Lily Bug is Two!

This is Lily. She was born two years ago today. It seems like just yesterday I was shooing Ben and Tommy out the door to buy our Christmas pizza so that I could labor on my own, gather my thoughts, and come to grips with the fact that our little girl was going to be a Christmas baby. I have never felt so close to Christ and to His Mother, Mary, than I did that night.

Lily is a gift to our family. The night she was born I felt that her presence instantly healed many wounds I had been hanging onto from the past. She made me and our family feel complete. She is a delightful, silly, beautiful little girl who has a huge loving heart. Here are a few things you may not know about Lily:

• She loves frosting. If she's eating an Oreo she licks the frosting out of the middle and discards the cookies. When eating pie, cake, or cookies with frosting or whipped cream on top, she eats that and discards the rest. I find this hilarious.
• She loves honey. She has been known to eat honey straight out of a bowl with a spoon.
• Lily's middle name is Eve. We added that in at the last moment. We had originally planned to name her "Lily Anna", but once it became clear she was going to come on Christmas Eve we changed it to Lillian Eve. Ben proposed this idea to me in the middle of a contraction while I was on my hands and knees in the living room. Don't worry, we talked about it again after she was born and things had settled down a bit.
• She loves cats and dogs.
• She loves babies.
• She can't say "Tommy" yet, so we taught her to call Tommy "Bee". This works wonderfully. She calls herself "Baby" since she can't say "Lily" either.
• The way to become friends with Lily is to read her a book. She will sit on anyone's lap if they are willing to read to her. I often find her on the couch or hidden away in a corner "reading" a book to herself.

• Lily adores Tommy and wants to do everything he does.
• She loves to smile and make friends. When we ride the bus or shop at the store she has loves to catch another person's eye, smile, and then act shy. What a flirt!
• As a baby, she was blessed with amazing calming powers. I used to nurse her and then lie her down on our bed until she fell asleep. If we were feeling stressed, tired, upset, or anxious, simply lying down next to Lily and gazing into her sweet face calmed us down. She still carries a powerful serenity about her, even though she's much more active and independent now.
• She loves to color with markers and put stickers on all her artwork.
• Lily is fearless. When we go to places like Pump it Up she climbs up the 18-foot slides and comes down on her own over and over again. One time when we went swimming in Denver there was a gigantic water slide that she had her eyes on. She got out of the pool, marched right over to the slide, and started climbing up the stairs so she could go down it. She was too short for that slide or I have no doubt she would have fearlessly gone down on her own.
• She loves to jump on Tommy at bedtime.
• She is a world-class tease.
• Lily is empathetic and loving. If another child is crying she has a hard time leaving them alone. She tells me over and over again, "Baby sad."
• She loves her binkie more than anything. If it's in her mouth, don't even try to pull it out.
• When she was nine months old she contracted MRSA, underwent emergency surgery, and stayed in the hospital for two nights. It was crazy!

Happy Birthday, Lily! We love you so much!