The many faces of Lillia Grace

Lilli's first Halloween. She was a duck. She was not amused.

The Bear suit. Also not amused. But so stinking cute!

3 months old! She found her fingers and puts everything in her mouth.

"Hey- what's this? Can I eat this?"

Lilli's nap time. I don't think she knew she was supposed to sleep.

Love the bunny- eat the bunny!

Grandma B came to play!

Happy Baby

This is Lilli at 1 month, just starting to focus well and follow the sound of my voice.

This is Lilli one month later, following the my voice and laughing at my sounds. I just can't get enough of that smile...

In fact, here it is again.

What we've been up to...

PINE TREE APPLE ORCHARD

It's Honey Crisp season! We went to the orchard with Grandma Lynne, Nico and Aimee. There were Apple donuts, Cider, a Corn Maze and Lots of people!

FUNNY FACES

Every morning right after breakfast we play for a few hours and she explores our apartment. Every once in a while, instead of smiling like usual, she makes funny faces for me. (Then smiles really big like she's really proud that she made me laugh)

BATH TIME

Our Lilli LOVES bath time. If she's fussy and isn't hungry or wet, chances are she just wants a bath. Works every time. (I thought it was cute that Daddy and Lilli are making the same face)

TWINS GAME

Grandpa B, Daddy, Grandpa Denny and Baby Lilli at her very first baseball game at the new Twins stadium!

Thanks to DnKPhotography!

Will she know her name?

Our baby's name is Lillia Grace. But will she really know that with all the nicknames she sports? Here's the short list of what comes naturally out of my mouth when I talk to her... (this is by no way a comprehensive list... no daddy nick names or nicknames from grandmas or uncles) Here we go.

- Little Lilli
- Lady Lilli
- Lilli Lani
- Baby Girl
- Sweet Girl
- Sweetie Pea* Most common
- Ms. Prez
- Princess poopy pants (She doesn't like this one. I apologize every time.)
- Shmo (I don't know why.)
- Little Pretty
- Little One
- Mi Amor

... and I'm sure there's more.

4 Weeks tomorrow!

1st. Thank you mona for your comment. I didn't want to point out the spaghetti straps- Uncle Adam pointed out that they weren't "age appropriate". But again, don't judge.

So. Aunty Shmem came to visit and take care of us for almost a week. It was incredible having her here, home always feels more complete when I can live life next to her. (Thanks for being here Rooms!) I felt very taken care of, my apartment has never been cleaner (even though I don't know where anything is...) and I have never had homemade curry like hers- yummmm. I miss life next to her and it was refreshing and so fun to share Lilli with her for a while.

and Then...

Last weekend we went on our first road trip as a family. We packed up Betty (my 97 Lumina) and headed east for Whit's wedding in Fort Wayne, IN. Whit married a fantastic man named Ryan Herrmann and I have to say, I've never been so moved by vows in my lifetime. Congratulations friends, you're marriage is already a great example of a beautiful, intentional love. Thank you for letting us share in your dedication to each other.

On a side note, these families REALLY know how to party! There was a live band- and they were AMAZING! Ryan and I wanted to be on the dance floor so we entrusted Mamma Moen's best friend with Lilli and she was passed around like a little hot potato during the reception. (Don't worry those of you who worry, I took it really easy during the weekend as to not over do it myself.)

No suprise, Lilli traveled really well in the car and slept like a champ just like a Bergman. However, I think we'll take a week or two and give her a break from her car seat as much as possible.

We went in for a check up today to get Lillia weighed to make sure she's eating enough and all that jazz. Turns out she weighs 9lbs 9oz! So she's eating pretty well... goodbye newborn clothes!

The faux hawk is cute. Don't judge us.

This past week

This past week has been a blessing. Lillia is home again and looking well. Her Bilirueben levels dropped thursday morning from 19.9 when we got to the hospital down to 9.7 and we got to bring her home that afternoon. Praise the Lord.

We have been blessed to have family and friends bring us good meals and great company through the week. We appreciate all the support pouring out from everyone and the prayers for her last week. She's been through a lot for such a new person.

On a lighter side, we've had the pleasure of experiencing her first "blow out", seeing her sneeze with her whole body and coo during night time feedings. I couldn't be more over joyed about our time together as a family. Ryan has been able to stay home from work and focus on enjoying little Lillia for the past week and has been blessed to take a few more days this week after our 2nd trip to the hospital. It's a beautiful thing to see her dark curious eyes look up at him and latch onto his gaze. He passed his 1st CFA exam so he's been studying for the 2nd test (to be taken June 2011). He reads his economic books out loud to her while he's studying. She's learning her daddy's voice and about GDP and economic growth theories. What a lucky girl. (She slept through the whole thing... just like her mommy. Wink Wink.) She's smitten with him... and he with her... as it should be.

As far as the first week of her life, I can't wait to wake up and feed her at night. I know that most moms are exhausted and are quite put off with their lack of sleep, but fortunately I had already established the bad habit of not really sleeping a ton so it hasn't been too bad yet. She's a good sleeper... just like her daddy so it's been great. We've had good bonding time and it gives me so much joy to be the one who can meet her needs. What a special privilege.

Again... thanks for all your prayers. And a special thanks to Aunty Mona for the Alpaca hat!

Our Sweet Girl...

Lillia Grace Bergman is here!!! (We call her Lilli for short) She was born July 31st, 2010 at 3:33pm and weighed 8lbs 6oz!!!
We are beyond amazement at how much we love her. She is strong and beautiful... just as expected. It's incredible to see her movements and finally know what she was doing inside me all that time. This has been a wonderful journey and every minute gets better and better. She has totally captured my heart. I could look into her eyes for hours and I actually miss her when she's asleep. She's so curious already and it floors me how much she's learned in the past 5 days. She's learned to breathe, eat, and how to match us to our voices- I am so proud of her. Her first few days of life were surrounded by people who loved her before she even took her first breath. It was so special to us to have so many people love us so well. Thank you everyone who was praying for a safe delivery, everyone is safe and happy. Ryan was a wonderful support and I am continually impressed with him. While I was resting in bed, Ryan took the responsibility of learning all he could from the nurses on bathing, diapering, sleeping and general tips and tricks. He was the one who showed me how to swaddle her for bed time and how to change a diaper more efficiently... there is no one Lilli is safer with than him- and that makes a mom really proud. Adding Lilli to our family created a whole new wonderful dimension to our family- and we are coming through it closer than ever.

A glimpse into our new life:

Little Lilli and Mom

Little Lilli and Dad

Lilli had a little run in with Jaundice. We had to readmit her to the hospital so she could spend some time in the NICU spa. (note the fashionable eye wear.) She is still in there today and over night tonight but her counts are going down (*good) and we should be able to bring her home again tomorrow.

Reactions to the end.

1. I was just directed to this great new blog for new moms- Project Mom: Tips, Tricks & Truths for First Time Moms. (Thanks Lily!) I know a ton of upcoming new moms so check it out friends- she has some good stuff in there.

2. This is a good site for DIY projects. PrudentBaby.com Easy, straightforward and cute.

3. The end of pregnancy questions are more trying than the mid pregnancy comments. This is obviously just my take- some women get really offended by those mid pregnancy comments such as: WOW, when are you due? How many babies are in there? You look really uncomfortable. Are you sure that baby is going to fit? How are you going to get that baby out? blah blah blah. I think they're kind of funny- it's hilarious what people think is appropriate small talk- they know the final exam to these 9 months isn't going to be pleasant... yet they make comments like "I knew this girl once and her baby got stuck half way down and they had to push her back in just to cut her out." (I'm not upset at this comment, so friend who said this, you know who you are, please don't take it personally that I used this ONE comment as my example. It wasn't the worst.) But more tense people than I might be terrified at stories like these. I can even take the ribbing from family- even though my patience has been tried once or twice and my sensitivity has been very delicate these past 9 months- I know they love this new baby so I can deal with it.

4. The end of pregnancy questions:

The first one I have trouble with is "What's her name?" To save everyone some time, we don't know yet. My experience with choosing names has been limited to pets, stuffed animals and paintings. With paintings, I've been in the habit of not naming them until the creation is complete and I can get a good look at what it should be called. Even then it's hard to choose a name, I've poured myself into it, I've worked so hard to complete it, what name would do it justice? It's infinitely harder to name our child. So we'll be waiting until we meet her and see what name could possibly do her justice.

