Baby Steps

I finally am getting around to posting a short video of Lyla walking. Here she is taking her baby steps!

Snow Day

We finally got a real snow day here, and Nina really enjoyed it. After Mark got home from work, he took her sledding at the hill behind the elementary school in our neighborhood. She had a blast.

Both girls were pretty interested in keeping an eye out on Mark's job scraping the ice off our driveway this morning so he could get to work!

Fun in Philly

Yesterday I had the awesome opportunity to meet up and hang in Philadelphia with some of my great girlfriends from JMU. We all met up yesterday around lunch then spent the day together shopping, talking, eating, laughing, and basically just having a great time, then we spent the night in a hotel downtown and came back this afternoon. I don't think I have laughed so hard in a long time! It is really great to have friends who you can always pick up with right where you left off - no matter how long it's been since you've seen each other. Anyway, we had an awesome time, and we'll definitely have to plan another reunion for next year.

Here we are at this amazing restaurant, Tequilas, where we ate dinner.

(I didn't bring my good camera, so this one came out a little dark...)

Seven Years and Counting

Well, here we are on our seventh anniversary, and it's snowing again! I think this is the only time it has snowed on our wedding date since the actual wedding. I still remember waking up that morning to A LOT of snow falling, but that didn't keep us from enjoying an awesome night with our best friends and family. Some of the highlights were our Pastor Jim's talk to us during our ceremony, our first dance to "Someone Like You", the dare Bo accepted to get out and dance with all the ladies during "It's Raining Men", and the very entertaining toast by the best men tandem of Matt and Joe. We left the next morning for a week on the North Shore of Oahu followed by a week slopeside in Lake Tahoe. I wish we were taking a repeat honeymoon to celebrate this anniversary! Instead, we're spending this anniversary with a toddler who wants to play in the snow and a baby with the stomach bug. We had to delay our anniversary outing because Lyla is sick, but we'll be having a belated anniversary celebration on Thursday, so that will give us something to look forward to. So, Happy Anniversary, Mark! I love you!!

Walking!

Unfortunately, I don't have a video to go with this post, but Lyla started walking today. Her longest walk was 12 steps! We discovered she could do it just a little before her nap time, so we'll give it some more time this evening and see how far she gets. Unlike Nina at this age, Lyla is no daredevil. When she feels like she's starting to lose her balance, she just sits down. Thankfully, Mark got to witness Lyla's first steps (if you were a blog follower when Nina was a baby, you know that Mark missed hers). He got home from a trip last night, so he was excited to see her walk for the first time today. I'll try to catch it on video so I can post her in action.

Excuse Me While I Brag...

I normally don't like to brag about our kids, but I was so impressed by Nina this evening that I just have to share it. Many of you have probably observed the same thing and felt the same way with your kids, but I was just so proud of her that I had to ask her to "read" her book again while I got the video camera. Here she is reading a book she got this Christmas called Olivia and the Missing Toy. We probably read this book once or twice a day, so when she remembered it so well, I was very surprised. I'll include the text of the book, so you can "read along" while you listen.

One day Olivia was riding a camel in Egypt...when her mother woke her up. "Time to get up, sweetie-pie. Remember, you have soccer this morning." Olivia's uniform comes in a really unattractive green. "Mommy, can you make me a red soccer shirt like this one? Please?..." "But then you'll look different from everyone else on the team," explained her mother. "That's the point." When Olivia came home from practice, her mother was working on the shirt. "Is it done yet?" she asked. "Not yet," said her mother. Olivia waited, and watied, and watied, till she was too exhausted to wait any longer. So she went out to play with the cat. "Look, darling, it's all done!" said her mother. But something was missing. "Wait a second," said Olivia. "Where's my toy? Where's my toy? It was right there on the bed. I just put it there. I remember exactly. That's my best toy. I need it now! Somebody took my best toy!" Olivia looked everywhere - under the rug, under the sofa, under the cat. She asked her little brother, Ian, "What did you do with my toy?" She asked her baby brother, William, "What did you do with my toy?" "Gooo goo gaa gaaa." That night, and it was a dark and stormy night, Olivia was practicing her piano when she heard an awful sound. The sound got louder and louder. It was horrible, and it was coming from behind the door. So, of course, Olivia went inside. And that's when she saw it. It was the dog! And he'd chewed her toy to bits. "Mommy, Daddy, Mommy, Daddy! It was Perry!" cried Olivia. "He took my best toy and chewed it to bits, and now it's wrecked." "I'm sorry, sweetie-pie," said her mother, "but doggies like to chew. And he didn't know it was your toy." "My best toy." "Don't worry, " said Olivia's father. "Tommow we'll go get you the very best toy in the whole world." "Oh, thank you, Daddy. I love you more than anyone." Still it was Olivia's best toy. So, she fixed it, adding a bow for extra beauty. All better. Only books about cats tonight, Mommy." But even Olivia couldn't stay mad forever.

Nada Mucho

There is not much new to report from here. Mark has started the preseason travelling with the college combine and draft, so the girls and I are just hanging here at home. We are hoping for some fun this weekend, so check back in with us in a few days!

Goofy Girl

Our goofy girl will be tuning 10 months old tomorrow. These are just a few of the faces of Lyla. With both girls, we really enjoy their humerous side. While we've had the chance to watch Nina's silly side develop for awhile, we're watching it all for the first time with Lyla and enjoying it a lot. At this point in her life, she's into riding on and walking behind her princess car, books, and Puffs. She's officially been named Puff Baby (Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, or Sean Combs - whatever it is these days, move over)!

The Baltimore Aquarium

Today, Mark and I took the girls to the Baltimore Aquarium. It was a spur of the moment decision this morning when we knew we wanted to do something fun with the day but hadn't made any plans. We were both pretty sure that the girls would be interested in the aquatic life, and even though it meant skipping naps (Lyla did nap some in the car, thankfully!), eating on the run, and walking all day for Nina (strollers weren't allowed past the entry area), it was a really great time. We saw some really neat things, and Nina was SO into the exhibits. The aquarium is great for kids because they have a little ledge that runs about 6-8 inches off the ground in front of each tank, and the kids can stand there and have a great view. Nina learned quickly how to squeeze her way through the crowd of adults to the very front of the exhibit where she would stand on the ledge and chat with the other kids about what they saw. Nina said her favorite part of the visit was the dolphin show that we saw while we were there. It was a fun day, and I'm so glad we went! To see all the pictures of our visit, click here: http://picasaweb.google.com/amandabeth2/065?authkey=-8D-nPj2i0c&feat=directlink

What a cool fish!
I only prefer to be this close to a shark when there is a thick glass pane between us!

Dr. Nina

In true "kid" fashion, Nina is getting more use out of the packaging of one of her gifts rather than the gift itself. She took the plastic bags from a gift and started calling them her doctor gloves. She has played for several days with the "gloves" and everyone in the house has gotten multiple check ups many times a day. Here she is giving her koala a thorough check up.

Making Strides

Lyla came up with this idea on her own today. Mark and I were watching the girls play when we noticed Lyla crawling over to her princess car, standing up behind it, then walking. We both kind of looked at each other in shock because we didn't introduce her to the concept. She spent the next 30 minutes walking laps around our basement. She will stand without holding onto anything for a few seconds, but then she sits down. We'll see if this newfound activity gives her an incentive to try taking a few steps on her own.