:(

Today our dog Loni was put to sleep. The tumor she had grew and she became unable to walk. She was 14 years old and an amazing guide dog. She has hiked many miles with my dad and swam in many lakes. She kept my mom company on lots of carpool rides. I can still remember seeing her for the first time when we wen to pick my dad up at the airport. She got so excited she started jumping on all of us.

Lily had especially loved Loni lately. She enjoyed crawling underneath her and would laugh hysterically when Loni's tail would wag in her face. We will miss Loni greatly, but we are glad she is out of pain.

On a happier note, my dad plans to get a new seeing eye dog in the near future. I'll keep you posted.

Yeah Usher!

We got a little video of Lily dancing. Sorry, it's sideways. I'm still challenged in the technology area. I thought it was still worth posting!!

Hanging Out

Cooking up some Thanksgiving dinner in her own kitchen.

By the way, she's wearing pink sparkly shoes given to her by her friend at school. I took them off for nap and as soon as she saw them, she screamed to have them back on. ha! If I hand pink sparkly shoes I would want to wear them all the time too!

She loves her little doll and gives her hugs and kisses.

This is Lily's new look. She makes this horrible frown face and it just started this week. I don't like it!

Today and yesterday Lily and I have been just hanging out and running some errands. It's been so nice to just have a little break. Lily has taken a couple of steps. She's definitely not confident and really only does it when she doesn't realize she's doing. I think by Thanksgiving she'll be cruising. Tyler left a couple of hours ago for the semi-state football game. They are supposed to win and then head to state next weekened. If they win Tyler and I will be hosting our first Thanksgiving. I'm pretty excited!

Long Break

I'm back! I left last Wednesday to go babysit Kirkland and Kjirste and I got back late last night. That's why I have been MIA. Three girls under the age of 3 gave me little time to update the blog. We had a great week together and Lily had a blast with the girls. They wore her out so much that she was sleeping past 9 a.m., which is unheard of for Lily Grace Mayer. Everything went well, except for the alarm going off in the middle of the night and the police coming to make sure there were no burglars, but that's a story for a different day.

Kirkland and Kjirste moved to Chicago today. :( I have been babysitting for the Miller family for over 2 1/2 years. I met Kirkland when she was just six months old and I knew Kjirste when she was born. They have been Lily's little buddies and my little buddies, too. We are going to miss the Miller family a lot, but hopefully we will get to visit them.

Lily is sooooo close to walking. I honestly think it's going to be any day. She has a lot more confidence when she is standing. Lily definitely has a little mischievous side to her and I think I'm going to be in trouble when she can walk.

Tyler's football team won again. They will be heading off to semi-state next weekend. I'm excited the team is doing well, but I'm ready for Tyler to be home. I know he is ready to be home, too.

Other than that, I will have a slightly less hectic schedule. I won't be nannying, so I will have more days home to hang out with Lily. I'm really looking forward to that. Also, today is Lily's 13th months birthday! How bout that! One last thing...my cousin Kate and Brian had their baby!!! It's a little boy named Jack and he is adorable. That's the 3rd boy cousin within a year, but I'm sure Lily will have no problem bossing all 3 of them around in a couple of years. My cousin Patrick and Becky will be having their baby soon. Hopefully, it will be a girl for Lily to play with. :)

Dad's are funny!

Lily was sleeping and I had to leave for a meeting this morning. Tyler was going to drop her off at Nana and Granddad's while I was gone, so that he could go to his meeting. As I was leaving, I put out Lily's hat and coat and reminded him to put them on her. When I go to pick her up I asked my mom, "Where are her shoes?" She said that she asked Tyler the same thing. Tyler's response, "Allison told me to put on her hat and coat. She never said anything about shoes."

Did I really need to specifically say put on her shoes? That man makes me laugh! At least he did exactly as I told him to! Next time I'll know that I also need to remind him to put shoes on our child!

Is it November?

We have had an amazing week. Can you believe this weather? The people I nanny for have wanted me at night, so Lily and I have had 2 whole days together. It's nice, because I haven't felt like I've been working full time. Lily and I have taken full advantage of our time together and of the amazing weather. On Monday we had a picnic at Holliday Park with Nana. Lily loved the swings and she even convinced me to go down a huge slide with her! Then yesterday we walked on the Monon with Katie and Norah Healy. The day was beautiful, but both girls were rather grumpy. But it was still nice to get out.

This is the first time I let Lily hold the banana and eat it. She was SO proud of herself and thought she was really cool. It was so funny to watch her! Can you imagine getting really excited about holding a banana and eating it by yourself? It's amazing what little babies bring into your lift...a whole new spirit. They truly enjoy every little bit of life and it has helped Tyler and I do the same. Sorry about the glare on the pics, I just realized my lens had a smudge.

At the park having a blast on the swing.

Lily's first birthday party!

YES! Finally, something I LOVE...FOOD! Lily is an amazing eater. Yesterday, she ate broccoli and spinach. Is that normal?

I'm way more happy about jumping than Lily.

Lily attended her first party for a friend. It was Kirkland's 3rd birthday!! They had the party at Bounce Zone. It had all these crazy jumpy things and slides. Now Lily wasn't too sure about the jumpy stuff as you can tell from the picture. But she was VERY happy about eating pizza and cupcakes. Uncle AJ was nice enough to get up early and come with us. Dad had football, so he couldn't go. I think it's safe to say that Uncle AJ had fun at the party! He loved going down all the slides.

It's election day and Tyler has called me from the line at the poll. He said it will be a while and I should dress Lily warm, because the line is all the way outside!!! We pray that the Catholics of our nation vote with the beliefs of the Catholic Church. Life is sacred from womb to tomb.

Happy Halloween!

We hope you had a safe and fun Halloween! We had a great one, although Tyler wasn't able to be here for the Trick or Treating part. He had a sectional football game, that they did win. Lily got to do a little Trick or Treating at school. They took the kids around to the classrooms. They all looked so cute. Then we were off to the doctor for her one year appointment. She is still on the same growth pattern: 95% height and 50% weight. She checked out great!!!

We went over to Nana's and Granddad's to trick or treat and then did a few houses in our neighborhood.

Here's a picture of Lily at Halloween last year. Can you believe the difference?

Yes, Lily was a ladybug this year. Now I know it wasn't one of the choices. A few weeks before Halloween Nana called and said she found an adorable ladybug costume at an extremely good price. Since I'm a sucker for deals, I told her to go for it. I'm sorry I didn't choose from the pole, but is this costume totally cute?!?!

Uncle AJ always gives Lily treats!!

Happy Halloween! Yes, I'm eating more candy!