Lydia Grace - already 14 months old!

Dear Lydia,

Hello my big girl! You are 14 months and 5 days old today... This past month was such a big month for you! The biggest "step" you took was walking! Probably three or four weeks ago you took your first three steps without holding onto anything over at Grandpa and Grandma's house with your grandparents, Daddy, and Daniel. I was so sad to hear that I missed your first steps, but I was also super excited to see you walk some more! You took your time, though, and waited almost an entire week before you took a few more across our living room while playing with Mommy... Once that happened, you began walking a few more steps each day and we knew it was about to be a constant action for you! Your daddy and I went to Denver last week to spend most of the week with your Uncle Geoffrey who is in the hospital :o( and when we got back you walked all the way across the front yard to tell Maw-Maw bye bye and continued walking everywhere else! SO cute! I love watching you walk each step very carefully... usually falling or stumbling after every few steps, but then you stand back up and try again. And, it's also really funny when your brother notices what you are doing every few days and he exclaims "Look! Sister walking!" Lol. He thinks it is awesome! 

Another thing you've been doing a lot more is dancing with your big brother! You both love dancing together and will hold onto each other's hands and spin around and around... It usually results in Daniel dragging you around which means you fall over and then Daniel falls on top of you and instead of crying, you laugh and laugh! Lol. Mommy loves y'all SO much and are SO happy when you love hanging out together! 

After Daddy and I got back from Denver we were very excited to see you and Daniel and it was so cute watching how excited you were to see us, too! You just wanted me to hold you for quite awhile afterwards and you kept saying "Hi" and gave me big hugs and kisses! :o) So sweet!

Lydia, you love tickling our feet and it makes us laugh not always because it actually tickles, but because you say the funniest noises while you are doing it! You will seriously say things that sound like "gitchie gitchie gitchie" while you tickle. :o) You also make some great car noises when you play with Daniel's cars... It's so funny seeing how early you learned all those noises! 

 You love climbing everywhere and I already know I'll have to watch you as you grow up before you break your leg or something! You are a little risk taker who loves heights and anything adventurous even at such a young age. We went to the pumpkin patch this past month and they had a big bump-n-jump there that we took Daniel on. He was a little scared of it at first but soon warmed up to it and really enjoyed it. And you? You saw Daniel having fun and knew that you needed to have fun too! So we took you up there and jumped and jumped and you had SO much fun!

Every day while I watch you and Daniel play I am reminded how different you both are and how much you love doing different things! I love how much you add to our lives, Miss Lydia! God has blessed us in many ways! Sometimes I think about when God will add another little one into our family... It's crazy thinking back to when Daniel was your age and how you were about to join us in just two months! So crazy! I know you will love having a little brother or sister eventually and I'm already excited to see what you'll be like as a big sister! But that'll have to wait for awhile longer... :o) Right now I'm going to enjoy every minute we have with my 14 month old! AND I'm excited to see how much fun you'll have for your second holiday season!!! Thanksgiving is just two weeks away! 

Love you sweet girl!

~Mommy

13 Months Old!

Dearest Lydia Grace,

Hello my little, sweet girl! You are 13 months, 4 days old and getting to be such a big girl! We just got back from three days in Breckenridge with Pappy, Maw-Maw, and all of that side of the family! It was such a wonderful time and you started doing and saying so many new things! First of all, you are now standing up on your own again and again without pulling up using furniture of someone's legs. :o) It was SO cute watching you figure it out! Vienna and Daniel were dancing in the living room on Saturday and you started moving back and forth, trying to dance also. Then, before we knew it you crawled to the middle of the room next to them and stood up. You bobbed up and down and swayed back and forth a bit, and then lost your balance and fell down. You repeated this over and over and you'd stood many other times since then... mainly to dance, though. Lol. You are TOO cute! Today you tried taking one step towards your Aunt Lelia, but the second you lifted one foot up you sat down... I think you are still a bit scared of taking that first step! But I think you are definitely close! 

You also really enjoyed climbing up onto the stone in front of the fireplaces in our rooms up in Breckenridge...  Little girl, you are definitely a risk taker already and LOVE climbing into things, on top of places, and doing other things that your brother never would have dreamed of doing at your age! :o) I love seeing how different the two of you are!

Lydia, you are also LOVING talking and have started saying many new words! Your favorites lately have been saying "hi" and waving to almost everyone you see, even complete strangers in the street or a restaurant! (And you don't quite understand if they don't wave back!) You also say "hi" and "bye-bye" whenever you see yourself in the mirror which is cute. :o) You LOVE doggies, so you always say "Hi dog!" whenever you see a dog lately. :o) I know there are some other words you have learned this month but I can't remember them right now... 

You have been very attached to your teddy and doll lately! Sometimes when I come and get you in the morning, you hold onto your teddy so tight that I just let you take it around with you during the morning! You give teddy such great kisses and hugs. It's so cute!

A week and a half ago we took you up to the Grand Mesa to be able to see the fall colors up there for the first time in your young life! Your favorite thing was crawling around in all the leaves and playing with them all! You are quite the lover of the outdoors and anything that could possibly get you covered in dirt is something you'd like to be a part of! ;o) You will love going to a park sometime soon to play in more leaves! 

Mommy has really enjoyed dressing you up in your new outfits you got for your birthday, especially as it has gotten cooler outside! And, this weekend Pappy and Maw-Maw got you you first pair of black leggings which will be SO cute to wear this fall and winter with some of your dresses and skirts! Can you tell that I LOVE dressing you up?! I just wish you enjoyed wearing pony-tails and bows more... Each morning I'll put your hair in something, but I usually have to hide whatever I put in your hair because as soon as you realize you have a bow within reach you yank it out and there goes that! ;o) At least you are still cute, especially because your hair has gotten SO long! It is beautiful!

I'm so excited to see what all this next month holds for you! Love you, my dear, beautiful little girl!

Love,

 Mommy

Here are just a few of the cute pictures we took of you this past month... All taken up on the Mesa! :o)

My Birthday Girl!

