I think I will keep her!

There is nothing like a 2 year old to boost your self-esteem.
Our little Lila has been super sweet lately (well, in between not coming when we ask her to come to us and not always sharing with her brother, but this is another story.)
Lately, anytime Michael and I get dressed or change clothes,these are phrases we hear from Lila. "You look cute!" or "I like your pretty (insert color) shirt." or "You look pretty mommy!" She also likes to announce how cute SHE is. For instance yesterday after I got her dressed and fixed her hair, she said, "I adorable!"
She often runs in to Michael and says, "Look at me Daddy! I look cute!"
She also has started rubbing my arm, head, and cheeks like I do to her when laying her down at night. Since moving to her big girl bed, she now says to us, "Lay with me!" At first I complained about this because we were so use to putting her down in her crib and walking out. I soon realized that I should cherish these moments, since I won't get to sleep beside her when she goes off to college. Don't get too excited and think that she has all the sudden become a snuggle bug. I have tried to climb in the bed with her, yet she is quick to tell me "Don't sleep in my bed. Lay on the bean bag."
However, yesterday she did climb up in the kitchen chair beside me, grabbed my hand, and said, "Hi Sweetheart."
Another favorite of mine is when I got out of the shower yesterday, she made the obvious statement of "Your wet mommy....and nudie!"
Then she proceeded to say, "You're skiiiinnnny!"
YEP...I think I will keep her! We must often tell her how skinny she is when giving her a bath or getting her dressed. Obviously she has no idea what "skinny" means, since she called me that, but I will take it!
And my favorite keep her moment was this morning. I was not feeling well, and as I do often, I was having some major stomach cramps. About an hour after this happened, out of the blue, Lila stands up and clasps her hands together. She starts praying, "Thank you Lord, (something I didn't understand) and please help mommy's belly hurts."
YEP....I think I will keep her!

Here she is taking care of her own baby:



addendum: After I finished typing this post, Lila looked at me and said, "You're smart Mommy. You're smart." Pretty, skinny, and smart?!?!....what more could a girl ask for?!

What shall we do to today?

Mommy...I'm bored. What can we do today? (She didn't REALLY say that. Ya know..it's just a little adlib for my story. :) )



Let's jump on my trampween, mommy.
Put Grwaham up there.



Play ring around the rosey.

Do Seat Drops.

Take a pretend nap outside.

Go See Grwaham.

Catch me Mommy.

Break Time.

Let's go see Grwaham again.

Pop Goes the Weasal.

G Loves it too!




Let's Play in the Creek.

Not me! No Thank you.

Swing Me Daddy


It's COOOOLLLDDD!!

I need to go Potty!

Help Me!

UHOH!! I fell in the creek, but Daddy saved me!

MMM..Yummy Watermelon will make me feel better.


I wanna go water the trees again. (and again and again)

Let's See What Graham is doing


Let's take a picture of Mommy and Grwaham.



AAWWW..Finally, snuggle time with momma: (This never happens, which is why it is documented! :))

What a great day! I wish I could play in the creek and ride 4-wheelers every day. Thanks to the Lankfords for hosting a fun Sunday School Cookout!

Big Girl Bed

I knew this day would come. I just didn't think it would be SO soon!
This is the reason she is no longer sleeping here:








Instead, she is sleeping here:

Although, it looks to me like some things aren't going to change.

Honestly, the transition has been awful! Lila's paci just recently got "broken" and we had to "throw it in the trash." If I would have known that just 1 week later she would be climbing out of her crib, I think I would have let her hang on to it a little bit longer to help shut her pie hole...errr, I mean help with the transition. :)
The girl will NOT stay in her bed. I spanked, I praised, I even stooped as low as bribing with toys. FINALLY, just this week, it has gotten better. We still have to lay down in the floor beside her for a few minutes until she settles down. We are not use to that, as before our routine was, read a few books, say our prayer, put her down, and walk out. It is getting easier, and at least now we are getting sleep. She was even waking in the night crying out for us, which in turn would wake up Graham. Of course all of this happened right before we left to go to the beach, where all 4 of us were staying in the same room. I'll just say this, it was NOT good. We are still trying to get adjusted from it. Anyway, here we are.
It's just another new routine.

Appropriate or Not?

