Buddies

I forgot to mention on our Memorial weekend post that Layla got to play with her good buddy, Camryn, on Thursday while Camryn's mommy, Christi, and I worked on something for work. Okay, so they're not really good friends yet, I think this is only the third time they've met and their other two meetings were last summer, but I'm sure in the future they will be great buddies:-).

Layla made it up a full flight of steps today. That was a first for her. She was at Auntie Em's going up to their play room--I guess she was pretty motivated to get to the toys:-). She doesn't get the down though, so that could be dangerous!

Memorial Day Weekend

It's sad that our long weekend is now over:-(, however, I feel like we got a lot accomplished and had a really fun family weekend! Saturday we picked up flowers and bark and I planted while Joe spread the bark and washed our cars. Sunday we went to church and then to Em and Mike's for dinner with my fam. Joe then planted his garden while I planted some more flowers and such. Layla napped for awhile both days which made it feel for a little while like it was before having a child:-). Having her makes it a little more difficult to get outside stuff done, but after she woke up she played happily outside for a long time. It's crazy to think that a year ago Memorial Day I was on bedrest--pretty sure we didn't get hardly anything accomplished last Memorial Day weekend! Here she is chillin' in her pack n' play outside...

Joe watering his newly planted garden...

Elv enjoyed being outside all day...

We then had dinner at a park near the beach...

And tried to go for a walk, but it was WAY too mosquitoey! We did not make it even close to the beach!

We could hardly stand still long enough for a picture without having a million mosquitoes land on us!

This was taken in front of the Felt Mansion...I found this great backpack carrier thing for Layla at a garage sale the other day for only $3!! It worked great!!

Then on Memorial Day morning we went to watch the Holland Memorial Day parade. Here's Elv with Uncle Steve and Auntie Heidi...

Layla showed her support for the soldiers by waving her flag high (and enjoying 2 McD's hotcakes:-D)!

She loved the bands--especially Holland Christian's:-)...

Elv decided that Layla rides in the stroller way too much so it was his turn:-). I found a double jogger stroller at a garage sale the other day that I bought to use for Layla and Gavin when I baby-sit him, but it might come in handy for Elv too:-).

We then did even more yard work during the day and then in the evening we went to Joe's parents' for burgs and brats. Layla did enjoy her golf cart ride depsite not looking real happy in this pic:-).

It was a great weekend and the weather could not have been more perfect! Layla was super tired by the end of last night so she slept in today a bit longer than normal and I'm hoping for some nice long naps:-). Elv was exhausted last night too and since Gavin and Remi are over today it's making it a bit harder for him to nap:-). He also might not be feeling the greatest--he puked up tin foil a little while ago--not sure where he got that from!

Crazy Eights

Laura tagged me to do this a couple of days ago and while sometimes I forget to do stuff like that, I have time now so I thought, why not? :-) Anyone reading this can now get to know me a little bit better:-).

The rules of the game:
Mention the person that tagged you. Complete the lists of 8. Tag 8 of your blog friends.

Eight Things I am Looking Forward To:
1. Memorial Day Weekend so that Joe has an extra day at home with us. Funny how before having a kid I looked forward to holiday weekends so that I could have a day off of work. I only work in the office one day a week now, so now I just look forward to Joe not working!
2. Camping with friends in June! I'm sure it'll be a lot of work with kids, but I'm sure it'll be worth it (hopefully:D)!
3. Layla's birthday. I've been starting to plan out the menu and decorations--I know it's weird that I like doing that, but it's fun for me:-). I'm sure Layla will really appreciate all my hard work:-).
4. Summer!
5. The next time we can take a vacation--even though I have no idea when that will be!!
6. Wow, I must have a boring life if I can't even think of anything else I'm looking forward to. Ummm...I guess I look forward to moving to a bigger house some day...oh, and finishing our basement.
7. I don't want to rush Layla's life, but I'm looking forward to all the new stages she'll hit. They seen to keep getting more fun!
8. And I look forward to having more kids (just not any time soon!).

Eight Things I did Yesterday:
1. Went to Walmart to get some groceries
2. Stopped at Ditto to get Joe a shirt for Layla's birthday party (Hawaiian shirt)
3. Did some laundry--like always!
4. Made hobo pies for dinner
5. Ate dinner outside with our family
6. Watched t.v.--like always! :-)
7. Did some work (like for my job) from home
8. Probably checked Facebook:-)

Eight Things I wish I could do:
1. Move to a bigger house with a bigger yard
2. Guarantee that my next baby will be healthy
3. Guarantee that I won't lose anyone that I love for a LONG time (meaning until they've lived a long life here on this earth)
4. Hire a maid
5. Go on more dates with my husband--it's been a really long time!
6. Go on vacation...anywhere really...Mexico, Carribean, Hawaii, Europe, Vegas, etc.
7. Win a million dollars!
8. Know what Layla was trying to say when she babbles. Kids have such funny minds--I'd like to know what she's thinking with some of the silly things she does too!

