Ever. Why? Because they don't sleep. They wake each other up every couple hours, which means mom is up the whole night.

Avari and Delilah taking a bath together. SO CUTE!
Let's Play!

And here's Operation: Rescue Runyon. Runyon got out through a hole in their fence and decided to go visit the nearby construction site/ditch. Joie took charge, told me to stay with the girls and she went to rescue the puppy. Kurt was at the store and when he got back he heard Joie calling out for help. She had successfully crossed the ditch and rescued Runyon, but had lost her shoes in the mud, and was stuck on the other side. I realized Joie had been gone awhile, so I gathered the girls and found Kurt rescuing Joie who had rescued Runyon.

Here's Joie triumphant after her daring rescue!!! This picture doesn't even begin to do justice to how caked in mud both Joie and Runyon were.
Thanks Hauschilds!!! You guys are the best friends ever!!!!!!