Sick of being sick!

All three of us are sick...BOOO!  What do you expect?  It's the holiday season.  Everyone is out, sick or not, and getting their nasty germs on everyone else.  We went to the doctor last Wednesday thinking that Lila had an ear infection.  Turns out she just had fluid in her ears.  Basically, we just had to sit around and wait for the fluid to turn into an infection...and it did.  Poor girl was miserable all weekend.  We finally went to the doctor Monday afternoon and BAM...ear infection.  It was at that point that we got the big referral to the ENT.  While I hate that she keeps getting the ear infections, I will be anxious to see what the ENT doctor tells us; whether we need to get the tubes or not.  The thought of her having to go through this makes me sick, but I know that it will make her better in the long run.

Last night, I got all of our Christmas present wrapped and put under the tree.  I AM DONE!!!!!!  I will still find myself buying some stocking stuffers for Neil and Lila, but other than that...I can relax.

These are a few of my favorite things...

I was thinking of this song the other day and wondered why it was considered a Christmas song.  My mom and I couldn't decide, but we did agree that it's time to watch the movie again...and Lila will love it I'm sure.  She'll especially love my mom and I dancing around singing (in our completely in tune voices) to EVERY song that comes on.  Yes, she knows we're crazy!

It also got me thinking of some of my favorite things.  There's the obvious things...my wonderful husband, who I just so happen to think is the BEST husband in the whole world.  Even when he drops his coat in the middle of the floor and I trip over it or when he ignores me because he's watching a ballgame...even then I think he's the best husband in the world.  He loves me, he sticks up for me, and he is a great Daddy to Lila.

Which brings me to my next favorite thing...my beautiful daughter.  She never ceases to amaze me...in good ways and bad.  She is so smart and is also a smarty pants.  Her attitude makes her who she is and will probably make for some wonderful mother/daughter fights in our future, seeing as to how she already shakes her head and tells me "no".  :)

Then there's my family...I love every single one of them with all my heart.  If I went in to detail, you'd still be reading this on December 7, 2012...I don't care how fast you read.

Top 3 favorite songs right now:
1. I Don't Want This Night To End - Luke Bryan (I love him)
2. A Woman Like You - Lee Brice (I just hear this for the first time yesterday and cried...I'm a little emotional right now.  It immediately reminded me of Neil)
3. All Your Life - The Band Perry (I love all their stuff)



Top 3 favorite TV shows right now:
1. Revenge - Thanks Deanna.  I love this show so much.  I love the lead character and how she always gets the job done, no matter what.
2. Modern Family - Nuff said...
3. The Biggest Loser - It is such an inspiring show.  I cry a lot when I'm watching mainly because it's amazing to me to watch people choose to change their lives' for the better and then DO IT.

Top 3 favorite websites:
1. Facebook - Seriously, people?  Did you really think I'd put something else?
2. Pinterest - DUH...I'm obsessed...only slightly more than Facebook, however.
3. Amazon - Sometimes I just get on there and do a blind search.  I look for the first thing that pops in my head and see how cheap they have it.  It's weird, I know, but I'm always in awe of how cheap some of their stuff is.

Is there anything else you wanna know?  Post a comment and ask!

More Pinning

I can post this because it is a gift for my dad and I'm fairly certain that he doesn't read my blog.  If you do, Dad, sorry. Stop reading now so it doesn't ruin Christmas.

I have, once again to my surprise, successfully pinned and completed another DIY project.

I didn't take pictures for a step-by-step guide, but I will try to explain the best I can remember.

First, I got my masking tape and placed it on the glass.  The very wide masking tape would work the best, but all I had was the skinny kind.  I overlapped the tape so there was no area where I was going to monogram that wasn't covered.

Second, I drew (in pencil...because I ALWAYS mess up) the block letter that I wanted etched.

Third, I got a knife.  Pretty sure you're supposed to use an exacto knife, or something similar.  I chose the most dangerous way, since my husband was working the ER that night, and used a paring knife..freshly sharpened and hoped for the best.  I cut along the lines of the letter that I just drew.  Once I was done, I peeled the letter off.

Fourth, I very thickly applied the Etch Armor to the glass.  Waited about 10 minutes (my directions said 5-7, but I got sidetracked with another project.

Fifth, I rinsed the Etch Armor off with very hot water and then took the tape off.  I wiped it clean and BAM!  You have a monogrammed beer mug that makes a great gift!!

I took a couple different pictures to show how they turned out.  I will be making more, so next time, I'll post step-by-step pictures.  I hope this helps though!!

Christmastime is Here

I love Christmastime!  I HATE cold weather.  Yesterday it snowed.  WTF?  That is all on that topic.

We have our Christmas tree up and the outside lights put on.  

Lila helping Daddy put the star up

"The Smile" with Mommy

In other news, we should be getting L's Christmas gift in the mail sometime this week I think.  We got her a personalized chair of her own from Pottery Barn Kids.  I am so excited about this.  I registered for this for the shower and we didn't get it.  I didn't think we would; it just wasn't practical at the time.  Now at this age, I know she will love it.  Others that I have talked to said their babes are in and out of it all the time.  For those of you who are looking for a good gift, (even though we don't have it yet) I'm going to recommend the Anywhere Chair from PBK.

I'm also looking for other ideas for L for Christmas.  We were also going to get her this little riding toy with my Pampers GTG points, but I am still lacking like 600 points and there's no way we can get that many by Christmas, unless we go buy like 30 big boxes of diapers! LOL  That kinda defeats the purpose of getting it FREE with the GTG points.  So I just went to look for it annnnd.....it's no longer even available on the GTG website.  Dang!

Basketball started Monday night for the Bulldogs!  So excited for this, but I have to say, I think it's going to go a lot like football....I'm not going to be able to catch much of the game due to L being ALL OVER THE PLACE!  Still though, I'm pumped!  Go Bulldogs!

I finally got my sewing machine moved to the small desk in the "office".  Neil got his desk back for the computer and his studying.  Now I just have to figure out how to add about 4 hours to each day so I can get some crafting done!  LOL  If anyone has successfully done this, let me know!

Addicted to Pinterest

Hi, my name is Lindsey and I'm a Pinterest-aholic.  Yes, it's true.  I'm admitting it.  Now that I have gotten it out, I'd like to share some of the things that I have "pinned" and actually done.  Thankyouverymuch!

This first shout-out goes to my Grandma Judi.  She has taught me a lot about sewing these last couple months.  She showed me how to make a ruffle with ribbon or fabric or whatever you have.  It totally worked.

I made this ruffle-butt onesie (I actually only did the ruffle-butt, not the entire onesie...I'm not THAT good) for a friend of mine's baby girl.  It was my first actual sewing creation.  

 I made this little dress for Lila.  MUCH harder than I thought.  This was a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation.  She was sleeping...so I really wanted to get it done while I could.  The other side of that was, I couldn't quite measure her while she was asleep.  LOL  So I just kinda went with it.  It's a little longer than I anticipated, but I learned a lot doing it.

And last but not least, I made the "no sew" Christmas Tree skirt.  It was actually so easy.

The instructions came from this blog...

http://mycrazylife-lauren.blogspot.com/2011/11/i-pinned-it-i-did-it-ruffled-tree-skirt.html

Getting started...

Done!

I actually did this entire project at the Hampton Inn in Rockford.  Ahhh the things you can get done when you're on the road. LOL

I would I also like to share that I have pinned and made other things, but I cannot post them because it could potentially ruin Christmas.  I hope to be pinning and sharing many more times!!

Big Girl

Once again it's been another month.  So much has been going on.  I will probably be posting a bunch of blogs all at once.  I have been crafting...A LOT.  I have to be honest with you.  I actually have a new addiction.  It's called Pinterest, if you haven't heard of it before.  Those of you who know what if is, you're probably addicted too.  Those of you who don't, go now.  www.pinterest.com  Seriously, you can read the rest of the blog later.

So Lila has gotten so big.  She is now such a big girl.  She looks and acts like a toddler now.  It's bittersweet.  I don't want her to grow up any fast than she is, but at the same time it's so exciting all the new things that she's doing these days.

She was a peacock for Halloween and quite the cutie if I do say so myself.  For some reason I can't get that picture to upload here.  I'll try to post in another blog.

She knows where her eyes are, where her nose is, and is learning ears and teeth.  It doesn't take her long to learn new things.  She seems to have a new "trick" every other day.

Lila is quite the performer.  She likes when people pay attention to her and if you're not, she'll make sure you are.  :)

Today she wanted to help me in the kitchen.  Deanna got us matching Mommy and Lila aprons for my Mother's Day present this year.  It fits her now and she was quite the helper.

We'll never be bored again!

I have come across the best blog article ever!!!!  101 Things to do with your toddler.  I was on pinterest, my new favorite website and saw this blog entry.  It's amazing.  Lila is still kinda young to do some of the stuff, but there are plenty now and we'll get to the others later!

http://counting-on-me.blogspot.com/2011/05/101-things-to-do-with-your-toddler.html

101 Things to do with your toddler

1. Color
2. Blow Bubbles
3. Play Hide-and-Seek
4. Peek-a-Boo
5. Play Chase
6. Do Finger-plays
7. Sing a song
8. Collect rocks in a basket
9. Make an obstacle course out of cushions and/or furniture
10. Make a fort out of cushions and sheets
11. Go for a Walk
12. Make a Car out of a Box
13. Read a book
14. Go to the park
15. Finger-paint
16. Play with Play-Dough
17. Toss Bean bags into a Bucket
18. Play the shell and pea game
19. Dance to music
20. Download games for toddlers from the Internet
21. Practice putting things in and taking things out of boxes and bags
22. Make a temporary slide out of a table leaf and your couch
23. Roll a ball back and forth on the floor
24. Scoop dirt or sand into a child's bucket (or use a serving spoon and bowl)
25. Practice climbing by stacking boxes on top of each other (only with adult supervision)
26. Put on a puppet show
27. Go fishing with a yard stick and yarn
28. Make a Horseshoe game
29. Make a Shape Puzzle
30. Play paper basketball
31. Run through a Sprinkler
32. Play with a bucket of water and a sponge (PLEASE WATCH CHILD AT ALL TIMES!)
33. Make a Drum out of an oatmeal box
34. Play with a kazoo
35. Wash windows together
36. Bang on Pots and Pans with a spoon
37. Brush each other's teeth
38. Play dress-up with stuffed animals and your child's clothes
39. Stack canned or boxed food on top of each other
40. Let child stack mixing bowls inside each other
41. Make a playhouse out of a large box
42. Let child play with a sticker sheet (make sure your child doesn't eat them!)
43. Put stickers on fingers for finger puppets
44. Play a musical instrument together- i.e.recorder, piano, etc.
45. Go on a Smelling Hunt
46. Frost Cookies
47. Plant a flower or vegetable plant together
48. Roll a tennis ball into an empty trash can or bucket
49. Draw on a mirror with dry-erase markers
50. Play hide and seek together- trying to find a stuffed animal or other object
51. Have a splash party together in the bathtub
52. Put a leash on a stuffed animal and walk around the house
53. Record each other on a tape recorder (great for scrapbooks or journals!)
54. Make and try on paper hats
55. Give a piggy-back ride
56. Play "Horsey"
57. Talk into an electric fan (it distorts your voice)
58. Play tug-of-war with a blanket
59. Collect flowers (felt, artificial, real...)
60. Make a camera and go on a Safari
61. Play games with frozen juice lids
62. Disconnect your phone and pretend to make phone calls to relatives
63. Leave your phone connected and really make phone calls to relatives- let your child talk too
64. String large beads onto or along a shoelace
65. Squirt each other with squirt bottles
66. Glue shapes onto paper
67. Make sock puppets
68. Make paper puppets
69. Fill an old purse with toys
70. Use a paper towel tube as a megaphone
71. Make binoculars and go "Bird Watching" or "Stuffed Animal Watching"
72. Put snacks in different fun containers (paper sacks, empty canisters, etc.)
73. Act out a story from a book
74. Walk on a balance beam- use a 2x4 placed on the ground
75. Draw with chalk on the sidewalk
76. Sketch an outline of your child on the sidewalk or paper with chalk
77. Paint child's palms with tempura paint and blot on paper. Makes a great card for loved ones!
78. Put lipstick on child and kiss a mirror
79. Make a puddle on cement and splash barefoot in it
80. Let child decorate and eat an open peanut butter sandwich
81. Make a toilet paper barricade for child to go under, over, or through
82. Do the Hokey Pokey
83. Make a super-hero costume out of household items
84. Do Knee-Bouncing Rhymes
85. Play "Red Light, Green Light" saying "Go" and "Stop"
86. Make a shoe-box train for stuffed animals
87. Make a pillow pile to jump on (keep it clear from any hard surfaces, including walls!)
88. Make an easy puzzle with felt and Velcro
89. Make bracelets or collars for stuffed animals out of pipe cleaners and jingle bells
90. Learn numbers from a deck of cards
91. Play the matching game with a deck of cards
92. Make a domino chain
93. Have a picnic in the park, backyard, or living room!
94. Play dress up in Mommy or Daddy's clothes
95. Make a tin cup telephone and talk to each other in it
96. Make a nature collage
97. Mirror each other
98. Make a "Mummy Mommy" with toilet paper
99. Make a tape recording of short music selections and instructions to move in different ways
100. Make and walk along a toilet paper trail
101. TAKE A NAP!

