Yesterday Dan and I celebrated our 2nd Anniversary! (woo hoo!) It was also Lily's 18 month birthday! (don't do the math) I can hardly believe it's been 2 years. It has been hard & wonderful & adventurous & boring & sexy & crazy & hilarious & so much fun! I love you, babe! 
This year we decided to completely fore-go celebrating Christ's birth, and concentrated solely on presents. Ha ha, just kidding.
We went to Brigham City to celebrate with Dan's family, and here are some picture highlights:
Here's the dress I sewed for Lily. She obviously hated it.
My favorite gift:
Lily's favorites included her baby, stroller, high heels, and being at grandma's house.
Yay for Christmas!!
Lily loves her Charlie!! He came over yesterday and Lily got to take care of him (aka: double duty for Rach to make sure Lily is soft and nice) He is so cute!! This is the picture of him that Lily runs to every morning to kiss:
And we now join Brenna in the "Charlie Spot" club...let me explain. Charlie is a drooler, and I'm not putting that lightly. He will slobber all over anything he can get his chubby little hands on! So we now have "Charlie spots" on our couch, just like Brenna. Thanks Charlie!!
Yesterday I came home from running errands to find Dan and Lily playing in the snow!! It took Lily a while to realize she could walk in it, but she had so much fun! Daddy always knows what to do with Lily to have a blast!
Here is Lily mid-hit (snowball thrown by dad):
And here they are in front of our oh-so-glamorous apartment:
Lily loves to look "pretty." She puts on chap stick to look pretty, wipes her boogers to look pretty, brushes her teeth to look pretty, and plays with my makeup brushes to look pretty. Here she is making our whole house look pretty:
Christmas is almost here! Yesterday I told Dan that Christmas is in one week and asked him if he could believe it! He replied, "yes." For those of you who know Dan, you understand. Anyways, we are getting excited!! We're done with shopping and decorating so we can just relax and enjoy!!
This morning I woke up with big plans to run lots of errands, put in plenty of hours at work, and get a lot done. But then...
...It started to snow!! BIG TIME!! So I am not going anywhere. We're stuck inside for the day, so productivity is no longer on my list of things to do!
Lily loves to be naked!!! So sometimes (to prevent diaper rash and get a few giggles) we let her run around with a naked bum.
10 Things Lily is GREAT at:
1. Spelling her name ("O,I,O,I, Yi-yee" = L,I,L,Y, Lily)
2. Going down for bed/naps...it's so easy!
3. Pooping...she's the most regular person I've ever met!
4. Brushing her teeth.
5. Telling me "no no, mama."
6. Throwing things away - she knows what to keep and what is "shash" (translation: trash)
7. Loving...she loves to kiss and snuggle with me and all her stuffed animals. That is my favorite!
8. Grocery shopping...she is so good!
9. Coloring only on paper.
10. Verbally labeling everything as "yi-yee's" or "mamma's."
10 Things Lily SUCKS at:
1. Eating solid foods.
2. Babysitting Charlie and being soft.
3. Eating a single meal without making a complete mess!
4. Keeping her shoes & socks on in the car (even when it's freezing)!
5. Picking up after herself.
6. Entertaining herself while I try to shower. (Good thing this showering business only happens on rare occasions)
7. Being good at church.
8. Sharing with other kids or babies (we're working on it!)
9. Performing her "tricks" in front of other people.
10. Being OK watching mommy hold another baby.
I am currently reading this book and would like to share a delightful excerpt with you:
"We're all tourists, sort of. Life is tourism, sort of. As far as I'm concerned, the dinosaurs still hold the lease on this godforsaken rock."
I have a whiteboard nailed to my bedroom door where I love to keep my "to do" lists. But today I erased the whole thing and wrote in block letters:
FIGHT THE URGE TO BE LAZY!
Yes, my life has come down to this. Dreams and aspirations are gone, and all I'm left with is this high hope.
Okay, let me brag for just a minute. This is my blog after all, isn't it?! I sewed these cute stockings...and I can't wait to put them up!
Rach's, Lily's and Dan's
Here's a random fact for you...Lily's name was "Sandcastle" for the first 9 months of her unborn life! We didn't know what to call her, so Sandcastle Pancake Lyman sounded like the perfect name. 
Eventually, we went with "Lily," mostly so she won't hate us forever. We love you, baby Sandcastle!!
My parents (mom mostly) could just NOT WAIT for Lily to open her presents on Christmas...so she got to open some on Thanksgiving!
Lily LOVES her princess shoes...she wears them everywhere now! She's actually getting good at walking in high heels!
And here's to Blake, who had so much fun playing with Lily, and kept the rest of us laughing the whole time!
