Happy Fall

Crash, Burn and No Goatee

Lily has become much more mobile in the past month. On Monday Dan set Lily down on the concrete so he could put something in the car. she got up and started running. Unfortunately our drive way is on a slope so she went tumbling. The nose shows the end result. So sad! Fortunately babies heal quickly and her scabs are almost all healed.

Also if you notice Dan in the background you will see that for the first time in 5 years Dan has shaved his goatee!! I had never seen him without facial hair so when he walked in one evening last week with half of it gone I was shocked! It took me a couple of days to get used to it but now I LOVE it!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILY!

I believe that 1st birthdays are not for the child but for the parents. We made it through the first year of Lily's life! The first half of her short life was pretty hard. She never slept and always cried. But as she has gotten older her she has become much more pleasant. She has regular nap times that she semi-regularly keeps. And she sleeps through the night!! She is such a happy baby and has so much personality! Some of her favorite things are eating sweets, dancing and going for walks.

Lily's actual birthday was pretty low key as we had already celebrated it when my parents came. However we did get to go to dinner at Spaghetti Factory to enjoy some gluten free pasta (thanks Mom and Dad Southwick!) Lily was more interested in the coloring crayons than the food....that is until they brought ice cream out with a candle. The waiters sang happy birthday to her and she danced and then enjoyed the ice cream completely.

In October Lily started to walk a little bit. The first week in November she stood up to walk and never crawled again. She now runs and can even walk backward!

She has tons of hair. We love to put her hair in pig tails and headbands. Recently she has brought me things to put in her hair. Then she keeps it in for the whole day!! She is definitely becoming a girlie girl.

She also likes to clap. Right now she is not eating much. In order to get her to eat we have to give her the food and then clap and cheer for each bite. Hey, it works.

Lily has tons of stuffed animals and babies. Her favorite thing to play with, however, are her books. She loves to read.


Lily used to love the bath. Recently she has decided she likes the sink better. This way it is harder for her head to get wet. She hates it when her hair gets wet!

A couple of weeks ago we were at the store. Dan gave Lily his credit card to play with. She wouldn't give it back and threw a tantrum when he took it. Not a good sign!

Some of Lily's latest accomplishments:

• She has recently found her nose holes and enjoys sticking her fingers up them. We are very excited to see what happens when she picks something out of it. Fun times....
• She has just realized that her knees bend. When she dances she bends her knees and waves her hands.

We love you Lily!!

Prop 8

Most of you know that Prop 8 passed by a slim but commanding margin. It has become very clear, though that the "war" is not yet over. Those who have opposed Prop 8 immediately became angry and are now working in the courts to try and overturn it. We have been told that this is a last ditch effort and that they don't really have a chance.

It has been particularly hard because The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been targeted by those opposing Prop 8. Never before have I faced such adversity. There are so many untruths out there about our church that it is sickening. It has been sad to watch as our temples and churches have been vandalized.

Anyways, http://www.ldsmag.com/ideas/081110hate.html this article was written by an L.A. police detective. This is an amazing article regarding the things that are going on right now and how to deal with them the Lord's way.

Thanks Sara for posting the article!!

Jelly Belly Factory

For Halloween lily and i met up with my cousin, Jana, and her cute family at the Jelly Belly Factory. My cousin lives about 2 hours away from us but we don't hardly ever see them. (Let's not go for so long without seeing each other!)

I couldn't believe how big her kids had grown! Her oldest is almost 12. Matt & Jana, you are not old enough to have one that age!

We went on a tour of the facilities but they wouldn't allow us to take pictures. Afterwards we got a great picture of Ronald Reagan made out the Jelly Bellies. Whoever did it was pretty talented.

L-R: Matthew, Eva, Joey, Tucker, Lily. Tucker & Lily bonded--I think cuz they both have red hair.

This was seriously the most disgusting part of the day. After the tour we all got free Jelly Bellies and a free gummy tarantula. Lily wanted to eat it so bad so I started to break off little pieces of its legs. She loved it! Well, we were in the gift shop after the tour we bought things in the gift shop. I put Lily and the free cand on the counter. Before I knew it she had ripped the tarantula out of the wrapper and stuck it in her mouth! It was absolutely the most disgusting thing ever. Legs and drool kept sneaking out of her mouth. She was sure a happy girl, though.

Jelly Belly stuff galore! What a fun trip. Thanks Matt, Jana and family!