February Entertainment
28 Feb 2012 1 Comment
Lily finds ways to keep herself, and other entertained at all times! Last weekend, Steve was away so we went to visit the purple house and wish Grampy a Happy Birthday! Lily and Mairead had a great time playing, especially dress up!
Jack and Ben entertained us with their twin cuteness.
While Lily was sitting next to Jack, she declared, “I Looove you” to which Jack replied “No thank you”. Classic little boys and girls, but at least Jack is very polite!
Molly cares little about entertaining, but found Jack to be a very comfortable seat. I think she weighs at least half what Jack does!
Mairead is loving The Monkees lately so she started a dance party with Lily, Nana and Grampy.
The next time we were there, she pointed to the radio and demanded to Maghan and Grampy “Play Dance!”
For over a month, Lily hated the bath and refused to sit down, and wanted to get out as soon as possible. This phase ended a few weeks ago and now we have to make her get out when the water gets too cold. She loves the bath and declares “I swimming” and finds it hilarious to put soap bubbles on her nose or ours.
Grampy and Ciara came for a visit during their school vacation and Lily got them to play her new favorite game, Hide and Seek. She tells you where to hide and where she is going to hide before she runs away giggling, and when she “finds” you, endless giggling ensues. She is hiding here, in her oven. Don’t tell.
Her other favorite activity is playing her piano that Jim and Jess got her for Christmas. She plays it all the time, and sings along. To see one of Lily’s piano concerts, click HERE
We’d love to know what goes on in that little mind! Recently, she’d been very interested in counting, and she can count to 14. When she encounters more items than 14, she simply keeps counting…11, 12, 13, 14, 14,14, 14, 14,….
Despite all of her entertaining, she does have her difficult times, or “Terrible Twos” moments. I try to keep the blog about the happier and more fun moments, though. Sunday was one of those days- up at 6:15 and refused to nap, so she was all out of sorts all day. In between temper tantrums, etc. she calmed down to read some books with us, and Steve caught a pic of her checking on her baby brother…
This is how two year olds get away with their “terrible two” moments, by making up for it in cuteness.
Yesterday we were shopping and I bought some clothes for the baby, and she informed everyone in the store that the items were for her baby brother. When we ask her when the baby is coming, she says “In the summertime!” Last night Mariah was visiting, so Lily took the clothes out to show her “These for my baby brother.”
In other news, our doctor has set a tentative date of June 4th for her baby brother to arrive! It can’t come soon enough!
Valentine’s Day
16 Feb 2012 2 Comments
Steve and I have never been too big on Valentine’s Day, but with a little one, it becomes a little more fun. Lily has made Valentine cards at daycare, playgroup, and at home. When I asked her the other day if she wanted to make some Valentine cards with me she says “Yeah..a course!” She worked very diligently and made a giant mess, but I think she enjoyed making them!
Serious face to show off her masterpiece from playgroup:
On Valentine’s Day, we brought lunch to Grampy so we could deliver the cards. We made a stop at the grocery store and the special cart with the car was available-Lily was VERY excited to ride in it! This picture shows her with a serious face because it was time to get out! She spent the whole time beeping the horn, and yelling hello to everyone she saw, telling them “I Driving!” with the occasional “Happy Valentimes to YOU!” For some reason, she puts a lot of emphasis on the YOU part. She also told an elderly woman that she was “so pretty”. 
She was a big help in the office, moving furniture, her favorite thing, and even rearranging some pictures on the shelf in the judge’s chambers. She has a very specific way that she likes things to be, and she is the only one who knows why. Later, she shared lunch with some of the staff and then helped answer the phones- they taught her to say “Probation, help you?” and “wait a minute.” Theya re very short staffed, so maybe she’ll be working there soon!
Visiting Grampy and helping him with some important cases….or looking up pictures of dogs….
Aside from Valentine’s Day, Lily’s been finding new ways to entertain us. When we do her hair in pigtails, we say “so pretty” to encourage her to sit still and let me brush her hair. She has turned this around and now pats our hair and says “no you’re so pretty”…over and over. Which is probably what led to her telling the woman at the grocery store that she was so pretty. She also informed Mariah and Aimee that they were so pretty when they came over the other day. Then, when she woke up in the morning, she immediately demanded to know where they were. She has been all about her babies lately, and she often insists on changing their diapers. While cute, hopefully she doesn’t attempt this with her baby brother!
We joined a new playgroup and despite a large tantrum/meltdown on the first day, Lily loves it. There’s toys, stories, singing, and crafts, with a different theme each time- this craft was for puppy day.
