Welcome Parker

This post is long overdue!  Parker has been with our family for over a month now and he is so sweet.  He is an easy baby- eats, sleeps and poops :)  He is so adorable and more alert each day.  Layla is starting to interact with him... finally.  I think she wanted to pretend like he wasn't there for the first little while.  Now she loves him and tries to help him in any way she can.  Tonight he started to cry in the car and she loving said "Hey Buddy, what's wrong?"  It was so cute!  We were lucky enough to have my mom and dad here with us right after Parker got here.  We miss them!  Layla wants to call papa and grandma almost everyday.  Layla and Parker and so lucky to have two sets of AMAZING grandparents!  We feel very blessed!!
Here are some photos from his birth, blessing, and some that my sweet friend Rachel Barton took-

Just one more..

I thought I would get one more post up before this little guy gets here. I keep having the feeling he may come early- I don't know if it is mothers intuition or wishful thinking.   We shall see! 
In preparation for his arrival, I  emptied the memory card on my camera. I'm ashamed to tell you how long it has been since I downloaded photos. Lets just say there are photos from Halloween on there and they weren't the earliest.  I think moving a few times in the last year is the excuse I will use for not pulling the camera out more.  I hope I take more photos starting now,  especially because these little ones change so fast!! 
Here are some photos.. recent and not so recent :)

Labor Day 2011

4th of July 2011

Halloween 2010

CHEEEESE 2011

I hope I can always remember..

Since it is 1 am and I can't sleep because of Heartburn (this little guy better have hair and lots of it) I thought I would take some time to blog. Chad has been gone all week and finally got home tonight. Layla and I both missed him so much! When he got home, Layla would not let him out of her sight. It was so endearing to watch them wrestle and snuggle and talk and play. She loves her daddy and so do I! He is a good man.
As we were putting her to bed, we knelt down to say prayers. We have been trying to get her to kneel, but she usually sits or walks around the room with her arms folded. However, tonight she knelt down, bowed her head and folded her little arms. I hope I can always remember that sweet sight. Cute little Layla with her hair still wet from her bath, in her Dora jammies, kneeling in her room with mommy and daddy, as daddy said a prayer. It brought tears to my eyes.
Layla is more and more like Chad every day and I'm so thankful! She is a happy, funny and thoughtful little person. I'm grateful for her and have thought several times how blessed I am to have her in my home. I would hope that all parents get to feel that way about their little ones.

Here are some photos.

*Layla's cute buns (she would not look at me so you just get to see one) and her enjoying some yogurt for breakfast. *Me 8 months pregnant.. wishing there was a better angle for a pregnancy shot, but it is what it is. *Chad... being Chad :)

Time is flying..

I can't believe how fast life goes by sometimes. The thing that makes me the most sad is how fast Layla is growing up! Her hair is getting so long, she is getting taller, she is talking so much and she looks so grown up! I know this is going to be even more apparent when we bring home our little guy in September. I realized today that I have been slacking on taking photos for the past while.. I'm charging my camera battery right now so I can correct that.

Some of the things that Layla does lately that melt our hearts/crack us up/drive us crazy are:

• She is a TOTAL daddy's girl. She wants him all the time. This week she started to ask "where's daddy?" with her hands up in a questioning position. I would tell her he is at work. Now she says.. "Daddy" (still with her hands in question mode) and then quickly says "work" she says work in an answer tone, it is pretty darn cute. She is so smart!
• I have a Yo Gabba Gabba episode on my phone that she loves to watch. In one of the skits they say "beatie beat beat clap clap" while they his their legs and then clap. She now will randomly say "beatie beat clap clap" with the actions.
• I can tell the things I say a lot by what she says. She will sometimes pretend to almost fall or that one of her toys fell and then say "woah, okay?" When she falls I will say "Woah, are you okay? When I ask her that, she now replays "okay" or "okay, mamma" She has also picked up on the phase "Oh Shoot" glad that is the word I use, but it could be mistaken for something else when she says it so I'm trying not say it.
  
• Today it is raining with loud thunder. We went to look out the window after her nap and I said "Look at the rain. Can you hear the thunder?" She then said "dibble dop dop." For any of you who have read Mr. Brown can moo.. this may sound familiar. She has read that book tons of times, but not lately. It amazes me what she remembers.
• The one thing that drives me crazy lately is her OBSESSION with buckles. I can't count how many times I have undone the buckle on her car seat, high chair, or grocery cart so she can click it again. And she doesn't just ask nicely to have the buckle undone. Once it is clicked she screams buckle desperately over and over again until it is undone. I do love the way she says buckle though.. it sounds like bupple. If we are in public, I'm sure people are wondering why that little girl is crying "bupple, bupple, bupple" at the top of her lungs with her head thrown back. We are working on her saying help me, and sometimes she gets it, but not when the "bupple" is involved
• The other night we did a quick FHE with her and we were trying to get her to kneel for prayers after, but that was not happening. We finally gave up and just said prayers. Throughout the entire prayer, she went back and forth between Chad and I and said "hugs" and would just hug us. I think she was trying to make up for not obeying. We were both trying not to laugh, it was pretty cute.
• The other day we went to visit Aunt Kristin and Uncle Mike and she had on some sandals that made a great sound on their floor. I think she was tap dancing the majority of the time we were there, mostly in a circle. It was pretty cute. I can't wait to put her in a dance class.
  
• She is very sensitive. Sometimes she will do something that will hurt me or Chad. When we say ouch or get sad she immediately tries to cuddle up to us and make us laugh. So sweet.
  

As a mom I worry if I'm teaching her enough, if she gets the right food or enough attention. I wonder about methods of discipline and when we are going to move her to a big girl bed.. amongst other things. I'm grateful for good examples all around me (family and friends) as well as a supportive husband who is a great daddy!
That is all for now and I feel like a better mom for recording these things.. even though they are lacking photos :( I'll keep trying to be better at both recording and photos.. I know our family will enjoy it all later.

It's been a while!!

A lots has been going on since I last posted. This may be a long post.
We recently moved... TWICE within a week! POOR CHAD, being pregnant kind of put a damper on the amount I was able to do. We are getting settle though.. thanks to all the people from our church that helped! My mom also came to visit! She helped us unpack boxes and get things organized. It is SO nice to feel like I will be all settled for a while before the new baby gets here! So grateful for a wonderful mother! As a mother, I realize more and more everyday all that she did for me and my siblings and all she taught me! THANK YOU MOM!! I'm also grateful for Chad's mom! I couldn't ask for a better mother-in-law! She is always putting others needs before her own, what an example! I guess this is late mothers day shout out!

Life as a mom is fun and crazy... example from today: one minute I'm thinking 'Layla you are the cutest thing in the world. We are having so much fun and you melt my heart!' The next I'm thinking 'WHY are you crying for 10 minutes straight because I buckled your car seat?!?!' Just an example of one of the many ups and downs of my days.. I think Layla has hit the Terrible 2's. That or she is teething or both.. It just feels funny to feel SO many ups and downs in one day. It can almost make you crazy :)

I do love being a mom and I'm so grateful to be able to stay home with her. She is doing so many fun things right now. She says new words every day. Her favorites lately are excuse you, bless you (she says it coos you, bess you) and she says it at appropriate times. What a smart girl! Her favorite show right now is called Bubble Guppies. Sometimes when she asks to watch it, she sings the theme song. She says "bu, bu, bubba, gup, gup guppy" She LOVES to dance and it is pretty darn cute. She also just loves to play with her toys, swing at the park and swim. She likes to see babies and points them out everywhere we go. I hope she likes her new brother!

