Sunday, June 14, 2009

Layla's Laua (and the Rest of our Weekend)

I started off my weekend by going through all my mom's stuff from school with Em. Gavin's Auntie Becky was nice enough to watch both kids in the morning so that Em and I could go through the stuff at Beaver Dam and decide what we wanted to keep. There was a lot of stuff!! It's amazing how much stuff she accumulated in her 30 years of teaching! We now have plenty of books for our kids when they get older. I even found one of my old Cabbage Patch dolls there! We used to complain when she would take our stuff to school (mainly all of our old books like the entire Baby-Sitters Club and Boxcar Kids series--at least she left all my Sweet Valley High books at home--I think those were probably a bit too risque:D) because they would then get wrecked, but I understand why she did--she loved those kids so much too and wanted to have as many learning materials possible for them!

Saturday night was Layla's "Tropical Minnie" birthday party with both our families. I'm sure we looked a bit ridiculous to our neighbors and to those driving by, but it was fun! Who doesn't like an excuse to wear a Hawaiian shirt??:-) It started off looking like it might rain at night but ended up being beautiful--almost too hot to be in the sun!

Appetizers and drinks (complete with Minnie/Mickey ice cubes:D)...


Dinner...

I saw this idea in a magazine and on someone else's blog to display her growth pics over the past year...

Grandma and birthday girl...yes, that is a Minnie tattoo on Grandma's cheek:-)

Elv and Auntie Heidi...

Grillin'...

Gav-man...look closely and you can see cute little Mickey and Minnies on his Hawaiian shirt--I think Gavin would have won for best dressed because he really obeyed the theme:-).

After dinner everyone played some yard games for a bit...Elv definitely got his exercise chasing Frisbees!







Us, of course...

Mike, Em and Gavin (who wasn't real excited to have his picture taken)...

Grandpa and Grandma G. and Rachael with Layla...

Grandpa and GG with Elv...aka "Royce" (Ron and Joyce) :D

Steve and Heidi...
Gavin and Layla having a fun tractor ride...

We ordered her cake from Creations By Marcia and she did a great job...she even included the cute little cake for Layla to eat.

Layla picking at her cake...

She never really got too much past the picking...I think she pretty much just ate some frosting. She liked it, she just wasn't so sure about having such a huge cake infront of her! Plus she had a bit of a fever earlier in the week and just hasn't been herself since, she was acting better on Saturday but suddenly she doesn't love food like she used to:-(. She's pickier about what she eats. Hopefully it's just a phase! She also has been really needy and whiny this week too so hopefully that's a phase too!!


I ordered this adorable shirt from Ebay. That seller makes tons of cute custom shirts! I figured I wouldn't get "Happy Birthday" or anything like that on it so that she can wear it other times since it's so stinkin' cute:-). The price of the skirt makes up for spending more than I typically do on a shirt for her--it was like 33 cents at a garage sale (I say "like" because I got 2 other items and this skirt at that garage sale for a $1) :-).
She wasn't lacking in gifts...

She was more interested in climbing on them than opening them, imagine that from a one year old:-)...



Unfortunately Joe's parents and us both got her the Minnie Shopping Cart! Cute gift though!



Gavin enjoyed trying to steal her bucket o' play food...

Gavin and Elv were good helpers opening gifts...

Then Elv realized that it was Layla's birthday and only she should be center of attention, so he chose a seat among the circle...had there been an extra chair I'm sure he would have loved to sit in it:-). He's such a little person!



Wow, look at my big pony from Grandpa and Grandma G.!! This will be fun to climb over!

Her new push buggy from Grandpa and GG was a big hit with her and Gavin...

Thanks for the Minnie sippy Auntie Em (and Uncle Mike and Gav)! Looks interesting!

Gavin and Layla peaking over the picnic table from Grandpa and GG...


I loved my party!! Thanks everyone for the gifts and for dressing appropriately for my theme:-)!

Gavin liked trying to push Layla in the buggy...

But liked riding in it even better!

I think the kids would have loved going for more rides in it, but the Grandpas got too tired out!!

Layla enjoyed trying her new toys out today...she gets mad at the cart b/c the wheels don't always go so great on carpet and when she runs into a wall or piece of furniture...


Today we went for lunch and swimming at Joyce's. Again, it was beautiful weather! I forgot my camera so all I have are some pics from my phone.


I'm hoping that one of these days Layla learns to like the pool, but she was not happy about swimming today!

Gavin doesn't love the pool either, but at least he doesn't cry when he's close to water like her! He'll go in the pool in small increments of time.


Layla napped right when we got home so Joe, Elv and I just sat outside and enjoyed the weather and then Layla joined us after she woke up from her nap. We were only outside a couple of hours, but I'm fried! I guess I forgot just how pasty white I was!
Don't worry, that is just water in her sippy in the Bud Light coozy:-)...