I honestly can't wait!  I'm going to try to take pictures of all the things that we do and post them on here!  Hopefully everyone can follow along!

Goodnight. Sleep tight. Don't let the bed bugs bite.

My mom used to always say this to us when we were kids.  It wasn't until I was an adult that I understood what bed bugs really were.  Nasty, gross, incredibly annoying bugs that live in your mattress and make your life hell...apparently.

As of right now, I can say we don't have bed bugs, but now that you're itching all over just from the mentioning of it, I'll let you in on why this is the lovely title to my blog today.  A few weeks ago, Lila had this bump, welp, knot, thing on her arm.  I didn't think anything of it since she has been known to get mad and bite her extremities when she goes down into her temper tantrum 8,395,863 times a day.  Then about a week later, another one popped up on her leg.  this one looked worse, but I just thought she had gotten bit by something.

Last week we were at the doctor for another ear infection and I had mentioned that they were popping up more and more.  Dr. W thought that they may be hives from trying to fight the ear infection.  Common in young children when their bodies are fighting any infection.  So we left with antibiotic for the ears and Benadryl for the hives.  Thought we were good to go until Monday night, she had like 5 pop up on her arm.  I, obviously concerned, emailed the picture of her arm to Dr. W and then went in the following afternoon.

Of course, they always get better right before you go to the doctor, right!  Damn!  Dr didn't really know what it was so he sent me to a dermatologist.  Trying to make a long story short (for those of you who know me, you know that's hard for me to do), we went to the derm today and WHEW! it's just bug bites. While I'm sad that my baby is getting eaten alive, I'm through the roof that it's JUST bug bites.  I was getting myself prepared for all kids of bad shit!

Back to the whole bed bugs thing.  I asked him if he thought that these "bug bites" could be that.  Thankfully he said no, but that it could be a possibility.  I've looked, Neil has looked...we can't see them.  So I'm really just hoping that this is an isolated incident and that the bites will heal and be gone quickly.  I also asked about fleas.  We have 3 dogs that are primarily outside, but occasionally we let them in.  We treat them for flea and tick, but I know it can't fight them all.  Next on my list, off to Rural King to get some flea spray.  This worked one other time when my sister dogsat for a friend who's dogs had fleas...then I had fleas!  The heavy alcohol-based spray seemed to work.  So I'm going to try it again!

Stay tuned for what happens next!

