Lewis Lane: February 2013

Whoa, how is it already Feburary?! I've been thinking about blogging almost every day for the past month...but by the time my day winds down, all I want and need is sleep!!!!

We are so thankful for all the blessings God continues to bestow upon us, and all the beautiful people in our lives. We have been blessed to see another year, and hope it brings all of us continued happiness and prosperity. So here it is, a quick synopsis of what has been going on with the Lewis's :)

My dear friend Annie and her beautiful daughter Brooke came to visit us in December. I hadn't seen her in four years, and yet still it was like we hadn't missed a beat!

sooooo crazy to see them together...love it!

Gessie is always looking for a snuggle buddie!

We had too much to catch up on this visit alone, but we are both looking forward to seeing each other again in the fall!

This Christmas holiday was especially special because of our little chicken. We decided to take her to see Santa, and luckily a baby store less than 3 minutes from the house had one there. Lorraine did great, she didn't shed a single tear!

thumbs up, haha!

And she picked out her very first Christmas tree...

I did most of the decorating but Lorraine was memorized by all the lights and ornaments!

Austin has a "Trail of Lights" at Zilker Park that is hosted by several different vendors every year, and lasts for a couple of weeks. Of course, us being the procrastinators we are, we waited until the last night. But it worked out perfectly because it ended up being one of the warmest nights of the month :) And to our surprise, Lorraine loved all the displays and lights.

I tried to get a panoramic picture of the trail. It is approx. 3 miles long

The Christmas tree was beautiful!

Lorraine weathered her first road trip to Dallas, and she was finally able to meet all her 'girl' cousins!

Lorraine and Kari

Vanessa and Lorraine (exactly 14 yrs apart!)

Auntie Gena, Jelena, Kari and their cousin "chicken"

I am so ever amazed how quickly Lorraine is developing. It seems like ever week she is working towards another milestone, and it's obvious she wants more independence. According to all her growth charts she's exactly where she should be both physically and developmentally. She's said her first word...DaDa. I will never forget the smile on Nelson's face at that moment either :) And the very tip of her first two teeth are showing! Nelson and I both agree, our daughter will be walking before she turns one, she's already working to master the pulling up part!!! And talk about a little personality...she just cracks me up everyday.

Here's a video Lorraine's babysitter made of her crawling. Not sure if it will play on here, I've tried my best to figure out how to upload videos to this blog. It's not playing for me now, so hopefully it will for you!

If it still isn't working, next time i'll just post a link instead. Sorry in advance :(

daddy brushing Lorraine's hair

hey hey!

I've made all of Lorraine's solid foods (minus yogurt), and I am so glad I choose that route. Despite the many disadvantages many may say about it, I find it mighty rewarding! Yes, at times it may seem 'time consuming' but in all actuality it just requires a little extra planning, and a really good food processor. I'll make enough food to feed her during the week in just an hour (really just 20-30 min prep time). And I have the comfort of knowing exactly what she is eating! We have several indoor farmer market grocery stores where you can purchase organic fruits and vegetables for little to nothing! So far, Lorraine LOVES bananas, apples, peas, sweet potatoes and yogurt. She doesn't particularly care for butternut squash or carrots but she'll eat just about anything if you mix it in with bananas or apples. :) She's slowly warming up to chicken, I think the texture of pureed chicken is throwing her off.

Lorraine is as much Gesabelle's baby is she is ours!

morning snuggle session :)

We took Lorraine to the Lady Bird Johnson wildflower center on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. I was surprised how much was in bloom despite the winter season. There are so many indigenous plants that bloom year round, we got some great ideas for when we buy our home :)

My mom has been here now for three weeks, and we are thrilled! It is so nice having her around, and Lorraine loves her Gma :) Both Nelson and I feel like Lorraine has just grown so much in the last couple of weeks! I see so much of both of us in her, it is so fun watching her grow! We love our little chicken so so much, it's hard to believe she's already 8 months old.