Letters to Lyla and Lottie: February 2011

Sunday, February 27, 2011

16 months

0 comments Posted by Todd & Chelsea at 3:23 PM

Lyla fell and got a really bad bruise/goose egg right in between her eyes. You can see it in the below pic, but in others it looks sort of like a unibrow. I think it's her first real ouchie. And I wasn't even there when it happend to make it better :(

texting and computing.. :)

Cousin play time in the tent! I'm peeking through a plastic window to take the pictures, thus the blur

This day was so funny. Lyla conned her dad into sitting and playing and brought him every stuffed animal she has and then plopped in between them! She also whined until I fetched her the blanket

Lyla Lou! You're 16 months babe! We call you Lyla Lou now because Addie randomly started calling you that. You both are so cute when you see each other, and play so fun together, that it was hard not to share her excitement by referring to you this way :) Each month I struggle to find the descriptiveness to capture the person that you are. Each month I fail. Oh how I wish I could bottle your personality so I wouldn't have to! You are sweet. funny. snuggly. feisty. stubborn. silly. loungy. crazy. lovable. girly. feminine. active. excited. smart. etc etc etc all in one!! There are so many moments each day that I think how lucky I am to have you as my daughter. How you are just too cute to be true. I hope you always stay this way.

Here's some other lovable things about you this month:

You still have 8 teeth

We went to your 16 month checkup and you had to have shots. Oh my you cried. I hate them.

You say the first part of SOOOO many words now it's hard to keep up. It's so fun to interact with you verbally now. I feel like I have a little tape recorder (which is why I'm working really hard on not swearing :)

You are still SUCH a pain in the butt eater. I guess if I just stuck to what you like to eat, it'd be fine. But then you'd never eat anything healthy. ever.

I have to be on my toes when you're eating because if you get full and I don't get you out the carseat fast enough, you chuck all the food off. Stinker.

Your new thing is going into your room (or your tent), plopping down, and then patting the floor next to you so I will sit down and play. You also add a little whine like "ehhh" and pat. It's hilarious. As if I don't play with you enough or something. You also do it to dad sometimes.

You are a diva. No question. Another new thing you do is sit on your princess chair and then whine and point for the toys you want brought to you...which usually includes a blanket and then second chair to prop your legs up on. Where did I get you?! haha.

You and I LOVE the new Rec Center in town. We have a punch pass and go once a week. You always take a minute to get used to the giant bucket that dumps, but once you do you become such a playful little thing. You LOVE water and run from place to place. You also love the lazy river. Such a lounge girl. The first time we went we floated for almost an hour. You just propped your head on my chest and relaxed. It's such a fun way to spend one on one time. You almost always cry when we leave, despite the shivering and blue lips!

When something suprises you or you're excited about something you put your hands on your mouth. HAHA

You make the "ROAR" sound when I ask what a Lion says. It's such an adorable ROAR!

You want to do everything I do. Now when I'm applying lotion, you sign more for some. I'll put a little on your hands and you'll rub it together. It's SO hilarious and cute!

You will dance on cue now. You move in circles and swing your arms from side to side. It's SO cute :)

You drag Dad and I around, pulling us by the hand. We spoil you by going wherever you want.

You know what you want to eat. We can open the fridge, freezer or pantry and you'll grab what you want. You are so smart!

I've said this before, but you love bigger little girls (like age 4). Do you not know you're only 1 little one? You choose to run and play with them in social settings over little kids your age

You love playing with your kitchen! You put things in to microwave, stir, fake drink and all sorts of things. It's so cute.

You recognize COW in books

I've said this before too but you know when you look cute! You immediately run in to find dad after your dressed in the morning to show him how cute you look. You strike a pose when we say you look so cute!

16th Month STATS

Weight: 16lbs 15 oz....0 percentile

Height: 28 1/2 inches.......3rd percentile

Head..........17 3/4 inches................21st percentile

itty bitty still...

Baby #2 Update

2 comments Posted by Todd & Chelsea at 3:04 PM

I’m already worrying about one daughter feeling less special than the other. I have not written nearly as much about this pregnancy! Ahhh. Or taken pictures. It’s not because I’m not equally as thrilled. It’s my little monster. Little one, please know how much I love you. I am insanely excited to welcome you into our home. Most days it completely outweighs the fears I have.