The second question I have trouble with is "Are you ready to get that baby out?" The answer is NO. First- I've really enjoyed this whole pregnancy thing... it's SUPER interesting. Second, It's easier to take care of her when she's inside. I've been able to be relatively in control of her for the past 9 months. I can keep her safe by keeping myself safe, I can keep her healthy by keeping myself healthy... I know this isn't always the case, but I have been very fortunate with her. I'm not saying this because I'm a control freak and once she's out- I'm going to have to give up some control. It's not like that. Once she's out, I'm forced to take the first step in letting her go. After all, she's not really mine to start with, she belongs to the Lord and He will direct her path. It's hard to think about how to raise her in this world to know courage and justice and honesty... to be a woman of integrity and to know the Lord. Then to let her go someday knowing that He can take care of her far better than we ever could and trust that she's gotten to know Him enough to walk in the right direction. It's one big snowball... I can't wait to see her and watch her react to Ryan- (who she's been snuggling up to for months now) and to hear her laugh for the first time and hear her sweet voice someday... but it's hard knowing that this is the first step toward her life as an independent person. She'll be able to breathe on her own, sleep on her own and eat on her own and soon enough we'll be sending her to school and to college, she'll get married and have children of her own. (Lord willing and if she chooses it.) She will have her own path and her own purpose, her own personality... and we'll be proud. But every parent I talk to says it goes by so fast... so if you keep asking me now if I'm ready to have her out... please know that these are the thoughts that flash through my head. I love every minute I spend with her and I'm not ready to rush anything.

All that said, it's close to the end of this season. Our due date is Aug. 2nd... so anytime in the next few weeks we'll be welcoming this little one into the world and we can't wait for you all to meet her! We'll try to post the announcement as soon as we can.

Whit's beautiful family

oil on canvas 24" x 36"

This is the Moen family... Papa Moen, Whitney, Mandy and Mamma Moen. I would like to point out how joyful this family is when they're together. I was honored to be commissioned for this painting- Thanks for letting me be a part of this!

Old and New Projects

Yellow Bird.

Fun mixed media alphabet.

I really like doing small projects on the side of the larger and longer projects. They keep my creativity going and my mind loose.

Our Baby Girl

This is the baby girl that's been living inside me for 5 months. It's been a pretty amazing journey so far. It's one thing to have the knowledge that there is a person in there, it's another to hear, see and feel her. She's already taking after her dad... he taps her and she taps back- it's her favorite game. She also responds to music in a big way- dancing up a storm in there. We can't wait to meet her!

Oh happy day!

I had a great experience today.

It's Monday in MN and we're in the middle of a pretty nice snow storm. It's beautiful. I had a few errands to run, 1st stop- bank. Thank you icy roads for the short lines at the bank. 2nd stop, blockbuster for a few free movies. I was greeted as I walked in the door... they're very good about that. I was asked if I needed help... that was nice. When I got to the counter to check out, the guy helping me said, "You have a nice energy- you seem very happy, what's your secret?" I took a second to reflect while he was looking up my account... I got to say, "God didn't create life to be unhappy, I guess I'm happy because I'm grateful." He smiled and told me that was a very good reason. And it is.

Dreams

My favorite pregnancy symptom so far are the ultra vivid dreams. I had heard about these dreams and a lot of women said they had scary dreams about murderers or giving birth to a 19lb baby... not me. So far my dreams are somewhat realistic and definitely linked to what I've been thinking about over the past few days. I've been having a lot of dreams about friends that I've lost touch with- friends that I don't even know how to find. It's been really nice to reconnect with these people- even if it wasn't real. I woke up feeling so happy every time. Thank you hormones or whatever chemical is making my dreams so real. I have a hard time sleeping through the night lately so sometimes I get to have a few of these dreams each night because of the interruptions.

Cool.

Heartbeats Rule- week 11

I'm sure everyone that reads my blog, all 8 of you already know what I'm referring to.

On Monday Ryan and I went to see our midwife and heard the super fast thumping heartbeat of our baby for the first time! I didn't gush like some women, I didn't even tear up but it was beautiful and I am amazed at this biological marvel that God letting us share.

When I have more time and energy I'll be able to get out my actual thoughts and feelings about this incredible- spiritual- overwhelmingly beautiful new stage of life- but for now- we're going with the play by play approach.

Ode to Betty

There is a new sweetheart in my life. Her name is Betty. She is a 97 Maroon Chevy Lumina and she's so sweet (and safe). It's hard to say good bye to the old saturn, but it's time. My family found this car for me and I was hesitant at first but as soon as I sat in there and saw that I could adjust all my mirrors from the driver seat I was smitten. All my wheels are the same size, the windows don't leak, the seat belt doesn't choke me every time I get in, there are cup holders (not one but two!) AND there is a front bench seat! She's not flashy and she's not without quirks, but she has character and I like her a lot.