My Dear Miss Lydia,

You are our big, 1 year old girl! It's so crazy to believe that you have been part of our family for an entire year and nine months (in Mommy's tummy) now! Here is part of my first blog right after you were born and one of your first pictures:

"Lydia Grace Slade was born Sunday morning, September 4, 2011, at 9 a.m. She was 8 lbs. 5.4 oz., 21 inches long, with a 13 7/8 in. head. She has a LOT of "dirty blonde" hair and has the cutest little face and expressions! She has her daddy's nose and her mommy's mouth and eyes, and other than that I'm not exactly sure because it's hard for me to 'see' those features that look like one or the other of us. :o) Her big brother loves her already, and has done a much better time at adjusting already than I thought he would be! It has helped a lot having Scott home this week because that gives both of us to give him and Lydia attention... Daniel has been great at taking care of his baby sister, bringing her mittens, a blanket, patting her head, or giving her much needed kisses and hugs. And, although he is getting used to mommy having to feed baby sister quite a lot, he has been good playing by himself or with Daddy, and just takes advantage of the times when Lydia is not eating so he can sit with me and Lydia and read books. Our little kids are amazing and I'm so full of love for both of them! They make me so happy!"

You were such a tiny little girl back then! I can't believe how much you have changed and grown in just a year! Lydia, the things about me that just make me smile are too many to list here, but a few of my favorite things about you are...
 * your smiles and cheesy grins that you give out so easily
 * the bright smiles and big hugs you give to your brother when he comes over to see you
 * how you snuggle up with your daddy to have some daddy/daughter time 
 * how you will lie in the corner of your crib on your back holding onto your teddy while you have your finger in your mouth as you wait quietly for us to come get you in the mornings
 * how you will play with Daniel's tools and try to "fix" anything that he or Daddy work on around the house - you LOVE tools and helping Daddy!
 * the joy you show when Mommy just holds you as I go about my chores around the house
 * the happy laughs and excitement you show when you have bath time! You LOVE crawling back and forth all over the tub and sliding down the sloped part of the tub! You are a total risk-taker! 
 * how much fun you have playing with Daniel's cars... you love cars that make noise and you will push them around and around
 * how you try to copy most everything Daniel does, especially when he climbs up on stuff to jump off... you really want to be able to climb up on more things like he does
 * watching you swing - you have such an amazing time and would stay swinging forever especially if your big brother is with you
 * your big, blue eyes! They are beautiful!

We love you so, very much Lydia Grace! You have been trying to say a lot more things lately... Just a few of the words I remember right now are "ball" and you are trying to say "brother" but it comes out more like "baba" or something like that... You also said something very much like "doll" the other day when you were playing with your new baby doll! It is so cute as you are learning more and more! You are in that stage where you love us pointing out what nose, mouth, ears, eyes, and hair are now... You love mouth because you say "Aaaa" and open up really wide! So cute! :o) 

Your third bottom tooth just popped through a few weeks ago! So you now have seven teeth in total! :o) 

Lydia, you are cruising around a lot more now and you almost can come to a standing position without holding onto anything! Not sure when you'll be walking because you still don't like walking very much when holding onto our hands... You are just perfectly happy being a crawler right now! :o) That is totally okay! 

We weighed you the other day and you are just at 19 lbs. now! Still pretty crazy how much smaller you are than Daniel was at your age, but Mommy loves it because you don't tire me out when I hold you! :o) You are my tiny little girl and I love you just how you are! 

You had such a wonderful time at your birthday party! We had a fun little party with all the family and your friends at a park in town! Your Uncle Geoffrey wasn't able to make it, but we were able to see him right afterwards at the hospital so that made your day even better! Mommy decorated the food tables with butterfly cutouts and flowers with bright colors everywhere and it was all so beautiful! You had cupcakes and a strawberry butterfly cake which you LOVED! We gave you a little wing piece for your "smash-cake" and even though you didn't really smash it, you loved smashing your face into it and eating up all the icing that way until you pushed it away... Too much sweetness for you! :o) You played with some of your little friends and then crawled around while Mommy opened most of your amazing toys and clothes that you got! You did help open a few gifts, but I think you wanted to play and crawl around much more than open all those gifts! :o) This week has been filled with much excitement, though, as we take out a few of your new toys each day. You and Daniel have LOVED having so many new toys! And you are too cute in your new clothes! 

Here are a few 1 year pics of you, sweet girl! Look at how big you've gotten and how beautiful you are! 

Love you sweet girl! 

Love,
Mommy

Are you really 11 months old already, Miss Lydia?!

Dear Lydia,

Hello my sweet 11-month old (and 9 days) little girl! It is so hard to believe that you are already almost a year old! Where has the time gone?! I feel like the last year has been such a blur in ways which is really sad! :o( It's definitely true that with kids time goes by so much faster! Although, at the same time, I can hardly remember not having you with us... I can hardly believe it was this time last year that I was getting near the end of your pregnancy... I was getting antsy and excited to see you and was wondering if you were going to be coming in August or September! So crazy!

You have been such a sweet girl, as normal, lately! You are pulling yourself up to a standing position ALL the time now and LOVING being able to do that! You also enjoy opening cabinets all over the place, looking through the refrigerator whenever we have it open, peeking into trash cans, pulling out toys out of Daniel's toy boxes and making a big mess, and so many other things! You just love exploring and learning what new things you can learn about! (Right now you are pulling everything off the side table next to meet... oh boy! Good times!) :o)

We just switched you to your 12 month clothes which is fun for you and me seeing you in all your new clothes! So thankful still for your Aunt Amanda letting you have all of your cousin, Vienna's, old clothes! You are finally growing and growing... Not sure how much you weigh but I'm guessing at least 18 1/2 or 19 lbs. by now! Such a big girl!

One of your favorite things to do that you have been doing more and more every day has been clapping and clapping! You are so cute when you get super excited or when Daniel or someone else (including you) does something awesome of fun and you clap and clap with a big smile on your face! You also love music and have recently started bobbing your head a little when you see your big brother dancing to music! :o) I am so excited for you to be able to start dancing along with your brother! I wonder if you'll like music as much as him?

You LOVE saying "uh-oh," "wow,"and you also have started repeating a lot of sounds and words when we say them first... I'm sure you'll be "talking" so much more soon!