Eight TV Shows I watch (this is the easiest one!):
1. Gossip Girl (love it!!!)
2. One Life to Live
3. Ellen
4. General Hospital
5. Prison Break (well, until the series finale last week)
6. Pretty much all the VH1 reality shows--Daisy of Love and Charm School are my current favorites
7. Reaper
8. How I Met Your Mother

Now I'll tag 8 people that I think look at my blog at times:
Jill K.
Lindsey H.
Shawna J.
Jennifer DB
Emily S.
Rebecca K.
Lisa M.
Daysha R.

Oops, that was 9, oh, well:-).

Oh Bother!

We spent the afternoon today just relaxing. Joe's had a busy week so he thought he'd try to nap for a little bit...Layla thought otherwise and wanted to bother him by waking him up!


Layla can't yet stand on her own--she needs something to pull herself up on. She often tries to pull up on Elvis, but normally he's too quick for her and runs away. Today he was too busy licking something up off the floor (gross, I know, she was drinking her bottle there earlier and likes to shake her bottle so I'm sure it was just formula:D) that he let her pull up on him. Elv's poor skin!! She can be so mean to him, but he's such a good boy that he just takes it!! The other day I caught her just holding his bone for him while he chewed on it. Germs are good for kids, right? :-)


Also, Layla had her last mommy's milk bottle yesterday! I pumped full time until she was 6 months and then 2-3 times a day until she was 8 months, but we still had some frozen milk. We've been fortunate that we haven't had to buy too many cans of her preemie formula since I had SO much stored milk from when she was little and not drinking that much. Thankfully we only have a couple more weeks of bottles! I'm glad since she sometimes doesn't want to drink them anyway.

More Dutch Kids, Layla Lately and Mother's Day

These first couple of pics are similar to ones I've posted, but these were taken by Jill and just so cute so I had to post them:-).

Layla and Ella are such good friends:-)


Lindsey and Jonathan came to experience their FIRST Tulip Time ever! Can you believe it?? Apparently New Yorkers don't all know what Tulip Time is and come to it every year. Hard to believe:-). Darrell came with them too, but it wasn't his first time.

Christy and Payton with Layla and me...

Layla so far has been a pretty clean eater. Until recently that is. She suddenly enjoys rubbing her food all over her head. It makes dinner time pretty messy!! We looked over at her the other day at lunch and this is what she had done with her cheese...

She just learned how to walk behind this scooter thing. She loves it, but she's not real sturdy on it so we have to watch her while she walks! Her other new favorite thing is trying to stick her pipe in others' mouths--especially Elvis'. She just likes to share:-). I always thought I'd work on having her give up her pipe around a year--but that is coming quickly!! She often plays during the day without it, but it's nice to have when she's crabby, when we're out and she gets crabby, and when she's sleeping--so a LOT of her day she has her pipe! I'm not sure there's a "right" age for giving up the pipe, so I guess for now I won't worry too much about having her give it up. I'm pretty impressed that she hasn't lost any pipes yet. She now likes to hide it all over the house which can be challenging to find, but I'm catching on to her spots where she puts it so we so far still haven't lost any!

We celebrated Mother's Day with Joe's side of the family on Sunday at Steve and Heidi's by making lunch for Joe's mom. It was a nice relaxing first (official) Mother's Day (since last year I was a mother, but couldn't see Layla so it's really not quite the same!). Being a mom to Layla has been so great! She is such a little blessing to our family! I now can imagine the love that my mom had for me through the love that I have for Layla. Mother's Day is a great day to remind us of the love our mothers have (had) for us and the love we have (had) for them!

Online!

Layla is on the Press' website. Follow one of these links to check it out:

http://photos.mlive.com/grandrapidspress/2009/05/tulip_time_volksparade_1.html

http://photos.mlive.com/photos/grandrapidspress/ab5d81edf35df23d18d1f7f6b43826d2.jpg

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/05/tulip_time_volksparade.html

I was hoping when he was taking her pic that she'd be in the paper, but it's not a great picture, so I guess it's okay that it's just online:-).

Tulip Time!

Anyone that lives in Holland knows that this week is Tulip Time! I'm dancing with my sister this week so that's been keeping me busy (although alumni doesn't seem to dance nearly as many times as high school).

Ella and Alden came to watch me dance Tuesday night so the kids were able to get some traditional tulip pics (we allowed Alden to be in them even though he didn't have a costume:-D). Layla looks like she dreaming of riding a motercycle in this one:-)...

This was the best one that I got...it's about impossible to try to get all three kids smiling--getting them to all look at the same time is hard enough!

Little Dutch Girl...

Layla and Gavin...

Layla and Mommy...

Elvis wearing his scarf to match Mommy. Joe didn't like him wearing it because it is purple. Joe wears purple so I don't understand why he didn't want his son to wear purple!

Layla and Daddy...

Em and Gavin...

Yesterday Layla and I went street scrubbing before the parade with Em, Gavin, Joyce and two of Mike's sisters and Mike's nieces.

This is how Layla finished up walking the parade...

She enjoyed the parade--even the loud bands!

Yes, Ella, that is your little orange monkey...

Kristi and Cora, Em and Gavin and Layla and me...

More Layla and me...