The Most Beautiful Little Girl

Pictures galore for you all to enjoy!

Thanks to some friends we got these pictures done for free. They turned out awesome!








If you want to see more pictures from this photo shoot check out my Facebook album here:
Rebekah at 4 Months - Christmas Portraits

We should have more to follow soon. But you know how it goes when I say "soon."

Starbucks

Let me start this post by saying that I probably have an unhealthy addiction to Starbucks. I just love the drinks, the atmosphere, meeting friends there, being there alone. I've had to make a concerted effort to cut back lately as I can't justify the money (nor the calories!) spent. Really, whoever came up with Starbucks is a genius.

Here's my beef...the Red program they are currently doing, where they will donate 5 cents for every drink bought to helping Aids in Africa. At first glance, this seems like such a good thing...and it is. But, 5 cents? Really? Why not 10? Or even a dollar? Starbucks is so filthy rich and could really make an incredible impact on a very real problem.

Deep breath. I'm starting to realize how much I've been living in ignorance to the problems of most of the world. We are the wealthiest nation ever to exist in the history of mankind. And we are so secluded, so used to it, that we don't hear the cries of the poor. For most of my life I've felt bad for the dying in Africa and donated a bit of money (no amount that really hurt).

When Rebekah cries for food, I can't get the bottle made fast enough. I hate it when she cries out of hunger. In Africa, mothers watch their children STARVE TO DEATH every single day. All of a sudden this stuff is becoming real to me. It brings me to tears. I'm realizing that I can't stand for it anymore. I can't ignore it anymore. It's time for me to stop being selfish. Curtis and I have been talking that maybe it's time to give up some things-eating out? My cell phone? Our apartment for a less expensive one? Starbucks?

I'm both dragging my feet at the prospect of living differently, and so very excited to be apart of loving my neighbor as Christ is calling us to, bringing Heaven to Earth. How scary, yet exciting to be a part of the Kingdom of God!

Will I ever enjoy Starbucks again....for sure. Let's be honest. Their white mocha will surely be in Heaven. Will I enjoy it every 3rd day of the week? No. I just can't anymore. I can't be the rich man walking by Lazarus every day, too full and happy to notice his poverty, to care, or to realize that my actions now surely affect eternity.

Rebekah the Reindeer

Here's Bek ringing in the holidays! I thought I'd put her in her little hand me down reindeer costume and man, is it cute!!

2 Month Post - a few days late

Okay, so I am trying to get this up as quickly as I can. It's 11:30 and I am wired because I sat at Starbucks doing schoolwork almost all day. That means 4+ cups of coffee mixed in with an ungodly amount of candy tonight, and thus...my current state of affairs. The reason I am trying to do this quickly is because I want to let Jane keep sleeping. However, if Jane hears Rebekah she will wake up. Rebekah is right on the edge of waking up. I already went and picked her up and re-binked her. So she should be good for a few more minutes.

But I really wanted to get Rebekah's two month old pictures up. These are near and dear to my heart as she is in her Halloween costume!

Two month picture - same chair, same pose, awesome outfit!
She just needs a neck now...

By far one of my favorite pictures. I can hardly believe it when she responds to my voice, looks into my eyes, and just gives hints that she gets what's going on around her.

I figured I should get in on the action.

Rebekah is clearly loving her favorite team...and her Mommy and Daddy who are making funny faces at her!

Okay, so I just had to throw in this adorable bath picture. Isn't she the cutest?

That's it for now...She's so awesome!

Oops...

I'm not the most proficient on computers, unfortunately.

Today is Curtis' 25th bday, and if you click on our "Ministry and Theology REflections" link, that's where I managed to post his bday blog. :)

Sorry about the extra click!

Let's be honest...

What you really want is pictures (at least that's always my favorite part of blogs!). Enjoy!

A little smile...

Big blue eyes...

Getting measured at the pumpkin patch...