Today while she was supposed to be napping, we could hear her in her room singing. Watching on the monitor, you could see her setting up her babies and animals and singing the songs that we sang in playgroup today…”Mr. Sun” ” Ring around the rosie” and Row Row Row your Boat”, including the good bye song they sing that adds everyone’s name. No nap, but lots of “Bye Bye Juli” (Julian) Bye Bye Lily…” When we gave up on her going to sleep and went in to get her, this is how we found her…
THAT she did not learn at playgroup! Not sure why she felt the need to do that. She also had removed her sweatshirt and her socks. At least she kept herself entertained in there instead of sleeping- most days it’s yelling “Mama get me!” She did have one incident of jumping out of the crib a few weeks ago. She was fine, but pretty upset to fund herself on the floor so quickly. I think/hope she scared herself enough that she hasn’t attempted it again.
We hope her baby brother has a lot of the fun, adorable qualities that Lily has….but also hope he sleeps more, and occasionally gives his parents a little break. Anyone that says girls are more calm and quiet is welcome to hang out with Lily to erase that stereotype!
Thank You Daddy-New Car!
27 Jan 2012 1 Comment
After 102,000 miles, 8 years, and 8 accidents, it was time to say goodbye to my little Corolla. We ended up getting a Subaru Forrester, which has a lot more space and a lot more features (most importantly, heated seats) than the old car. Since I’m not working, Steve had to get the car which meant he had to do all the legwork and paperwork. I told Lily he was getting us a new car so she’s been saying “Thank You Daddy new car!” all week. Last night we picked it up and she also thanked the salesman for her new car.
The last ride in the Corolla
First ride in the new car!
Thanks Steve for getting us a new car!
Yesterday we met up with my friend Erin and her son Jackson for a playdate at Mall Tots. It’s a giant indoor playground which both kids LOVED. Erin and I worked together at my last job and we were pregnant at the same time in 2009- Lily was born about 10 weeks before Jackson. Fast forward to 2012, and we are both expecting again! This time Erin is about 10 weeks ahead of me so the babies will have the same age difference again. We also had them in opposite order- a girl first for me, and boy for her, and this time a boy for me and a girl for her. Funny how these things work out! Although I’ve met Jackson and Erin’s met Lily, this was the first time we had the kids together. They seemed to have fun but the place was so big they were all over running and playing. They did share very nicely at lunch and at breakfast this morning Lily asked “Where Jackson?” 
We’ve been teaching Lily her last name, and this picture is her inside the tunnel informing another little girl “I Lily Crowdaah” Shortly after, the girl who was about 4, took Lily’s hand and said “Come on, I want to show you to my mom.” Too cute.
Lily’s been talking up a storm lately, and has been having real conversations with long sentences. The other day she looks at me and says “Mom, You’re Katie?” and the next day at Target proceeded to call me Katie repeatedly. She also sometimes calls Steve “Deeve”. It’s funny when she pronounces something incorrectly since she is generally right on. She asks us to get things from the “frigerlater” and still calls Goldfish “Jo-jas”, yet she knows her ABCs, Twinkle Twinkle and a few other songs. She doesn’t watch TV much or for very long, so her favorite show to watch is actually 10 minutes of nursery rhymes with kids dancing around, on Baby Boost. She gives us the remote and asks for “song one”. One of the songs is Old MacDonald, which she has decided must relate to Oreos- she calls them “EIOs” .
Her favorite non-nursery rhyme is Adele’s “Someone Like You” She will ask for it in the car and whenever we play it or it comes on the radio (constantly) she sings along. That is the only adult song she sings along with, and it’s adorable. I need to get a video of it!
She’s loving story time at the library and next week we start a playgroup there. With all of her time at the library, she has also been imitating story time and reading to her babies…
Or demanding that someone read to her…although I don’t think Grampy put up any argument.
Ciara’s Birthday
23 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
On Sunday we got together to celebrate Ciara’s 12th Birthday. Below is the best result of our attempts to get a shot of all the kids, most of which are cousins. Lily, Emily and Matt are ready! The other attempts included a pink and blue blur as Lily walked in front, and then away from the shot just as the other kids got in place. At least they’re having fun!
The highlight of the day for the kids was the visit from Curious Creatures. They brought all kinds of animals for the kids to meet,pet, and hold. The ages of the kids ranged from 2-12, and all were enthralled with the creatures. The younger the child, the less fear! They went right after the snakes and alligators!
The animals included a tortoise, a small snake, a tree frog, two types of lizards, a skunk (glands removed!), a bunny, a chinchilla, a tarantula, a baby alligator, and a giant Burmese Python which was bigger than the 5 children who war brave enough to hold it.
After I took this next picture, 3 year old Christopher actually hugged the alligator!
