Swimming and other updates

Layla had her first swimming experience this weekend since it was finally nice here in St. Louis. She was too cute in her swimsuit and thank goodness we have several because this one is brand new and too small! We got her all suited up and although she was hesitant at first, she splashed and had a grand ol' time........for about 5 minutes. Then she got sunscreen in her eyes and cried for an hour. Our swimming session was a short one :)

After our hour of crying to rinse out the sunscreen, Layla was happily being a ham and wanted to get in this playpen. In she went and she was happy as a clam. She bounced around and was generally silly for a long time :)

She also discovered that she could walk with the help of a walker and a steadying hand of mom. It won't be long before she figures out her balance and can do this herself.

So since Sunday - our happy playday, Layla got sick again and tested positive for the HIB Flu. She was vaccinated against this disease, but apparently got it anyway. We are working with the doctors to figure out why this happened and how we prevent it from happening again since HIB causes all kinds of nasty illnesses including bacterial meningitis. She is on mega antibiotics and should be feeling better soon, but it has been a crazy few days.

The Big Birthday

Layla's birthday was a good day. She got to play with mommy and daddy alone for the morning as Hannah stayed with Grandma and Papa. Layla loves some alone time with her parents :) Mommy and Daddy are funny!

Chillin with my Dad - watchin some baby video.

She took two good naps and was ready to party. We think she had a good time and did not end up too overstimulated. She played with baby friends and gave us some smiles for her pictures.

We had a wardrobe change before dinner and cake. It would have been a shame to see anything get on that beautiful dress (courtesy of Grandma of course). She tried the icing and smashed it all, but didn't care to eat it.

Layla got some nice gifts and enjoyed her audience. I will post more pictures soon as we did have a photographer at the party. I never get as many pictures as I want, so it is good to know I am covered in that area.

I nearly forgot!

Layla had her 1 year appointment on Wednesday and is weighing in at 22 lbs 8oz and is 30 inches tall. She is in the 90% for both. (For anyone wishing to compare - Hannah was 22 lbs and 32 inches tall) So our Layla is just a little more compact, but still tall!

We gave her a birthday present today from us since she will get a few tomorrow and well - we needed something for her to do this evening. We put her in this and here she stayed for the remainder of the evening. She loves it!

Last day to be 0.......

Today is Layla's last day to be 0 years old. She is home with us today since she has a terrible cough and we wanted her to get some good rest for tomorrow. I don't think she will be all better but it is still her birthday and a good day today can only help.

Check this out!

This is my living room. There are no toys in MY living room. There are no bibs or spit rags adorning my sofa. As long as we don't feed her anything that she can't handle or any dairy, Layla keeps all her food in her belly these days. I'm living the dream!. There are no balls or cups or play tables hiding in my living room. We have reclaimed our adult room (for approximately 4 months until the swing and bouncy seats come back out)

All toys are located here, in THEIR room.

They have about 225 sq feet of their OWN space and my new goal is to keep all toys HERE. Wish me luck.

Girls

We went to a play date this past weekend and after a little outside time, Hannah and Layla each had their own ideas of indoor fun. Hannah decided to dress up in someone else's princess clothes and yes - that's Layla in someone else's crib. She just wanted to get in there so bad - so I figured why not. They had fun.
I can remember hours of pushing Hannah in similar little cars in the basement of our old house. She would squeal with delight and cry whenever you stopped pushing her. This is not east to do for mommies or daddies who have to bend over 90 degrees to push little cars, but it is much easier for 3 year-olds! Hannah doesn't mind doing it and it keeps Layla happy so it is a win-win. How devine!

I thought I would share a random video of how my evenings sound with the girls. Little girls are cuddly and sweet and LOUD! It is also not a special occasion - this is Hannah's after school garb. She is very fancy in the evenings.

Layla got 1 more tooth this week (upper left) and is working on the upper right. Poor baby is deffinately having a hard time with the teeth and we have lots to go.......

Layla is trying to let go now when standing which is cute. She is so proud of herself and gets so excited and then - boom, on the tush. She doesn't mind though and gets right back up. She'll be taking steps here soon (sniff, sniff) and then be off and running. My little baby is getting big so fast.

Speaking of little babies, the new baby is a kicking fool. He is very busy for a baby. Of course I'm not helping things by ingesting massive amounts of sugar. I'm sure I need an intervention relating to my over-eating, but hey - it's my last baby. I'm gonna enjoy it!

Blue

This is my very first set of blue anything. Thanks to grandma for the immediate baby gift :) I know it is entirely possible that grandma was hoping to get one more girl out of me, but she also is happy for us because she knows how excited we are about our boy. That's a good mom for you.

In a house of all pink, tutus, frills, jewlery, and baby dolls, this is a welcome change.

What a day!

We got to see our new baby today and it's a boy! I can't believe it - our very own boy. I had resigned myself to having a house full of girls, and I am so happy we get to change it up a little. I love my girls to death and they are a lot of fun, but I am very excited about a boy too. Hannah is thrilled to be having a brother. She already has a sister so she was pretty sure it was a boy all along. He is measuring a few days ahead of schedule and is doing great. Here's a shot of his boy parts :) The part nearest the BOY sign is an arm and a hand - you can't see the arrow in the picture, but it really is a boy.

Here's a shot of Layla from this week too. She's a ham. She is not doing too well with food still, but she is starting to climb which is fun. She is down to 3 bottles a day in hopes she will start taking the cup better. I don't feel we need to push it too much with her since she is a bit behind on eating. She will get 3 bottles until her birthday and hopefully we can cut to 2 after that until she is eating normally. A few more teeth couldn't hurt either since she still only has two.

Nothing much else new here. I went away on business for 3 days last week and everyone did great. It was nice to have a little me time and the girls got to bond with daddy. We are all looking forward to some nicer weather here soon!