DON'T TAKE MY CHEESE!!!

One evening while I was trying to get dinner done and Miss Lilah was hanging out in her bumbo and getting a little fussy I handed her a bag of cheese to keep her occupied. As I begin to notice her drooling profusely ALL over the bag, I decided it was time to take it back. The minute I took it back she started screaming like a wild woman. I quickly handed the cheese back and she was happy as a clam. Now in the evenings when I'm trying to get dinner done the cheese is often given out to help soothe my little angel till we're done cooking. Who knew she'd love a bag of cheese so much? We buy all kinds of toys, and my kid loves a bag of shredded sharp cheddar cheese.

Lilah's First Trip to the Beach

On Wednesday we took Lilah for her very first trip to the beach! We didn't go for an all out day, we just drove over on a whim and wanted to stick her feet in the warm Pacific. She fell asleep en route to the beach, so we had a sleepy baby when we arrived. She didn't mind the sand on her feet as long as you were holding her and not making her sit down in it. I've posted the pictures in the order of her reaction. You can see where Bill is leaning her over closer to the water and she's looking back like, " I don't think I like this," Then when her feet are in the cold sand she says, "Yeah, I don't like it" Then the water hits her toes, and she says, "I definitely don't like it, get me outta here." Although she didn't love the water, she still loved it. I'm hoping over the weekend to take her to the pool for a little dip in her bikini.

GO DAWGS!!!

For those of you who don't know me well, I am a very big Georgia Bulldogs Fan! No, I didn't go to the University of Georgia, I'm a Georgia Southern girl, but I have loved the bulldogs since I was a little girl. It was a huge family rivalry since my step dad Jerry loves the Gators, and we have had so much fun teasing each other through the years, and still do. But Thuy has been given her very first Georgia Bulldogs t-shirt by Aunt Kathryn, known as Kat Balou, and Uncle Lance! It is one of my favorite baby gifts. They originally bought it for Quynh, but we know she wouldn't have minded letting her little sister Thuy wear it! Thanks again you two!

Mahalo Aunt Kathryn & Uncle Lance

Aunt Kathryn & Uncle Lance sent Thuy a great big gift box with lots of goodies. She's sporting her Augusta Master's bib and Georgia Bulldog pacifier holder for all of you to ooh and aww over. I think its just adorable. They even sent me a Georgia Bulldog scrub top for work. So Thuy's all ready to root for the Georgia Bulldogs this fall.

Sorry to Aunt Liz and Aunty Melissa & Olivia, but I put all the stuff up from the great goody boxes you sent before Thuy arrived. But Thuy's certainly enjoying Aunt Liz's beautiful quilt and Aunty Melissa's bumbo every single day.

LIFE WITH LILAH THANH THUY MOORE

Drumroll please...... yes, we have given her a first name, Lilah. Its the same name we were batting around the entire time, I guess we just needed enough time to make sure we got it right. Thanh Thuy (pronounced like Tan Twee) is the Vietnamese name given by her birth mother. Our family in VN told us that Thanh with the Thuy makes the name extra special. They said it is a VERY nice Vietnamese name and we would be taking away from it if we left Thuy all alone. Plus the nice thing is Thanh is part of Oma's name as well. So that way it gives honor to her birth mother and Oma too, the best of both worlds. I think on legal paper we'll combine Thanh Thuy to Thanhthuy, so that she legally has only 3 names. I just think its way to confusing to have 4 names when it comes to SAT's, legal forms, etc. One of the other families we traveled with was doing this also, and we thought it was a great idea. So thanks Chi & Wim for the idea.

I love this picture of Thuy asleep on her daddy chest on father's day. Thuy got Bill a very nice picture and frame as well as a bag full of his favorite local snacks like smoked squid.

The other picture is how we eat dinner every single night. Thuy sits in her bumbo while we eat. This way she can see us and we can see her, but we can use both our hands to eat, but one person does have drool duty, (wiping her face with a dry cloth when the drool gets heavy). The other day when we finished dinner we noticed she had drool all under her right leg in the bumbo..... daddy had drool duty that night. :-)

Thuy loves pizza

Thuy is a definite slobber box. Yes, I realize all kids slobber, but she slobbers so much we have to carry a rag around with us all the time to wipe up the slobber. Oma bought me 20 rags from VN and i'm beginning to wonder if that's enough. No she's not teething, not a tooth appears to be in sight. She just slobbers and loves to chew on her hands, our hands, her rag, her toys, whatever she can get in her mouth. I was holding her up over my head yesterday playing and a big thing of slobber went right into my eye.

Yesterday we were eating pizza for lunch. I let her suck on the back of the crust and she loves it. If you could have heard all the sucking she was doing on the bread. Yes I know a almost 5 month old should not be eating pizza,.... she was just sucking on the bread and enjoying herself thoroughly.

Tomorrow is Bill's first father's day and i'm very excited! Since we just got back I didn't have much time to plan. I got him a cute frame with a picture of Thuy as well as a card from Thuy that says something about "though we've just started, I love you so much already." It's a perfect card. I also got the makings for his favorite mexican breakfast in the morning as a surprise. I'll be using your recipe Liz.

So let me say Happy Father's Day to Opa, Papa, Daddy Jack, & Daddy Jerry. Wish I could be there to celebrate with you all. As a new parent myself I can all the more appreciate all the love and work you've given me and Bill our entire lives. Thank you, we love you!

Thuy meets Bynx & Barabus

We are a few days into being at home now and things are going well. Its been difficult to adjust to the time zones, but Thuy now seems to be doing better than us. The first day we felt a little like, "what do we do now." Its hard to go back to your "regular/old" life with a new baby. How do I find time to do all the things I normally do and take good care of her, especially when she likes to be held so much?

Well we are starting to find a new "regular" life and its quite wonderful. We just started trying today to write down when she eats and sleeps to figure out some sort of schedule. I am now able to predict the morning nap, so we're making some progress. And Tuesday we have our first visit with our pediatrician.

The first day at home Thuy hated every single chair or toy I put her in. She wouldn't stay in anything longer than a minute or two. But i've learned she's usually happiest in the mornings. So I try to put her in things like her bouncy chair first thing in the morning, and every day she seems to like it just a little bit more.

The biggest hit thus far is her Bumbo seat. Thank you very much Melissa, Scott, Maddox, & Olivia! I love the way she looks in it with her little feet sticking out. She stays in the bumbo longer than she'll stay in anything else. If she's happy before I put her in it, i'll be able to get breakfast made and almost finish eating before she's ready to get out. This is quite an improvement.

Here's 2 pictures of Thuy meeting her 2 rabbit ts Bynx & Barabus. We sat her in the bumbo outside near them while we fed them. At first she found them quite interesting and then they got a little too close and she wasn't so crazy that. Her favorite way to view them is from our arms. I guess I can understand her apprehension, they're almost the same size as her.