some randoms - and some sun glare

26 week ultrasound

Today we had our first ultrasound checkup since learning of the baby's marginal cord insertion, and everything looks great so far! Baby is actually measuring ahead of schedule and weighing in at approximately 2.2 lbs. We are very relieved to know that she is healthy and thriving. Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers.

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photo of the day

Laila Knows her Colors

Mary Had a Little Lamb

Please excuse my voice and the possible chance the lyrics are not correct. She's pretty cute anyway. She can do this with a number of songs now, and it's so fun to listen to her participate!

fun with friends

This past week we got to spend time with our good friends from Boston.  They have a 3 year old, a 21 month old and an 11 week old. It was a full and happy house! Laila loved having live in buddies and was enamored with the new baby.  It was so fun to watch her interact with him and gave me great hope that she will love her new little sister and be super sweet with her. It was also fun for me to have a newborn around - it gave me the baby bug again and helped me mentally prepare for our new arrival! We had tons of fun with our friends - going to the beach, enjoying yummy meals, taking a trip to Pretend City and the Aquarium. We love them and miss them being here already!

Abby being her silly 3 year old self

girls playing at the beach

dipping their hands in the bucket of water

"tasty" beach video

P.J. Funny Bunny storytime

sweet sisters

cuddle time on the couch

baby Tommy

 

laila and sam banging away on the keyboard

"who, me? i didn't dump out all the baskets..."

happy little blonde haired blue eyed girls

 laila goofing around at pretend city

a highlight of every meal - RASPBERRY FINGERS!

17 months

Laila turned 17 months old this past week and is becoming such a little girl. I am sad to say she really isn't a baby anymore. She has a true sense of humor, is loving and compassionate, and is really engaged in soaking up as much knowledge as she possibly can.

She loves to sit and read books so we go to the library often for toddler story time or she will just sit down on the floor and pull out books from her shelves and read.  She is starting to show a little bit of imagination as well and will play "pretend" and is great at independent play.

She is a little goof ball and often cracks herself up. She knows when she's doing something silly (as in this picture of her wearing her Mrs. Potato Head glasses) and will often come find me to show me whatever silly thing she is doing. She is getting pretty good at following directions and is becoming a great helper.  She will pick up her toys on command and will go to the trash can and throw things away when I ask her to.

Her vocabulary is astounding to me and is growing by the day.  She says more words than I can count at this point. She is not really stringing sentences together yet but will repeat or mimic almost anything we say to her. She finally says her name now, which we have been working on for a while.  It sounds like Yay-ya right now but we knew those L's would be tough to say in the beginning.  She is currently obsessed with Elmo and Abby Cadabby from Sesame Street and Abby is pretty much her favorite word right now.  We also have friends staying with us and one of the girls is named Abby, so that is working out well :)

While I said in the beginning that she really isn't a baby anymore, she still has her moments at night when she will get really tired and snuggly and will curl up with us for story time. Those are some of our most precious moments with her.  She only sucks her thumb when napping or bedtime, and only when she has her purple blankie (which she calls her Baby). "Baby" generally has to stay in her crib but comes out on occasion.

Overall, we fall more in love with her every day and love watching her grow up, explore and become her own little person. She is happy, fun and sweet. We couldn't ask for more. We are very excited for her to become a big sister because she is going to be a great one!

He is waiting for me...

A very special woman is rejoicing in the presence of her Lord and Savior. 

 Tonight, Collin's Grandma Bonnie left this world and went to be with Jesus.

She was an amazing woman and we all loved her very much.

Last night, as she was dozing in and out, she woke up to tell her family that she had seen Jesus, 

and that He was waiting for her. What an amazing sense of peace that brought to everyone. 

She was ready, willing, and excited to meet her Creator.

We are so glad that Laila got to know her for the time that she did. We are thankful that we have lots of photos and videos to share with Laila as she grows up so she can remember Grandma and know how much she was loved.

We got to spend some precious quality time with Grandma just before Christmas this year. We all went over to her house, brought her some Christmas treats, and she got to spend some time with Laila reading and singing to her. It is a memory we will cherish for a long time to come.

We will miss you greatly, Grandma.

 meeting Laila for the very first time

 4 generations: great-grandma bonnie, grandma debbie, collin, and laila

 grandma and laila during her first christmas (2010)

 a visit with grandma - just starting to stand...

 grandma and collin - at laila's first birthday hoe-down

a cake-covered laila giving grandma kisses

 

22 weeks

Here is a side by side of me at 22 weeks with baby #2 and when I was pregnant with Laila.  My bump is about the same size but I'm definitely carrying new baby girl a lot lower.