The Updike's

Obviously most of our recent postings have been all about Lily . . . this time this posting is all about Garrett. I am so proud of Garrett. He has worked so hard to earn his MBA . He is finally on his last stretch of school . . . 20 more days until graduation. Yah!! Garrett always gets an inquisitive look when people learn that he is a Mormon doing his graduate work at a Catholic university. Garrett's response is so true. He always expresses how very impressed he is with the strong values that the University of Notre Dame exemplifies. Just as impressive, the university expects those same great values be exemplified by its students/graduates. The University of Notre Dame's MBA Values statement is the following: In 1842, Father Edward Sorin, a young French missionary, arrived in South Bend Indiana. He surveyed the land provided to him and announced his vision: to build a great Catholic University. Father Sorin’s leadership, charisma and faith created the foundation that...

She did it! Lily rolled over. In fact, she rolled over 3 different times this day. We credit the "magic mat." My good friend, Nadine, made us this awesome diaper changing mat that Lily absolutely loves! She will just lay on this mat and play longer than she will on a blanket that is on the floor. As you can see in the video below . . . she made her first big rolling debut on the "magic mat." (**note: disregard the annoying cheerleading mother talking in the background**) Since then, however, she struggles with tummy time and just puts her head down and sucks on her hands.

This is what I came home to the other night . . . Daddy Daughter Bonding? If she is anything like her mother, she fell asleep because she was bored to death. :)

Garrett and I had the great opportunity to go to the Chicago temple the other day. We each took turns watching Lily in the car while the other one did a session in the temple. I had such a sweet experience with Lily while we were waiting for Garrett. She had been acting really unsettled for about an hour so I tried to sway her back and forth in my arms to soothe her into going to sleep. Sometimes when she starts to go to sleep she goes into a trance like state (not completely asleep, but not awake either). While she was in this trance, all of a sudden she gets this big old smile on her face and she starts giggling. She did it like 3 times. It was so sweet! I just felt overwhelming feelings of love for her at this moment. I was so happy to have witnessed this little experience. As we made the 2 1/2 hour drive home, my thoughts kept going back to the sweet experience I had with Lily. Garrett and I discussed the reasons of why she might be giggling. Obviously, only a few weeks ag...

So Christina and I have had an ongoing debate about what we should use as terminology when our children take care of their "bathroom business." She hates the word "poop." She thinks it sounds crass. She would rather us use "#2" or "crap." (I still don't understand how "crap" is any less crass than "poop." OK, so she really doesn't want to use "crap," but she does like it better than the word "poop.") I think using "#2" is quite difficult and not as efficient in describing what is actually happening. I mean, what do we say... "Uh oh, it looks like Lily is #2-ing again." Or maybe "I think Lily has a #2 filled diaper." Oh well, whatever we decide to use, it is absolutely hilarious when she actually does it. Here is a video we took the other day. We promise that her eyes don't normally look like this. But when she starts pushing... all that work causes some ...

So I used to tease my twin brother about being "camera happy" when he would take like 50 pictures a day (okay, so I am exaggerating - but you get the "picture") of his 1st baby . . . little did I know that I would do the very same thing. Because we think she is the cutest thing ever - I had to share all of these sweet photos with everyone. Yes, I am the one who is "camera happy" now and you have definitely been inundated with Lily pictures . . . enjoy! My siblings and I have such fond memories of running around with our shirts on our heads like this . . . Bath time! Pretty little flower! So after a very long day of being fussy with mom . . . dad comes home from school and saves the day. Garrett is king of getting her to calm down when she has had a rough sleepless day! Yowzers! Little Peanut Love this face! Little bear outfit Uncle Michael and Aunt Holly sent.