Moody Gardens Palm Beach Visit

 Playing in the sand

 Kim, Brody, Lila, and Me ready for a day at Palm Beach

Kim and Brody invited Lila and me to meet them down in Galveston at Moody Garden's Palm Beach waterpark.  Lila and I went to Palm Beach last year when we first moved to Texas (blog post), but they completely re-did it and added some really fun things to do.  Lila and Brody had such a great time splashing around in the splash pad area, as well as floating over the waves in the wave pool. We took the babies around for a few loops in the lazy river also. Our last fun attraction was taking the babies down the "big" water slide, and I think that they would have gone down 100 times if it were up to them! To say they were worn out after a couple of hours of water play would be an understatement! Lila fell asleep before we even pulled out of the parking lot. We can't wait to go back with more friends next week!

 loving to play in the sand

 They love playing with each other

 splashing around the splash pad

 snack break

100% improvement

This week has been a world of difference from this past weekend (thank goodness!!). Lila's teeth seem to not be bothering near as much and she is back to her happy, independent self. Josh was also home from Monday through Thursday morning which was such a great surprise considering he was supposed to only have Monday and Tuesday off after being gone the previous weekend (Thursday through Monday morning). We all love having him here with us, but I definitely think that Lila appreciates his time with her the most. She even cried after him when he left this morning...which about broke his heart into a million pieces!

lounging on daddy while watching tv

Also this week, since I am 34 weeks pregnant, I decided it was time to pack the hospital bag. I know it's still super early, but if you read my blog or are my friend on facebook, you know that waiting until week 34 was even hard for me to do :) I figure you can never be too prepared, and Alli can make her arrival anytime between now and the next 6 weeks. That's crazy!  I only have 3 more until I'm considered full term. Where did this pregnancy go?!?!

 Alli's things for the hospital

Lila being silly sporting my maternity shirt

Although I'm ready to not be pregnant anymore, I'm not sure I'll ever be ready to have two under 18 months! Ready or not, it will be happening soon!

 I love being able to put bows in her little pony tail

making a silly face playing on the floor

Playgroup Baby Shower

Yesterday, our playgroup threw Alli and me, as well as two other ladies in our playgroup that are expecting, a baby shower at our friend Sandra's house.  It was such a nice time with lovely food, great decorations, and good company. The kiddos were well-behaved (I was shocked and so happy that Lila was happy and in a great mood for the shower) while we chatted, drank mimosas, and opened presents. Everyone was so generous and gave Alli some really great things. I'm so thankful for these ladies and the friendships that we've created in the last year!

 The mommies to be

 Lila loved reading the cards

 Alli's presents

 33 weeks 5 days

Our Lovely Weekend

...oh and by lovely, I mean, pitiful, horrible, and noisy!

Lila's bottom molars popped through and she's got two others working their way through on the bottom (I was wondering when they'd decide to show up!).  The other eight teeth that she had before gave her no trouble when they came in, she didn't cry or fuss or anything. However, these apparently are pretty painful from the weekend that we've had over here. She was only happy when she was in her bed (which she spent a good part of the weekend-not always sleeping, but I didn't care because she was happy!) or in her car seat watching her Barney DVD.  Luckily, it seems like they're coming through pretty fast. I sure hope that they do because I want my happy baby back ASAP!!!

Here is our weekend in pictures-too bad daddy was at work all weekend and had to miss the fun:

she's done a lot of chewing on her toothbrush and water bottles

16 Months Old *June 3, 2011*

It's crazy to think how fast things change in just one year. This time last year we were boxing up all of our belongings from your first home and preparing to move to Texas. Here's the link to the blog post  from last year. During last June, we got to spend several weeks at your Grammy and Granddaddy's beach condo while we waited for our new house in Texas to become ready for us to move in. You have come so far since last June and have learned so many new things. You are such a fun kid and we just love to watch you in your element. 

*You weigh 22.4 pounds (not surprised that you lost a little weight this month since I can barely get you to sit still and eat anything!) and are a little over 30.5 inches tall (you grew over two inches this month!!!).

*You are definitely running everywhere now. You only have one speed when moving around the house and that speed is as fast as you can go.    

