Lyla's first birthday came and went without a really big tadoo but we did have cake and presents with the kids. Cole vividly remembers presents from Christmas so he was VERY excited to open those gifts!

I really thought Lyla would be walking by her first birthday but she hasn't seemed very interested in it for the past couple of months, but boy was she into it yesterday.  For literally an hour she ran back and forth through the house with any walker she could find.

My trip to Florida with Rick was so fun and SO NEEDED. We felt like newlyweds again without the kids to worry about. Knowing they were having a great time with their cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents definitely made things easier. I was thrilled to hear that they didn't even complain while we were away. When Rick left on Wednesday, I explained to Cole that dad was on a trip and he would come back. So the day before I left, I told him I was going on a trip to see dad and that I would be back too. My mother said Cole completely understood and would say, "Mom, trip, dad, come back." Awesome. I love that he didn't worry because he totally knew everything was fine.  One thing we did do at Grandma's house is finally give this boy a haircut.  Going from this:

to this:

He was a pretty good sport about it all considering he hates his hair cut which is why I had let it go so long.  His reward was a piece of gum which he is chomping on in the pic above.  (Although I hate giving him gum because he ALWAYS swallows it. His intestines must be full of the stuff by now.)

We mostly went out for dinners as Rick was in meetings on and off throughout the day. I enjoyed the time to read books and bask in the sun. I'm so glad it was warm and beautiful. We went to a Hibachi grill at the resort the first night, pirates adventure dinner the second night and a murder mystery dinner the final night. All dinners were good with the most fun being the mystery dinner. Rick actually was asked to take part in it which made it even more fun. The acting and quick improve of the group was outstanding.

Here are a few other shots. After the pirate dinner we walked around and found this massive carousel ride. I thought I was pretty good with scary rides and considering that this is swing carousel which I love (and is NOT scary), I was super excited. Let me tell you this was HIGH. I had to shut my eyes when it was at the very top but would open them if they dropped even a few feet from there. For some reason my eyes just would NOT open at the very top. It was thrilling.

It's good to be back home again too though.  We are enjoying the warm weather and spending a lot of time outside. These videos are from before we left but we Rick took them to the park to fly a kite so I'll try to post those videos soon.

Cole is still very into animals. While we were outside he was so hyper that his animal sounds all came out as yells. I thought it was so funny.

Lyla officially loves slides now and both she and Cole prefer to do them on their tummy. She loves to explore the dirt and grass outside. She knows the sign for outside and uses it ALL THE TIME. The little thing could live outside and probably be very happy. I don't mind it except for the very dirty clothes and scruffed up shoes and knees in the pants. Learn to walk baby girl and you will love it even more!

Yesterday, it was rainy and gray all morning so I pulled out a pop-up tent I bought at Wal-mart after Christmas when they were on clearance. The kids LOVED it!

Cole does a lot of singing now too. I've got to get this on video. I don't know why I haven't yet really. He will start singing to most things he has heard before. He just makes noises and tries to follow along. It is so cute to hear him just start singing. I hope he always sings. It makes me happy.  I feel so blessed to be his mother.


Little Princess went to her one-year checkup yesterday and weighed in at 19lb 5oz. That is actually 5 ounces less that Cole weighed at age 1, but she is 2 1/2 inches shorter than he was! Our little girl is still only 5th percentile for height and is 25th percentile for weight. The doctor said he thought I was rightly justified in taking her off whole milk and giving her 2% instead because her weight gain is still really good. She is just a shorty (27 inches to be exact).  She is so much fun to be with. After her shots she was not very happy but she still seemed to make the best of it.  I feel so blessed to be her mother.

So it's been nearly a month since I posted and yet I feel I have nothing to say. We've been visiting parks, libraries and stores this month. We have basically been out and I've been well, lazy, about anything else really.

We are celebrating Lyla's birthday tonight since we leave for Austin tomorrow to put Rick on a plane for a business conference in Orlando for a week.  The kids and I will stay at my moms until Friday when I will join Rick in Florida for a few days.  I am sure the kids will have a good time with their cousins and grandparents but still it is the first time I will be leaving them overnight with the exception of the night Lyla was born.  I am not worried about me. I am worried about them wondering where mom went. But they probably won't even notice with so much going on at grandma's house.

