Journey to and Through Motherhood: Lily's 25th Week (8/17/09

I was back working at the Brighton Health Center Monday through Wednesday and we did not have the benefit of using my mom’s car so Paul had to drive his truck with the stuck clutch and the rope and pulley system to work in Ann Arbor. At least this week he didn’t have to drive the girls all over the place. Rachel was on vacation in South Dakota with Paul’s parents all week and Lily was back at Kirsten’s so I dropped her off and picked her up. After work on Monday we drove to Spartan Toyota in Lansing to look at the double cab Tacomas they had. They had already sold their 2009 one but they had a new 2010 on the lot. This one had the Toyota Racing Development package which is sweet. We weren’t so in love with the brown color but the options on it were awesome. We wheeled and dealed with them until almost 10pm (they closed at 8pm) and ended up getting a really good deal on the vehicle. With the Cash for Clunkers money and the deal we got, we ended up paying less than I saw a used 2007 model for online. Amazing! Lily did really well for how long we were there but ended up getting fussy at the end because she was tired and couldn’t fall asleep. I think us wanting to leave and the crying baby worked to our benefit because they didn’t want us to walk out the door without any papers signed so suddenly the impossible price we wanted to pay became possible. We didn’t have the truck with us and it was too late to get all the official documentation done so Paul left work early on Tuesday to drop off his truck and pick up the new one. One of the qualifications is that the traded in vehicle must be driveable and Paul almost crashed on the way there! Someone’s spare tire fell out from underneath their truck right in front of him and started rolling toward him. He couldn’t swerve so he had to drive over it. Apparently he went up on two wheels for a few scary moments but was able to regain control. He got home with the sweet new truck around 6pm. I had dinner waiting for us then we drove the truck up to Davison to show my parents our new purchase. We were going to make it a surprise but with my uncle being our insurance agent and me calling him for the proof of insurance information, he had already spilled the beans to them. We met up with my parents and my uncle at my Grandma’s house. She had everyone over to show off the new tile she had done in her laundry room after a flood ruined the carpet. I drove the truck up there which was great. I could never drive Paul’s old truck because I don’t know how to drive a stick. I always hated it because it was uncomfortable, didn’t even have power windows or doors, and the air conditioning broke on it years ago when Paul hit a deer. Plus I nicknamed the passenger side seatbelt “the Anaconda” because it would continually tighten more and more until you couldn’t breathe. This new truck is cushy, fully loaded, and best of all, I can drive it. When we got there, Paul took my dad for a spin around the block then I took my mom. We admired my Grandma’s new tile then had a nice visit. Unfortunately, this made for another late night for Paul, Lily, and I.

On Wednesday morning, Paul took Lily to her monthly physical therapy check. Since this involved parking at the parking structure at the hospital and we didn’t want our brand new truck getting a door ding in those tight spaces, I got to drive the truck to work at Brighton while Paul drove Lily in my car. I have to say, I really like driving the truck. It is nice being up higher on the road and it has been a really long time since I had a brand new vehicle. Lily’s appointment went well again, although she still favors using her left arm. After work, we took the truck with us grocery shopping. The car is obviously better for fitting all of the groceries in the trunk but the novelty of the truck won out over the practicality of the car. On our way back, we marveled over the fact that we’d had the truck only 26 hours and had already put 300 miles on it! We also drove the truck to work on Thursday and Friday.

We spent the weekend in Davison helping my parents with an outdoor project. They have helped us with so many projects and my mom has cleaned our house for us every other week since Lily has been born that we figured it was the least we could do. The project was tearing down the concrete flowerbed walls around their back porch and putting up new block walls. My dad and Paul spent Saturday tearing down and hauling away the old concrete walls then digging a trench and leveling and preparing the ground for the new walls. This job wasn’t easy as they spent the entire time fending off swarms of mosquitoes. I have never seen so many! They were tinier than normal and were completely silent. My mom, Lily, and I spent most of day safely inside doing the boatload of laundry I brought with me. We also took Lily out in her cool Jeep stroller for a walk since it was a nice day. The mosquitoes weren’t as bad if you weren’t out in the grass. It was nice because my old friend, Jennifer, was at her father’s house down the street so she and her aunt came out and visited with my Mom, Lily, and I. She had seen pictures of Lily on Facebook but hadn’t gotten to meet her in person. I also hadn’t ever met Jennifer’s adorable little boys. We went home Saturday night then returned Sunday morning. On Sunday, my dad and Paul worked on putting up the new wall. They had to cut many blocks so it took a long time. They worked all day and got the first few layers of wall up. The first took the longest because everything had to be perfect. Meanwhile, my mom and I did some Wal-Mart shopping then I worked on catching up on this blog as I have gotten quite far behind. While my dad and Paul spent the weekend doing hard labor, my mom and I spent quite a relaxing weekend. Not quite fair for the boys but I sure appreciated the down time after how busy the past two weeks have been. Since I wasn't at home with my giant list of things to do, I napped both afternoons with Lily. It was luxurious!

This week we continued with feeding Lily dinner. The only new food we introduced was peaches which she seemed to like. I thought they smelled like vomit. At my parent’s house we added lunch on Saturday and on Sunday, she had solids for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Her system still seems to be handling it well. Her hair is coming in thicker and thicker every day. We keep accusing Kirsten of dyeing it daily to mess with us. Some days it looks dark brown, some days it looks blonde, and other days it looks every shade in between. Her eyes seem to be staying bright blue but who knows what color her hair will turn out to be! She is vocalizing a lot more and has added “Da-Da” and “La-La” to her repertoire of sounds.

Here are some pictures from this week.

Smiley girl with Mr. Moo on Monday morning:

My very curious baby on Monday evening getting ready to go truck shopping:

Paul took some goodbye pictures of his old 1995 Toyota Tacoma before heading to the dealership to get rid of it:

Note the lovely cracks all over the windshield. It was pointless getting it replaced because due to the aerodynamics of the windshield, it would just get hit and cracked again:

Hello to our pretty new 2010 Toyota Tacoma. Thank you Cash for Clunkers:

Lily eating peaches for dinner for the first time on Tuesday night before heading up to Davison on our family's maiden voyage in the new truck:

Lily working with her physical therapist, Sherry, on Wednesday:

Bubbles keep her entertained and on task:

Paul and my dad tearing down the old flowerbed walls at my parents' house on Saturday:

Prepping the ground for the first layer of blocks:

Lily eating her toys, as usual:

Going for a walk on Saturday afternoon in her cool Jeep stroller bought for her by Grandma Chris for one of my baby showers:

My adorable little girl napping on her grandma Saturday evening:

Groggy Lily with Daddy on Sunday morning:

As mentioned in a previous entry, she loves things that make a crinkly noise. She has a lot of toys that make that noise but none of them are nearly as interesting as her wipes packages: