Lots of milestones

I'm so proud of Lillie! She seems to be more alert and active with every week that goes by. I wanted to let her try her Bumbo seat for fun today thinking she might like the new perspective. She sits in my lap with my support all the time, but I thought she might actually like to see me when sitting for once!

Here she is all kicked back and smiling at her mom who is making a fool of herself!

And earlier last week, she started raising her legs and grabbing for her toes. She really needs her bottoms to be off to get the most flexibility and hence the reason she is halfway out of her sleeper.

And finally, we're making progress on tummy time. Look, she actually appears to be enjoying it now!

Happy Thanksgiving from Lillie, Roger, Harvey, and I!

Another investment property

So one day before Lillie turned 12 weeks old, we closed on a foreclosure property in the Fenton suburb of St. Louis. This will be a long term flip for us. We'll do as much work as we can before we move our things into it and then we will continue tackling renovations as we live there. It's a great family home and we got a deal on it. We paid approximately 59% of what the house originally sold for three years ago!

We started work on November 1st. This truly is a cosmetic flip. There are no walls to be moved, no plumbing, electrical, or hvac to be updated, and nothing structural to repair. We've spent the past 10 days or so painting, cleaning, replacing light fixtures, and changing out faucets and bathroom hardware. Oh, and the toilet in the half bath downstairs could not be salvaged! Let's just say that the previous owners went to town on it when they found out they were being foreclosed on!


Standing in the family room looking into the breakfast room and kitchen.

The same view, only reversed. Standing in the kitchen looking into the breakfast room and family room.
A little butlers pantry or serving area in the hall between the kitchen and dining room. I can see turning this into the downstairs diaper changing area!

Close up of the cabinets, backsplash, and countertops. One of our to-do renovations is to switch out the countertops with natural stone.

Slot for the fridge and nook above.

As you enter the house from the garage, this area is on the right. I can see unloading all the groceries on here as I bring them in from the car. As it stands right now, since our garage is detached where we currently live, bringing in the groceries is a much more difficult task than it will be in the new house!

Small living room or office off the entryway

Dining room opposite the living room. There is a nice coffered ceiling in there.

Finally, the "bonus room" upstairs between all the bedrooms. Since we're coming from a house with only one living area, I have no idea what we'll put in here!
Oh, and the reason it sat on the market for as long as it did....No deck and one heck of a drop off! Thankfully, we'll be putting a deck on in the spring and the lot next door is for sale so while we won't have much of a back yard, we'll make do with a side yard.


So that's what we've been up to! My parents and sister have been a huge help! Whether it's my mom taking Lillie for the day or my sister coming over to paint after class or my dad helping us install the new ceiling fan, we couldn't have done this without their help! Everything truly does change once you have a child :)

Three months!

Happy 3 months Lillie!

Her stats: 13 lbs, 7 oz and 24 inches long

She is one ounce shy of doubling her birth weight, something that usually happens at the 6 month point! I just can't believe how fast she is growing and gaining weight! She was in newborn clothes for 6 weeks and then proceeded to go through her 3 month clothes in another 6 weeks! For a baby that started out in the 20th percentile for weight, she sure is catching up fast!

We had our genetics appointment at Children's Hospital last Thursday (that's how we found out her weight and length because her next appointment with the pediatrician isn't until 4 months) and found out more about how we will proceed with her galactosemia. When she starts solid foods, she'll be able to handle rice cereal and fruits and veggies just fine. However, when she progresses to table foods, she won't be able to have anything with lactose or galactose in it. This basically includes anything made with milk or a milk by-product. I don't see it being a huge inconvenience for us. It's going to be harder to remind others (like grandparents who want to slip her a spoonful of ice cream) of her limitations.

Then at one year old, we do something called a galactose challenge. We gradually introduce milk products into her diet for two weeks and then her levels are checked. If we time it right around her birthday, she can have cake and ice cream on the big day. Most babies do just fine and are able to be on a regular diet going forward. In fact, the dietician that we work with said she sees about 20 cases a year and she's never had a baby fail the challenge.

Her blood was drawn again and we are waiting for the results. She has been on soy formula since October 23rd and they are hoping to see that the build up of galactose that was in her system has been broken down and burned off as energy. Keep your fingers crossed!