Move to California

The morning light is brighter here; it streams through my living room window like summer in Missouri. On its path it touches the nearly ripe oranges on the tree between nearly awake me and the street. I've always wanted fruit trees.

Our new home, our temporary home, is a place of bright sunshine. White walls that could feel cold are warmed and made homey by lace curtains and leaded glass windows from other Victorian buildings somewhere. Floral rugs and paintings feel right in this space. I wonder how long it will take me to realize this is now my home.

I feel lucky to live here. This home is wonderful. You can tell it was prepared with love and care, from the multitude of mirrors in the bath to the hand laid mosaic that winds paths into the backyard. There are ripe lemons back there too.

But as wonderful as it is, I still feel asleep. I cannot quite believe that I no longer live in the city that has always been my home. I'm almost sad to think of no more gray winters... until I remember how sad they soon become.

Lily... Lily doesn't realize that we moved. She seems to like our new home though.

Lily at 9 months

Lily turned 9 months yesterday and it is hard to imagine what my life was like before she entered it. We do most everything together and she is definitely a fun sidekick at any event. This weekend we went to the St. Louis Pride Festival in Tower Grove Park. On Saturday there was a pet parade (which we missed) and tons of animals walking around with their owners. Lily was super-excited to see everyone and their pets. She waved and clapped at as many people as she could.

This is her newest game; she stares at her target person(people) until they notice her, once they see her she smiles her most charming smile (dimples and all) and of course they can't resist smiling back. Then she waves her two-handed backwards wave with all her little might and once they are completely head-over-heels about her and gushing, she claps her little hands and looks for another target. It seems like she has a little contest with herself to see how many people she can make happy every day.

She is quite verbal now, she says mama, dada, daddy, baba, makes kissing noises and all sorts of other unidentifiable sounds. She currently most enjoys practicing screaming these noises in enclosed places or telling everyone she meets about her "da-da-da-da-da..." Eric is famous all over St. Louis city and county by now!

Lily has begun crawling, she is still a little shaky with it but gets around well. He r mobility has increased her independence and she is starting to want to do everything by herself. It's amazing to see how much she learns every day and how much she loves doing even the smallest things.

Her favorite toys at the moment are her walk around exersaucer, her dora the explorer rubber ball, a non functional remote that Eric gave her, and a musical toy we received from Eric's uncle Glenn and family.

Hope you are enjoying your summer! I'll post some pics as soon as we upload them.

Some more lily pictures

^^Best Napping Spot^^

^^Uh Oh, Where's the Washcloth?^^

^^ I don't think there's enough light, mom^^

Almost Free at Last!

Monday is my final final and then I graduate on next Saturday! Very exciting, and i'm already trying to decide what I can do to fill my suddenly less busy schedule (I like living fast and crazy!). Lily and I will, of course, be having many adventures this summer as we prepare for our move and (probably) Lily becomes more mobile.

I will be trying to keep creating art... and I hope to be able to find the time to post more regularly :)