Lilyisms

I've been working on Lily's baby book, a book covered in random scraps of paper and post it notes with quick scribbles marking a mini Lily first since she's turned 1....smiling on command, nodding yes, holding my hand to cross the street, blowing kisses, counting 1-2-3, shaking her booty to music, rubbing her hair with her hands when I'm about to get in the shower knowing I'll be putting shampoo in my hair and then getting the lotion off the counter (with a slight grunt and on her tippy toes to reach) once I turn the water off knowing I'm about to grab it are some that come to mind. I love knowing when she says "bop" it means help and when I come into her room to get her up after a nap, she likes to first lay on her stomach and tap her foot against the mattress because she knows I'll tap my palm on the mattress to imitate her....so grateful for all of this.

House shopping has slowed down but the two houses we put offers in for that came back too high for us are actually still interested (no other offers have come in) so the game continues....time actually might be on our side.

Nate did the Portland Triathlon today and looked strong and fast out there. I rave about Blue Lake but one thing Portland Triathlon easily trumps Blue Lake on is the give-aways...long sleeve dri-fit shirt (cool looking too), gloves, bike socks and a metal water bottle are the main items and then free gelato and free beer after the race are nice perks to compliment the free meal...well done.

Here are a couple pics from our weekend around town and one video of a Lilyism - imitating one of my facial expressions.

The Weekend in Pictures

It's been a good weekend. We're waiting to hear on another house offer on another house, but we're not letting it stop us from getting out and about. Here are some pics and movies from the weekend, starting Thursday. What, Thursday's not the weekend? Hey, we start early around here...

Lily getting ready for the weekend with a little harmonica playing. The harmonica was a gift from our new neighbors, what a great gift!



At a concert/show in the park on Friday night, Lily was in the mood to dance




She also stole the chair of the people sitting next to us

On Saturday she let her hair down after a swim at the club

Today we went to a street fest on the East side of town and saw this guy

Lily even gave us the treat of holding our hands as we walked back to the car

The House Game continues

While Nate was at band practice last night, I watched a visually beautiful movie "A Single Man." The beauty of the movie didn't cover up a lack of substance; it was actually a damn good movie. One of the last lines in the movie that resonated with me was

" ...in my life, I've had moments of absolute clarity, when for a few brief moments, the silence drowns out the noise, and I can feel rather than think, and things seems so sharp and the world seems so fresh. I can never make these moments last. I cling to them, but like everything, they fade. I have lived my life in these moments. They pull me back to the present, and I realize everything is exactly the way it's meant to be."

We have been very hopeful this past week that the offer we submitted on a house would lead to an agreed upon price after some friendly countering. Unfortunately, we didn't realize that the counter offer would come back a week late and higher than the list price....not even kidding. We're going to keep playing the game with this house but realize that if it does work out, it might be a while.

I lost a close match last week in my warm up tournament to USTA 5.0 Sectionals coming up this weekend that bummed me out a bit more than expected only because my serve failed me when I needed it most. I think the loss actually fueled me to go even harder at the Blue Lake Triathlon the next day. I shaved ten minutes off my time from last year, woohoo. I didn't feel the pain as much this year like last year and I hit that zone where the adrenaline rush gives me such a a high that the pain disappears for a moment and I can't help but smile.

Thankfully, Lily is busy nodding yes these days so the no phase hasn't started. We're still working on her biting out of frustration but besides that, she's being such a fun and adventurous little girl. She seems to climb even higher, move even faster, and stands on smaller and more wobbly objects every day.

Here is a pic from the tri and then a classic example of Lily dealing with a challenge


Hmmm, I'll just pick up the stroller...

This is kinda hard

This is getting frustrating

I'm going to bite the stroller because this sucks

So frustrated!

O wait, I got it, it's all good