Lilli's Baptism

Saturday December 6, 2008 will always be a very special day for us. Lillian Adele was baptized at Our Saviour's Lutheran Church in Naperville, IL yesterday. She wore the same baptismal gown that her Great Uncle, Grandpa, Auntie Aimee, and mom wore. That makes the gown 64 years old! Not only did she look like one, but she was an absolute angel!

As Pastor Tom was baptizing her, Lilli was mesmerized by him. He told her of the importance of baptism and she instinctively spoke to him at the appropriate times. She squawked a little bit as she was laying down receiving the water, but that is to be expected. Pastor Tom walked Lilli through the congregation as the piano was playing, speaking in a calm voice, sharing the history of the gown with the congregation. He asked for the congregation's support in developing Lilli's Christian path. The facial expression of Lilli as she was presented to everyone was priceless. She was calm, happy, and like I said before, an absolute angel. This led me to tears because this is the first major event and commitment that we have made to Lilli. We are so blessed to have such great family and friends to share in this first milestone, and we are assured that they will be around for the many to come.

We celebrated after at Connie's Pizza and it was so nice to have everyone there! Kids were running around, playing together and it really makes you realize how innocent children are. It was amazing to see the maternal instincts of the girls- holding the little kids, entertaining them, and helping the moms out. Little Gina came up to me and said 'Miss Julie, can we take Lilli home with us?' I couldn't help but realize that these children are going to be a part of our lives forever. And for that, we are truly blessed.

Lilli's First Photo Session!

Lilli had her 3 month pictures taken! This is the first experience with a professional photographer and I've got to say that she did a GREAT job! We got there with Lilli in great spirits, but after waiting over 20 minutes or so, she got restless. (who wouldn't?!) Needless to say, we got fantastic pictures!

Finding an outfit was difficult- dressy? casual? pink? I bought a dress that I was 'OK' with, but I wasn't completely content. After consulting Pro-Mom Ashley, I returned the dress and got a really cute turquoise outfit that ended up being WAAAAY on sale and totally perfect! They suggest that you bring some 'memorabilia'- she really only likes her fists- so that was a challenge. I looked at the dress and realized her favorite 'cuddly' blanket complemented the colors of her outfit. As I was feeding Lilli this morning I saw a Kohl's commercial that showed 'Baby's First Purse' that Lilli got as a shower gift from our friends, the Verdoncks. I threw it in the 'Photography Session' bag.

We got to the session and waited, and waited patiently, then waited some more. Like I said, she got restless, but the photographer got her up-to-speed. She propped Lilli up with her 'Cuddly Blanket'. She laughed and giggled at her and Lilli responded well. After a couple pics, we propped her on her elbows. Lilli stayed her content self (with a little spit up) and we got some great shots. THEN- I remembered that Lilli's turquoise outfit had a little PageBoy hat in it, so I thought of Uptown Girl- hat and purse?!? We got some shots of Lilli with her First Purse. Once again, she rocked the shoot. I changed her into her Christmas outfit and by that point, she was officially tired. I fed her in between shots and we really only got a couple close-ups, so you can't see her patent MaryJanes. I was OK with that though, because she is going to wear that outfit meeting Santa- we can get a better picture then. After all, this was for her 3-month pictures!

I went online to find frames and found MEGA STEALS at kohls.com. I would recommend that site to anyone who needs frames in bulk. (I had to find more than 15 frames!)

I'm so proud of our Little Lilli! I can't wait to share the pictures with you once we get the link...it should be about 10 business days.

Stay WARM!
Love,
Julie, George, and Lilli

Giggle Monster

Our First Blog!

Welcome to the DwyerClan Blog!
This is where you can catch up on all of the happenings of our new family!

Lillian Adele Dwyer was born August 22, 2008 at 12:15am. She is the first granddaughter on both sides of the family, and is the first great-granddaughter of George's grandma, Shirley.

It was a healthy pregnancy, fairly easy delivery (I bet you'd never put easy AND delivery together!), quick recovery, and she is now a healthy baby Girl!

To get you up to speed, Lilli is a strong girl- sitting in her Bumbo alone since she was 6 weeks old, giggling and coo-ing at her daddy reading to her, and gaining strength while enjoying Tummy Time. She loves to sit in her Bumbo and watch her Mommy and Daddy cook in the kitchen and LOVES getting her diaper and clothes changed. If she's fussy, we can put her on her changing table and suddenly she's smiling and coo-ing! (George is a little concerned at how much she loves getting her clothes taken off! LOL)

Lilli is getting baptized on December 6 in Naperville, IL. We are fortunate to have family and friends coming in from around the country for this special event, not to mention the great group of friends that we have here in Chicagoland that will be attending as well. Lilli will be wearing the same baptismal gown that her Great Uncle, Grandpa, Auntie Aimee, and Mommy wore for their baptisms. It is over 60 years old!

I go back to work December 1 at Nordstrom in dowtown Chicago. George is enjoying his new job as Operations Manager for Relevant Radio downtown. We are currently on a daycare hunt...not fun because that means I have to leave her soon! But, it is fun to see the response we've gotten. I put a post on Craig's List and there has been quite a bit of activity since Sunday! So I've been busy setting up PlayDates (aka interviews) for us.

I hope to update this blog with the fun happenings of our little family often!
Hugs and Love to all!
Julie, George, and Lilli