Finally making some more progress on decorating the place!



                               
                                                                                                             Kitchen window AFTER
                                                                                                                   curtain $5 (KMart)
                  Kitchen Window BEFORE                                             tension rod $2 (Hobby Lobby)

New front door decor 

about $12 for paint, letter, ribbon, and stencil 

from Hobby Lobby

Weekend Fun

We started the weekend off right with a much needed date night! We found an amazing Italian restaurant just a few minutes from our house and had a very, very delicious dinner and view. It was on top of a big hill so we had a nice view of the city/town of Parkville.  It was a lot pricier than we expected but well worth it because everything we ate was amazing! I really wanted to get dessert because I knew it had to be really good, too, but we were planning to go mini golfing and I really didn't want to be miserable, haha. 

I've been experimenting with making my own baby food this weekend...trying to figure out how to get Layla to eat more veggies. One combination she really liked was spinach and peaches! I will definitely be making more because she loved it! I pureed about 1/4 cup of spinach with an entire peach to help make it sweet and I'm so glad it was a success! Here she is licking the lid clean :) 

This evening we dropped by Kourtney and Chad's to return something of their's we had and we decided to all go to the park. After about 5 minutes we decided it was WAY too hot so we left and ended up ordering pizza and hanging out at their house. You may not be able to tell in this picture but Layla was sooo super sweaty, poor thing. 

To help cool off the kiddos we let them play in the water using Chad's homemade water sprinkler. It was perfect for them! 

We also got some family time playing in our little pool this weekend. 

Have a happy Monday! God Bless! 

Month 10

    Month 10 has been full of learning and change for Layla! She is now sleeping through the night IN HER CRIB and in HER ROOM :) She is crawling and pulling up and learning lots of new words and sounds. She has grown up so much in this last month and its been fun to watch her.

    I won't lie...its also been a stressful month because along with this growing up stuff comes attitude, resistance, and needing to keep a closer eye on the now mobile Layla. I'm definitely needing to keep myself in check and am being forced to work on my reactions to her and my attitude. I don't want to become the mom who is always grumpy or saying no to everything. I don't want to hurt my kids' feelings by my reactions or loud/harsh words. I want to be in control of my temper and in control of my reactions. And I definitely can't do it on my own! I'm realizing more and more how much I need God's strength and patience each day. Mom's who do it without him must be out of their minds! And incredibly stressed. I'm also thankful to have my family close and a husband who comes home every night. It's the simple things that can be so easily taken for granted...


Enjoy ~

Such a silly girl! 

We had our first family vacation in Wichita! We went to the zoo (Layla's first time) and I got to go to one of my best friends wedding showers. 

We got to feed the giraffe's! 

Layla passed out at the bridal shower and we were able to get her into the car withOUT her waking up and she slept for an hour on the way home. 

Finally enjoying some pool time :) 

cousins playing 

Her monkey crawl...her shirt was too long so she improvised. 

Napping

Oh boy...lots of fun around here today! Its 8:23am and Layla has been awake since 5:10am. She actually slept in a whole 10 minutes today, ha. Since sleeping in her crib and in her room she wakes up at 5am on the dot...sometimes a little before or after, but she's usually pretty spot on. Hopefully that trend won't last long.

Yesterday I decided it was time to start getting her to nap in her crib. I've had to hold her for naps in order for her to get a long enough nap. I didn't really mind, especially since our mornings have been so early so I would just nap with her. Day 2 of the transition is NOT going well. I doing our normal naptime routine and rock her for just a few minutes and then lay her in her crib. She usually cries for a while but today it only lasted a few minutes and I THINK she slept for about 10 minutes but has been crying for quite a while now. I've been in to lay her down (she stands up and cries) at least 3 times and have rocked her a couple times but nothing helps. I'm going to get her up soon because I can't leaver here there all day and she's got to eat...so...any tips on nap transition would be GREATLY appreciated! Encouragement is helpful, too :)