Driving Mr. Brandt...

Brandt came over to visit us yesterday and we thought it would be fun to get out the big truck! Laela has not ridden it for a few months because there has not been anyone to ride with and she could not reach the pedal very well. Now she can! Anyway, Brandt was VERY excited to see the big truck, but after getting in for the first time, he jumped right back out!Then we put Laela in the driver's seat and Brandt observed. I even jumped in with Laela and rode around with her. After a bit of warming up (literally...it was a beautiful day but started to get a little warm) Brandt decided to try it again. They worked out a deal... Brandt pushed the gas pedal and Laela stears the truck. Well...Brandt was hysterical pushing the pedal because he would go and stop, go and stop. Then he would go, go, go and not want to stop. Laela (oh my, sweet Laela). When do kids really learn how to "steer" a motorized vehicle. Man! She did try, and they did have FUN!Overall, I think it was a success until both kiddos decided that it was nap time! :)

Listen up...

For those you that have not heard Laela's AWESOME laugh lately...

We are ALIVE!

Please see the posts below. I just added several posts from the past few weeks. We have really missed sharing our awesome, sweet, funny, crazy Laela with you. Please don't give up on me, as I just started back to school! I hope to get into a routine and get back onto the blogging bandwagon. Love to everyone!

Super Sunday!

Seriously...I love Sunday! We have all been so busy lately. Running (literally) back and forth to work/school, house errands, sickness, etc...but not today! We started out our morning with PURPLE PANCAKES! Yummy! Here is my little helper...Do you love the outfit she wanted to wear around the house this morning? :)

We mixed them up.Cooked them.And...voila!Oh my! This girl LOVES her butter! Okay, okay. She got that from me, which is not a bad thing until you are loving it so much that you eat it straight from the tub!Oh my! What have we gotten ourselves into?

Then we met our sweet friend Liam and his mommy & daddy at the fountains. Oh what a beautiful morning! Sunny, with a slight breeze. LOVED IT!Laela has not seen Liam in awhile, since he was a friend from her old school, but she was thrilled to see him. They RAN and played. Oh what a life!The crazy girl went down for a nap at noon and sang sweet lullabies (or something like sweet lullabies) for an hour and a half! GOODNESS! Laela's voice is actually really good, especially considering mine or Ro's voice. :) I broke down and had to go into school for a bit, so Ro went for a run and then took Laela shopping.

After playing and dinner, we were hanging out when Laela decided that she wanted to be a cowgirl! HOLY SMOKES! This girl was cracking us up! She has been galloping everywhere these days. We threw on a cowgirl hat and off she went, into the sunset!BTW - Potty update! Laela is about 5 days out of the week with NO accidents. She goes all day at school with no accidents. Laela still wears a diaper at nap and night-night time, but 3 out of 7 nights this last week she was dry when she got up. YEA! We are getting close to only big girl panties! GO LAELA!

Changes in our house...

About two weeks ago (to be exact...it was the week I started back to school! who do you think had that BRILLIANT idea?) we had granite countertops put in the kitchen and we extended the hardwood floors. I know, I know! We had all summer long, but for some reason it just ended up happening at the end. Seriously! It was the craziest week. Allie had to be sent to "doggy school", we moved in with a friend for a few days, mom moved in with Karri for a few days, Laela started back to school full-time, I started back to school full-time, I got food poisoning, Laela could not sleep at our friends house so we moved back and inhaled slight fumes, Ro got the stomach bug. Oh man! The list could go on, but I won't bore you with the details. Just know that we are still alive and it was worth it in the end. :)

Here is before in the kitchen (I don't know why I did not get a picture of the floors.)...Here is the middle... Here is after... We love it! Now I get to go shopping for a couple of new rugs to add a pop of color, but otherwise it looks great! You are welcome over anytime!

Oh my!

Some days I forget about my baby girl, being a baby. She is such a "big girl" these days! Here are a couple of pictures to make you smile! Don't you just want to squeeze her! :)

Country Bumpkin?

HA! Not my daughter. :)Last week (I started this post about 3 weeks ago and just got all of the pictures to download), we joined Karri, Makaila, and Makenzi for a short ride to Mabank. Aunt Sue was having lunch at her house and we have not been out that way in forever! Oh how I LOVE Aunt Sue's house. So many memories and so much fun! Everything still looks the same and it was awesome spending time with her.Aunt Martha and Uncle Dick also joined us! We sat down for some hot dogs, chips, watermelon, and ice cream. YUM! We did mention that we were only missing our sweet Granna at the table! (Maybe next time!)Then we headed out to pick figs. YES! We picked figs from Aunt Sue's fig tree! That was fun. :) Oh course the girls wanted to ride in the gold cart, so Aunt Sue drove them about 20 feet to the fig tree. HA!All of the girls had a great time picking figs to bring home to Granna and Nanna.Then sweet Aunt Martha gave each girl a little goodie bag which had bubbles. Of course we had to blow bubbles in the country (because it is different out there!)Then we packed up and headed home. What a wonderful afternoon! We all had a blast and it was fantastic to see Aunt Sue, Aunt Martha and Uncle Dick.

Accessorize!

Sorry for the delay in my summer blogging! I love to post pictures of Laela and keep her "fans" in the know, but my computer went BLAH! Anyway...I have reconfigured and I am on my way to catching up. Here are a couple of pictures from last week when she had on her rings...
Laela decided I needed a few accessories too, so she put some band-aids on my feet! What a dork!There are several new posts below too! Happy reading!

Circus Time...

The Greatest Show on Earth came to town this weekend and of course we had to go watch! Laela was super excited about the "animals"..."zebras, horses, tigers, lions, elephants, dogs, and goats!" Hmmmm...well, maybe not any goats, but Laela was wishful. We joined The Hodges at the American Airlines Center and headed straight to our seats.This year we had to purchase a ticket for Laela, but that was okay because she did make use out of her seat! She also sat in Jana's lap, daddy's lap, and mommy's lap, but she was really good about watching the many events going on.We have gone to the circus many years, but this year was especially great because Laela could really vocalize about the events happening. They used a lot of animals at first and then did the "people acts" like tight-rope walkers, clowns, etc. During that time, Laela repeatedly asked for "MORE ANIMALS." Luckily, after intermission, they brought in the lions and tigers!Oh! The ringmaster and clowns did quite a bit of magic too. That was fun trying to figure out who? or why? or how? and watching Laela's face.Overall, it was another great adventure and we will go again next year! (This picture makes me laugh because it looks like she is selling tickets! Too funny!)

Panties!

I bought Laela some new "Minnie Mouse" panties to help her get excited about potty training!Well...let's just say...I think she likes them!