Daddy

I love being a mom and seeing how much Leila loves me. But, just as much, I love seeing Jeremy be a dad and how much Leila loves him. He doesn't get as much time with her so the time he has is very special.

He matches her for church sometimes and she loves it!

(She would not let go of him and was happy snuggling close.)

When Daddy had his first test, Leila and I made some celebratory cake pops.

So proud of Daddy!

When only breastfeeding just the mom gets the opportunity to feed baby. That is one benefit to bottles...Jeremy loves this time to feed Leila and so does she.

 

I also appreciate all the other things that Jeremy does for me.

Like taking apart our new TV to figure out how to get me some cable.

And studying his booty off every day to provide our family with a great future. 

So sometimes I provide him with a heart shaped brownie and glass of milk to show my appreciation. Honestly I couldn't be more grateful for such a great husband and dad to Leila.

 

Food Time!

That's right...it's time to really get some chunk on this girl! We are starting solids with a little bit of oatmeal.

Before

During

Leila loves to use the spoon herself 

After

It was a success! We've got an eater on our hands!

Just a day in the life of a baby

Leila has got a lot going on in her life right now.

She got her first sunburn and we tried our first ponytail.  

She found a new toy that I think she is getting excited to use.  

She got more shots and was a champ about it. 

She only cried for a few seconds and then was fine. She's pretty brave. And she rocked her "oops" band aid the rest of the day. 

She gets bored with her toys and does whatever she can to watch TV instead. Looks like that's not going on while she's in the room...smart cookie!

She does tummy time everyday...

...even though she hates it.

Life might be busy, but we try to take time to enjoy each day. And seriously, we couldn't ask for a better baby!

A day at the Beach

After only two weeks in school we already had a holiday. Of course in our family that means a trip to the beach was in order. Our new friends the Dyers joined us which made it even more fun! We all piled into the Hyundai early Monday morning and headed to Topsail Beach. The weather was supposed to be warm with a slight chance of rain and wind. It was beautiful when we got there and we all changed into our suits; even Leila! We brought the tent for some sort of shade but it was too humid to use. We set it up and just put all our stuff inside.

 Jer brought his surfboard too which made the ride even more cramped. When we got there Travis rented a board too. It was fun that Jeremy had a buddy to surf with him.  

Jessica, Leila and I enjoyed lounging and getting some sun. However, the picture shows that the weather didn't stay nice. It changed pretty quickly. It started getting so windy our tent blew over and it even started raining. We weren't sure if we should just leave or wait it out. The whole beach started leaving but before we knew it everything cleared up. We were glad we stayed a little longer!

After a long day in the sun and lunch at Bojangles, we were wiped! Such a great first trip to the beach her in NC.

What Leila's into these days...

Leila is really coming into her own personality. It is fun to see her play and have likes and dislikes. I'm really loving this age!

Starting with a dislike...she doesn't like the love sac. Who knew?

But she loves her Bumbo! She is a little skinny and so she has a hard time filling it out, hence the blanket stuffed around her to help fill the gaps.

She also loves her rattle. She loves putting things in her mouth in general but she is especially into this rattle...she likes to SHAKE IT!

The little butterflies that spin above her in her gym are seriously her best friends. She can talk to them forever. She just lays there and has full conversations with them. It's seriously ADORABLE!

I'd also like to think that Leila is really into her mama right now. Since moving here we get to spend a lot of time together and I love it!  

Sometimes she doesn't agree...

But other times she loves it too!

It's so fun to get to hang out with my best friend and she seems to be pretty happy about it too!

 

But it's not just me that she likes...she LOVES her Daddy!

It's hard that they don't get to see each other as much as they would like but when Daddy comes home, Leila couldn't be happier!

We decided to go visit Daddy at school for lunch this month but unfortunately it didn't go as well as hoped. We took the bus and despite running to the bus stop and accidentally getting on the wrong one, we did make it to the right place. However, the cafeteria was pretty loud and she wasn't used to so much noise that I think it freaked her out. Plus she was sleepy and after meeting so many fun people, which she loved, she passed out in the Ergo on the bus just like this: gripping her hands, covering her face. I couldn't bear to move her! She just melts my heart!

She's my little model and I love our photo shoots. I definitely take way too many pictures of her but I can't get over every little expression. She is really growing and it is fun to see her coming into her own personality.

She is keeping us busy and we love every minute!

The Zoo

We LOVE living close to cousins! It is so fun to be able to do things together and make memories!!! We joined the Calhouns and some friends for a trip to the zoo before it was time for the kids to go back to school. This zoo is absolutely amazing! It's huge and has a ton of great animals to see.

Some of the crew looking at the lions. 

So happy to get a good look at some lions! 

Great monkeys that Ezra loved looking at.  

Sam was loving a different breed of monkey. 

All the statues were a big hit...maybe even more than the real animals.  

Leila wasn't quite as interested.  

I stood and watched this exhibit for awhile. Such an adorable gorilla family! This baby was crawling all over it's mama. So fun to watch.

Took a break for lunch. Leila loves Aunt Tisha! 

Sweet monkeys! I seriously was obsessed with all the different kinds of monkeys! 

Getting a decent picture of a bunch of kids climbing on a rhino is a lot harder than it sounds! This is the best one I got. :) 

The elephants were beautiful! So cool that they are red from soil here. 

Leila loved them too! 

Zebras, ostriches, and I didn't even get pictures of everything! Such an awesome day at the zoo! 

Back to School

Well Jeremy is officially back to school. After graduating from BYU-I there was a feeling of being done. But we knew this moment was going to come, and for the next three years this is life! School Life!

Leila wasn't excited to see her Daddy leave after getting to spend so much time with him this summer but she still threw a pose for the picture.

Yep...we are back to school.