Port Mariners

On Sunday we got up the courage to drop Laila off at the church nursery! At our church, you are not allowed to have children in the sanctuary, so when we had Laila we had to sit outside the sanctuary in the family section. It was a great alternative for us so we could still come to church and have Laila with us, but we decided it was time to get back in the sanctuary and actually be able to focus on the sermons and worship without distraction.

Mariners Church has a fantastic kids building called Port Mariners. Laila was in the "Minnow" room and she did great! We dropped her off and she didn't fuss when we left. I got a little teary eyed as we walked across the campus to church, not because I was worried or anything, just because my little girl is growing up! Laila got a good report when we went back to pick her up. They said she giggled at the bubbles in the air and only got a little fussy as parents started to come pick up their kids.

We really hope that Port Mariners will become a place that Laila becomes excited to go to as she gets older and a place where she can feel comfortable, make great friends, and learn about Jesus.

Standing!

My goal is to have Laila walking by my sister's wedding (August 6th, one week shy of her 1st birthday) since she is a flower girl. We would love to have her be able to walk down the aisle with her little cousin Lucy!  She stood on her own on Saturday, so that's the first step! We'll see how quickly she progresses from here. In this photo she's looking at herself in the mirror. You can tell she is amazed and proud at herself! So cute. 

p.s. she is wearing a pirate dress because we were headed to her boyfriend Adam's pirate themed birthday party. I do not normally dress her in skulls and crossbones, even though they are pink glittery ones :) 

Boston!

We just returned from a whirlwind 10 day trip to Boston. Laila did AMAZING on both flights and did a fantastic job of rolling with the punches and adjusting to life in MA. We were able to keep her on California time the whole trip, which worked out so well, allowing Laila to have much more time with family and friends by staying up until 9:45pm. We had a great time with both of our families and celebrated my sister Courtney by throwing her a bridal shower! It was a great trip, although we're glad to be home safe and sound.
During our trip, Laila turned 10 months old and has a whole slew of new tricks up her sleeve. It is so fun to watch her learn and develop every day. I love how much she understands now, even if she can't quite communicate yet. She says "hi" and "dada"and potentially a few other words, we're not sure. She can stand on her own for a few seconds here and there, and knows where to point when you ask her where certain things are in the room. She is just so much fun and such a happy baby. We feel so blessed.
But MOST IMPORTANTLY, we got to have Dunkin Donuts almost every day and Laila had her first powdered munchkin. This is big stuff, people. Big stuff. :)

Happy Birthday to the Man of the House

Today is Collin's birthday. 

I won't say which one, because I think he's old now, which makes me almost old.

Anyway, here's a tribute to him in photos because he's the best dad in the world,
and Laila and I kinda love him a lot.

Crystal Cove

On Sunday we went to Crystal Cove in Newport. It's a State Park/beach with a "famous" restaurant called the Beachcomber that we had been wanting to try for a while. It was a gorgeous and sunny day, so we didn't really mind that the wait for lunch was 1.5-2 hours. We took turns walking Laila down to the water, let her play in the sand (i.e. try not to let her eat the sand), and took some pictures with our new super lens that I got for Christmas.