A Visit from Leah & Aunt Donna

Lyla really enjoyed a visit from Auntie Donna and Leah today. It was so much fun hanging out with them both. Lyla tried on shoes and got to play airplane with beloved Leah for the first time in months. Gosh, we miss her!

Hanging out with Rand

We had dinner at the Girls’ tonight, and Lyla enjoyed time with one of her favorite playmates, “And”.

It is one of life’s most wonderful pleasures to watch them play together. They really enjoy spending time with each other:

Past Times

Lyla is a bundle of sweet personality these days, and she’s really exploring her environment at ever turn. Here are some of her most favorite things to do these days:

Looking at the “babies” across the street – she loves watching the kids from the preschool next door come out to play. She runs to to the door and watches them longingly. I am sometimes a little sad about how quickly she will become one of them:

Putting on “clothes of any kind” – whether it’s a shoe, purse or Mommy & Daddy’s underwear from the laundry basket, she LOVES trying to dress herself.

Here she is sporting a pair of Mommy’s panties:

Aunt Donna’s shoes:

Daddy’s boxers:

A purse:

And, Mommy’s panties again:

By the way, in case you’re wondering, all of the clothes depicted in this post are CLEAN!! Ha!

Spring is in the Air!!

We were so excited to go outside today for the first time in a long time to just walk around the yard and check on the doggies next door (Lyla’s favorite). It was so warm for a February day, and Lyla was delighted to really navigate the outdoors on her own for the one of the first times ever. She’s obviously thrilled with herself:

We are so looking forward to balmy days of Spring ahead!

Big Girl!!

It's official, Lyla is now a Big Girl: no bottle last night for the first time, and no problems from her.

We're so proud of her!

We went outside for a few minutes yesterday, which she absolutely loved. She's so happy with herself for how well she can get around.

Blogging has been so horrible lately because we've been so sick - I'm hoping we're on the upswing so I can catch up soon.

Here's a photo from yesterday. Note how pleased she is with herself:




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Happy Valentine’s Day!

Lance & I had a great Valentine’s Day evening. Our babysitter came over and helped us put Lyla to bed. Then, we left for dinner at Porcini’s and enjoyed some time together.

We had a wonderful evening – so glad Lance was off for the night.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

Lyla’s Valentine

Lyla and Liam enjoyed their first real Valentine’s Day together with a celebration for just the two of them this evening. Lyla was excited about Liam’s arrival – he’s actually become known as “Iam” around here as Lyla talks about him ALL the time. Here she is waiting for him:

They enjoyed playing together before their Valentine’s dinner:

Valentine’s Table: Note my first attempt at heart-shaped cupcakes:

Dinner together:

Opening Valentine’s gifts:

Playing together – we’re not sure how Liam ended up “shirtless”. Lyla insisted on wearing his bib:

Happy Valentine’s Day! One of the most special ever for all of us! We love you Liam! (Lyla is obviously not into this particular photo):

Sick Days

Blogging has been a little difficult lately due to sickness around our house. Lyla developed quite a fever before our return trip from the Pokabla’s in Urbana, and when we finally arrived home, she was diagnosed with RSV. It was a difficult couple of weeks with breathing treatments, followed by me getting a much milder version of what she had.

Glad that’s over.

Here she is hanging out with Daddy after a breathing treatment:

Playing with her new baby, a present from Mommy & Daddy who felt sooooo sorry for her:

ERRGGHH! A new found affinity for TV (also known as Tee-Bee). Current favorite of Lyla (and Mommy) is Yo Gabba Gabba.

Return to Urbana

What a marvelous time we had with the girls in Urbana!! It was so much fun to get together with Zoe and Ellie again. The girls played and played and played and played together. Lyla really loves her girls, and even though the trip ended in illness for her, we had an absolutely wonderful time. 

Here are a few of the highlights:

Matching PJ’s for the girls – Lyla loved jumping on Ellie’s bed:

Present for Ellie’s birthday from Lyla Q. She obviously loved it:

Ellie’s first Big Girl Bed and new bedding:

The girls really loved jumping on the NEW bed:

Mommy was really excited about the new bed:

And, then, the Urbana snow storm arrived. We got to stay an extra night:

It took a joint effort from Martina, Mike and I to dig out the car to be able to leave:

We celebrated Mike’s birthday on our last night:

Note the cake – it was a practice run for Ellie’s birthday party next weekend:

Lyla especially enjoyed it – this picture makes me a little sad because it was taken several hours before her raging temperature leading to her RSV: