Always the fashionista

Lily definitely has her own sense of style.  The more colorful the ensemble the better.  Plus add patterns and texture and you've got yourself a true fashionista.  Last week she got all dolled up for church, complete with a pink frilly skirt, pink Hello Kitty polka-dotted shirt, red sparkly shoes, a red pink, and brown circular pattern Fedora hat, and to top it all off, pink butterfly wings, and her fashion sticker portfolio.  Today's outfit was a true standout!  Again her pink Hello Kitty polka-dotted shirt, yellow skort, rainbow leggings, and multi-colored black sparkle Sketchers shoes.  Apparently, she topped off her outfit with her beautiful Guatemalan camouflage-like jacket!

Super Swimmer in the House

So proud of our Lily Bean...she started the FAST pre-comp swim team tonight...while I wasn't there to see it, Olav reported she swam across the pool from the 3 feet to the 9 feet 2 times without any assistance. So proud! These are the moments I wish I could share with her birth family!

Lily's 1st fish!

 

Today was a fun special day.  We went to Greenbrier State Park to meet with some dear friends.  While there I received a text from our neighbors Jimmy and Cindy Trout.  The text read "We see you on the beach."  Jimmy and Cindy were out in the water on their boat fishing.  They invited Lily out to hang out on the boat with them.  Apparently they had been out their fishing for 2 hours and had caught practically nothing.  Lily came aboard and all of sudden they were catching large mouth bass left and right!  Lily had such a great time, she didn't want to come off the boat!  What an awesome day!

1st grader in the house!

Today Lily began 1st grade!  So hard to believe!  Of course as usual she had pre-picked her new outfit, however once on, she decided it was too large and opted for one of her more tried and true skort and t-shirts.  She has Mrs. Riner and she reported having a good day.

 

 Mrs. Riner even gave her a lollipop!  (Which I have learned any person who gives Lily a treat (i.e. popsicle, lollipop etc) automatically is a winner!  Lily loved gymnastics camp because they gave her a popsicle.  Lily loved art camp because they gave her a popsicle.  Lily disliked soccer camp...why....no popsicle.  So things are starting off on the right foot!

So proud!

So proud of our lily pad!  She just adores swimming!  Tonight with the help of her swim instructor she swam all the way across the teaching pool, twice!  Proud mama moment!

Independent!

Merliah, queen of the waves

Look, I'm pumping!

No fear Lily!

Lily and her best buddy Brooke

One thing I really notice about Lily nowadays is her sense of independence.  I can't pinpoint it exactly, but the areas we notice it the most in the area of her friendships, her love of reading, taking on more responsiblity at home and her  physical skill development.   She has developed some friendships with some neighborhood children and has really spread her wings. She plays with her new friends for hours.  Many times the importance of these friends, has superseded her family.  It has been an opportunity for us to teach many important skills.  Her love of reading continues much to our delight.  She is an awesome reader!  I love listening to her read in the car or in her bedroom to herself.  At home she has become much more agreeable in the areas of getting dressed, cleaning her room, and sharing reponsiblity for other areas in the house (i.e. basement, bathroom).  Not that it is all rosy, but compared to the past, we can really see an improvement!   Physically she has become so much more confident and willing to try a variety of new skills.  She has learned to do skin the cat on the trapeze, complete 3 rungs on the monkey bars, and pump on the swing.  Also, she has become a super awesome swimmer!   So confident!  At the ocean, she even went out into the big waves!  I love it!

Tooth fairy visits twice and Lily finishes kindergarten

Well this was a very busy week for the toothfairy.  She had to come to our house twice in one week!  Ashton's head bumped Lily's mouth and knocked out her first top tooth.  Then while sucking on a water bottle with a lid, Lily's 2nd top tooth fell out!  Of course she looks super adorable!

Two Front Teeeth!

Last Day of Kindergarten

Hard to believe yesterday was  her last day of kindergarten.  It went by so fast!  She had a fabulous year!  She loves to read and is reading above grade level.  She loves to do math, especially shapes and addition problems.  We are super proud of her!  Her teacher Mrs. Shaffer said, "It has been my pleasure working with Lily this year!  She is such a delightgul, kind child and I am grateful to have had her in my class!"