18 Months, 2 Weeks

Lily eating tree bark. Yuck!

Well, Lily is a year and a half. She had her 18 month checkup and she now weighs in at 25lbs 10oz and 32" tall! Overall she is in the 76th percentile. A few things that were discussed:

1. Lily's soft spot is all closed up! She now has a hard head for bumping on things - which she seems to do often.
2. Lily might be allergic to bug bites. She sometimes gets infections/abscesses on her legs from mosquito bites. Gotta be watchful and the doctor says to put her in long pants whenever she's playing outside where there may be bugs. Umm? Long pants in the summertime? Maybe on a day like yesterday and today, but when it's in the 90's it'll be way too hot for that. I'll stick with the Bullfrog Mosquito Coast bug spray and sunblock in one that I got her. Seems to work.
3. Lily has been walking on her tip toes often. Nothing to be too concerned about.
4. What we are a little concerned about though is that Lily is only saying 3 words: Mama, Da, and Dance. She should be saying up to 10 words by now. The doctor thinks we should bring Lily to see a speech pathologist. I declined, for now. Lily is so smart in other areas and she knows exactly what we say and what things are - she just doesn't say the words. Dan and I are working harder now to make sure she starts speaking. If, by the time Lily is 21 months, she does not say at least 12 words, then it's time to see a specialist. She'll still be a little behind but every kid goes at their own pace. I'm not too worried right now.

Great news! 

We closed on our house on the 18th! FINALLY!!!!!!!! We have lots of work to do before we will actually move in though - which will be October 1st.

Our jungle house! Can't wait to do the landscaping :)

1. We will be ripping up and replacing all the flooring.
2. We will be ripping out and redoing the kitchen.
3. We will be taking down the knotty-pine paneling and putting up new sheetrock. Although we like it, it makes the rooms dark.
4. We will be painting all the walls.
5. We will most likely be putting up new sheetrock in the bathroom since there is wallpaper on the walls that may not come off easily.
6. We have to replace all the windows (probably).

I think that's it for now. Once we get in we DEFINITELY have to take out all of the plant life in the front yard. It's a jungle (just look at the pic)! The neighbor's should be happy about that!

17 Months, 3 Weeks

So hard to get Lily to stop moving for this pic.

Dan turned 38 last Saturday (6/29). We celebrated by going to look at cabinetry for our kitchen. We'll be closing by the end of the month so we need to start having things picked out. We also went to the appliance store and picked out what appliances we'll be getting. After that we took Lily to the pool. She had a blast! She splashed around, made some friends (personable just like her daddy), and scared the lifeguard a few times. Finished it off with some meatballs and spaghetti (thanks Mom) and an ice cream cake (thanks Dad). It was a good day.

Lily's 2nd 4th of July and still did not see any fireworks. We were all in bed by the time they were going off. I guess that's what happens sometimes when you have a toddler. Even though Dan and I could here the fireworks as if they were right there in the bedroom with us (even with the a/c on), Lily slept right through them. We are very lucky that loud noises don't bother her.

Watch some videos of the week: Go to our YouTube page HERE.

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On a sad note, I would like to take this time to offer our sincere condolences to the family of one of Dan's best friends who passed away on Tuesday. Dan became friends with John in high school and stayed very close ever since. John had fought Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) courageously since being diagnosed on September 23, 2011. He leaves behind a very strong wife, Natalie, their 3 year old boy, Alexander, their 20 month old boy, Christian, and his mother and father. 

Please help to find a cure by donating if you can. Go to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and donate in memory of John V. Sopack.

John,
We will continue to fight this fight for you. We will always remember your strength and use it to guide us through life.

We love you and miss you,
The Gormans

1991 - The beginning of a lifelong friendship

1999 - Trip to Cancun

2007 - John's Bachelor Party