I have been working on figuring out your 1st birthday party! Not sure what theme we will do yet, but I'm thinking maybe a pink butterfly type theme... I've seen lots of cute ideas and I think they would be so cute! We'll be doing the party at a park because our house goes up on the market on Friday and we don't want to have a showing in the middle of the party, but I think you'll love that because you love swinging at parks and crawling in the grass is one of your favorite activities!

You got four upper teeth this last month! I'm so sorry you had to get them all in at once, but you did awesome and only had a few fussier than normal days. Not sure when the others will be coming in... you have a total of six now!

A week ago Daddy and I went on a 3 1/2 day trip and you and Daniel got to spend some time with your Grandpa and Grandma and your Pappy and Maw-Maw! You did awesome with them (although I'm sure you missed me a lot more than you let on... ;o) and you are now so much closer to your Grandma and Maw-Maw! It is so nice seeing you want to go with them when we go visit now instead of just staying with me all the time... You make them so happy when you give them kisses and hugs and big smiles!

We need to start doing more painting and coloring activities with you because you love doing art stuff! (Definitely like big brother in that!) We did a hand painting activity with your cousin Vienna the other day, and you had so much fun having me paint your hand all purple for your elephant! :o) It was such a cute little elephant!

We love you oh so much little one! Thanks for all you do to brighten our lives! Praying that this next month is awesome for you and that you become even closer friends with your big brother! I love watching y'all grow up together!

Love,
Mommy

Happy 10 Months Dear Lydia!

Dear Little Girl,

Happy 10 Months Old! You turned 10 months on July 4th - Independence Day! We had such a great day doing stuff around the house (mainly cleaning, but you even enjoyed "helping" with that) and then we had our small group over for a potluck dinner and hang out time in the backyard! It was SO much fun and you had an awesome time hanging out with Daddy, Mommy, and your friends... You LOVE crawling around in the grass and occasionally sneaking a piece of grass in your mouth when you think no one is watching. :o)

You are finally getting so much bigger! At your 9 month appointment like three or four weeks ago you were around 16 1/2 pounds... You had dropped from like the 75th percentile in weight to the 10th percentile since your 6 month appointment, so we were told to bump up your bottles and your food which you have LOVED! Poor little girl... I just don't think we were giving you enough! In the next three weeks you ended up gaining almost an entire pound which was awesome and I don't think we'll have to worry about your weight for awhile now because you eat up a storm most of the time! You are fully switched to drinking goat's milk now (Mommy just doesn't have enough milk for you... I'm just glad we made it this far at least!) and you are usually okay with that although you are one of the hardest babies to bottle feed because you want to be on the go in like two minutes so we just have to feed a little at a time to you! You have been eating most of what we eat other than dairy and sugary stuff, and you love eating! Like three weeks ago you finally started picking up more things and putting them in your mouth which helps with eating, but has meant we have to watch you like hawks because you try to eat every little thing around the house!

You are crawling SO much and love going from room to room seeing what you can pick up off the floor and try to eat, and seeing what toys Daniel left out for you. :o) Your favorite is still to hang out in big brother's room for a long time just "reading" books or playing with your toys. You don't seem to like books as much as Daniel (which will hopefully change because Mommy is hoping you will LOVE reading!), but you really love playing with all his cars, tools, trucks, and Legos!

You have pulled yourself up to your feet probably at least ten times in the past three weeks but you still don't seem very steady on your feet. Not sure if you are just scared to put weight on them or if you are just a tad bit lazy and just think crawling works fine enough, but hopefully you'll figure it out soon so you can start testing out the "walking around" waters! :o) You haven't really tried to "walk" when we hold onto your hands, either... Maybe you'll surprise me and walk before I know it, but I'm thinking it might be a little while which is totally okay with us!

You have only been taking one nap a day lately which has been so nice for you and Mommy! You usually nap between 2 and 3 hours while Daniel naps, so Mommy enjoys having that gap of time to get things done! Although there are days when you want your morning nap still, this way it makes it nice to get stuff done together in the mornings whether we are out running errands, playing at the park, swimming, or playing with toys!

And, Miss Lydia, you are finally getting more teeth in!! The Dr. said a few weeks ago that you have 4 or 5 coming in on the top alone! Crazy! I'm so glad you get teeth in pretty "easily" without much "fuss." :o) I'm going to miss seeing your sweet face with just your two bottom teeth, but I know you'll look super cute with more teeth, too!

Oh, yes, your new favorite word! You LOVE saying "Uh-oh" like all the time now! I don't think you fully understand when you should say it, but you do say it when things fall down or mess up and whenever you want to! It's just too cute and Daniel loves to say it along with you over and over!

You and Daniel have been enjoying his new pool that he got from his birthday! You really love hanging out in the pool with Daddy, Daniel, and Mommy, and your Uncle Bryan also came over the other day to "swim" a little with you! Your little pineapple swimsuit is just too adorable and you love splashing and splashing for awhile until you end up cuddling up to one of us and almost falling asleep while still in the pool! ;o) So sweet!

Mommy loves you SO much, sweet girl! I'm very excited to see the new things you learn and how you grow in the next month! Thanks for being such an amazing little girl! :o)

Love,
Mommy

Lydia - 9 Months and 1 Week Old Already!

My dear little girl,

Hi sweety! You are just over 9 months old, and I am amazed day after day how much love you bring to our family! I don't know what we'd do without your sweet smiles, cute little expressions, funny giggles, waves "bye-bye", and the constant babble of "mama, dada, bye-bye, and baba" you continue to say! We love you oh so much!

Your biggest accomplishment this past month (about three weeks ago) was crawling! And you are SO excited about it! We had gone down to Pappy and Maw-Maw's house on a Friday night and you made a few little moves on your knees and then the next morning your daddy and I watched as you crawled half way across the living room floor over to us! So glad we were both there to watch you! Just today I watched as you crawled and crawled all over our house, going from toy to toy and playing and then you crawled over to our back door and pulled up to your knees as you watched outside as your daddy and big brother mowed the back yard! I think you wanted to go join them! :o) It won't be long little girl til you are out there running around with them! So crazy!