Cute outfit from Julianne...

About to go on a walk...

So little!

The Lillie fam at the pumpkin patch...

A future football player...

Adorable in her little bathrobe!

She's almost 2 months old and is getting super chubby. She grins at us sometimes and is generally a happy baby. We're in love!

Rebekah is 1 Month Old Today!

Well, first off I would like to thank the Moffats, whose blog so kindly lets everyone know just how long it has been since we last updated our blog. So, three weeks later we have blog!


This is going to be our monthly photo pose/prop for visually measuring how big Rebekah is getting. Every month we'll put her in the same chair so everyone can have some frame of reference for how big she is getting.

To be honest, I cannot believe how quickly 1 month has gone by. It feels like yesterday we were coming home from the hospital. Now Rebekah has already been to church 4 times, youth group a couple, and Starbucks too many times to count...

Oh, by the way, have I mentioned how adorable our little Bekah is?

Last week Jane and I were able to get out for our first real date night since Rebekah joined the fam. It was good, and we were even able to get through most of the night without talking about her. But seriously, how could you not talk about her - even if just to acknowledge how stinking amazing she is. And she really is amazing! And stinky! :) Well, only when she poops up the front of her diaper when Daddy is watching her. No kidding, I've never seen someone whose body parts have a magnetic attraction to fecal matter. As was grabbing another diaper and some baby wipes, she had quickly used her "current" diaper as an ink pad for some baby foot prints... I think then one of her arms got jealous of the foot as it found its way into the action.

Hmm....What else has happened in the last 3 weeks?

Well, maybe sometime Jane could throw up a blog to share with you all the fun she has had trying to breastfeed Rebekah. Through the counsel of our doctor, and various other people, this week will be the first week of purely bottle-feeding her. I can't tell you how stressful this decision has been on Jane, but she is feeling good about it. Rebekah took a month to get up to her birth weight - likely because of all the feeding issues - and she had even dropped significantly at one point. But as of this week she 9+ pounds and gaining like a champ!



Here's a super proud dad of his little girl!!


Great news! You may not believe it from this picture, but just last week we started putting Bek down in her own bed at night!! Jane and I actually get to sleep in the same bed again. My Mom actually helped us out big time with a couple of suggestions that really aided the process. First, we used a ticking alarm clock right by her head to simulate a heart beat (who would've thunk it), and then she has been sleeping propped up on her side. Don't know really why any of that works, but it does...and our precious princess is sleeping right now!


This picture is just awesome, because it shows off her big and bright eyes. And it also shows her off in the cutest pink sweatshirt. I'm not sure where we got it, but she looks great in it. Actually everyone has raved about how great she looks in pink...perfect, just about everything she has is pink!

More to come later - And hey Moffats, tell your blog to get off our back. We'll put one up when we're ready!! :) Just kidding...that feature is actually pretty cool.

1 Week Old

My, how fast it goes...I remember my first day on Work Crew at Malibu in 2003, our bosses said, "These will be the longest days of your life, but the fastest weeks." That pretty much sums up our first week with Rebekah. Jane and I have both now spent practically an entire night on the couch with Rebekah, because she won't fall asleep deeply enough to be put into bed without waking her. Thankfully, I have had LOST introduced to me this last week (Ann, thanks for bringing season 1 with you) and watched that through the night.

Today, I went into work for the first time. It was weird...On my way down to the church I though, "I don't want to hang out with other people's kids, I wanna hang out with my own!" And so I definitely prayed about that and allowed myself to remember how much I love youth ministry. I even had a couple significant conversations today. It's just, who really wants to be separated from their child for a whole day?

A fun Lillie family trivia tidbit for you all (you will be quizzed at the end of this blog) answers the question, "What are we going to call a fart in our family?" Jane and I seriously debated this. She grew up calling it a "foof." I rejected that immediately. I thought "fart" was just fine. She suggested "toot." We were at a stalemate, until I learned what our friends Karla and Tim call it in their home. "Popping!" "Oops, I popped!" "Did you just pop?" Yes, the pop. Unique, but not weird. Fresh, and so clean. So yes, from this day forward the Lillie household will refer to the uncouth "fart" as a "pop." Be warned.

