The Birthday "Man"!

Isla is calling him the birthday "boy" but since he's hitting the big 3-0, I think its safe to switch over  to birthday man!

This main man of mine makes my heart skip a beat every day. From his even temper to his sarcastic remarks, I 100% believe he was designed just for me.

He keeps me grounded, encouraged, enthusiastic and most importantly he puts a smile on my face every day.

He's always slow to anger, quick to love and forgive, gentle and humble. His humbleness amazes me! I look up to him and try to be my best for him.

I'm so thankful God allowed our paths to cross 8 years ago. Happy birthday my love!

Firsts...

Isla has had a lot of firsts lately and she has been over the moon excited about all of them.

Swimming lessons - she started swimming lessons in October. She is one of two in her class. I've been so proud of her excitement, confidence and her sweetness. The other little girl she is in the class with has been terrified of the teacher and being away from her mom. Instead of Isla getting upset
about the little girl screaming, she's been trying to calm her down. She tells her its going to be okay, shares the pool toys and smiles at her. I've been so proud to see her light shining and also proud of all her new swimming skills!

Dentist - she had her first dentist appointment this week. She was not hesitant at all to climb up in the chair and when they asked her how many teeth she thought she had, she opened her mouth and counted them one by one until she got to twenty. I was amazed at how well she did! She was super excited to get to pick out a toy from the treasure box at the end too.

Home with mommy - This is our first week of being home more. We've cut her preschool hours to just three mornings a week versus all week and she is doing school with me at home on Mondays and Fridays. Our first Monday was awesome! I had to be a little more flexible than I had planned, but overall it went well, she was excited to learn and we had fun together. This is a great trial for us to continue to explore homeschooling for the years to come.

She's growing up so fast that it often makes my chest ache. She no longer likes kisses on the mouth, she tells me - "on the cheek mom."
She calls me mom most days and if I'm super lucky, I get a mama, but hardly ever does she call me mommy.
She wants to do it all herself these days. She used to like for me to show her the way first, but now, she wants to do the first try herself too.

All these things are great and I love to see her growing smarter, stronger and more confident every day... but some days I just want time to stand still. I want to take a mental snapshot and remember her and Laylin in their thermal pajamas smiling at me before bedtime. I want to remember her silky skin and how she asks for tickles on her back over and over again. I want to remember how brushing her hair is a fight, but she jumps at the opportunity to brush mine. I want to remember her eyes lighting up when I tell her I'm going to put her to bed tonight, or snuggle with her for a little while.

I hope I remember all these things and more forever.

She can...

Laylin has really started showing more signs of being a true toddler. Recently, she has started signing more than just, more. All the work and videos have started to pay off because she is communicating with us through sign language!

She can now sign:

• More
• Eat
• All done
• Milk
• Drink
• Dog
• Sleep
• Diaper

Isla has gotten into signing again too. Signing is helping her communicate with us and reducing some frustrations, but I've also noticed that it is encouraging her to talk to us. She's starting to say more words now too. 

She can say:

• Bye bye
• All done
• Mama
• Dada
• Isla
• Bella
• Night-night

She's also taken a new interest in reading...and it's literally all she wants to do during playtime!

She brings me a book, sits down on my lap and listens to the whole story without moving... except to point at the pictures. Once the book is done, if I put it down, she will pick it up and hand it to me again. It's so cute how she has favorite books that she wants to read over and over again. Her favorite little story is about making toast with jelly. For some reason she LOVES this one. She will want to read it 10 times before she moves on to the next book. 

She's growing and changing everyday and becoming the sweetest little girl. Can't wait to see what she can do next. 

Laylin Milestones

Wow, Laylin has hit a lot of milestones since my last post and these milestones have been keeping me busy!

• For starters, she turned ONE!
• She hit her biggest milestone - WALKING! She is now up to 15 steps. She's getting more and more confident every day. She took her first steps on September 21st! 
• Now, she's not only a walker, but also a dancer! She loves banging her head to the beat of...well, anything. The TV tunes, music, sounds from a toy... it really doesn't matter. This girl just loves to dance! 
• She's still holding strong at just 4 teeth, but she's a great eater. 
• Still weighing in at a whooping 17lbs, but healthy. 
• Her personality has really started to shine recently. She's giggly, goofy, playful and feisty! 

We love our little Lay-LION!

A note to my girls...

Isla,

You're three years old and SO.MUCH.FUN! I love everything about you... you are strong willed, full of personality, incredibly sweet and sympathetic. Every day, you wake up bursting with energy, ready to take on the day! You are adventurous, brave and determined. You love to read, learn new things and do it yourself. You're so sweet and such a great big sister. I love to see your love for your sister growing and your special bond with her growing. Laylin lights up when she sees you and I can tell the two of you will have a lasting bond. 

Laylin,

My sweet one year old baby... you are oh so cute, and oh so feisty! I love how observant you are. You carefully study and watch everyone you encounter... taking it all in before you flash your toothy smile. You are playful and vibrant. I can see your curiosity increasing as you are eager to get into everything and explore. You are getting more confident with standing and I think those first little steps will happen any day now. I love how loving you are. You are such a cuddle bug. 

My heart grows bigger every day I spend with you girls. I'm amazed with how much love and joy you two have brought to my life. 

Laylin Jane - What I think about your first year...

As you are just 9 days shy of turning one. I hold you and think about you growing inside me. I think about the miracle of my pregnancy. I think about your little body intertwined in mine. I think about our first ultrasound. I think about how perfect God make you. I think about the pain I felt during labor. I think about the indescribable joy I felt holding your tiny body for the first time. I think about your first breaths. I think about what I thought was your last breaths. I think about how beautiful you were the first time I saw you. I think about those first few months. I think about the long naps and how content you were. I think about what a good baby you are. I think about the night I almost lost you. I think about the miracle of waking up that night to find you not breathing. I think about your little grey lifeless body laying on the floor. I think about that faint cry you gave that reassured me you were still breathing and broke my heart all at the same time. I think about how strong you are. I think about the hospital stays, doctors appointments, worry and fear. I think about the miracle of your life. I think about the alarm sounding from your monitor and the panic we used to feel. I think about the sleepless nights. I think about all the time we spent together in the dark. I think about how you love to be held. I think about how loving you are. I think about you growing and thriving. I think about your sweet voice saying mama for the first time. I think about how petite you are and how much you love to eat. I think about your feistiness and independence. I think about your strong-will. I think about how determined you are. I think about seeing you crawl for the first time. I think about you standing tall. I think about you clapping and waving bye backwards. I think about your sweet grin and your one and only tooth that's only a fourth of the way in. I think about the joy you have brought to my life. I think about you lighting up every time you see your sissy. I think about God's plan for your life. I think about the blessing that you are. I think about how much God must love me to bless me with you.

Onederful Laylin Jane

Our sweet girl is almost one! I can hardly believe in just two short weeks she will be turning one. In a way, it feels like a year has gone by, but at the same time when I look at her - I can't believe she is one. She still feels so much more like an infant to me rather than a toddler. I know part of that is me not wanting to let go of each stage, but part of it is because she is still such a peanut.

She is so incredibly smart. Absorbing everything we say and do. This week she started putting words together and said (and signed) "All done" at dinner time. She's also saying, mama, bye-bye and Isla.

She is signing all done, nurse and I think she is starting to sign sleep. Isla loves doing baby signs with her and Laylin is really starting to catch on.

She is standing up all by herself and in to everything!

I thank God everyday for such an incredibly sweet blessing. She is just the sweetest!

Special times with Isla

I've been trying to do extra special outings from time to time with Isla to give her some attention outside of our normal day to day. It seems as if I have much more one on one time with Laylin as I feed her before nap time and at nights and while Isla is at school.

Isla has become such a big vibrant girl. She is full of life with the greatest imagination. This week, we took her to her very first movie. She called it "the movie station." She did so well. We watched it in 3D and she wore her glasses the whole time. She was so cute whispering little comments about the movie and looking to us to know when to laugh at the jokes. I hope it will be a special memory for her because I know it will be for me.

Yesterday I got a pedicure for the first time since before Laylin was born... I guess you can say I've been busy with other things :) I took Isla with me for a special outing of just her and me. She called the nail salon "the paint store" - makes sense right?! She got to get her toenails and finger nails painted. She did her toes red, white and silver - all with glitter. For her finger nails she wanted white - surprised me! She did white with silver glitter on top. She was so excited to have them painted special!

She is such a loving sweet girl. I just adore our one on one time together.

Happy 10 Months Laylin Jane

Laylin did a lot of big things after she turned 9 months old. She began to crawl and pull up to a standing position all on her own. She is babbling more and starting to make more sounds... I think mama and dada will be coming soon.

This week she is 10 months old, and the sweetest thing ever, but I've noticed she has started to develop a feisty side and her personality is really starting to show! Now, if Isla you take something away from her or do something she doesn't like, she will yell and smack her hands together letting us know she is not happy! I remember how much fun Isla was at 10 months and I love that I get to relive this stage with Laylin.

Looking forward to seeing all the things she does this month!

Happy Birthday Isla! You're Three!

Happy happy happy happiest of birthdays Isla Rae!! I love you so much. Watching you grow has been an unimaginable blessing to me. My love for you is unlike anything I could have ever dreamed of.

You are such a BRIGHT LIGHT! Your imagination carries us to amazing places and on comical adventures daily. You love to sing songs and stories and even just plain sentences. Singing has been one of your favorite things to do lately. You also love to twirl, dance and especially jump. You are such a climber and risk taker. There aren't many things that you are scared of. You have really become a brave girl... Yes, girl, you are no longer a baby (although, you will always be my baby).

You love to play lion and hide-n-seek. You also still love to be chased, explore outside and paint.

You've become quiet the girly girl, although you aren't afraid of getting dirty. In fact, you love to play in the dirt and make 'dirt cakes.' Your favorite thing to wear is a dress or swimsuit. You like to get your nails and toenails painted, but hate having your hair fixed. You also really like to play with mommy's make-up. In fact, you got into my blue eye shadow the other day and most of it was left crumbled in the bathroom floor (that's okay though, because I really shouldn't be wearing blue eye shadow anyways :) )

You love to read books and run through the sprinklers. Water play is on your list of favorites too. Your favorite colors are pink and purple. You love all the Disney princesses, but recently, Sofia the First has been your favorite.

You are incredibly smart and love talking. I love having conversations with you and hearing your sweet little voice. You are so sweet and loving. I cannot believe it has been three wonderful years already. You've grown so fast. You are my sunshine.

I love you so very much.

Mama.

Isla says...

Isla has had the cutest sayings lately and has been telling lots of stories! I wanted to jot these down so I don't forget...

cob on the corn (for corn on the cop)
cop corn (for pop corn)
I love you so much.... FOR EVERYTHING (she pulls the "for everything" from Cinderella and tells me this at least twice a day)
Happy Mother's Day (we're two weeks past mother's day, but she still tells me happy mother's day everyday... I love it!)
Booty shake (this girl loves to shake her booty... and be naked!)
Rarrr (she loves scaring people)


She has the best imagination, loves to sing... even normal conversations... and has had the best attitude lately! I'm so grateful for her sweet heart and the strong bond we share.

She has my heart...

If I counted the kisses I give this girl daily, I think I would loose count after 100. So so sweet!

Sweet Laylin Jane is 8 Months Old!

Every day gets better and better as Laylin grows. She is such a sweet heart. I think she's going to hit some major milestones this month and next. I can tell such a big difference in her lately.

She is getting louder and really finding her voice. She has taken a much bigger interest in toys and her big sister. She is also showing more effort in rolling over and trying to crawl. She pushes her body up with her arm and squirms her legs behind her, but hasn't quiet figured out how to get up on all fours yet. She will though... and soon!

She doesn't show any interest in eating though. We've tried several times, but aren't forcing it or in any rush. When she's ready, we'll know it!

She LOVES the water. She squeals as soon as we turn on the faucet or start filling up the tub. She also LOVES her mama! She lights up when she sees me and immediately gets sad when she can't see me. A little separation anxiety starting to form...

Her and Isla have started to play more and I love to see the bond forming between these two sweet girls.

She finally weighs over 16lbs! Such a chunkier!

We're a little behind in taking her 8 month pictures since we were on vacation during her 8mo bday, but I'll get those posted soon.

The differences...

Love watching these girls and seeing the differences and growth, development and especially personality. They are both so uniquely special! I love how God crafts each one of to be special in our own way.

7 months of sweetness...

Our lil peanut is officially 7 months old. She is full of happiness. I am sometimes amazed at how happy and breathtakingly sweet this little girl is. Oh, and she is incredibly loving.