Happy 12th Birthday Ciara! Sunday was also my cousin Jackie’s 13th- Happy Birthday!
As exciting as Curious Creatures may be, they finished the demonstration at about 2:55…on to the exciting events for the adults!
2012 Begins….
18 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
2012 is off to a pretty good start! We found out last week that we’ll be welcoming a baby boy in June! We obviously would have been happy to have either a brother or sister for Lily but it’s exciting to look forward to a whole new experience with a little boy. From the ultrasound, he’s looking healthy and weighing in at a whopping 9oz.! We’ve started to feel him move a lot more which is exciting too!
His big sister has been a ball of energy lately, waking early and sometimes forgoing naps. This is not ideal for her expectant mother who is NOT a ball of energy! But can you say no to this face?
Lily got a Doodle Bear for Christmas- it comes with special markers that you can color all over it, and then just throw it in the washing machine and do it again. Lily was using it while I showered but seems that she dropped it at some point. No need to say anything, she kept on coloring, just on herself. Those markers don’t come off children as easily as the bear! I came out of the shower and she just looks up guiltily and says “I dropped my bear.”
We’ve been going to story time again, and went to a special music/storytime on Saturday. Later on, Lily decided to have her own story time for her baby. Of course, this had to be set up right in front of the football game! Daddy didn’t mind since it was not the Patriots game.
We visited an indoor playspace recently, and Lily had her first experience in a ball pit- she loved it! Our cousins got Lily a mini one for the house but we haven’t set it up yet…I think it’s time!
The other day Lily was playing house with her kitchen, and I noticed she started moving things all around while muttering to herself. I watched for a while and realized she was actually cleaning her room- in her own little way. It was so adorable to watch and funny yo see what made sense to her…
Line up the carriage, shopping cart, trash, baby chair, and basket of toys. These items all belong together.
Stack the books and place one teacup on top. 
Put baby to bed with lots of blankets. Other items were many small stuffed animals in her kitchen sink, another baby tucked in with a towel, and anything she felt necessary was dumped into her bed. At least she likes cleaning up!
Even very energetic little girls (and their baby dolls) sometimes get sleepy! For Lily though, sleepy does not always mean sleep. She’s never been a child that will fall asleep randomly on the floor, or even the couch or her stroller. I always see cute pictures of kids that fall asleep in the funniest places -we have a favorite of Brian as a baby asleep in his high chair, face in a plate of food-but Lily doesn’t fall asleep unless its the car or bed. 
On Sunday, we went to a birthday party for our family friend Theresa- she’s an honorary member of our family who has been around since before I was born. Sunday we had a chance to meet her real family, who threw a great surprise party for her. Lily is always excited to go to any party….
About 75 of her friends and family came out to honor a wonderful lady, including a really nice slideshow of her over the years. Theresa was great friends with my aunt Kay who passed away when I was 10, but she remained friends with Judy and has been a big part of our family for decades.
This looks like a sweet picture of Lily with Jimmy, but it’s him trying to distract her from pushing a baby carriage full of beanie babies into the crowd of elderly women!
Theresa with Kathy, Mike, and Jack.
Mom and Lily…
Four pretty cool guys!
Dan, Jimmy, Lee and Dad…
It was really nice to see such a great crowd come out to honor Theresa!
We had a busy day Sunday though, after the party we all went to a comedy fundraiser for the swim team, since Christin coaches and Chrissy swims.There’s nothing like a night out at the VFW!!
Happy New Year!
06 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
Happy 2012!
Steve had the week between Christmas and New Year’s off, so we kept busy and 2011 ended nicely. Lily’s been busy enjoying all of her new toys and books. She loves to read and has to take at least 3 books to bed each night, after we’ve already read her several books. Most nights she can be heard in her bed “reading” to herself, or singing some of her favorite songs. She wakes up the same way on most mornings, although sometimes it’s much more serious: “Mama get me out!”
On Thursday, we took Lily out to breakfast, where she ate just about everything in front of her and us. She even ordered for herself : “I want ham.” On Thursday night, we visited with Beth and Barry and had a belated celebration for the four December birthdays. Beth even got a cake with “Happy Birthday Lily/Gaby” on it.
On Friday we headed to New Hampshire to ring in the new year with our friends. Ellie, Jade and Lily have so much fun together, they don’t need toys… they just need their Dads to climb on. I love this one- Lily on Steve’s back with Ellie and Jade on his feet. The best part is that Ellie brought her coloring book and continued to color the whole time.
And time to attack Victor! 
Ellie suggested a limbo party and we learned our daughter cheats…but they had fun anyway.
