Say Goodbye to the Swing

Summer is here and the days are flying by. It's so hard to believe Lily is already 8 months old ... and has now outgrown her swing. The days of lazy swinging are over and are giving way to more exciting activities, new toys and interacting with EVERYTHING around her. When she began sitting forward in the swing and nearly tipping it over, we decided it was time to pack it away. So here's one last look at her last time in the swing - ahhh the memories...

Another first - Lily took a bath in the "big girl" bathtub instead of her baby tub. She loved playing and splashing in the water. She's experiencing so many new things as she grows so quickly. Crawling is just around the corner!

Since there can never be enough pictures of Lily, here are a few more... it's so nice to dress in short sleeved summer outfits - no more snowsuits, mittens, blankets and layers and layers of clothing.

Traveling Lily and her Ancestors

Miss Lillianna has sure been enjoying some traveling lately. We drove up to Pequot Lakes (where Joy's mom's family is originally from) for Memorial weekend to meet Joy's family and put flowers on the family graves. A few pictures (pardon the hair, it was VERY windy that day):

We also saw an old cabin on "Shawano Point" in Pequot. It's an amazing old cabin - Joy's great-grandfather did all the rockwork in the walls, steps and foundation of the cabin. He did a lot of rockwork in the Pequot area. We believe he may also have built the cabin as he was contractor on a lot of log buildings in the area.

The very next day we drove to a small town in Southern Minnesota called Stanton. We had done some genealogical research and discovered that many of Tom's ancestors were from Minnesota and are buried here. We found Stanton (a very, very small town) and amazingly after walking through the small town cemetery, we found the headstone of Tom's great-great-great-great-grandfather, Shedrick Crump. Wow!! It was really amazing!



And of course we celebrated Father's Day - Tommy's first Father's Day!!! We drove up to Duluth to spend the afternoon with Joy's family.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO GRANDPA ARCHIBALD, GRANDPA ENGELKE and GRANDPA LAMOLLI!! Love, Lillianna

Look at me wearing Uncle Ryan's hat in the Duluth Mall on Father's Day

Daddy and Me

Of course, what would a blog post be without more pictures of Lillianna Mae? She's growing by leaps and bounds these days. Just today we discovered she has a second tooth! She is very close to crawling - it won't be long now! She can get up on her arms or pull up her knees and stick her butt in the air, but she hasn't quite figured out how to do both at the same time so she can actually move forward. We're sure she will have this figured out very soon, though!

Today the three of us hit the garage sales in our area. I think there was a sale on every street! Of course Miss Lily came home with more clothes, books, movies and toys - and Tom found some photography goodies. This is Mommy and Lily checking out a stuffed puppy dog for Miss Lily - of course the puppy came home with us!

All the Better to Bite You With!

Uh-oh, Miss Lily has a tooth! The doggies better watch out - she may be testing out her new "chompers" on them! Come to think of it, Mommy and Daddy better watch out, too.

Here's the first picture of the new little tooth just starting to poke through on the bottom.

As always, she's been SUCH a good girl about the whole teething thing. She hasn't really been very fussy at all. She's had a few moments when she will chew on anything she can get her hands on and whines a little, but all in all, teething has been another easy milestone for us. We are so blessed! Maybe she's just preparing us for the real trouble later on ... ("but I LOVE him!"... Lillianna at age 15?) :)

Mother's Day, Flowers and Peaches

Is it already almost the end of May? Wow this month has gone by so fast!! Spring has FINALLY arrived in Minnesota. The snow is gone, the weather is finally warmer and the birds have arrived. We finally got some of the feeders filled last week and the birds have just now discovered our back deck.

Mother's Day weekend was a lot of fun. Joy's family came down to visit and Tom took the opportunity to take some photos of the "Moms".

4 Generations

We also went to the nursery for some flower shopping for Mother's Day - a Mother's Day tradition in Joy's family. It was kind of cold and rainy but it was still inspiring seeing all the colorful flowers in bloom. We have so many yard projects to get to this summer - the garden, the patio, the deck - we can't wait to get working outside.

Miss Lily enjoying the greenhouse with Mom

What is an Archibald blog update without a Lillianna update? She is growing by leaps and bounds these days. Has it really been almost 7 months?!? No crawling yet, but she does move her arms and legs when she has her "tummy time" so it probably won't be too much longer before she's mobile! She can sit on her own for VERY brief moments. She can now sit in her little bumbo seat and play with her toys.

We have also discovered that we have a VEGGIE kid (whose kid is this?!?). She absolutely loves veggies (sweet potato, squash, peas, beans) but fruit - not so much! So far we have tried bananas, pears, applesauce and peaches - all have been met with horrible (and kind of funny) faces and spitting the fruit out. I guess liking veggies is a good thing, right?

Mmmm..squash is yummy! A happy veggie meal.

Peaches - YUCK! The picture is a bit blurry, but you definitely get the message.

Daddy and Me

It's about time Daddy was in a picture, don't you think? Mommy got a new camera for Mother's Day so Dad can finally get in the picture instead of always being behind the camera.

I have a bad cold, but I still look cute and happy, don't I? I hope I feel better tomorrow because we're supposed to go to the nursery to look at all the plants and flowers. Mommy may even get some new plants for Mother's Day. Mom and Dad said they want to plant a tree for me, too.

Happy Mother's Day everyone!!

Happy Half-Birthday Lillianna!!

Can you believe it? Lillianna is 6 months old today. WOW. Where have the past 6 months gone? It seems it was just yesterday that our tiny 4-pound baby girl entered this world. Now she's 6 months old and has grown SO much. Every day brings a new expression, a new sound and new abilities. We felt a tribute to her first 6 months was in order...

The last pregnancy picture, taken just before leaving for the hospital to be induced...

48 hours later, at 6:25 pm on Sunday, October 28, 2007, our baby girl arrives, weighing a whopping 4 pounds, 12 ounces.

All bundled up, headed for her new home. Miss Lily came home Tuesday, October 30th.

One Month Old - Thanksgiving 2007


Lily meets Santa at the Mall of America - December 2007

Two Months Old - Christmas 2007

Three Months Old

Four Months Old

Five Months Old (including Easter 2008)

Six Months Old (well, almost - taken a few days ago)

Our baby girl is growing too fast! The past 6 months have been the happiest months of our lives. So....HAPPY HALF-BIRTHDAY LILLIANNA! We love you so much and look forward to all of your birthdays to come.

Jumperoo Time!

We love new toys at the Archibald house! This time it's a new toy for Lillianna. We noticed how much she was trying to bounce in her Excersaucer, so we felt it necessary to step things up a notch by getting a Jumperoo. Lily absolutely loves Rockin' to "Rockin' Robin" as this video proves.

Treasure this one now because this is the only time you'll ever see Lillianna having playtime with Michael Jackson.