• She smiles and giggles a lot
• Lights up when she sees Isla
• Is rolling over
• Loves to listen to my voice
• Is sitting up
• "Talking" and cooing a lot! - its as if she is humming sometimes
• She's very ticklish, easy-going and content

We feel incredibly blessed to spend every day with the cute little miracle of Laylin Jane!

Happy birthday... in advance!

Isla has been to several of her friends birthday parties recently. This has led to her asking me if it is her birthday, every single day! Sometimes she asks multiple times. Its almost as if she is dreaming about her very own birthday party because she usually asks me as soon as she wakes up in the morning and after nap time.

Some days she doesn't even ask. She just wakes up and proclaims, "I'm ready to go to my birthday party now, mama."

I've been trying to explain to her how long she has to wait, and what month her birthday is in. It's so hard to explain time frames at this age though. If I have something exciting planned, I usually wait until day of to tell her because she will get so upset if she finds out its not happening on that very day.

Our every day birthday conversation has been going something like this...

Isla: Is it my birthday today mama?
Me: No, not yet.
Isla: Ok, my birthday is on Saturday.
Me: Your birthday is still 3 months away. It's in June.
Isla: Ok, when it's my birthday, I'm going to have an Elsa party!

Some days she says Ana party, but most days she tells me she wants an Elsa party. I've been contemplating having a (family) Elsa party for her, just because. It's hard for me to wait too! She is really into birthdays this year and parties all together.

I can't believe my little firecracker will be turning 3! The days are long, but the years are short -- so true!

Laylin, you make me melt

Sometimes I catch myself playing with Laylin and tears of happiness are floating in my eyes. She has brought so much joy to our lives and I truly feel like she is a miracle. 

She has the sweetest personality and is so loving. Lately, she holds onto me while I'm holding her. It's as if she is hugging me back. When her warm cheek presses up against mine, I just feel like I want to melt right into her. 

I love how squishy she is and how every inch of her is ticklish. She is so giggly now too which makes it tempting to tickle her every time we do a diaper change. Hearing her laugh makes all the troubles of the world melt away.

She's sitting up better now. For longer periods of time. She holds herself up very well. Her favorite thing is her feet. She loves to grab her toes and try to put them in her mouth. She is definitely teething, but we haven't seen any new teeth yet. She loves the water, her sissy and she has taken on a new interest in Bella.

I've been feeling a little guilty lately that I haven't documented as much for her as I did with big sis, but I've been fortunate to be able to spend even more time with her. Time that is so priceless and irreplaceable. I hope these sweet little moments we get to share on a daily basis will forever be in my memories. 

Isla Rae, I love you the purplest

Isla is bursting with personality at two years old. She is already telling people she is three and what she is going to do as a three-year-old and most importantly, what her party will be like.

Every day she asks me, "Mama, is it time to go to my party now?"

I say, "No, Isla, not yet. We have to wait until your birthday."

Her birthday is a long way off and we don't even have a party planned at this point. This little girl is expecting a big bash this year though. Good thing, she gets so excited over the simplest things in life.

She has been so much fun lately. She is talking so much and her vocabulary has grown a lot over the past six months. Now, she's in to telling stories, "reading" and singing. Her favorite song to sing is still, "Let It Go", but she also sings, "Jesus Loves The Little Children", a lot too.

Her favorite book right now is "I Love You The Purplest". Joel has been reading it to her every night and sometimes changes out the brothers names to be Isla and Laylin. It's about two boys' adventure with their mama and the boys trying to uncover who their mom loves the best. The mom always responds so beautifully explaining her love for them in colors. I love you the bluest, or I love you the reddest and then expanding on the differences each boys character has, but how she loves them the same. I love Isla's love for books and reading. Story time with her is my favorite time of the day. I love to hear Joel reading to her and making up silly voices to go along with the characters or those off nights when I get Laylin down early and can read to her myself. Her new thing is wanting to sit in our laps until the story is over, and then get in bed. I think its her last ditch effort to try to stay up as long as possible.

Since she is so in to books right now, we took her to get her very own library card today. She LOVED the library. She shed a few tears when it was time to go. She got to pick out four books to put into our rotation during story time everyday.

She's been going to a lot of birthday parties and celebrations lately too, which is probably the reason she is inquiring about her own birthday so much. We've been letting her pick out the gift for her friends/cousins celebrating a birthday. It's been so fun to watch what toy or item she selects. The most challenging thing has been trying to teach her she can't keep the gift. We did this for Christmas too. After we got Harleigh's gift, Isla fell in love with Barbies.