*Because you love to be so mobile now, you are becoming impossible very hard to take out to meals. You don't love to sit still in your high chair for very long at all. We've been eating in so much more because of that!

*You LOVE to swim. You love to jump off the side of the pool and dunk your whole face underwater. We just got a baby pool for you to use at our house and you have already discovered how to climb in and out all by yourself. Our pool in the neighborhood is now open on the weekends, and we will be spending a lot of time there since it's so hot here!

* You still love pitching fits. I don't see that getting any better for at least 5 or so years (maybe never). Any little thing can set you off. You bow your back and then flop face forward on the floor. It's really funny to watch, but we just have to try and ignore you when you act out. 

*You still drink four huge cups of whole milk a day in your sippy cups, and we go through a half a gallon in between 2-5 days! You are starting to like apple juice more and you'll drink a little water here and there also.

*You still love blueberries and strawberries, bananas, anything sweet, waffles, bagels, oatmeal (can you tell that breakfast is your favorite meal?), turkey and cheese sandwiches, pb and js, mac and cheese, peas and carrots, ravioli, spaghetti.

*You are very interesting with your eating habits, as most toddlers are. You love to eat a big breakfast, but sometimes you don't care to eat much of anything for lunch or dinner. You love to snack and eat little meals throughout the day. Some days you love chicken, macaroni and cheese, green beans, peas, carrots, pizza, etc. but some days you don't want to take the time to eat anything!

*However, you aren't a huge fan of meat, and we're trying to work to get you to eat more protein. You do love the Gerber meat sticks though (yuck!). You also love Perdue chicken nuggets (the only chicken nuggets that you will eat!).

*You are still sleeping 12 hours a night, and we pushed your bedtime back until 8pm so that you sleep a little later in the morning! We put blackout curtains in your room and they seemed to push your wake up time back about 15 minutes, but it really helped your nap times become longer!

*You rarely take 2 naps a day now since we are hardly ever home in the morning. Most days you only get one long nap in at around 1:30-2:30 and sleep until between 3-5 depending on how tired you are and when you started your nap



*You went to your first gymnastics class yesterday and had so much fun. You absolutely LOVED tumbling and flipping around and kept your arms straight like such a big girl! The trampoline was one of your favorite parts, but you also loved when we helped you do kart-wheels and forward rolls.

  *You still have 8 teeth, and I can't see or feel any signs of more to come except that you are chewing hysterically on everything and become really frustrated and fussy when you do. 

*You are saying a lot these days, but most of it is jibberish (I SO wish that I knew what you were trying to say!!!). You can say "doggy", "night-night", "bye-bye", "hi", "mama", "dada"-still your favorite, "uh-oh", "milk" (which you only pronounce the last sound /k/), "good morning"-although it mainly sounds like "goo goo goo" right now :)


*You are starting to learn your animal sounds. You can make sounds for a duck, monkey, cow, and pig. 
*You love to read, sing, and dance. You dance to any kind of music, but you especially love your Barney and Sesame Street songs (yes your Sesame Street DVD is by far still your favorite, although Barney is coming in a close second).

*You are slowly learning the hand motions to "itsy-bitsy spider," "the hokey pokey," and "mr. sun," but you still love "if you're happy and you know it." You sing along to the songs on your Barney dvd now, and it sounds so precious!

*Your hair is finally long enough to pull back in a pony tail. I'm so excited for this since you hardly keep your bows in your hair anymore!

*You are finally starting to realize that my belly is growing, and when we ask you where mama's baby is, you point to your own tummy. I can't believe that you will be a big sister next month!


You are becoming such a big girl and I love to watch you learn so many new things everyday! We love you!

Hot Dog Dance

Hot Dog, Hot Dog, Hot Diggity Dog!

Lila's favorite part of her favorite show :)

A girl and her hairbrush

Lila loves playing with her hairbrush and giving herself "beauty parlor" as Grammy likes to call it.  She usually hangs onto her brush all day or as long as she possibly can. Here are some pictures of her hairbrush obsession.

 playing hide and seek with it

 putting it in her favorite drawer

 taste-testing it

 actually brushing her hair with it

 death grip

watching tv with it

patting her belly with it