Happy Halloween

Halloween is always a good time. We almost didn't get Laila a costume because she's so little, but we were shopping yesterday and The Children's Place had this costume for $4.99. How could we resist?

We also did our pumpkin carving, although this year ended up being a much simpler process than years past. Collin and I generally spend hours carving out intricate pumpkins like these...

...but having an 11 week old in the house made it a little trickier to find the time. Therefore, we ended up making some rather simple pumpkins, but we're proud of them none the less :) We even made one for Laila!

1) collin 2) laila 3) heather

The best part of the day was that those pumpkins (plus a small 4th that we bought for Chloe but didn't carve) yielded a LARGE number of pumpkin seeds, which are one of my favorite seasonal treats. We ended up with three cookie sheets full of seeds! Thankfully Collin doesn't really have a love for the seeds, so I get to eat the majority of them myself.  I am always sad when they are finally gone.

I also made peanut butter cookies - because they sounded yummy. And they are.

Guest Bloggin'

Check out my guest post on my sister's blog here.

Enjoy.

Baby's Sweet Feet

Sorry if no one else thinks these are precious...

Just a Tuesday

auntie marla - aka "the baby whisperer"

smiling little bumble bee

great grand-mimi is good at making laila smile!

cousin jenna came down from l.a. to meet laila!

Meeting More Family!

Yesterday Laila got to meet her great-grand Mimi (my dad's mom) from Florida! It is so fun seeing Mimi love on Laila. She is really good at getting smiles out of her as well!

My mom came across the below picture of Mimi with me when I was a baby and put it next to the photo of her with Laila. How cool is that?

Laila also got to meet her Great-Auntie Marla and Great-Uncle David (my dad's sister and husband). We were so excited they made the trip out from Florida to meet her! We spent the day walking around Laguna and had a delicious lunch. We even got to see a pod of dolphins swimming right offshore!

And as always, just a fun photoshoot...

A Photo Op Kind of Day

Today was a GREAT day. Laila slept in her crib until 5:30, at which point I brought her into our room and she snuggled in bed with us until 7:30ish. Then Daddy took her downstairs so Mommy could "sleep in" until about 9. Much appreciated Daddy! As soon as I came downstairs at 9, baby was ready for her first nap so I fed her and then put her down. Collin and I enjoyed a nice morning with some omelets, coffee and potatoes and I was able to get the house tidied up.

Laila girl then woke up and it became a photo-op kind of day. I believe 107 photos were taken today!

lovin' on Daddy's little girl

bathtime in the "big girl" bath

laila's first ponytail!

fun times at the church's pumpkin patch

 

Love Hurts. (aka 10 Week Well Check)

Today was Laila's 10 week well check (she will be 10 weeks old tomorrow).

 

imitating daddy in the waiting room

She weighed in at 11 lbs 12 oz (50%) and 24 1/4 inches (90%) which is perfectly consistent growth from her last 6 week check.

She is growing well, smiling, and tracking things well. The doctor had no concerns other than she has a little bit of flat head which means we need to be better about doing tummy time and keeping her in other positions than on her back (which is difficult because she HATES tummy time!). We'll do our best.

The traumatic part came when she had to have her vaccinations. This is where being a parent is tough because first we had to make the decision about whether to stay "on schedule" and give her 3 injection vaccinations and an oral vaccine or to split it up and give her 2 now and 2 in a few weeks. We opted for all of them now in order to traumatize her only once. What I didn't realize was that I would be just as traumatized. I had to hold down her arms while the nurse held down her legs and stuck her 3 times in a row.  The poor girl screamed bloody murder which made me absolutely lose it. It was SO HARD knowing that I gave permission for someone to cause her pain. I know it's ultimately in her best interest but in that instant it was beyond painful (for both of us). I immediately picked her up and snuggled with her when the nurse was done and we both settled down.I am pretty sure she will get whatever she wants for the rest of the day. I told Collin if she asked for a car right now she would get one.

waiting for the vaccines to arrive (unbeknownst to her)

All in all she is a happy, healthy 10 week old and we couldn't love her more. She LOVES her activity mat and is starting to intentionally grab at her toys, she is smiling a ton and starting to find her voice, is strengthening her neck daily and just becoming more and more of a little person! Her Wubbanub is her favorite new toy (if you're a parent and you don't have one of these...get one!...pictured top middle of below collage).

Guest Blogger: A Letter to Laila

Your mommy and me.

Dearest Laila,


I know that you are only a mere 2 months old right now, but I thought that I would write you some words of advice about your momma.


Number 1: Always listen to what she says. She is one smart cookie. I know from experience, dude.
 
Number 2: Don't be afraid to ask her for advice, even when you are scared of her answer. And if you don't ask her for guidance, she will give it to you anyway, she is great like that!
 
Number 3: When you are old enough to eat big people food, have your momma make you her famous oatmeal & white chocolate chip cookies and don't forget to wash it down with some milk (you need the calcium!)

Number 4: Let your hair grow! Your mom is really good at doing French braids and fish tails. You probably don't know what those are yet, but trust me, the boys love 'em. If you need someone to do your make-up, when you are old enough of course, fly across the country and come see me. I can do a mean dramatic eye shadow look.

Number 5: Don't forget to take pictures to document. Your mommy is very good at scrap booking and blogging. Don't believe me?! Have her show you her 10 Creative Memory scrapbooks. Amazing. She will teach you the ropes.

Number 6: Please watch Saved by the Bell and Friends, so you can join in our daily quotes. I really want you to and I am sure your mom does too.

Number 7: Don’t be afraid to be imaginative and dress up. It’s the most fun you will ever have.  I will tell you about Missa and Applo when you can talk.

If you're lucky, I'll let you borrow my raggedy anne costume.

Number 8: Since you are the first born, and I know that you will have more siblings some day, can you do me a favor? Can you be the best big sister in the world, like your mom was to me? She taught me more than you know! (Even though that's not hard since you don't know much yet. But you get the idea)

Number 9: Don't let magazines and television tell you how you should act or look like. I know it will be hard being in California around all those beach babes, but be strong and know where you stand! You are going to be a bombshell anyways.

Number 10: Lean not on your own understanding, but acknowledge Him, and He will make your path straight. Your mom did this and I am pretty sure she is the best mentor ever. 

I love you Laila. Now go take a big nap and poop.

Love,
Your Auntie CoCo

Family Time

This past weekend, my bro and sis-in-law came down from Santa Barbara with their niece and nephew who they were babysitting for a few days. It's always fun to see them and it was great for the kiddos to meet! They're kinda like cousins, right? Not really, but who cares. At least they share an awesome aunt and uncle. Siena and Landin were very excited about meeting Laila for the first time and they were very sweet with her.

My bro and sis are also great photographers (remember these?), and these pictures were taken of my Laila girl (on the afghan that I crocheted for her and JUST finished the other day!).

too cute, right?

oh yeah, and we had two pumpkin princesses that we just had to photograph together:

soooo good to see you guys! hope we can make it happen again soon. 

Happy Pumpkin

Smiles

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