Two Years Old!

Celebration #1 on Sunday with Daddy, Mommy, Grandma Debbie, and Papa Ron!

How did this happen? Where did the time go? Happy Birthday Little Lily! Two years ago our lives changed in ways we could not have imagined. Life is more entertaining, more exciting, more challenging, and definitely more rewarding. We love watching her grow and grow with each new day, and nothing beats those great hugs and perfect kisses.

Top Ten Lily Quotes:

10. I'm gonna go in there.
9. Daddy go work....doctor.
8. I bleed Mommy (when she is crying).
7. Oh, I see!
6. Go play Mommy/Daddy!
5. Ok mommy?
4. Airplane....go fly....in the sky....far away!
3. Mommy no like the rain.
2. My party? Eat my cake???
1. Love you Mommy....love you Daddy.

We love you too Lily. Happy Birthday to a wonderful little 2-year-old!

Celebration #2 with Mommy on the big day!

Making cookies for friends at Margarita's house!


Third night of birthday cake, and blowing out the candles again!

Elmo cake - pre-birthday celebrations!

We love Papoo!

Just a quick update today....we had a fun quick visit from Grandpa, or Papoo as Lily calls him this week. Lily loved spending time with Papoo! Going out to eat, reading books, and working in the yard were just a few of the highlights of his visit. Thank you again Dad for all of your help in the yard...in case you didn't know, my dad is a genius when it comes to yard work. It's amazing what a little lawn mow and some edging can do. Plus he helped me prpare the greatest bee yard ever! We love you Dad and miss you already!

Bee update:
My veil and smoker arrived. I think I have the cutest model!

Meant to "Bee"

Not to be too punny, but today my message was loud and clear. Beekeepers will tell you that if you see a honeybee flying around it is most likely not wild, but from a beekeeper's hive. Tonight as I was cleaning up my basement I saw this.....


I don't know where this honeybee came from, I dont' know how it got in our house, but here it was slowly making its way over to my freshly painted hive - that is my hive there in the background. Ryan and I inspected it and noted the thin layer of tan hair on its back (one feature that distinguishes it from a yellow jacket). I carefully scooped it up and set it free, and I hope it will make it back to its home.

So there is yet one more sign that this is a calling for me. I get it Mother Nature....I'll keep your bees safe and sound.

One more thing, Lily discovered how much fun the iPod is today....

What am I doing during naptime these days?

So some of you may have heard my newest hobby....yes it is true, I am going to be a bee keeper! Call me crazy people, but I am "super" (if you are into bee-lingo, note the "super" pun - if not, see "bee"low) excited about this.

Yesterday it arrived....my beehive! No there were no bees in the hive, just all the hardware. Apparently there have yet to "bee" any major technological gains in the beekeeping world, as evidenced by the screw up in my order resulting in a box full of frame pieces I have to assemble. Now, I ordered 30 frames, so this is going to take me a while!

Pause....

Definition: frames - n what you put into the hive body for the bees to draw comb, for the queen to lay eggs, and for nectar/honey to "bee" stored

I ordered unassembled hive bodies and supers....

Pause....

Definition: hive body - n the large box in which you place the frames; this is where the bees live and work
super - n a smaller hive body where the bees store their honey

....so I'm trying to assemble these hive bodies and supers, and lets just say that these ain't no IKEA items! Nothing is fitting quite right, and my arms are getting very tired from all the pushing and pulling to make these things go together! The whole time I'm thinking, "I have to get this just right....I have to respect the bee space!!!!!"

Pause....

Definition: bee space - n approximately 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch; a space that is large enough for a bee to pass through, but small enough to discourage comb building

....so I'll keep you posted, but for now, it looks like I am going to "bee buzzing" around this job for awhile! After I assemble these finely crafted pieces of equipment (tongue way way way in cheek here) I have to paint them. I'm thinking of hot pink, any other ideas????

The bees arrive mid-May, so stay tuned!

On a totally different note, the cherry blossoms were just as lovely as ever this year!

Winter in April in Utah!

Lily and I had a terrific visit with our families in Utah this past week! We were expecting spring but instead got a huge dose of winter! It snowed almost every day we were there. Lily loved it though and it was wonderful to experience Utah snow since we missed it this past Christmas.

Here are the highlights of the trip:
#1 Sara and Rich's great news.....a new baby boy will be joining their family in May!
#2 Getting Lily's first baby doll with Grandma Debbie and Aunt Emilee
#3 Playing with the cows at Kev and Monica's house
#4 Watching Lily go up and down and up and down Grandma and Papoo's stairs
#5 Seeing "Phantom" with my good old Dad
#6 Eating at Hire's

and Lily pulling a very sharp knife out of Grandma Suzi's purse, and Johnny saying "Are you crazy????!"
#7 Watching Lily and her cousins brush and "style" Papa Ron's hair
#8 Seeing my cute cousin Lisa 3 times (Sorry Laura, we missed you!)
#9 Watching Lily try to imitate Parker's funny old man dance
#10 Eating true Italian pizza with my Mom and sisters
#11 Watching American Idol with my Mom and sisters
#12 Lunch at Normandie's with Nana
#13 Hearing Lily say "I miss my Da Da" - we were glad to be home and see our Da Da!