Everytime I paint my toenails, Lila says, "Do me, Mommy. Do me." Everytime I get the nailpolish close to her she says, "No, I don't", so therefore I have never really had to deal with it.
This day, she once again asked me to paint her toenails. Thinking she would never let me, I attempted to paint them. Lo and behold, she let me do it!!
If I would have known, I probably would have chosen a lighter color and not hot pink. She was actually letting me do it, so I didn't want to mess it up by changing colors in the middle of it.
That night, Dear Daddy was getting the kids ready for a bath. I hear him telling Lila that he should get on to me for painting her nails. I walked in to find him taking the polish off. Apparently, Lila would not get in the bathtub until it was off of her toenails. (She's quirky, I know.) I asked if he was really mad and his response was, "She is just too innocent to be wearing toenail polish."
I personally feel it is ok, especially if it is just for play. I would feel differently about it if she was a little tiny baby and it was bright red. Michael REALLY would be mad if I did that to her.
So, what do you think?
Toenail polish on a 2 year old, appropriate or not?

Thoughts for Thursday

Ok, so I have a TON to catch up on...lake, beach, 4th of July, big girl bed, G 9 months, but today I have to write this down so I won't forget.
Lila makes me laugh everyday, but today....Today this girl is on a roll!
Here are a few of her funnies throughout the day:
When waking up this morning she asks as she does everyday, "Where my daddy go, Mommy?"
Me thinking she would respond with, "daddy go to work": Lila, you know where daddy is. You tell me where daddy is.
Lila: Daddy go to Nicaragua!
(We haven't talked about daddy going to Nicaragua since the first week in May.)
As I am looking for our dog Chloe: Where did that Chloe go?
Lila: Chloe at the Ackley's. (She was right. Chloe goes to visit the Ackley's every morning and hangs out in their garage.)
When picking Lila up and putting her in my left arm, she points to my right arm and says:"Other side mommy. That is my side."
I put her in my right arm and she says. "This is my side. That is Grwahm's side."
When going out to the car which was backed into the garage instead of pulled in straight as it normally is, Lila FLIPPED out when she saw me put G in the car. She thought I was putting him in her side because of how the car was parked. "That's my side Mommy. That is my side!"
When calling my niece to tell her Happy Birthday, Lila on her own said, "Happy Birthday lizbeth...I wuvs you!" She then proceeded to sing her version of Happy Birthday. "Happy Birthday to Lizbeth", repeated over and over.
When taking a drink of her bath water, (gross, I know), she said, "MMMM...DEEWiscious!" I didn't even know she knew the word Delicious.
When watching the Steve McNair Memorial Service, I look over at her while the preacher was saying a prayer to find her with her head bowed, eyes closed, and hands clasped together in the prayer position.
That girl! Gotta love her.

Happy 4th of July!

Technically,we celebrated the 4th on the beach of Gulf Shores(more on that later), but I of course had to celebrate the whole week!
This was a big week for us. This handsome boy turned 9 months!
9 months already?!?! That means it is like time to plan the first birthday party. (oh, who am I kiddin!?!? I have been planning that thing since before he was born!)
He is eating lots of food and weighs 20 lbs and is 29 1/2 inches. That means he is just 4 pounds lighter and 4 inches shorter than his sister! No, is still doesn't crawl and is still perfectly content sitting and playing and having someone else hold his bottle. (Speaking of, this is the first time in almost 3 years that I am now solely eating for myself. I am not thinking about how it will affect some other little person. Kind of a weird feeling.) Unfortunately, after 9 months I was just not making enough for my little man and he was not very happy about it.
Did I mention that my little red head has a temper?
He goes from this:

To this:

and then usually back to this after he gets his way:

STINKER!
Even Lila quickly returns a toy to him after he throws his fit when she takes it away.
These two sure are cute together. Very rarely can I snap a good photo of the two of them. Each day they are starting to play more together and make each other laugh.
Every morning when Lila sees Graham, she says," Good Morning Graham. I give you good morning hugs!" So sweet.
Speaking of Lila, she is also 25 months old. We are like at the age when I guess I quit talking in months and just say her year. sniff sniff. We went back to to the cardiologist....FOR THE LAST TIME!!! PTL...her VSD is GONE!
Here she is getting ready for the Dr.


They never thought her hole would completely close, but it has. We are so thankful we do not have to make yearly trips to Vandy anymore. Good thing too because our cardiologist is moving to Knoxville, so at least we don't have to lose another Dr. She does still have a teeny tiny little murmur, but everything looked great. I can't express to you how thankful we are to have 2 healthy babies. I have a breakdown everytime I am in that waiting room. There are many very very sick kids, and it just breaks my heart. It also reminds just how blessed we are!
Lila has had lots of changes the past week or so. No more paci, pee peeing in the potty, (here she is making a run for it)

and now having to convert to a toddler bed since she decided to climb out of her crib. Since we never officially gave her her birthday present, we decided to also use it has a praise/reward for all these new things. Now, let's see if it works.
She does love it so! Maybe now I can actually cook dinner, since she will hopefully be occupied!
Here she is checking out her kitchen for the first time:


Gorgeous Girl

Funny Girl!