Lilah Can Sit Up Now!!!

Lilah started sitting up last weekend. She now can sit up by herself from anywhere to 5 to 15 minutes without falling over. I put pillows all around her to cushion the fall when she does finally tip over. She's really enjoying sitting up and will sit next to me while I'm going through the mail, putting on makeup, etc. She does not want to hold everything that I've got. She makes this grunting whimpering type of noise when she wants what I have. It doesn't matter if I have a pen, paper, or machete, if I've got it she wants it.

She's now eating all kinds of baby food and I must brag and say she's doing quite well. She hated rice cereal, so we just skipped it and went on to fruits and veggies. She loves everything except green peas. She'll still eat the peas, she just makes a face when she does. She's also started using her sippy cup. Bill came home and said, "you've got the sippy cup out, isn't it a little soon?" She hasn't totally mastered it yet, but already she's making big improvements. She can now get some water out, but can't quite hold it high enough without a little help.

Lilah and I planned Bill a boys weekend in Vegas for his birthday. So he's off this weekend enjoying some friends he hasn't seen in a long time. We of course miss him, but are enjoying our girl time. We hope he comes home rich! But could he ever be richer than having the two of us?

I know we have been MIA from the blog for almost a month. Things just got crazy around here with finishing up the reconstruction, planning Bill's surprise birthday dinner, then Lilah and I headed to GA & Seattle for almost 2 weeks to let all the family meet my little pumpkin! Then we were back a day and my friend Leslie from nursing school came to visit with her family, so we've been busy bees. Hopefully things will slow down just a little now, but i'll never be able to blog as well as I did pre Lilah. Already I'm watching the clock knowing I better get to bed so i'll be ready when my little Sunshine wakes up.

More pictures of Lilah the Party Girl

The other day I told Dad for him and Mom not to wear themselves out running back and forth from San Juan to Seattle on our account while we're in town next week. Dad said, "don't worry, its for Lilah, not for you." And i must say that's certainly the truth, when people see me now, nobody says hello to me, its all hi and hello's to Lilah. But if I had to be shoved out of the spotlight at least its by someone with a cute big slobbery grin.

Here's Lilah and her new friend Kyle. They got along great and Kyle's mom even had a bumbo Lilah could use so she felt right at home.

Karen is our Biggest Blogger Fan

Yolanda our host is so fancy, she even had this little basket filled with baby bottles with little stickers on the bottle that read ALOHA BABY MOORE complete with the picture of Lilah at the orphanage with the two flowers behind her ears. She really thought of everything.


At the shower Yolanda also had a fun game called Who Knows Aloha Baby Moore Blog the best. It had a series of questions about our blog covering various things like how long is the bus ride to Lang Son, what was Bill doing on the way to the G&R ceremony, what does G&R stand for, what does Lilah call her grandmother, who is our pediatrician, does Lilah like cheese T or F, etc.





I was really surprised how many people knew so many of the answers, poor Bill was trying to help some people and couldn't remember a few of the answers himself.

But I'm happy to say KAREN was our biggest blogging fan!!! She told us while we were in VN the first thing she did everyday was check the blog, before she even fed her beloved dogs. Everyone laughed at how fun it was to actually see Lilah in person and not just on a computer anymore.

I know there are a few of you out there who could have done quite well yourself at the Aloha Baby Moore trivia questions and given Karen a run for her money.

Karen is a very special and talented lady. She made this adorable crab dress with matching hat and bloomers for Lilah along with a few extra hats. In Hawaii you can never have too many sun hats. And Lilah loved all the colors in the dress. Here's a few cute pictures of Lilah with her biggest blogger fan Karen, nice for these two to finally meet in person.

So to all of our blog fans, thank you so much for all your love and support, your comments and thoughts have supported us so much more than you could ever know. And thank you for being interested in what's going on in our little neck of the woods. Maybe all of you will start a blog too so I can keep up with you better. Leslie started one to chronicle their big move to Nashville, and its been so great to see Hailey so much more often, so come on, jump on the blogging train!

Mahalo Yolanda, Mo, & Brenda

These girls really thought of everything for the party! There was delicious food, fun games, and they even gave me a beautiful Haku to wear and feel like a princess for the day. Two Haku's in one year, I may start to think I really am Hawaiian royalty.

Miss Lilah enjoyed every minute of limelight. She had only had a 30 min nap in the car on the trip from Kailua to Kahala, and had not eaten in over 7 hours total, but she was still smiling and just enjoying all the attention. I know you're reading and thinking 7 hrs.. but she wouldn't eat when I tried to feed her... honest....., my little social butterfly was to busy socializing,.... (a lot like her Mama).