But alas here are pics of the kids - I haven't been taking many but here are a few!

She is still cute when she is mad...

Last Sunday as soon as we got home from church I threw on some pants or shorts over their onesies and we enjoyed the sunny warm weather.  Lyla enjoyed her fruit.  Thoroughly.

Cole ran around with a little flag he pulled up marking where the gas line was for the construction going on in front of our house. Hope they didn't need that!

I was trying to get Lyla on video making funny noises. It didn't work but this is still cute.

She loves the slide...

And has learned TO slide...

They are enjoying the weather and want to go outside RIGHT AWAY. Hence they are still in their pj's.

Lyla is so ready to walk. She climbs very well now (as evidenced above). She stands all by herself. She can go from sitting to standing without holding onto anything. She has even taken a step or two here and there but then just decides she prefers to crawl. I'm actually ready for her to walk. Most moms dread it but I think she will love playing with Cole more. I won't worry about her knees or feet (shoes) getting scuffed by crawling and she can follow me better!

Cole is talking so much now. He is still quiet in public places but he is a little chatter box at home.  Odd for the boy who would make a peep.  But I love it.  He also enjoys singing.  His favorite is Elmo's Song. He sings the ABC's to whatever tune it's playing and joins in for most songs on the CD's we have. We have him in Kindermusik again this semester because he just loves it. If you were in class with him you wouldn't think so because he mostly observes but we play the songs and games at home and he get so excited every time. I love to hear him sing.  He has such a sweet voice. I hope this continues.

Oh yes, and Lyla is doing very well with sign language but she definitely has a mind and will of her own so I'm pretty sure it won't take her long to figure out how to get exactly what she wants!  She is really good at repeating gestures and hand movements. For example, A lady sitting behind us at church taught her how to blow kisses after 2 minutes.  She has been doing it ever since. 

Grandpa Rees with his baby girls who appear to be giving the A-Okay signs (or getting there as in Ally's case).

And my favorite little men...

Lyla shocked me yesterday when she learned and used without prompting the signs for "milk" and "more".  I was pleased with the milk but didn't expect her to learn another one in the same day, especially since I had never signed "more" for her before.  My little princess is growing up.  Here's a video of "more". It is a little hard to get milk on video since she does it randomly, namely when she wants it and then I run and get it so she doesn't think her signing goes unheard.

We spent the past few weekends in Austin. Cole loves being there since it is 100% playtime. He loves having new toys to play with and his cousins to enjoy. He really can't stand to leave he loves it there so much. I literally have to force him in his car seat. Poor thing. But he loves it once we get home too because he forgot about his cool things here.

Cole finally adjusted to the dog, "Blue", and even asked to hug him. All the little kids love to play in Blue's kennel.

I think he is getting over his fear of animals and heights because today at the park he let the goose eat out of his hand AND he climbed up and slid down the TALL slide all by himself!  Cole is really taking off with his vocabulary too. He tries to copy most every word I say now. Prior to this he was so afraid to say something wrong he wouldn't try. I'm so proud of him! 

Jefra tried to get a great pic of all the cousins together but being that they are all so young that is probably going to a one in a million shot. I just love this one though because not one of them is looking at the camera.  Oh kids...

Lyla and Ally are now 11 months!  I can't believe how quickly time is flying by.  They love to sit by each other and play.  Ally is a lot taller than Lyla. She is going to be the tall, lean, shy cousin while Lyla will be the shorty but bubbling over with personality.

This past Monday, I played with Lyla, Cole and Cannon outside.  They had such a great time together. As usual the only problem we have with sleep while at Grandma's is being exhausted from playing so much!  We even wore out Cannon.  I swear he would have fallen asleep in his highchair during lunch if Lyla hadn't been teasing him. Here's the little cherub knocking on the back door to get Lyla's attention.

And he got it!  Lyla loves to play with Cannon.  She teases him, pokes at him and pulls his hair - just like she does with Cole.  She tries her darnest to keep up with those two.

Oh and let me just say that I am SO grateful for beautiful Texas sun!  I love being outside with my kids.  Though I must say I may speak differently come July.

Here's a little video of Lyla playing for the grandparents out there.

Rick's gift for Christmas was a much desired calf and foot massager.  He has used it every day.  Cole has definitely noticed and has decided that he needs to use it too - but not Lyla.

Lyla is moving along swimmingly in her development. She learned to clap the other day for the first time and I caught it on film.  She would only clap while eating (which is where she first learned it) but now she does it all the time and it's getting louder too.  She loves to do it because everyone gets so excited. 

Her interactions with people are so fun.  She gives hugs, kisses, waves good-bye (sometimes), gives "touch" and high-fives.  We are working on fist bumps which she currently finds funny when we do it so I'm sure it won't be too long before she has got that down. I think the problem there lies in that she doesn't voluntarily make a fist (hence her slack in signing milk too.  That or the fact that her fingers in her mouth with a little whine is enough said, right?). 

Lyla also understands the game of chase.  She will get so animated when Cole crawls towards her and she jumps into my arms so I will take her away while giggling with delight and kicking her legs for all it's worth. Daddy loves to play this game too. 

And finally she has mastered "Peek-a-boo".  Cole never really got into this game but Lyla adores it.  I will find her randomly putting things over her face and head only to drop it and look at me with anticipation.  I love it and so does Cole. He really loves to interact with her more and more each day. Although he is still a little unsure about sharing some of his favorite toys all the time.  There's a two-year old for you!

A day in the life...(with cell phone pics)

This morning we took Lyla to the doctor as I was concerned that she might have an ear infection and didn't want to go the weekend with it getting worse.  Her norm is to suck her fingers when she gets sleepy or when she doesn't feel well. The fact that she was doing it most of the day had me concerned. She had been rubbing her ears as well.  So after a few days of debating I finally brought her in. Turns out she didn't but doc says she does have a sore throat which could be the sucking fingers - in addition to teething of course. 

Cole wanted to go with me to the doctor even though Dad was at home because he knew that these little gizmos were waiting for him.  Having a cool toy that isn't anywhere else at home is a great attraction to go to the doctor!  As soon as we walked in, Lyla almost jumped out of my arms to get to them as well.  They played with them about 10 minutes after our appointment too. Cole calls them "Choo-choos".  And he makes the train sound when he plays. I love it!

Cole and Lyla playing with the mirror at the doctor's office. Cole usually loves to play with all the doctor instruments on the wall too.  He holds the otoscope to his ear, then mom's ear, then Lyla's ear, etc.

We then went to the mall to go shoe shopping for Cole.  He needed some church shoes and a new pair of decent casual shoes.  We had him sized and he is a 6.5 but a 7 or 7.5 was recommended to have growing room (especially since dress shoes are hardly ever worn and won't wear out before he outgrows them).   After some shopping we had lunch and Cole begged to go in the play area.  I usually avoid this place since it is so dirty but he had been so good all afternoon we went for it. 

Cole loves to climb on these red mushrooms and slide down the other side.  He prefers this over the real slide (the height thing again).  And the biggest surprise to me was how much Lyla LOVED this place.  She was squealing with delight and scampering everywhere. Every mother and child there became enamored with her. When she finally got bombarded with children trying to hug her and kiss her she only became more enthused (instead of scared).  But I rescued the tot from the germs dying to get on her fingers and eventually in her mouth. 

With smiles and excitement like that, we will just have to come more often but prepped with lots of wipes and hand sanitizer!

Well, it appears I should be playing catch up as I have so much to report on and I'm positive I will miss something.  I have been slacking on taking pictures which usually means I'm not prompted to blog. So sorry. So most of these pictures posted are actually from the worst camera known to man on the market today - my 2.0mpx cellphone.  It's a nifty tiny thing but, man, does it take awful pictures.  I just have forgotten to put my camera or ipod in my purse. Well, also because the camera seems to be having lighting issues too.  I'm hoping a new battery will help that out.  Anyway...