This pregnancy has been one trillion percent easier than the first. I’ve been hesitant to say that simply because things can change but I think it’s safe to say the “morning sickness” is completely different. I mainly had bad sickness the first trimester and even then, it was mainly limited to the morning. Sure, I still feel sick and occasionally barf in the am but that’s mostly IT! I can’t tell you how different and amazing it has been. Thank YOU!!!

I don’t really have cravings this time around either but the weirdest thing…McDonalds ALWAYS sounds good to me. Weird? Barf!

The only other thing that sounds good to me is SODA, specifically COKE. I want it the minute I wake up. It seems to calm my stomach so well. It’s a terrible craving to have since I only allow myself a max of one can a day. I’ve never been addicted to soda but now I think I am!

This baby is WAY more active than Lyla was. Maybe I just recognize it more but I swear she is constantly moving. It’s so nice to know she’s okay. She is very active throughout the night and wakes me up even. Lyla was more active in the morning. Wonder if that’s a sign?

Smells bother me a lot more this pregnancy. Poor Todd seems to offend my senses every other minute.

My body hurts a lot more this pregnancy as well. Maybe it’s the 2 in 2 years thing? Haha. People always told me about that stage where you hurt so bad you’ll do anything to be done. I never got that way with Lyla. I have a feeling I will this time. My body just hurts everywhere I swear! Sleeping is tough as I toss and turn daily just to find a comfy spot. I’ve had a lot of sciatic never pain that creeps up on me. It’s tough since Lyla and I spend a lot of time running around playing and/or sitting on the hard floor. It’s getting harder and harder to climb in her little tent or chase after her. I keep thinking I’ll get my body back faster this time and be able to play with her all summer.

I think I’m making up for not being able to nest with Lyla (since we closed on the house the day my water broke). I’ve been preparing since I learned she was a she. The office is now in the garage and we’ve got the nursery completely set up. It helped that I didn’t have to buy anything really. Lyla has a “big girl” bed now (that she has yet to sleep in). I sorted all of Lyla’s old clothes into sizes and the newborn ones are all washed and hanging in their closet. I scrubbed everything in the two rooms from head to toe. I’ve been stocking up on diapers and am really not too worried about how much changing I’ll be doing . Once this babe sleeps through the night (lets hope it doesn’t take a whole year this time) I hope to have my girls share a room and make the other a play room. What beautiful things await us…

Friday, February 25, 2011

Gambles Christmas Party & New Years

0 comments Posted by Todd & Chelsea at 2:57 PM

We went to Idaho for The Gambles Christmas Party & New Years. Just Dance II was probably the biggest hit of the get together! As you can see, everybody, even Grandma Bet, had a good time shaking their booty. I still can't hear Katy Perry's "Firework" without thinking about Jaydon (cute little blonde cousin) rocking out to it. He knows every move! Lyla had a BALL with all her cousins. In fact, I think she's been bored ever since. She ran around with them ALL day long and cried when I would make her go downstairs for a nap (even though she would literally collapse in exhaustion).

Other highlights of the trip were of course spending time with the majority of the family, good food, and SNOW. One Saturday we rented snow mobiles for the day and went sledding. I think Todd was most thrilled about this adventure as the sleds were super powerful. Lyla...not so much. We went for a little ride and she did okay. THEN we went to the top of a hill to sled down and she FREAKED. You can kind of tell in one of the photos. Luckily she learned to like it the second go round and enjoy a little sledding with dad. When we got back, we put her in some snow to play and she bawled. I think it freaked her out to see so much of something semi foreign, as our snow doesn't stick around like that. Either way, it was a good experience for her to have :)

We also got to celebrate New Years with the Gambles which was great fun. I bet you can guess from the pictures what Lyla's favorite part about New Years Eve was? The necklaces :) She collected all her cousins'. She didn't cry this year when the noise makers went off either :)

2010 was good to us

Lyla turned one

We learned we'd be welcoming #2

I quit my full time job and got really great contract work

Todd did a billion little home improvements

Lyla went international with us

lots of other great things I can't think of