Dress up party next! Princess Jade..
On Saturday we visited the candy store which I enjoy much more than Lily. If you’re ever in Meredith, check out Lee’s Candy Kitchen, and see Sara and/or her parents! We went out to lunch and after naps, we made a fun gingerbread house. Ellie and Jade were very interested in making a pretty house, while Lily could not understand why we were not eating the M&Ms. They were all quite proud of their masterpiece though!
After dinner, we had a little New Year’s Eve party, which involved counting UP to 10 (twice) since they are too young to count backwards. Then they yelled Happy New Year with incredible enthusiasm, especially considering none of them know what a new year is. They wore NYE party crowns and star sunglasses, blew horns, jumped up and down, threw streamers and party poppers, and even tried “Champagne” (sparkling grape juice.) A dance party ensued, and they were happily in bed by 8. No need for them to know when the rest of the world has their countdown!
No snow on this trip- on Sunday it was even warm enough for the kids to play outside for a little while. Ellie and Jade showed Lily their skating rink….
and Lucy showed off her skills on the slide!
We had a great weekend ringing in the new year with good friends. We’re so glad the three girls have so much fun together- they were fast friends from the day they met- which seems like so long ago now!
Hope everyone had a Happy New Year! So far we know that 2012 will bring a new baby Crowder, and Mike and Jen’s wedding! We’re looking forward to see what else this year has in store! We’ve been asking Lily if she wants a boy or a girl, and the answer changes each time. I just asked her if she wanted a baby to come live with us, and she replied yes. When I asked her what we should name the baby, she replied “toys”. I believe the name that Ellie and Jade picked was “Broveria”. We have an ultrasound on Monday and we’re hoping to find out the gender, and start thinking of names.
Christmas!
03 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
We all had a very fun and very busy Christmas this year! Hard to believe this is Lily’s 3rd Christmas! This year, she understood it a little bit- at least she understood that we had several days of parties and gifts. So, needless to say, she loved it. We were nervous because she got very sick overnight on the 23rd, but woke up feeling better and after a four hour nap, she was back to herself. Pretty sure that is the longest nap she’s ever taken, and it was only because we were all awake from 1-5am and she awoke at 7 as if it never happened.
So,once she was feeling better we headed to Grampy’s for dinner and to await the arrival of “Santa Closet”.
Lily and Ciara had a fun time playing while we made a delicious prime rib dinner. Only one person at the table finished their piece as well as a baked potato, vegetables and roll. Any guesses…:)
Reading some books with Daddy before bed…
Christmas morning we were lucky enough to get to sleep until 7:45- not like last year when we opened presents at 4:45! Both girls were excited as we headed downstairs to see what Santa had left!
We spent the morning opening presents, having breakfast and playing with all the new toys. Ciara got a few new games for Wii and while she played, Lily tried to copy her by grabbing a tv remote and dancing around. Lily was excited to find all of the presents under the tree, and took her time exploring and playing with each one.
After lunch we headed to my parents house. John came with us for dinner and more excitement with all of my siblings,aunts, uncles, and cousins.Lily was happy to see that Jack, Ben and Mairead had lots of toys under their tree too!
Lily and Mairead had matching dresses, and Jack and Ben’s matching outfits even coordinated with the dresses. Hopefully there are some better pictures of them together on other cameras! This was one of Lily’s favorite presents- a carousel jewelry box for all of her treasures.
The kids were happy to have a new audience AND new toys. They spent some time showing Emily and Sarah…..
And all of the Larocque kids their new toys. The older kids had a different kind of toys- cell phones- to play with, which Lily tried to take pictures of them whle they took pictures of her.
We had a very exciting night that included lots of family, food, and gifts. Mairead dazzled us with a dance presentation of the Nutcracker, which she had seen the week before and imitated for everyone. She remembered most of the scenes and she happily danced around the kitchen for her audience. Jack and Ben enjoyed all things Thomas,of course.
One of the highlights was the Elefun game my parents got for Lily. You put tiny “butterflies” in the elephant, and then a fan blows them up the trunk. The kids take try to catch the butterflies in the net….or they run around yelling and waving the nets like crazy. Either way, it’s a lot of fun.
Since Christmas was so busy, we only opened presents for the kids. They were nice enough to take a nap on Monday so the adults could open their presents and enjoy an early dinner. My dad makes an amazing Beef Wellington that is very time consuming so it’s better to enjoy the day after.
Opening more gifts with Jim and Jess…
Telling Jen about her day….
And what beats finishing the three days of Christmas with a little concert of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on her new keyboard?
Thanks to all of our family for making Christmas so special!