Christmas was so fun for the kids.  Cole & Lyla love absolutely everything they received and play with all of it.  This has been so great because they have started to play together and without Mom!  We spent Christmas in Austin.  And sadly, I only have one picture.  Lyla doesn't really like to use walkers anymore or even hold your hands and walk. She is determined to stay a crawler because she is TOO AFRAID of getting hurt.  She won't even go up the stairs at all - not even one step - because she got hurt once.  So seeing this event was big.

She definitely is strong willed this girl.  Many times she refuses to eat unless I give her something she can feed herself.  She loves to make a mess with food. Even if I'm feeding her she will put her fingers in her mouth (I guess to feel it) and then get it all over her face and everywhere else.  Yes, feeding a child is such joy.  She has even refused to eat in her highchair because Cole and I were not sitting down.  (i.e. I was making waffles and feeding them to Cole while I cooked more.  She wouldn't eat anything and sat in her chair making sad faces, sucking her fingers and moaning.  I picked her up and she signed "eat" and then proceeded to eat an entire waffle while being held.  Silly girl!)  But she is such a delight.  Truly there could be no better temperament on any child.  Just a little determined, which isn't a bad thing at all.  I know she isn't the happiest in this picture but she was just dang cute being all demanding!

Here is one picture from my phone after Christmas. Actually this was taken the same day as the above highchair pic. Don't ask me why I didn't grab the camera instead. 

What have we been doing with all of our time you ask?  Well, on the nice days (which have been many until this week) we go to the park down the street.  Cole does his usual digging in the rocks but has backed off the slide.  He seems to have developed an odd fear of heights.  Nothing has happened to him (that we know of), but he just is afraid now. I don't know if this is a phase he will grow out of or not.

Lyla would love it if she stayed all day in the swings.

Sometimes we go see the ducks at the community park. We discovered these ducks as we went to see the lights at the park.  Cole loves them and they are not afraid of you.  I don't usually bring food for them because Cole is usually hesitant for them to get really close so I don't want to give them any reason to come closer.

Last week was bedding and towels wash day. The kids were in such good moods which made it so much easier for me to be busy doing chores.  But they were so dang cute I quit working and just started playing and taking pics.

Like I said, we were washing bedding. They love the guest bed the most to play on. Maybe because that room is so sunny. Who knows. But they were stinkin fun to watch! They were just moving around too quick for my dying batteries in the camera to get any really great shots.

Lyla will pose for pictures or depending on her mood, lunge at the camera. Example:

But Cole almost never looks at the camera.  He always moves right before you take it and they end up like this.  You can see that he is just thrilled with himself for tricking me once again. I'm glad he gets such joy out of the little moments in life.

But Daddy can hold him still for a minute so I can at least get a pic of those precious eyes.

And here they are being so, so, so cute. Oh, and one more thing...Cole often doesn't like to get fully changed. If it's bedtime, he will want to keep his shirt on usually. If it's morning, sometimes he will only let you put a new shirt on and keep his PJ pants on. This was one of those mornings.

Yes, Lyla sometimes gives kisses open mouthed. You never know what you are going to get! But that's why Cole wouldn't kiss her back. Haha!

So yesterday I bought Lyla and Cole some new jeans at the consignment shop here.  I was so excited to put them on Lyla since they were some cute flares.  I mean, just look at her little cute little butt!

They looked like a nice fit to me...

But when she tried to crawl or pull her legs under her to sit back down she ended up laying face down on the ground sucking her fingers. I wondered if she felt okay or if the pants were too tight after all. Well, after leaving them on for about and hour I decided to take them off and see what happened. She was being so sad and that just isn't Lyla. As soon as I got them off she scurried across the room, sat up and laughed. Yep. Too tight. Wonder if she will ever want to wear tight jeans as a teen? hmmm...

P.S: Yes that is Lyla standing all by herself. She can do this for a while and squat down to sit from there instead of just falling. Therefore, we know this girl can walk, she just chooses not to.

P.S.S: Isn't she looking CHUNKY! Love my chubsters!