New Digs (Kind Of)

I love this onesie that my cousin Elaine designed but unfortunately the skirt made it too restrictive to fit over Lily's chunk-a-monk body. She did enjoy playing with it though!

Well, this has been quite a week! Grandma Judy finally came home from the hospital on Tuesday. She's been feeling a little bit better every day but is still very tired, in pain and running a fever. Her fever has been at 100.6 but if it gets to 101, we're supposed to bring her back to the ER. So we're doing our best to keep her fever low and make sure she rests up.

I've spent most of my time since moving to LA just trying to get organized, unpack, take care of Lily, take care of household stuff that my Mom can't take care of right now, cook dinners and visit my Mom in the hospital. It's been chaotic to say the least. So on Thursday I was finally able to take a deep breath and remember that we still hadn't had Lily's picture taken with the Easter Bunny. We got this great shot but of course there's a story:
Lily and I hopped in the car and headed for the Westfield Topanga Canyon mall. There wasn't too much traffic and when I saw the Westfield sign, I pulled in to the parking lot, got a good spot, unpacked the stroller, put Lily in and headed for the same area where we got her photo taken with Santa. As I circled the whole mall, I got more and more confused. I'd been to this mall before and it looked familiar in decor but the layout wasn't the same. After a phone call with Matt and a discussion with a Macy's employee, I realized that I was not at Westfield Topanga Canyon but was at Westfield Promenade, which looks the same and is 2 blocks South.

I knew it had all been too easy! I wheeled Lils back to the car, packed us up and headed North. I circled the lot with no luck, convinced that the universe was conspiring against me. Why is everything so difficult! And then just as quickly, I became convinced that the gods were smiling on me because I found this parking spot:

I've never seen one of these spots in Chicago before but I think it's wonderful that they have them here. Going anywhere with a baby can be an ordeal so it was amazing to have the best spot in the lot. I had a sort of out of body experience when I read the sign and thought to myself "I'm a mother with a stroller!"

After that, things went smoothly. We changed Lily into her Easter best (which had been my first birthday dress), waited in line and took a photo without incident. The photo came out well enough that I decided to spring for the $50 package that comes with a variety of prints and a digital copy. Lily was quite taken with the mall too:

Fast forward to Friday afternoon when I realized that the flash drive they gave me was actually empty and did not have her Easter picture on it. I called the mall and they said that they don't save the images so we'd have to have her photo taken all over again. I thought this was pushing our luck but didn't think we had much of a choice. So this time my Dad came with us. It worked out because Grandpa Tom got lots of smiles out of Lily and they gave us some extra prints and a shutterfly gift card for our trouble. But I found myself wondering again, why everything always seems so difficult.

After her 2nd photo shoot, we chilled outside and I wondered whether now Lily is going to think that we visit the Easter Bunny every day.

Every time the wind chimes ring, Lily looks in their direction.

She sits up so nicely now.

Lily in her onesie that Andrea made. She and Jess came up with the Star Trek themes individually but Matt was glad they both did! They know him so well.

This afternoon we're dyeing eggs and I've got to figure out what to serve for Easter dinner. :)