2 going on 12

One of the best things about being a parent is watching your child develop their own personality and independence. We are here to teach and guide and love and nurture this little person God created and I find it really interesting how early that personality shows itself. Leila has always been our "angel baby"--she makes being a parent easy.

Now that the "terrible twos" are here, she is definitely showing her independent streak. We hear a lot of "No Mommy, I do it," and "No Daddy, I want Mommy!" (I do spend the majority of time with her but everyone says she will switch to "Team Daddy" at some point :) She wants to dress herself and even wants to be by herself in her room to play sometimes (but usually Shrek can stay.) Patrick is very firm with the way she is allowed to talk to her mother and father. We are trying to instill good manners in her and the other day she said "No ma'am Daddy!" which was so funny I had to hide my laugh. I have told her the only person she is allowed to boss around is Shrek.

She loves to get dressed up and the new thing is Disney princesses. She loves the books, the movies, and wears not only the dress but high heels, a crown, jewelry, and a matching purse. She wants to wear it as soon as she wakes up and asked to wear it to school. The other day she wore her dress to dinner.

Here are some funny things she has said recently which I have to write down so I don't forget.

"Good morning, Mommy." Greeting me when I enter her room in the morning

"No ma'am Grace!" Talking to a younger friend who wanted her toy

"I fall in love with Daddy." After watching Cinderella where she and the prince fall in love

"I adorable." Once dressed up in her princess dress, with all the accessories

"I be pretty now." Asking to put her princess dress on... while mommy groans and tries to reinforce that being pretty is not how you look but how you act towards others

"I get married." After reading Disney princess books, in which they all get married at the end

"I run away." This one had me shocked--where did she learn that?? Then Patrick pointed out we recently read "The Runaway Bunny."

"Shrek, you stay! Good boy!" As we are leaving for school... Does she ever pay attention.

All dolled up as Sleeping Beauty

It's a bejeweled Tinkerbelle!

As Leila says, this is her "Cinderelly" dress

Pumpkin Patch

Houston is getting a small taste of fall... Temps have been cool in the 60s in the morning and shooting up to high 80s in the afternoons. The coming of fall is such a tease. Do I wear long sleeves or short sleeves? Pants or shorts? I guess the correct answer is layers.

We have been enjoying plenty of fall activites and taking advantage of the weather when it is nice out. This past weekend we went to a pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin for carving. I can imagine what it must have looked like to Leila, rows upon rows of pumpkins almost as tall as she is. She loved it, and spent a lot of time carting the baby pumpkins around.

Afterwards we went to the dog park, which explains why she had an outfit change inbetween picking her pumpkin and carving it. Our final result is the best version of a "Happy Jack-o-lantern" we could find. She recognizes when things are "scary" now, so we are keeping everything as happy as can be. Her Mimi kindly brought her a stuffed scarecrow... only it has been banished once Leila deemed it "too scary" LOL. (It was not scary in the slightest, but who are we to argue?)

The dog park down here is amazing and we go as much as we can. Surprisingly, Shrek basically takes off on his own and makes sure each and every tree/fence post in sight is well, claimed. We worried he might have aggression issues, but we have never once had an incident. Our conclusion is that he is a good dog, he just does not like to be threatened while he is on his leash, nor does he like his manhood threatened, if you know what I mean.

Leila loves, LOVES the dog park. She loves to pet the dogs, and throw a ball or stick for them, and loves to see all of the different dogs. This past weekend we saw some dalmatians, which was especially exciting because we just watched the movie 101 Dalmatians (and one had a red collar, like Pongo.) I love to watch the Great Danes, because they are just so amazing to look at. We also saw some dog fights... bad pitties. Probably my least favorite breed. My old boss used to have one, and she had to drug it before having parties at her house. Hmm...

One good shot looking at the camera, thank you Leila!

Cheese!

Hmm, which one should I pick??

I really love this little one!

Actually, I love all these little ones...