Steve and Lily’s Birthdays
27 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
With two birthdays and Christmas, things got a little busy around here this past week. The blog’s been neglected, so we’ll catch up before we have the Christmas posts. We never even posted the tree decorating pictures, so here they are! Lily really enjoyed decorating, and underrating the tree…and repeating the process several times. She likes to take a few ornaments off and move them every once in a while.
The picture below was from our trip to get the tree- Lily met this snowman and asked eagerly and repeatedly that we take him home.
Steve’s birthday was the 17th and we were lucky enough to have a fabulous duo come to visit to hang out with Lily so we could go out for a bit. As soon as we told Lily that Mike and Jen were coming, she started watching out the window and yelling for them. The excitement kept her from napping and she anticipated their arrival as most children do that of Santa Claus. They had a fun night making forts and playing while Steve and I got to go to a movie and out to dinner. We checked out the new restaurant in Salem- Red Lulu- which was very good Mexican food and they even end your meal with complimentary cotton candy with pop rocks! The only complaint-that I wasn’t able to try the Margaritas. Steve reports that they were delicious. On Sunday John, Jenn and Ciara came to visit and we went out to Texas Roadhouse, and back here for cake. Lily, who is newly obsessed with M&Ms, picked them off each person’s piece of cake.
After dinner ride from Ciara…
We had a fun birthday weekend for Steve, and on Tuesday it was Lily’s birthday. She already had her party, but her daycare was having a Christmas party, so we didn’t want her to miss it. She had fun with all of her friends for the day and the night with us. Since we didn’t spend the day with her, we spent another day visiting Enchanted Village. The display is is great shape, although much smaller than it used to be, and it was really cool to visit. Lily liked most of it, although the darkness scared her a bit. They also have periodic “snowfalls” which come from giant fans in the ceiling, which is a little scary. Overall, she liked it and we had a good day. 
She made us put her hood on during the “snowstorms”.
Christmas pictures coming soon!
Lily’s Birthday Party
16 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
Hard to believe that Lily is turning two in just a few days! We had her birthday party early so that it didn’t get to close to the holidays, and Steve’s birthday. December is a very busy month for everyone, but we add in two birthdays just to kick it up a notch. We had a fun party with a gingerbread man theme- when asked to say gingerbread man, Lily says “Jamajamaman.” Hilarious.
Lily even helped me make her birthday cake! She was very excited to help and even more eager to taste.
Despite the holiday business, lots of our friends and family came over to my parents house to celebrate Lily’s big day. She had been telling people for over a week “my birthday coming” so she knew the day was for her. She celebrated by refusing to nap, eating whatever she wanted, playing, having tea parties, opening gifts, and going to bed just before 9. A wild day for a little girl!
She started the day with a little tea party with her friend Ellie…
Hugs for Cici…
Lily has made no secret of her love for fancy jewels, so several people contributed to her obsession with more beads and sparkly things. She tried her hardest to get every new piece on her body, and she did pretty well! We were overwhelmed with everyone’s generosity and can’t thank all of our guests enough. She is a very well loved little girl! She was so good about opening all of her presents, and saying thank you each time!
All decked out!
She ended the party the way it began, this time hosting a tea party with Nana as her guest.
Thanks to everyone who helped make it such a special day for Lily, and a big thanks to my parents and Maghan and David for hosting us all!
Fakesgiving
07 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
in Fall 2011
On the Sunday after Thanksgiving, we celebrated our traditional “Fakesgiving” at my parents’ house. This started a few years ago to give us all a day together, since my mom often works on Thanksgiving. Now that everyone has families in law to visit, it’s just a lot easier to have a separate day. Plus, we get to eat some really great food, on two different days.
We had an early dinner and then some of us took a walk to the little park a few houses down. It’s perfect for young kids who need to get some energy out- just a grassy hill with lots of leaves to throw. All four kids spent about an hour just running up and down the hill, chasing each other, and then stopping periodically to throw leaves. Lily did all of this without letting go of the chocolate chip cookie that she snagged on the way out of the house. It wasn’t about eating it, but she wasn’t going to let it go. She held on to it until she got back to the house.
Running!
The adults taking a break from all the running…
Mairead leading Jen down the hill, again….
Throwing leaves! What could be better? While Lily held on to her cookie, Jack and Ben had trains with them the whole time. These kids do not let go of what is theirs!
After dessert, Lily and Mairead put on every piece of my mom’s jewelry, and some of Beth’s, that they could get their hands on. They had necklaces hanging down to their knees and kept demanding “more”! 
Since we got to see so many of our family members over the holiday weekend, we used the opportunity to share some exiting news- we’ll be expecting a brother or sister for Lily in early June!