And now for a fresh batch of pics...

Grandma Stump (Ann) being an awesome Grandma - kissing her favorite Granddaughter on the forehead.


Her newborn rash is beginning to clear up a bit. This was also the day we gave her extensive sun-time to reverse the Jaundice. As you can see, the eyes are starting to open wide. She may just have her mommy's big beautiful eyes some day.


Mommy and baby hanging out on the couch. The back was one of the last places where the rash cleared up.


Rebekah's favorite sleeping position: head cocked back, mouth wide open.


Rebekah's first Sunday morning going to worship. You can tell she is very excited about it. You have to admit, she looks adorable.


So here's the story behind this picture. It's Sunday after church, a hot afternoon in our living room. We remember the doctors tell us that babies should have both "tummy-time" and "skin on skin." So, I'm just hanging out watching some lost and say hey let's give it a shot. Before we know it there is some serious nipple confusion going on. The lactation consultant told us not to switch between nursing and bottles because it could cause "nipple-confusion." They never told us that confusion would include having my man-nipples sucked off. Let's just say I avoid "skin on skin" time when Rebekah may be hungry - for my nipples' sake.


Jane and Rebekah again. Shirt says "Mommy's little girl."

We love our little girl and can't believe its already been a week. Keep praying for us as we lose sleep. Keep praying for us that we would learn and grow to be the best parents that we can. Thank you - so many of you for joining us in this journey with our little girl.

Grace and peace.

More of the Amazing Rebekah

So these last two days at home have been quite the adventure. So much fun, but challenging nonetheless. Ann (Jane's mom) has been a huge help. We keep trying to tell her that she is here to play with the baby, not do our housework!

Jane is trying to figure out how to sleep and listen to Bekah breath at the same time. So far...unsuccessful. But I will let you all know when she has discovered the trick.

We had some difficulties getting breastfeeding going the first several days for several reasons. But as of this afternoon, all seems to be going well in that department. Bekah was born with a short frenulum (the thingy that holds your tongue in your mouth) - you can thank me for that. It's hereditary and I too have a short one. This was making it difficult for her to latch on without severely hurting Jane.


Bekah seriously loves sucking on anything and everything she can get her mouth on. With nursing not going so well, she was being deprived of some serious suck-action. And thus, when Jane was changing her diaper this morning focusing in on the nastiness in her diaper, I happened to observe Bek latching on with full and proper technique to her own big toe! And I thought thumb sucking was going to be an issue...


Here's the fairly severe newborn rash that Bek has. Who would have thought that the flawless, smooth skin she dawned coming out of the womb would be overtaken by this chicken-pox resembling rash all over her body. The doc told us today that it is completely normal and should start to disappear this weekend. This is only her second bath, and it was tag-teamed by Jane and Ann.


A mother and her baby. My wife and my daughter. My two girls. Oh, how I love you both...


Grandma got Bekah all dressed up for visitors tonight. She's looking tired after a 3 - 4 hour stretch of being awake and alert. I can't believe how cute her clothes are. Thanks to whoever got us this outfit.

Is there anything cuter than this? Face scrunched. Drooling. Just lovely...

We have only just begun the journey with our precious baby. Can't wait to continue to share it with you on this blog - especially those of you who will miss the daily happenings in her life because of distance.

Here is another way to keep up on her pictures. I have a Facebook album that is open to anyone. Just click the link below.
Click here for the latest pictures of Bekah on my Facebook

And when we were in the hospital we had free pictures taken of Bek. Check them out here. They can be purchased at the website if you are interested.
Click here if you want to see Bek's newborn pics taken at the hospital