Aunty Maureeen who we like to call Aunty Mo, has this magic ability to soothe all the kids, I told her there were plenty of babies in Lang Son if she'd like one for her own. And Aunty Brenda actually had to work, but she finished rounding just in time as the party started. And the cutie you see in the photos with Maureen & Brenda is Kyle, he's almost 1 year old, and Lilah was certainly glad to make a new friend.

Here Kyle is with his Dad Dean, they hosted the party at their new beautiful home, unfortunately Yolanda, Kyle's Mom, is not in one single picture, because she's the busy bee taking all the photos. She's so good, she had a CD with pictures from the party to me by Monday, I'm slower than her with my thank you blog.

Mahalo Kapiolani Pediatric Outpatient Clinic For the SURPRISE Party!!

Last saturday Lilah and I had a big day planned. We woke up and got ready and headed out the door to her first birthday party in Kailua. Her new friend Jackson Cedar, whose Mommy works with me, was turning 1 year old. Then we were meeting some friends from Bill's office for a cookout.

Of course, if you know me I can really get into a party and loose track of time. I called Bill to check in and was quickly reprimanded for not being home yet to make it to the BBQ. For anyone who knows us, or Bill, know that we are quite often running late, especially Bill, and he's never one to be anal about things like getting to a party right when it starts. I couldn't figure out why he was so up in arms about being a few minutes late to the party. I had told Yolanda we'd be there around 1:00 and it was now 1:20, not bad for a weekend party in my opinion, especially when the birthday party had been on the other side of town.

As we entered the back gate to their patio area, I hear.... "Surprise"...... Bill's co-workers from the Kapiolani Women's & Children Hospital Pediatric Outpatient clinic had thrown us a surprise baby shower. It was such a wonderful and very kind surprise. I was just overwhelmed with their thoughtfulness. Thank you so much Yolanda, Dean, & Kyle for hosting the party, and thank you so much to Maureen & Brenda too for all your planning and hard work. Thank you to everyone for all your support and love through our entire adoption process. For those close to us, you know this was not always an easy road, so thank you for everything, we appreciate it more than you know. We are so blessed to have friends like you!

I started noticing about a week or two ago little hairs all over the back of Lilah's neck. Then I'd notice them on her changing table, in the crib, and I had to conclude.... she's loosing her hair. And sure enough she's got two developing bold spots, each on the side of her head. So now she has this Mohawk looking thing, or at least it looks like a mohawk when I stand it straight up, or I can make it Alfalfa style. Bill says when I comb it, it looks like a comb over, he suggested I cut it, but I told him you don't cut kids hair till they are at least one, he asked me why, I had no answer, isn't this true, or is it some old wives tale i've taken to heart through the years?

Nonetheless, if our little doll goes bald, she'll still be beautiful. And if she's still got the mohawk at Halloween, we just may spray paint it hot pink and let her be a punk rocker!

Me & My Daddy Love BJ Penn!!!!

Many of you may not have heard of UFC, Ultimate Fighting Championship, but my husband Bill loves to watch it. Its this type of fighting that crosses martial arts, wrestling, and boxing. They even have a reality show they has had several seasons. You follow along as the fighters all live in the same house, and learn their motivations for fighting, personalities, etc. The reality show makes it much more tolerable for me to watch with Bill. It gives me a story to go with the person who's in the ring. Well, two saturday nights ago, there was a big UFC fight on cable. Usually the actual big championships in the octagon are pay per view, but this time it was on cable and Bill was all excited to watch.

BJ Penn is a fighter from here in Hawaii. He actually lives in Hilo which is on the Big Island. In the opinion of many BJ Penn is the best UFC fighter ever. He is thought to have just a natural talent never seen before. Anyway he was fighting his long time rival Pulver. All of Hawaii was so excited to see Penn fight. Hawaii is a state that really has a ton of pride in their people, and BJ Penn is considered by many to be the best athlete to ever come from Hawaii.

So all this background information to tell you Bill was really pumped about the fight and excited to watch. So while he was getting into the game I took Lilah and wrapped a red bandanna around her head for a doo'rag, then I held her up to Bill and said, "Hey Dad, I want to watch the fight with you, I love BJ Penn too." Bill had a big laugh at his little fighter. He sat her in his lap and they watched the rest of the fight together. She actually watched it very intently raising her hands, talking to the tv and looking like she actually knew what was going on and who we were rooting for. And BJ Penn did win of course in case you were wondering!

I'm sure that's more than many of you ever cared to know about UFC, but we had a lot of fun with her, who knows maybe Lilah and her Daddy will always watch UFC together.