She loves balls and noticed our neighbors' outside. She kept pointing and saying "ba, ba"--I guess she knows the word ball.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Camping and Layla's First Birthday Party

We went camping over the weekend and had a great time! I was a little nervous how Layla would do, but she (and all the other kiddos) did great! They all napped well and slept through the night. Joe, Layla and I went Thursday night with Darrell, Lindsey, and Jonathan and then everyone else came Friday night. Thursday night was COLD so I didn't sleep well, but part of it I think was because I was worried that Layla was cold. I think she was fine--she had two sleepers on, leggings, a long sleeved onesie, her sleepsak and blankets on, and we have a heater, so I think she was okay:-). I just didn't have enough clothes on! I learned to dress warmer for the remainder of trip, plus it wasn't as cold, so I slept fine the next two nights.

Layla and Jonathan about to enjoy breakfast Friday morning...


Layla enjoying a snack in her "new" chair. It may not be the cutest chair, but I found it for $3 at a garage sale the week before we went camping, so it ended up working great!



Lindsey, Jonathan and Layla enjoying their Mickey grilled cheeses Friday for lunch (we used my Mickey waffle iron to make them--Darrell and Joe were gone fishing so it was just easier to make them using electricity:D)...



Friday afternoon we walked to the park. Both kids had fun although Jonathan was able to enjoy himself a bit more since he can walk! Layla just got picked on by older non-supervised children that were playing there:-(.


I think this was Layla's first time going down a slide...



We got this screened tent for the kids to play in and it ended up working out great. We'd just stick them in there and go off and do our own thing. Just kidding:-). We supervised them to make sure there weren't any fights or any escapees. The tent was nice because for the crawlers it helped keep them clean--sort of--they still ended up quite dirty as did the toys! Good thing they were pretty much all garage sale finds:-) (the toys not the kids!).



I think this one is funny of Layla and Jonathan about leaning on each other...
Wearing matching tops (Gap for their mommies and camo for their daddies:D)...

Working together in the kitchen...

Our mommies are funny!! (Elv was allowed in the kid tent too:D)

Such loving little buddies grabbing hands...


Daddy and Layla...


Saturday we went for a quick walk with Brad, Jill and Ella out to the beach. Ella enjoyed the walk so much she slept the whole time!


Saturday night we celebrated Layla's birthday with a Tropical Minnie Mouse theme. This isn't the best family pic since Layla isn't looking and it's missing Elv, but it's the only one we got.

Curt, Jamie and Alden...
Jill, Brad and Ella in their tropical apparel....
Lindsey, Darrell and Jonathan in their Hawaiian garb...
Drew, Jane, Kali and Mason...

Joe and Elv...

The cooks...Joe and Darrell...

Layla at the head of the table for her party:-)...

Joe and the 1st Birthday Girl...
Getting ready to sing to the birthday girl...

She wasn't so sure what to think of all the attention and a cupcake sitting infront of her, but eventually started eating it...just not the whole thing.

Not quite as messy as some kid's cake pics:-)...
We had a great time camping with kids and are even talking about doing it again towards the end of summer. I thought it'd be a lot more work taking kids with, and it was, but it was worth it! I'd recommend it to anyone considering it:-).

Monday, June 8, 2009

1 Year Stats

Layla had her one year appointment today and they said she's doing great. She could stand to gain some more weight, so we have to go back for a weight check in 2 months, but she's healthy and for once doing the things a 1 year old should be doing (unlike every other appointment where she's been behind since they base their questions on her real age, not her adjusted age).

Height: 29"; 50th %
Weight: 16 lbs 5 oz; not on the charts (and even further from being on the charts than last time:-( )
Head: 46 cm; 75th %

They said her head has been growing at a somewhat quick rate so they're going to check that again in 2 months as well. Hopefully it doesn't grow too much more.

At one year I was 17 lbs 1 oz and 29"--so pretty similar!

Sunday, June 7, 2009

1 Year Old!!!

Our little girl turned 1 on Thursday! We celebrated her birthday by going camping with friends (ok, so it wasn't really for her birthday:D), but I'll post about that soon. I think that each stage that she grows into just keeps getting more and more fun! I just really can't believe she's an entire year already! We go in for her 1 year appointment tomorrow so I'll update with her stats tomorrow. She actually looks like she's been slimming out since she moves around so much so hopefully she gained a decent amount of weight since her 9 month appointment.


She can't stand on her own very long yet--only for about half a minute or so at a time max--but she's getting there! I think it'll be awhile though before she can walk! She got her third tooth (one of her top ones) on her birthday. I guess that would explain her crabby moods last week:-). She still loves eating and eats anything we give her which is great--I hope that continues! She's getting good at climbing up on things (that aren't too high--not the couch), she just needs to learn to get down! She faceplanted out of a little chair while camping and did NOT enjoy landing in a pile of dirt! She doesn't say many words yet. The only words that we're fairly confident that she knows what she's saying are 'mama' and 'dada'. She sometimes just blabs 'mamama' and 'dadada' but she also will sometimes point at us and say them so I think she knows what she's saying:-). She also still says 'uh-oh' a lot when she drops things (which she does all the time on purpose) but I'm not sure that's really a word:-). Overall she's just a happy little girl and we love her dearly! We are so excited to keep watching her grow!

The Birthday Girl on her birthday!

Enjoying her birthday gazing out the window...


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