You still have not pulled up all the way to your feet, but you do go up to your knees quite a lot... You also haven't really walked at all even when we hold your hands, because standing is not your favorite. I'm thinking you might still be awhile until you walk but that's okay; I am perfectly happy with having a little crawler for awhile! :o)

You have been eating and eating up a storm, and this past week you had some of your first actual solid foods... Some of your favorites have been pancakes, oatmeal, rice, beans, and eggs! You seem to be able to eat and eat so much! I'm going to have to keep on my toes with figuring out food for you to eat! It seems like you want to catch up to your big brother pretty fast!

You're still taking two to three naps a day (a shorter one in the morning and then usually a 2 hour ish nap when Daniel does early afternoon and a short one in the late afternoon)... Pretty soon I think we'll be able to move you to two naps, though, especially since you are usually such a happy little girl!

Lydia, I love how much you love your big brother! You are so excited when he plays beside you, or shares his toys, and you love when he gives you big kisses and hugs! It's oh so cute! I love you two so, so, so, so much! I'm so excited to see you two grow up and become close friends and I'm so excited to see where God is going to take you and us in life! Thank you, my sweet little girl, for being such a joy already in our life even though you might not know it. :o) You are so amazing and Mommy and Daddy loves you!

Love,
Mommy

8 months old!

Dear Lydia,

Today is your 8 month old birthday! I am watching you roll and wiggle around all over the place, and right now you are really wanting to pull yourself up with your bouncer but it's not happening so far! You are growing and growing and have learned so many new things this month! No, you are not flat out crawling yet but you are oh so close! You get up on all fours all the time but just haven't really moved/crawled on them yet, although you get around really well between rolling, wiggling, and whatever else you do!

One of your favorite things to do these days is wave and wave! You have the cutest little wave that started  out with you closing your fingers into a fist and then opening them again and then closing them, etc (usually faced towards you instead of to the person you are waving to) but now you just wave your hand up and down which is so super cute! I LOVE your waves oh so much!

You are also clapping now, although I haven't seen you do it all that much... mainly just when we are anywhere singing with a bunch of people, especially when you see others clapping! It's so super cute, though!

ALSO, almost a month ago now you said "mama" and "dada" for the first time which was so cute! You haven't said "mama" too many times but you say "dada" and "baba" a lot! I love hearing you say sounds that actually are sounded more like talking but it means you are growing up so fast!

You love to play with all sorts of toys now, but usually end up playing more with your brother's toys than your own... Although you LOVE balloons and Daniel's construction vehicles. Lol. :o)

You have been eating up a storm lately... Three meals a day and usually around 3 or 4 ice cubes of food plus pureed rice... I have a list of foods in the fridge to puree up for you soon because you (and your brother who LOVES your food, also!) have been eating up everything so fast! Not sure what your favorite food is because you love like everything! You've had mango, avacado, peas, banana, rice, sweet potato, carrots, pears, apples, pumpkin, and so many other things! Yumm yumm!

You love to cuddle! This afternoon I was sitting down on the floor playing with you and you sat in my lap facing me and kept cuddling and cuddling! You still suck on your finger whenever you are tired or hungry, which is so cute and keeps you very content, so between that and your sweet face and smiles, you are adorable! You also love playing peek-a-boo now! When you sit in our laps facing us you will bury your face in our chest and then throw yourself back as if to say "peek-a-boo" and then do it again and again just giving us the biggest smiles each time! Whenever you have a dress on you'll hold up your skirt and play peek-a-boo with whoever will pay attention to you, too. :o)

I love you oh so much sweet girl! You have brought so much joy to our family and I don't know what I'd do without you to brighten my day with your smiles, giggles, and cute little face!

Love,
Mommy

Don't even know where to try to catch up!

Goodness! I have decided I am officially NOT a very good blogger! I can't believe how fast time goes by especially when I realize each month how little I've written on here! So since the kiddos are sleeping and I have nothing extremely pressing to do at this moment in time, I think I'll write one of my rambling posts about nothing in specific but about everything all at the same time! Sorry in advance for how long and all over this might go! Just remember, it's called catch up from almost a month of not writing on here!

First of all, I can hardly believe that yesterday marked the first month since my precious little nephew Makaio went to be with Jesus... I don't know why it still seems like a dream at times. I have gone on here different times wanting to write about my thoughts and feelings especially on the hard days, but I haven't kept anything or posted anything, as you know. All in all, I am doing okay although it is still hard to see my sister and her husband and to think about the little one who is missing who should have been there each time they come over and each time we go visit them! Two days ago, on Monday, my sisters and mom came over to spend the day scrapbooking sweet Makai's pictures. It was such a wonderful day to hang out, talk together, cry together, and just remember together. I'm glad that we were able to get pictures of him and I'm also glad that we were able to have that time to work on some books for each of us to have. I want to continually remind Daniel and Lydia about their little cousin who they were never able to meet, and having this little book will be a great way for them to be able to remember him! Lelia and Wayne overall have been doing pretty good lately, although they definitely have their really hard days from time to time. Lelia just got a job at Applebees which she is training for right now... Praying that that will be a place where she enjoys working but that at the same time we all hope and pray that they will be blessed with another child not to far into the future so she can stay home and be the kind of mom that she so wants to be! We have a March for Babies 5 mile walk planned on April 28th which we are all excited for! We are making some "Team Makaio" t-shirts with a picture of his cute little feet and it will be such a great time for all the family and lots of our friends to get together and walk in memory of him! Also, I wanted to share a couple of pictures of him! Here are two that the professional photographer from "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep" took shortly after his birth... Wasn't he such a cute little boy?! I love him so much!




Today is my little girl's 7 month birthday which is so crazy to believe! It's hard to believe she has already been here for over half a year - it has gone by so fast! She will be going in for her 6 month appointment (I know... we are way late!) in a few weeks so it will be good to FINALLY see how much she weighs and how tall she is again! I have not been very good at keeping up with those appointments this time around... She is still sleeping great, although, I've been trying to figure out her naps lately as she is definitely able to stay up longer in between naps than she was able to before and I still haven't figured out exactly how long. :o) She usually takes two one-hour naps in the morning and late afternoon and usually a one and a half to two hour nap in the early afternoon while Daniel naps which is nice! She has woken up at night a few times this month which is very unusual for her, but I think she has just been really hungry since she still hasn't been the greatest at eating her baby foods! :o( Her favorite foods so far have been pears and carrots, so I just need to make more of that for her to eat because squash, apricots/apples, and some of the other things we have tried are definitely not on her top 5 list! :o) She has two cute little bottom teeth, and I'm guessing her top ones will be coming in at some point of time, but I haven't noticed them yet! She still loves to sit and play but has also enjoyed "wheeling" around backwards in the bouncer/wheeley thing we have. She LOVES playing with Daniel's legos and dump truck and tools - lol - and also enjoys it when I read books to her and Daniel on the floor. :o) We have been trying to put her on her hands and knees from time to time but she won't stay up on them for long and doesn't really push herself up on them much at all! So, not sure how much longer before she'll be crawling... We'll see if she beats Daniel's 9 months or maybe she'll take longer! Either way we are good because although I know it'll be so much fun to watch her explore around and follow her big brother everywhere, it's also nice not to have to start the big-time baby proofing again yet! Lydia seriously has some of the best expressions and smiles I've ever seen on a baby girl! :o) She is very expressive... it's going to be so much fun to see those grow with her as she grows! She has such cute little dimples when she smiles, too, and I love cuddling with her and making her laugh when we tickle her! She doesn't "talk" as much as Daniel did when he was that age, I don't think, but she does still scream/shrill from time to time to just make sure we know she's there! Gosh, I love her so much! She is such a wonderful bundle of joy and I'm SO excited to see her grow and learn even more new things this next month!

Tomorrow night is Scott's first night back to softball this year! We had a practice night last week and it was so much fun to get back to softball even for me who doesn't play! Lol. I love taking the kids, though, and even though I can only make their 6 and 7 pm games because of the kids' bedtime (around 8 pm) I know it'll be fun watching those games this season and the next two seasons! We have a much different team this year because several people couldn't play this spring who usually do, but that has made it fun because it'll be nice to hang out and see some of these others more often! Daniel is so funny because he LOVES to pretend to play softball all the time! He makes almost anything a bat and has us throw balls at him as he tries to hit them with his bat! When we went to the field for practice last week he stood right there with everyone else holding one of the softballs. He SO wanted to join in the game! At least there is a park nearby because that will be a main way of getting him away from the fields during the games I'm thinking... He LOVES parks!

Speaking of parks... (See... my rambling is awesome!) Daniel has been having SO much fun playing at parks this spring! It's fun for me too because I finally don't have to climb up after him everywhere like last year! I still watch him pretty closely for the most part because he scares me to death at times when he gets up really high next to the drop-offs or when he decides to climb up bars or something... I know, I know... I know that he is a boy so I have been trying to let him do crazy, daredevil stuff from time to time, but sometimes it is still pretty hard for me to not be overly protective! ;o) He fell off something the other day and got a bloody nose which was so sad to see, but it was funny because he didn't even realize it and didn't cry much at all even as his nose was dripping blood! He LOVES to go down slides now, which is so funny to watch because he likes to sit and go down on his tummy over and over! At home he goes down on his tummy head down much of the time... He is so funny when he lands in a heap at the bottom of the slide on his head, laughs, stands up and does it all over again! Scott taught him how to climb up one of the climbing walls at a park the other day and now he LOVES climbing those! He did it over and over again and I was very impressed because he figured out which foot to go where and where to put his hands on the hand-holds. I love my little guy! He is so smart and makes me so happy that I'm his mommy! :o)

Scott has been working on our backyard a lot lately (hoping to finish this weekend...) shoveling up all the old rocks/mulch all around our yard and laying down new weed cover and new mulch! We have a small area done so far and it looks SO awesome! I'm super excited to get the rest of the yard done because the dark mulch makes it look so much nicer out there! Once our sprinkler system is turned on Scott is also going to re-seed some of our grass so once all that is done it'll be so nice to spend our evenings out there this summer! I just need to figure out what we are planting in our garden and starting getting all that planned out... For some reason my excitement about doing a garden last year is not here this year so I have really been putting it off! :o(

Scott is gone next week again with work... I'm getting better with dealing with kiddos and figuring out a good routine when he is gone since it's been happening every month lately, but it's still so hard and sad not to have him here! :o( I always like to have something big to focus on during the week and get accomplished, so this next week it'll be getting Daniel's 2nd birthday party all planned out and invites made! All I have done so far is decide that the theme will be construction/building and I have lots of ideas for decorations/food/activities to look through and narrow down! I'm super excited for it! I know he will have a great time and I hope lots of his friends are able to come!! :o)

Well, Lydia just woke up so I should go ahead and send this! I hope everyone has a great week and hopefully it won't take me forever long to write on here again!

6 Month Old Lydia

So it seems like I have lots I should be writing back on here, but I wanted to do an update on my big, little girl first before sharing the sad news in our family over the past week... It's hard to go through hard times in life and still remember the little blessings, but my little girl is now 6 months and 1 week old so I want to share some of the joys of the last month in her life!

It's now been like a month and a half since she started sitting up on her own and it is by far her favorite thing to do now! I LOVE watching little ones sit up! They are so adorable and it's a lot of fun to just sit her up on her blanket and give her some toys and let her play and play! Daniel loves to sit in front of her, also, and play with his toys and as I watch them interact and play with each other more and more, I'm even more thankful that we had our little girl so soon after Daniel! They are going to be the best of buds in not long at all! :o)

She is also rolling around a lot more now, which is awesome, although rolling over a lot at once in not her favorite, the same as it was with Daniel... But at least she can do it and occasionally will turn herself on her back or her front if she is not happy with where she is at!

She also got her FIRST tooth in last month! It was just shortly after turning 5 months old (Feb. 14th to be exact) and she is so adorable with her little toothie! I think she might be working on another one already, though, because she is drooling more at times again and some days she cries more when I put her down for naps. Overall, though, when it comes to naps, she has been a TROOPER! She naps amazingly well (usually at least three 2 hour naps a day, and occasionally goes through a few days in a row that she does more like four one hour naps...). She still only lasts usually 1 1/2 hours awake time in between sleeping unless we are out with friends because she loves people giving her attention! :o) She has gone to the nursery at church for two weeks in a row now and did awesome the first time (this morning she was a bit too tired because she skipped her nap with the time change and all...)

As for eating... we have tried avacado with her on my birthday and she seemed to like that okay but didn't hold much of it down at all before spitting it up... A few days ago I tried sweet potato after trying the avacado again with no luck. But, she didn't seem too interested in that either. Either she is a social eater and will need to eat around others who are eating, or she is very picky or she doesn't like the different textures yet... but hopefully we'll figure this all out soon so she can eat some real food! :o)

She is over 16 pounds now... not exactly sure how much until I take her in to her Dr. appt. again. Getting bigger and bigger though, and just wore her first 6-9 month outfit today! Her hair is still growing so long, also! So cute! :o)

I have put her up on all fours a few times to see if she has any interest in being in that position to get ready to crawl, but she doesn't seem to want to be like that at all right now which is fine by me. :o) We have a LOT of baby proofing to do before she starts crawling, but I can't believe that it could very well be sometime in the next two months! CRAZY!

Okay, I need to go for now because speaking of our little girl, she is awake and ready to sit and play for awhile! :o) I'll write more soon because I would like to share on the very sad events of the past month... the loss of my sweet little nephew Makaio... :o(

Waiting for my baby nephew...

So two days ago was my sister, Lelia's, due date! It came and passed and still no baby boy, but we are all getting so excited as it gets closer and closer to the time when baby Makaio Boyd will make his appearance! :o) I'm so excited to hopefully be there when he takes his first breath in this world and hold him and kiss him and make him know how much his Auntie Natalie loves him! I can't believe little Lydia is almost 6 months old already! I wonder if I'm already getting the baby fever... Lol. ;o) At least I'll soon have a little nephew to be able to help with that!

There is lots of updates I'd love to share, but It's after 10 already and who knows when our little nephew will arrive, so I should probably get to sleep soon! I wanted to share some of our precious little Lydia's pictures that we just got back from her photographer, Stephotograpy. They are all so cute! She smiled so much for almost all her pictures, and I love looking at them! Not sure how we have such a cutie pie! :o)

Lydia - 5 months, wonderful weather, odds and ends!

I really wish I was able to find more time more often to sit down and write on here! Things have been going and going and life seems to be passing by so fast... I just want to sit down and enjoy each day that I have all the more! Sometimes it's been hard because although we have gotten into a good schedule and rhythm with having two kids and continuing on with our lives, sometimes I still go through times when I feel like I'm missing out on so much of Lydia's life! I don't know why and I'm trying to not let it get to me, but I really do think it has a lot to do with how content she is so much of the time even when I'm not right there with her! So, this past week especially, now that things have calmed down a bit from Christmas and from getting things ready for my sister, Lelia's, baby shower this past weekend, I have been trying to spend a lot more time with her, playing, working on her sitting up, and she now joins me for whatever I'm doing much of the time - whether that means sitting in her bouncer watching me cook or sitting in her Bumbo watching me scrapbook or whatever! It's been so much fun having her join me and although she is growing up way too fast, I'm already looking forward to having a little girl who can scrapbook and cook and do girly things with me! Oh, we have been so blessed! :o) Sometimes I don't understand why we have been blessed with so much when so many of my other friends have lost so much or have not been able to have kids! It's hard and it's hard for me to understand why God allows that to happen, but then I think more and realize that we have been blessed, and we do have two kids who are under our care and love and that there is so much we need to do to love them and train them and care for them and do all that we can to show them the love of God and how great He is! It's a big job, that's for sure, but I'm so thankful that I have a husband who is willing to be right there beside me all the way! It is so nice to know, also, that not only can I trust God with my life and all of our choices in life, but that I can also trust my husband because he is also trusting God! :o)

I'm in a very rambling mood... sorry. :o) This is what I miss, though... just being able to write and write and get things off my chest from time to time. :o) Scott and I are watching Gladiator right now... such a great movie, although it's so sad at the same time! Goodness!

Our dear little girl is 5 months and 1 day old today! I so often think back onto that night when we drove up to the hospital to have her! She has been such a blessing from the very start and I don't know what we'd do without her! She has been growing so much and has been learning so many new things this past month! About two weeks ago she actually sat up on her own for almost a minute - she was leaning way forward chewing a toy, but she didn't fall all the way over, so I'm totally counting that! :o) She LOVES to sit up as much as possible, so we will try to give her chances to sit up on her own as we watch very carefully because she does still fall over very easily, or she will sit up with her boppy pillow around her, or in her Bumbo which she also loves! I think she might be getting in a tooth, but I haven't seen one poking through yet. She has just been MUCH more into chewing on stuff and has been drooling a bit more. She still has not rolled over again since was it 2 months old?! But she definitely enjoys spinning around and rolls from side to side all the time while playing with her toys!

Lydia is getting super excited about eating in another month! Just in the past three weeks or so she has been so much more interested in food and reaches for anything we eat or drink when we are around her! :o) We need to get Daniel a little booster seat so that we can move him to that and let her start sitting up in his high chair while we eat so she will be all ready! I can't believe it's already time to start making baby food again! I can't say I'm totally excited about that, but I think it'll definitely not be as much researching as it was with Daniel since I just did all this a year ago! :o)

She is also getting so tall and a bit heavier... She is around 15 pounds (probably over because that was her weight like three or four weeks ago). Some of her 3-6 month clothes are getting too small but others still fit great! I think she'll be like her big brother in that she'll be tall and skinny, so it'll be interesting to be able to find the clothes that fit her the best! Her hair is growing and growing, too, and I finally bought some pony tails a few weeks ago so I've been able to fix her hair in one or two ponytails, which is too cute! :o) I LOVE having a little girl to pamper, that's for sure!

She also LOVES to talk and talk and talk!! ;o) This evening as we drove back from some friends where we watched the Super Bowl, she shrieked/talked almost the whole way home... we were trying to figure out why until we got home and Scott saw that she had spit up a little and it was around her neck and poor girl does NOT like spit-up all over herself! :o( Poor girl! She was completely fine and started laughing as Scott cleaned her up! Lydia's smiles are amazing and just make my day, that's for sure! Her little nose and bright blue eyes with her big smiles are so cute! Every day I see more and more expressions that she makes that are just like her big brother's which is so cute and I love seeing how much they resemble each other! :o) Gosh, we love that little girl so much!!

Sooo, on to weather! It is the 5th of February today and it felt like total spring time outside! I can't believe this weather! I keep expecting it to get colder all of a sudden, but it just seems to be getting nicer and nicer instead! It's so crazy! Don't get me wrong... I love this weather, but I really miss having some more snow days first! Poor Daniel has only had one day to play in the snow here... because it has only snowed enough for us to have to shovel the sidewalks twice, and each of those times was just enough to cover the grass and melted off by the afternoon! :o( So sad! I'm hoping that at least the Mesa will get more snow soon so that we can take the kids up to go sledding some weekend in the next month or so! I was thinking we could go on my birthday if Lelia was not having her baby boy (he is due that day...), but now I have jury duty which I'm praying will get canceled! :o)

Well, I should probably close for now! It's about bedtime here... I'm thinking we'll have to finish this movie another night! :o)

Happy 4 months, Lydia!

Dear Lydia,

Hello to our amazing little girl! You turned four months old yesterday, and I think it hit me when we were hanging out that you are definitely growing up! In some ways I think it's harder seeing you get so big and do so many new things all the time than it was with your brother, because I know that time passes fast enough and I don't want it to go too fast! But, at the same time, it is exciting to see you start enjoying new things and wanting to do things out of the ordinary! :o)

Just a week ago we finally put you in the Bumbo for the first time and you LOVED it! I'm not sure why we hadn't done that before, but I really think you are growing up so fast that I'm not keeping up with it! You still spit up quite a lot with your reflux, so you're not able to be in the bumbo as often as you'd like... Right now you'll just hang out in there until you spit up everywhere which you do NOT like one bit so then you get a really sad face, stick your lower lip out, and cry such sad cries! :o( It's so heartbreaking, but you are also very cute when you cry like that. It's much more of a lady-like cry than Daniel ever had. ;o) Yesterday, I pulled out the boppy pillow and sat you up against it and you had SO much fun just sitting there watching Daniel and I play and looking/playing at one of your books from Christmas! Even though you still enjoy playing on your activity mat and hitting / grabbing all the toys, I think you are slowly deciding you'd much rather sit up and see what's going on easier!

You are also realizing lately when I'm not in the room... You don't always cry about it when I go into another room, but you do enjoy it when I bring you with me and let you sit in your bouncer as I cook or clean... you love being around people to see what is going on! You also give some of the biggest smiles to anyone who comes over to see you! Lydia, you just light up our days so much!

You still have yet to roll over again... Daddy and I have decided we just don't have big rollers for kids... ;o) We are trying to get you to roll over again but you seem plenty content either lying on your back or doing tummy time, although we do need to spend more time with the tummy time... You don't mind it much at all, so that's more Mommy's fault for not letting you do it more often! Then, maybe you'll start rolling more!

You are still an amazing sleeper... we have been SO blessed by that, and it has helped Mommy be a much better Mommy during the day! You're still taking a good three naps a day and usually sleep from like 9 p.m. until 8 a.m. or so. You just got a new mobile for your crib from your grandparents and uncle Bryan, so you love looking at that when you are awake! I've also decided that you are the cutest when you are just waking up! You don't usually cry when you wake, so Mommy just goes in to check on you if I hear a few noises, and when I do I sometimes walk in seeing you looking all around with a half-sleepy expression on your face and your big, wide eyes! So sweet!

We love you so much, little girl! We had a wonderful Christmas with you and even though you took lots of naps during all the gift openings this year, you still were able to "help" open gifts or at least watch as Mommy opened them. You got so many amazing things and lots of cute outfits! It's been so much fun dressing you in all the cute outfits... you are super cute in every one of them! :o)

Oh, and you'll FINALLY be going in to the Dr. for a check-up appt. in a few weeks, but I did weigh you on our scale this morning and you weighed almost 15 pounds! Getting to be such a big girl!

Love you!
Mommy

P.S. Oh, and your hair is getting SO long! Daddy and Mommy made you a bow holder for Christmas and I have been trying to collect lots of cute hair things for you because I'm already able to do many things with your hair because you have so much of it! Such a beautiful little Lydia! :o)

A few pics...

Just because I haven't put new pics on here in awhile, here are some of the kids... 3 month old Lydia and a cute one of Daniel because he is ALWAYS a cutie! :o)

Lydia Grace - 3 months and 3 days old!

Dear Lydia,

Hello my dear little one! You are napping right now as your brother is running around playing with his toys! Mommy has been very busy working on Christmas gifts lately, but I wanted to sit down and write you a little letter letting you know everything you have been busy doing this past month! First of all, you are getting so big! We were not able to get you in for your 2 month appointment, so it won't be until next month for your 4 month that we'll be able to see exactly how much you weigh and how tall you've gotten, but everyone can tell that it is a lot! You are such a big girl and so in love with your life!

You are full of smiles ALL the time, and in the past month you have really began to love to play! You will spend a good thirty minutes to an hour several times a day on your activity mat hitting your toys, grabbing and moving them around, laughing, "talking", and smiling at your Mr. Octopus toy, your bug rattle toy, and the baby in the mirror! Mommy loves bringing scrapbook stuff down on the floor by you, and as you play, I have fun scrapping all of your cute pictures! Your big brother, Daniel, loves to help with whatever he can and keeps you very entertained by making sure you always have plenty of toys around you to play with! And, even though sometimes he will accidently kick you or drop something on your head, you still love him and at least you don't seem to remember for long! Hopefully he will learn soon that he has to be a bit more gentle with you!

You began laughing a few weeks ago and we love to hear you giggle and laugh at us! This morning I was kissing you over and over and over and each time I did, you would laugh really big! You were too cute! :o) I love you SOOO much, little girl!

You love to sleep, which is quite the blessing! For your three naps during the day, you usually sleep in your swing, but you'll also sleep fine while being held, or you love lying down on Mommy and Daddy's comfy bed! Since you still haven't rolled over yet, we are able to put you on that with pillows all around, but enjoy it while you can because I'm thinking you might be rolling over really soon! Ever since you turned 2 months you have been sleeping a good 10 to 12 hours a night, which is absolutely amazing!

Lydia, you had such a wonderful month! We took our long road trip to Kansas and Texas to see your extended family and you had a great time meeting your great-grandparents and lots of great aunts, uncles, and cousins! You did amazing in the car, and even though we were in so many new places you still slept great and seemed as happy as can be being with our little family! :o) We also had Thanksgiving, which we celebrated with both your daddy's family and your mommy's. That was a lot of fun and even though you really wished you could have had some of the yummy food, you still had fun watching everyone and being held and talked to. You LOVE the Christmas tree and all the lights in our home. You try to reach out and touch all the lights and especially like them when it's night and we turn off the rest of the lights in the house.

We love you so much!

~Mommy

2 months old already!

Dear Lydia,

Hello little one! You are taking such a good nap right now so I decided that I would write you a little letter telling all about your big changes since month 1! You are 2 months and 2 days old today, and still growing and growing! Your next appointment will hopefully be this week to be able to see how much bigger you have grown, but as of a week and a half ago, you are already up to almost 12 lbs! You are still wearing your 0-3 month clothes, but I'm thinking that once Thanksgiving rolls around we'll be getting out your 3-6 month clothes!



We love you so much, little one! This morning Daddy and I had you in bed between us after Mommy fed you and we just talked and talked to you, as you grinned at us over and over! You LOVE to smile, and smile at us all the time! You are definitely a happy little girl! I can't wait for you to start laughing! I just know you will have amazing laughs, just like your big brother! You have really started 'cooing' at us quite a lot lately, which is so much fun! Makes me just want to have little conversations all the time with you! Just in the past two weeks or so you have been loving your bouncer so much more and will let me put you in that or on your activity mat / blanket for awhile at a time while I cook, do the dishes, or hang out some with Daniel. You are finally noticing little toys around you and love hitting them with your hands and have grabbed a toy or two from time to time. We leave on Friday for a week trip to Kansas and Texas, and hopefully you'll figure out that grabbing technique fast because you will love being able to play with your rattle toys on your car seat in the car!



You are an amazing sleeper, and that has been a continual blessing to me! For the past week and a half you have been sleeping 9 to 11 hours at night straight, except for two nights when you woke up after 7 and 9 hours, which isn't bad at all either! You love your beauty sleep and you love being all warm under your blanket in bed! :o)

For Halloween this year you were a cute little ducky! You were absolutely adorable! Your mommy, Pappy, Aunt Lelia, and Aunt Amanda took turns holding you as we walked around trick-or-treating which was so much fun! You did really well, even though you weren't able to go as long as Daniel and your cousin, Vienna, were, but you enjoyed the part that you were a part of!

This month you will begin to experience your first holiday season with Thanksgiving and then decorating for Christmas! I so hope you enjoy the Thanksgiving / Christmas time of year as much as I do! It's always been one of my very favorite times of year and I've got so many warm, wonderful memories of this time just like I hope you have one day! :o) SO excited to celebrate with our wonderful little family of four!



Love you SO much, little girl!

Love,
Mommy

Dear Lydia - 1 month old!

Dear Lydia,

Hello my little girl! Today you are a whole month and two days old! It seems like you have been a part of our family for such a long time already... We all love you SO much! Even though each day has been filled to the brim for us with taking care of both you and your big brother, it has been such a joy and Mommy has loved all the time I've been able to spend with you and Daniel! I can't believe how fast you grow, though! I'm so excited for your Dr. appointment this next week so I can see how much you now weigh and how tall you are!

You have been such a great little girl! Almost from the time you arrived you have been napping and sleeping AMAZINGLY! That has been such a great blessing to your daddy and me and gives me some time to spend one-on-one with your big brother which is very important for him and me. Then, when Daniel goes down to nap you and I get some quality time together which is a lot of fun! You love laying down on my lap and looking up at me while I talk and talk. I can't wait until you start cooing and 'talking' back! You have done that a little bit but not very much yet and it is so cute! You also enjoy spending about five minutes at a time on your activity mat staring at everything, but not much longer than that... you still love being held much more than that!

You have also been working really hard at lifting your head more and are doing such a great job at it! I think you feel like you need to move around sooner than later because there is so much you don't want to miss out on, especially with a busy older brother running all over the place! You've also been very close to rolling over from your back to your tummy already! Such a big girl! :o)

My favorite thing that you've been doing for a few weeks now has been your big smiles that you share many times during the day! You are absolutely adorable when you look at us and flash a big smile across your face! :o) I've tried to get some pictures but you are too fast for me and away goes your smile whenever my camera comes out!

For the past few weeks you have been sleeping usually 6 to 8 hours a night which has been SO nice! Two nights ago you did 9 hours straight which was the longest so far! At this rate it won't be long at all before you are sleeping the entire night through! Yay! :o)

You LOVE your daddy time, that is for sure! I think you will definitely end up being a daddy's little girl, but that is fine with me because your daddy is amazing and the best dad there is! :o) Every evening you spend a lot of time rocking with Daddy and he is the one who usually rocks you to sleep before bed after I feed you. It's amazing how much faster you fall asleep on him than on me! You must just be real relaxed around him! You also love having daddy and brother time together... You and Daniel will hang out on your daddy's lap while you watch TV or listen to music and I love watching the three of you because y'all are so cute!

I'm so excited to see how many more things you will be learning this next month! Tomorrow we are leaving for Breckenridge for the weekend with my family and lots of friends! It will be your first big trip other than to Delta and should be really fun! There is a good chance you'll also be able to see your first ever snowfall, which will be cool because that was the first place Daniel saw his first snow last year! I hope you have fun and I'll take lots of pictures!

Love you SOOOOO much, little girl!

Love,
Mommy