October 18, already?

I was actually shocked when I realized how far into October we are - Justin was talking about my birthday last night and I quickly did the math . . . oh yeah, it's a week away!

I have mixed feelings about it this year . . . while we took time last year to have a little get together at the house even though Lila wasn't even a month old, this year I don't know how much I feel like doing anything other than letting the day pass.  And you know I love birthdays so this is out of character for me!  I'm actually feeling like it could go only one way or the other - we do nothing . . . OR we go big and do a night out with friends, karaoke, lots of drinking . . . par the usual course for my big day.  But do I want to deal with the hangover???

Anyway, you are probably wondering what we've been up to for the past 18 days, since my last post was October 1.  Mostly recovering from Lila's 1st birthday extravaganza!  And if you missed it on facebook, Lila is now WALKING! (I posted a video, so check it out!)  She loves her new independence and she is getting really stable.  Junior League has picked back up again for the year so I've been busy doing that as well, plus we went to the most amazing wedding of Lauren and Byron in St. Augustine!  Side note: St. Augustine is the greatest little town - feels like a mix of Europe, Key West, and Old Town Alexandria. . . I really want to go back and spend a week there.  I'm not sure that's even long enough to go to all of the awesome restaurants and shops!  But we did get to stop at Hyppo Pops - delicious popsicles in very exotic flavors!

Lila had her first illness this past week.  Man, do I feel so blessed that she hadn't been sick before now!  I also can't help but wonder if it had anything to do with my weaning her off breastfeeding . . . but it was time.  I'm still doing it in the morning because she'll still do it then - the rest of the day she was not interested at all.  Anyway, it was a rough four days - she had a fever the whole time, with no other symptoms.  You could just tell she was uncomfortable.  Today she woke up at a normal temperature, a normal time (7:20!) and took 2 longish naps, so we are all happy campers now.

One benefit of us staying home pretty much all week was we started to get really creative!  We recently decided to move the extra desk in the office into our bedroom (totally completes the room) and make the current craft/office room into a craft/playroom.  I need to take some pictures soon because it's turning out awesome.  Lila and I started making a cardboard playhouse after a big package from IKEA arrived (more details on that later as well) and we are having quite a good time together "decorating."  I strung some paper lantern lights along the top of the ceiling, and once I plugged them in, she clapped and kept saying "oooo. oooo.  oooo."  So cute!  (Also, it's a bit scary how much I'm turning into my Dad.  Of course a cardboard playhouse would require electricity.) We also made flower boxes today because she LOVES flowers.  We spend a lot of time on the front stoop checking on the potted plants.  She even tries to water them with the empty watering can.  I need to find a mini sized one for her faux flowers.  I'll probably post a picture of the playhouse when we are finished, since we have a lot of decorating projects planned.   We are also in need of another box because, of course, Sandy needs her own house to put her dog bed in!

Well, Justin is putting our little baby girl to bed right now, and I've rented Gatsby for a movie night (FINALLY!) so I will end this super long catch up post with two adorable pictures of Lila!  She loves  my sunglasses and has started putting them on whenever she can!

She also loves going through the diaper bag and throwing everything on the floor.

And she LOVES looking out our front window in the kitchen!  One of her favorite spots in the house.

What do you all think I should do for the big 3-1?  I'm open to suggestions!