That is right, we are having a BOY!! I thought we were from the beginning, so when we went to our 18 week appointment and the doctor said he was unsure but his best guess was a girl, I was a little shocked. Thankfully at our 20 week ultrasound it was VERY clear that it was little boy! The nurse said "girls don't have what we call a third leg" sound like a medical term to me! The pregnancy has been good, I just feel very tired still. We are over halfway there, I just need to make it through the summer heat and we will be good! So excited to meet this little sweetie!

Here are some photos:

Bikini Babe & Frozen Yogurt face

Easter or Halloween??? & Oh No Face!!




You're Fired & One Smart Cookie



Layla fell into the Coffee table.. OUCH! & Her crazy hair after pigtails (don't mind the moving mess in the background!)

My mom Helped my decorate our patio while she was out here. We love it and use it daily!! Layla will stand by the door and say "side? side?" because she wants to go out!

This Gray Train is... growing!!

We are so excited to announce our second baby, due September 24th! I just went to my second appointment today and saw the little arms and legs moving! I'm starting to feel a little better, which is so nice! This pregnancy has been so different, it makes me think it is a boy! I can't stand to drink cola of any kind (for those of you who know me well, please don't die of shock)! My cravings are mostly for fruit! I went through an apple phase, a peach phase and this morning I had two bowls of blueberries for breakfast and have since had two grapefruits :)

A funny story.. For those of you who don't know- Chad's brother Clark and his wife are expecting twins! This will be the THIRD set in our church congregation. Everyone is wondering if something is in the water! After our first appointment, Chad called his mom on our way home and had her convinced we were also having twins! She almost fainted.. poor Vicki! We are just having one baby and I'm totally okay with that :)

So as my sweet friend Kara pointed out, I haven't posted in FOREVER! I just get so blog lazy sometimes.. I'm usually on my phone rather then a laptop so I don't get around to it. But here are some additional updates in our lives:

My little brother Bryan finished his Chemo and so far is cancer free! His is hair is coming back in and he has been able to return to work and school! He is one amazing person! I never realized how much people go through when they have Chemo! I think he had the majority of side effects, but he is moving on with life and we couldn't be happier to have him with us and healthy!

We took a fun trip to Utah and loved every minute of it. We just spent a ton of time with family and it was much needed! I found out I was pregnant while I was there and it was fun to share that with my family while I was there. I told Chad that I was expecting through a text msg.. I know I WILL never live it down!

We are currently living with Chad's parents in one room.. Layla sleeps in a pack-n-play in the closet. I was talking to one of my friends and she said "Oh, everyone needs one of those stories!" I totally agree! One day we will look back and laugh, we even laugh right now. We are only here for a few more weeks.. I can't wait to have Layla in her own room again!

Layla is growing up so fast! She is so fun and funny! She says a ton of words and loves to play with everyone. Sometimes when we are playing with her, Chad will fake snore/sleep and then she will wake him up. Now she has started to fake snore and it is hilarious! She loves to tickle everyone! When she wakes up most mornings, she lays in bed and just jabbers away sometimes tickling her own feet. I don't know how we could love her more, but we have thought that before. Here are couple photos of her:

Here she is pulling her total Cheese grin. We got her bubbles for V day and she LOVES them!

Layla's cool new shades.. she knows how cute she is when she wears them!

Like father, like daughter..

I love my sweet Chad and Layla girl! Layla's personality is showing through more and more and I'm so glad it is similar to Chad's! They both make me laugh, smile and melt my heart! The other day I was having a moment and Layla woke up from her nap ready for her lunch. While we were sitting there she just started to smile at me, it felt like a little cheer up mama smile. So I decided to pull a funny face at her (crossed eyes, raised eye brows and cheerio lips) She started to laugh which made me laugh and then I did it again. After we both stopped laughing all of the sudden she pulled a similar face, minus the crossed eyes, it was SOOO cute! I started to laugh So hard and that made her laugh.. needless to say, she is like her daddy! She is sweet, thoughtful and can make me laugh at anytime! I feel so blessed to have both of them in my life!