She likes to move it move it

This kept us entertained for a good hour. Watch the cuteness below.

Plus a bonus pic... this is Leila at her friend Mason's Christmas party.
She walked around for several minutes dressed as a reindeer, we'll call her "Dancer" after tonight.

Hey Santa

We took Leila to Baybrook mall to meet Santa. She was super-friendly in line but had no smiles for jolly Saint Nick.


She is enjoying the new house. She likes having a gameroom to make a disaster in. And we like that it is upstairs where no one can see it! I snapped a pic tonight of her drinking her "baba" on the floor, then found one almost identical from last month. And here is one from moving day of her eating her snacks on her back. She is so silly.

Here are a couple of house pics from moving day. Shrek and Leila are loving all of the windows. When we get home, Shrek is always watching for us at the front door.

Last Day of School

This was a sad week of goodbyes. We said bye to neighbors and friends and our church. We said bye to Leila's dear little school and her teachers and her Gymboree teacher. Shrek said bye, in his own way, to his favorite haunts on our walks. We move next Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. So much for football, Patrick. We are sad not to spend Thanksgiving at the McKinney's ranch, but we will probably go out there later this winter.

The chaos in our house from moving is bothersome to Patrick, Shrek, and I; but Leila thinks it is fun. We close on the house on Tuesday so I will post some pictures after that.

Playing around before school

Ringing "Gymbo" the clown's doorbell in class

Moving boxes are Leila's new toys and chairs

She likes the carpet in our new house. This is the gameroom.

The windows in the living room are the perfect height for curious toddlers (and dogs.)

15 months

Good news to report on Leila. This morning was her 15-month check up. She gained 2 pounds in 6 weeks! This is good news for us. She is on a high-fat, high-calorie diet and it is slowly working. (I should note we only give her good fats, with the occasional dessert snuck in--girl loves her fig newtons!)

Other news to report is that the princess is cutting her eye teeth--all four of them at once! Ouch! (Teeth #13-16) And she received routine immunizations today, as well as her 2nd flu shot and 1st H1N1 shot. I recently read about a new GlaxoSmithKline study that reported giving children Tylenol before or after vaccines can lessen the effectiveness of the vaccine. So it was pretty much an all-around miserable day. The time change did not help her mood either, she is still off.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33331643/ns/health-kids_and_parenting/

One thing she really started doing at 14 months but is worth mentioning is she knows where to go to follow directions. She will go to her room, the kitchen, outside, our room, etc. if I tell her too. She will also find her shoes, her paci, or her "love" when asked, which is very helpful because sometimes I don't know where those items are. Not that she does it all the time, but sometimes is better than never... I'll take what I can get from a toddler.

New House

We signed the contract on our new house today. It is in Tuscan Lakes, another master-planned community similar to Sienna. The neighborhood is around the corner from the Kemah Boardwalk. It is very close to Patrick's job so that he can come have lunch with us too! We should close and move before the end of the month. This is always the biggest month of the year for me: my birthday, my sister's birthday, our wedding anniversary, Thanksgiving, and now packing and moving! 27 days in the month left, what else do they hold in store for us??

http://www.tuscanlakes.com/

The Girl Who Asks to Go to Sleep

We never knew until we became parents that there was such a thing as "sleep training." Who would have known you had to be taught HOW to sleep? As adults, we look forward to sleep because we often do not get enough of it. Babies, not so much.

It took us until Leila was 9 1/2 months old until she began sleeping through the night. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact she is so small, and was just hungry. We have had her on a very strict schedule since she was very young, with an unwavering bed time of 7:30 p.m. She is (almost) always ready for bed by then, and will lay down on the floor to signify she is ready to go to sleep.

Well, last night I was at church so Patrick was putting Leila down to sleep. He said she came up to him, signed "sleep" a few times, then took his hand and led him to her bedroom so he could put her in her bed because she wanted to go to sleep. Isn't that adorable?? I wish I could have seen it. She is a very good sleeper now, but we still maintain a strict sleep schedule.

Leila is trying to walk while holding all 3 of her "loves"

Enjoying a beautiful afternoon at the park today

Leila loves her vacuum her bf Avery got her for her birthday. It makes real vacuum noises when she "helps" mommy clean the floors

Leila Ballerina

We have had a blast doing fun fall things. Leila and I went to the pumpkin patch with her play group. The kids had a lot of fun climbing on and playing with all of the pumpkins. They had a barrel for bobbing apples but there was no bobbing since swine flu is around! We are getting vaccinated next week.

We also went to her first kiddie costume party at her friend Ryan's house and it was a hoot. Seeing all of those toddlers in costume was adorable. Leila was a ballerina and too cute for words. Her friend Grant was a puppy dog and she kept trying to pet him. Hilarious!

We went today to a party at Gym"boo"ree and she had so much fun. This time Grant was going after her toys and she literally clung to me for dear life scared of him. I felt bad for her but it was so funny, and she is almost 4 months older than him so it was not like he was going to do anything to her.

Tomorrow she is going to Grandude and Granmary's for her first sleepover while mommy and daddy celebrate their 6th wedding anniversary and look for houses. This will be her first time away from both of us so I am a little worried but her grandparents are so sweet to her I think it will be ok. Plus, they are keeping Shrek too so "da" will be there with her for familiarity. She will get to dress up like Leila Ballerina again and hand out candy like a big girl.

We had milestone this past week I have to mention--speaking in phrases! She is joining words together now.

Leila loved the pumpkin patch and making a big mess

Leila and her friends from her playgroup were so good to pose for this picture

Leila had a lot of fun at Ryan's costume party. Her friend Sophie is a fairy in the background and had super-cute couture shoes on

This is Ryan, her cutie patootie dinosaur friend who is going to be a big brother in the spring!

Grant was a very realistic-looking puppy and Leila petted him a few times, which all of the adults thought was hilarious

Here is our ballerina playing monkey at Gymboree

Those aren't bells, they are Leila's bracelets

Mama and Leila Ballerina

Trying to catch a bubble on her finger--so cute!