Ah, it is always good to visit the homeland, and always good (well kind of) to get back to real life and the daily grind! Stay tuned, in one week the beehive is arriving! The bees will be here in a bout a month, but we are getting excited! Thanks again to everyone for a wonderful week!

To the Zoo!

Within 6 days we went from snow day to spring day! Crazy, but hey, we'll take it! Saturday morning Lily and I headed off to the National Zoo. Before I get to the zoo excitement, let me just give you a taste of navigating through the streets of DC. We drove all the way down Connecticut Ave to the Zoo. About half way there, traffic comes to a halt. There are three lights with about 2 blocks between each light. For some unexplainable reason, it took us almost 20 minutes to get through those three lights....ok, maybe it was really only about 10 minutes, but when you are not moving and you have no idea why, time moves slower than the pace you are or in my case, are not moving!

We finally get to the zoo gates and turn in to park. This is the National Zoo people, you would think they often get large crowds right? Apparently, parking is not the priority here....three lots, yes three is all they have! These lots probably accommodate, oh, maybe 75-100 cars. Lovely. So we flipped a u-ey, and drove through the little side streets to find a place to park. Now I am a little directionally challenged, so after parking, I mapped out our parking location, pictures, landmarks, street names, the works. After almost one hour in the car, we made it the 9.5 miles to the zoo! I love DC!

Anyway, now to the good part, pictures! Lily had a great time. We saw an elephant get a bath, sea lions do some nifty tricks, lions lazily prowl about, tigers pace back and forth, gorillas pound their chests (hopefully out of happiness?), an orangutan walk a tight rope, pandas munch on bamboo, and zebras stand like statues. It was a great success, with only one meltdown! Oh and if you are wondering, we made it back to the car just fine, and it only took us 30 minutes to get home :)

Snow Day #2

Ahhhh, you have to love these east coast snow days! I must confess, I have acclimated to the east coast view on snow. No it doesn't snow that much where I live, but when it does I prefer the safety of home, compared to the un-plowed streets with people driving around with their hazards on....I'm still not sure how the hazards on transfer to safer driving, but whatever.

So I was very grateful to be home in my jammies with Lily and Ryan (yes it is true, I'm not just saying he was home so that you wouldn't feel badly for me!). My joy about the snow however was not the same as Lily's today. In an attempt to be adventurous, I bundled her up, plopped her in the jogger stroller and off we went for a walk in the snowy wonderland to Safeway. Usually on our walks, she is super talkative "Look Mama," "Oh no Mama," or "In the stoller Mama!" Today was a different story.

Halfway to Safeway I said "Are you ok Lily?"
No response.
"Lily?"
"Oh snow my coak (oh snow on my coat)."
I stop and peer into the stroller. She was as still as can be, snow flakes on her eyelashes, nose, and coat. "Go soam Mama (go home Mama)." she says.
"Not yet." I say cheerfully.

I did a few little "doughnuts" with the stoller and that seemed to perk her up a bit. After our jaunt to the store, I decided to shovel while she played in the snow. Lily is an active kid, and now I know how to stop her in her tracks. Snow. I put her on the driveway and she did not move. All I could hear was a soft and low "uhhhhhh, uhhhhh, uhhhhh" followed by an occasionall and dramatic "ohhhhhh noooooo!" if her glove fell off, or snow got on her pants, coat, shoes, etc.

We went to the backyard to play with her slide and ball. That was successfull.
"Lily, let's go down the slide!"
"No, uhhhhh, uhhhh, uhhhh. Go slide Mama?"
"Yes! Let's slide!"
"Yep, no, uhhh, uhhh."
"Ok, go get your ball."
"Oh my ball, the snow, ohhhh noooo."
"Ok should we go inside then?"
"Nooooo, uhhhh, uhhhh. Go slide Mama."
I pick her up and put her on the slide.
"Nooo Mama."
I pick her up and take her out. She tries to walk and falls on her knees. Gloves off, knees wet.
"Ohhhhhh nooooo Mama."
"Ok Lily, let's go inside."
"Yep."
"Did you have fun? Do you like the snow Lily?"
"Yep, uhhhh, uhhhh, uhhhh."

So much for snow experience deux! Maybe next time. The moral of the story, toddlers are incredibly indecisive....isn't it great being the ones to figure this all out? Enjoy the pictures. Notice the difference in demeanor of the little one compared to our first snow day a couple posts ago!

This last one is just to prove that I didn't scar her for life in the snow. She recovered nicely :)