I also want to share a little something that Neil and Lila did last night.  If you haven't seen the commercial with Jimmy Fallon and the little boy where he asks he if wants cash back, you need to.  Apparently, Neil and Lila should've auditioned for the commercial and apparently, she's nothing like us....we always could use/want more money back!  LOL

Goodnight Moon

My good friend, Medley Wilson Ford, got my sweet 5 day old baby a gift last year...a book titled Goodnight Moon.  I have always loved this book since I was a kid.  It was a book we read at my Grandma Jane's house and at Cousin Linda's house.  So simple, yet I loved it.  I was thrilled when I saw that Medley got Lila this book.  I read it to her almost immediately.  Over the months she began to understand the book.

She would point to the "3 little bears sitting in chairs" and to the "kittens" and the "red balloon".  It wasn't until tonight that I go so tickled because this time she knew what was coming next.

Every time I read the book we talk about each one of the objects (some listed above).  My favorite part is "the little old lady whispering hush".  When I say hush, I always put my index finger over my lips.  A time or two in the past she would look at me when I was getting ready to say hush.  She knew it was coming.  Tonight, we went through the book.  We saw "the comb and the brush and the bowl full of mush".  She looked at me immediately when she heard the "shh" sound.  Then we saw "the little old lady whispering hush".  At the point, she put her index finger to my mouth as I said hush.  I about melted.  It's such an amazing feeling knowing, not only that she is learning, but that she is learning from listening to me.  She is comprehending now, which completely blows my mind.  How can she be this big already???

So as if that wasn't enough, she even started waving goodnight to all the objects in the house...even "the little old lady whispering hush".  You can obviously see why this is one of my favorite books to read to her.

ONE Big Birthday!!!

Sweet little Lila Jane has turned one. It's a bittersweet moment, I think, for most moms, me included. For her actual birthday, we went to Mackie's Pizza to celebrate. There, she prepped for her party by eating her cupcake. Quite the lady, I must say. Her party was the following Sunday. It was SUPPOSED to be at our house in our backyard or the patio that we spent so much time building so we could host occasions like this, but due to the 6 inches of rain that feel that day, we had to move it to my grandparents house. Thanks so much to them for offering their place! It was truly a life saver...well maybe a day saver!

Here are some of my favorite pics from her birthday celebration!

Eating some birthday pizza

Loving the candle

Ready to eat it!!!

I'll try a little....

yum

Gorgeous Birthday Cake made by Charlene Stover of Norris City

Lila's little smash cake

My banner that I spent so much time on....just to tape it to a mini fridge! LOL  (damn rain)

2 of the topiaries that I made for table decorations.  They turned out so cute I think I will have to make one for Christmas.  (maybe all holidays!)

Peggy Jadia, Lila's new Cabbage Patch doll

Very good at reading the cards

Good Birthday Girl

New piano from mom and dad

I think she's ready for her cake

Happy Birthday to you...

Num num num

Fam

Good stuff

Getting ready for 1

This has really just been the craziest month. Trying to get ready for Lila's birthday has been nuts. Thankfully I started early and got a lot of stuff done. Then came the kitchen mini-remodel.

It's something I've been wanting to do for a long time, but just never made the decision to go for it. Two years ago when we bought this house, we both loved the idea of staining the cabinets dark. We thought that it would really modernize the kitchen. I knew from previous experience of refinishing my bedroom set that this would be no easy task. But, of course, I was ready to jump in. It was fall and we had just moved in. There were lots of other things going on so we put it off to spring.

Well, in January of that lovely year, we got pregnant. There were other things on our mind than refinishing the kitchen cabinets so they just got put on the back burner. Early this spring, I made the decision to paint our countertops. I absolutely knew that this was something I wanted to do from the moment I found out it could be done. They were an atrocious burgundy/maroon color. It was awful! I got those painted and while I doubted the color that I had chosen for a little bit, I have come to be very thankful that that is what I chose. Because then I made the decision to paint more!

Finally, two weeks before Lila's first birthday party that we were hosting at our house, I went and got the paint and just did it! I had been thinking for a while that instead of stripping, sanding, and staining the cabinets that we would just paint them dark brown. My mom said not to, that I would regret it. Of course, I did it. After all, mom hadn't seen the countless number of blogs that I had of people who remodeled their kitchens for less than $100. I was very "sold" on the idea of painting rather than staining. Plus it was a lot less work for me! :)

I went to Wal-Mart and got some color sheets. Once I found the color that almost exactly matched our new kitchen table, I took it to Barnes Lumber Co. in Harrisburg, IL (There's your shout out. If you had a website, I'd hyperlink this, but ya don't!) and the matched it for me. I found a gorgeous Coral color while I was there and decided that I also needed to paint the walls to brighten up the kitchen. Another point for me, because it totally brought everything together.

So here are the shots starting from the very beginning!

When we moved in. This countertop is just ugly. Oak is just not our style...especially light oak that is apparently cheap! LOL

I found this Rustoleum Countertop Paint and decided to try it. Glad I did.

Looked a little better, but not quite exactly what I wanted yet.

I liked the wall color ok, but it was a little minty for my taste and our old kitchen chairs rubbed marks on the walls that I couldn't get off. So I had to change it.

New kitchen table and chairs. Excuse the mess!

Dunzo! We also ripped the top "detail" off of the cabinets. Neil said that took 10 years off of them immediately...I agreed.

I still need to find some material for a valance and get a new one made. That's next on my list, not only because this one doesn't match, but it WAY to country for our taste!

Once again, please excuse the mess. Arts and crafts for Lila's party going on! I also still need to get some other artwork or decor up on the wall. The south wall is very bare!

If anyone has any suggestions for artwork or an accent color for the valance, let me know. I'm not sure what to do with it! Also, I'm wondering if I should just stick with the valance or do a cafe curtain and valance...I don't know. Whatever I do, I'm sure it will be fine!

Labor Day Weekend

You'll have to forgive me, a few weeks ago I tried to start my blog on our iMac in an application called iWeb. It's really cool how it works and I really enjoyed getting started...then I found out that I had to pay for it. I didn't get deep into the details, but just the word "buy" set me off at the time. I had already written my entire post on our Labor Day weekend festivities and thought to myself, I'll give Lila a bath and come back in and repost it to my blogger account.

That was 3 weeks and 2 days ago. Like I said, I'm sorry. I'll just go ahead and play the "we've been really busy card". Actually if you know me, you'll know that that isn't a lie! :)

So here's my post for Labor Day!!

We had a wonderful day today. We actually got to sleep in a little, with a little bribery to Lila. It was about 9:00 or so when we ended up getting up. We hung out and played this morning. Drank some coffee and ate some breakfast as a family. I got a few things done before Lila got down for a nap.

About 20 minutes after she crashed, unwilling mind you, we got a semi-surprise visit from Aunt Megan and little cousins Nicolas and Halle. They were quite disappointed that L was sleeping when they got here, but she must have known they were sad because about 30 min after they arrived, she started stirring! It’s so fun to watch her with kids. She just loves being around them. The looks that cross her face crack me up. It’s almost like she looking at me saying, “Mom, do you see what they’re doing? It’s so cool.” or “Mom, can I do that too?”. It’ll only be a matter of time before I don’t even get a look anymore....excuse me while I wipe my tears.

We made it over to Grandma Jane and Grandpa Jacks for the “Cardboard Boat Rigatta” contest. This was supposed to be on July 4th, but we had a date change. Neil and I didn’t get to make a boat, but we thoroughly enjoyed watching the success of everyone else’s boats.

Lila will be 1 year old two weeks from tomorrow. I look at the list of things that I still need to do for her birthday and thank God that I started about 3 weeks ago. I would’ve never gotten anything done. I just got off the phone with our cake lady. She did our wedding cake and L’s baptism cake...both of which were so cute! I just can’t wait to see what she has in store for this special occasion. I did give her a picture of something that I liked. We’ll see what she does with it!

I’m trying out this new webpage/blog thing with our new Mac. I’m not completely sure how it’s going to work out, but hopefully everything will turn out ok! Go easy on me while I’m making these changes to my blog. Let me know how you like it and if I should stick with it or go back to my blogger account. Have a wonderful short work week!

You can see how it turned out....I'm going to make a few more posts on the events of the month!

Football Season has arrived

We are so excited in the Atkins household. Why you ask? It's time for FOOTBALL!!! Last year we started football season with no baby and finished with Miss Lila. This year, she is getting to enjoy it too. I have to say she likes the band more than anything right now, but she'll catch a glimpse of the boys on the field and oohhh and ahhhh. I think she's gonna fit right in this fall. :) We have been enjoying high school football thus far, but next week will start Saturday morning college football and Sunday/Monday night football. I would say Neil is pretty lucky. For the past couple years he has asked me if I wanted to have my own fantasy team. I reluctantly declined because there's no way I could keep up with my own. I told him I would just help co-manage his. Together, we make a pretty good couple. This year is gonna be even better! I think we might even win!

Lila got some new kicks this week. I'm trying to put her in shoes more often so she will feel more comfortable walking. She can stand on her own, but completely freaks out when you let go of her hands and she just sits down, screaming, like "how could you let go of me like that?". It's pathetic. She crawled at 9 months and from some of the articles that I've read, babies usually crawl for about 3 months before they walk. If that's the case, we're looking at right around her birthday. We'll see. I'm being kinda selfish here, but if she would start walking, it would make football games a lot easier for us. Right now, we either have to hold her and pass her around or sit her on the track and then she crawls and picks up rubber pieces off the track then eating them. I'm not saying that the walking thing will keep her from eating the track, but being off the ground more may help a little. Don't get me wrong; I don't want my baby to grow up any faster than she it, but it's time for her to get brave and walk!

In my last post, I shared that we had gotten a new dog. She is a weim, which is what I have been wanting. I used to have one (he was NUTS), but had to end up giving him away because I moved into an apartment and just didn't have enough room for him. I'm sure he's happier now! The newest addition to our family is Emma. She is very sweet and very active. She and Jasper fight over who gets to fetch more! We have discovered that she may be a bit of a digger, but we're hoping that we can fix that. I tried to snap some pics of sweet Emma, but she was following me around everywhere. This is the best I could get!

A little busy...

I'm so embarrassed. I can't believe I've waited a month to update my blog. I have never gone this long before. So much has been going on and time has just gotten away from me. Lila was 11 months old on Saturday and I just can't believe how time flies. I've already been working on stuff for her birthday and thank God, because if I would have waited, I would have never gotten all of it done.

I'm making a very cute ribbon topiary (3 actually; an idea that I stole from another mommy friend) and so far they are turning out very cute! I'll have to post some pictures soon. I didn't really pick a theme for Lila's birthday party; it's just colorful polka dots and stripes. Totally cute, if I do say so myself! More to come on the birthday front...

Lila is now standing on her own, but only if she chooses to and if there is something close by that she knows she can grab. She's not yet brave enough to take those first steps. BUT she is getting braver by the day so I'm thinking at any time, she could just take off. Then things will really get interesting! She crawls everywhere right now, so it probably won't be much different as far as getting places. It's hilarious. She can't sneak up on anyone. She sounds like a herd of elephants going down the hallway when she's on a mission.

We also got another dog! I know, we're nuts....Neil will say I'm nuts, but she's just adorable and we love her to pieces. Pics to come for that too! I know it's not the longest post, especially after being gone for over a month, but I promise I'm going to try to get more postings!

10 Months Old (sniff sniff)

My little baby girl is 10 months old today. Time is just going by so fast. I just know that I'm going to turn around and she'll be 1. Then the next time I turn around, she'll be going to kindergarten. It makes me want to cry!

She is getting fast with her crawling. I can walk in the kitchen and 15 seconds later come back in the living room and she'll be all the way across the room and into something else. I have to say, I love it though. I don't mind picking up her toys 22 times a day. I just love watching her get into them and explore what they all do. She pick up a toy and it will make whatever noise it makes, then she will look at me with those beautiful blue eyes like, "Mom, did you see what I made it do?".

We have this baby doll that is supposed to be life-like. I got it when we were going to baby classes when I was pregnant. We had to bring a doll to a couple of them for demonstration purposes. I knew that since we were having a girl, the baby doll would get used a lot. But I never thought it'd be this soon. She pulls that baby towards her and hugs her and loves on her. She's so motherly already. LOL :)

Super Saturday

As we speak, little Lila Jane is snoozin' away. I'm sitting on our patio enjoying this beautiful day. I am pleased to say that this morning Lila slept until 7:15 and only woke up because I went in to check on her to make sure everything was okay. She heard me and woke up. BUT that was just fine, because she woke up in a great mood. This is the first time in about a week that she woke up in a good mood and stayed in a good mood. She's back to her normal self; that is, until her next tooth decides to come in. :)

Aunt Hannah was kind enough to come over and watch Lila while I mowed and weedeated. It needed to be done SOOO bad that the mower died seriously 15 times. I think the grass was a little high. :) Then Aunt Hannah left and Lila fought me for a nap, which is another indication that she is back feeling better. LOL

Tonight Neil and I are going to see.....HARRY POTTER! I have to adit, I'm kinda exctied. There was a time two years ago when he dragged me to see the Half-Blood Prince and I feel asleep in the movie. Now, even though I need me sleep and the movie doesn't even start until 10:00 PM, I think I can manage to stay awake.

I hope everyone has a wonderful rest of the weekend! GOOD DAY!

Mr. T: TALL Teeth

The last few days have been plagued by the teething monster. This has been absolutely dreadful for us. It has been days of no-stop fussing, fighting, screaming, tantrums, loving on momma and dada, more screaming, etc.

All babies go through teething, but I feel like this has been extra hard for us because Lila hardly ever cries. She has been throwing more fits lately before bedtime, but really, she is a very happy baby. Not so much since about Thursday night. At some point in the middle of the night, the teething monster broke into our house (we didn't hear him) and sneaked into Lila's room and held her hostage. He's still holding the poor girl hostage until we can make this tooth pop through. Hopefully, this will be soon because we keep telling him he's not welcome in our house.

It seems to be coming in a little more everyday, but just not quick enough. After a fabulous 4 day weekend, Mom and Dad were not ready to go back to work, let alone have to struggle to stay awake at work. I decided today that it is like having a newborn again. Up every couple hours, the thing about the newborn is, usually they just want to eat and then go back to sleep again.

I think this post was really more like a venting place as I really haven't given you any good information. The next post (hopefully) will be that a tooth has come through and maybe that will be tomorrow. We can only hope. Thanks for you ears! Y'all are too kind!

Fireworks!

Happy (day late) 4th of July to everyone! We had a wonderful extended weekend fun-filled with activities at the lake with friends and relaxing on the couch. We made it out to see fireworks last night and Lila was amazed! She stared in awe the entire time! It was adorable.

Since Lila is now crawling and all over the place, I never know what I'm going to come into when I enter a room that she is occupying. The other day she had made it to the TV and was standing there staring...6 inches from the screen. She was quite ticked off when I picked her up to sat her down at a more optometrist recommended distance. I went back to the load the laundry and when I came back she had about 10 DVDs scattered all around her. She told me!

So last week, out of no where, Lila started clapping at me. I was astounded. We hadn't been working on this so I immediately texted the babysitter to she if she had done it for her and she said no. It's too cute!

The little crawler wants to walk really bad too, but seems to always forget that she can't even balance long enough to stand, let alone walk somewhere. Once again, this just ticks her off. She has found that she loves her push walker toy and can get to where she wants using it.

Lila has been sleeping pretty well lately, but can't seem to figure out how to sit and lay back down in the middle of the night when she wakes up. Today, she figured it out when playing so I'm hoping she can remember how she did it in the middle of the night the next time it happens!