She would say, "Mama, I'll just hold it for one more minute", as I tried to explain to her we can't take it out of the box.

This week was Harleigh and Lawson's birthday week and we let Isla pick out the gifts again. She was so hilarious this time around. She got a Elsa shopping bag and was going through the store putting everything she could find Frozen related in the bag for Harleigh. As fast as she was putting it in, Joel and I were trying to take it out. We had to explain to her our limitations this time around and how mommy and daddy had to pay for everything she was putting in her bag. As she was frantically grabbing everything with Elsa's face on it, she was twisting her butt and exclaiming how much fun it was shopping. (uh-oh)

Lately, she has been so into princesses. To the point of wanting to wear a princess dress every single day. She's even shed some tears when I made her wear pants under her dress. We've been trying to reinforce true beauty with her and teaching her that her smile and attitude is what makes her pretty, not the clothes we wear.

Isla has such a sweet heart and its been the best two and a half years of my life watching her grow and develop. I just wish I could bottle some of her energy and use it myself! She's a firecracker and she makes our lives so much more fun everyday.

The Sweetest Tush!

Look at that little tushy and those beautiful blue eyes! Such a sweet sweet girl Laylin Jane is. She is growing so much.

I love using big sis as the growth meter for Laylin's infant months.

Happy 1/2 Birthday Laylin Jane!

Laylin Jane is 6 months old today!!! Sweet sweet peanut is growing so quickly.

Yesterday, she rolled over for the very first time and we managed to catch it on camera. Ironically, we were taking her 6 months growth chart pictures on my grandma's quilt when she did it. She saw the blocks we use to identify how many months old she is and she went for it. Just a few swings of her cute little chunky thighs and she was rolled over from back to belly! Isla was so excited that she did it, but she wanted to roll her back over.

Laylin is so sweet. I think that is the best word to describe her right now. She has the sweetest disposition about her. She loves face time, smiling, snuggling, being held, looking at her sister and when we make silly noise at her. She also LOVES to take baths.

At 6 months she is...

• Rolling over
• Sitting up
• Making lots of noises
• Laughing lots
• Smiling often
• Holding on to toys really well
• Teething

Feisty growing girls...

My two girls are such firecrackers... both in their own unique way. Isla Rae has so much energy, love and zeal every day. From sun rise to sunset she is raring to go, ready to face each day with a roar! My sweet Laylin Jane wakes up happy and calm, but don't let that foul you.... she's become so feisty.  She likes to yell and be heard and she likes for her momma to stay where she can see her!

Both girls are growing up so quickly.

Isla has become quiet the artist. She loves to do crafts. She has mastered drawing circles and just recently has started to draw "people" or "guys" as she calls them. Its so sweet to see her drawing. She is so invested in each little mark she makes and she wants every line to be perfect. I love to hear her say, "Mom, look! I made this for you!".... yes she calls me mom already at two.... so grown up.

Laylin has started sitting up on her own for longer periods of time. It won't be long until she's doing it for 5-10 minutes at a time. She loves to sit up too! She's also started to show interest in rolling over and we think she'll be rolling in another week or two. We know our lives are about to change in a whole new way once our little peanut becomes mobile.

Each day is fun, sweet and challenging, but I wouldn't change any of it for the world (well maybe a few things...). I've learned so much in the past two years and prayed more consistently than I have my entire life. These girls have made me grow, pushed me to my limits and shown me a love so deep it makes my heart feel like its going to burst.

Growing girls.... can't wait to see what the next month holds for these two feisty gals!

Laylin Jane's 5 months new...

My little sweetie hit the five months milestones over the weekend. Our little Lay-lion is sweet as can be, feisty, loving and such a cuddle-bug. She probably weighs close to 13lbs now. On our last check-up at four months, she weighed a little over 12lbs and was between 8-11 percentile on all her measurements. She is tiny, but she is still on the charts and her personal growing curve looks beautiful.

She is smiling a lot, ticklish and giggly, she's taken on a strong interest in toys in the past few weeks and she loves loves loves looking at her big sissy.

She is still having challenges with reflux and tummy pains so we are still on medicine. I can't always soothe her, but I hold her through the pain and try to help her best I can. She is such a fighter and we can see her sweet personality forming with every day.

Happy five months Laylin Jane. You are such a light to my world!!

Love you,
Mama