Two seconds before they all fell down

Pushing them back to where they belong

The final choice, do they weigh the same? Possibly

Helping carve the pumpkin... Leila is holding a plastic play knife that won't cut anything

Look what we did

The final result, as happy as can be

Blast from the past... Leila's first pumpkin patch @ 2 1/2 months

Last year's pumpkin patch @ 14 months


And this year @ 26 months

An Ode to Pink Paci, may she rest in peace

Dear Pink Paci,

I love you in the morning,

I love you in the night.

I love you most when I am sleepy,

And also when I am outside.

I loved you from the first day,

And I will miss you more then I can say.

R.I.P Pink Paci

08/03/08 - 10/5/10


(P.S. I do not love the substitute pacifier in my mouth, but she will have to do since you are gone.)

Grandparent's Day

Leila's school had a special brunch and chapel to celebrate Grandparent's Day a few weeks ago. She is completely blessed to have 4 grandparents that all live relatively nearby. Both Patrick and I grew up in separate towns from our grandparents, so we know how lucky she is to be able to spend a lot of time with hers. Both her Nana & Pops and Mimi & Dude took time out of their day to come to her Grandparent's Day event and it was really special. On Chapel Days the preschoolers have to wear a red chapel shirt (elementary wears uniforms every day) so as Mary said, "I did the best with her outfit that I could." LOL

Here's a hug!

World's Best Grandma's! Mimi & Nana

Best Grandpa's Ever: Dude & Pops

First Day of School

Can't believe school has begun. No first day of school jitters here. We woke up and hit the ground running. Leila was excited to see her friends and I was excited for tax-free weekend. We met Patrick for lunch after picking her up. She had fun and fit right in with her new teacher and some old friends from last year. What a great day.

Come on mom, let's go!

We took her lion and puppy on a "dog walk" before school

So long Sweet Summer

Summer is not really ending, as it is still 100+ degrees here with no end in sight. However, our lazy days are coming to a close as SCHOOL starts on FRIDAY. That means FOUR more days of Freedom for Little Bit. Not that she goes to real school anyway. She tells me she goes to school to--and I quote-- "Play." LOL

Here is a quick recap of our summer and some of the fun things we did. I am not the most frequent blogger so I don't want to leave anyone out.

Played chess on the Strand in Galveston

Chess pieces literally are as big as she is....

Went to dinner with her awesome aunts and uncles... From left my brother Jay, sister Lisa, brother Josh (with Leila), new sister-in-law Courtney, who is married to my brother Jimmy on right

Snacking at the Children's Museum with Kylie (Look at the camera girls!!!)

First Icee ever on the Kemah Boardwalk fountains

On the Kemah Boardwalk Merry-Go-Round with Aunt Lili

Riding "Daddy Deer" (character from Bambi) on the carousel at the Kemah Boardwalk

Leila's new outfit from Vegas just happened to match her first Barbie's outfit. And Barbie has a toy pink poodle just like Leila. Does the obsession begin now??

Aunt Lili came to visit with her cute dog, Lucy (Leila's true obsession... she only asks about that dog, oh, once an hour.)

Taking Lucy on another dog walk, three a day is still not enough apparently for girl or dog :)

All smiles on the Big Girl Bed... Often I find her asleep on top of all of her stuffed animals and books, which she found essential for nap time

Being kissed by Missy, her Nana's dog

Giving Nana a kiss in return

What about Mom and Dad? We went to Vegas for Patrick's birthday, but had too much fun to take a lot of pictures. Here we are in front of the Hoover Dam.

Leila and Ryan hanging out at his bday party in June... We miss you Ryan!!! (And all of our Sienna friends, for that matter.)

Baby Ethan came to visit and see our new house. They were so cute together. There was a little mugging going down, but I didn't get a good picture of it (thank goodness)

Taking Lucy-Goosey on a dog walk in her jammies in San Marcos.. truly the highlight of my brother Jimmy's wedding weekend.

Singing in the Rain...

Elmo Birthday Party

Leila's 2nd Birthday Party was tons-o-fun. She was so excited for her friends to come and play at her house. We had something like 19 babies, toddlers, and older kiddos running around. WOW did she have fun. Thank you to all of her friends and family for sharing her special day.