HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY!!!

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Originally uploaded by justin_slife.

I can’t believe its been a year since our beautiful angel came into this world. Who would have known what an amazing little girl Layla would be. She has brought us so much joy and laughter in such a short amount of time.
We celebrated on Wednesday with our friends from the Moms & Tots Group, and Layla shared her cake and spotlight with Ben who turned a year on Wednesday. We have not celebrated at home or with family yet, we want to wait a few weeks and have a barbecue and a real 1st Birthday Party. As you can tell Layla truly enjoyed her cupcake and did not make too much of a mess because she could not waste any food. By the end there was almost no frosting left on her face because she kept taking it off and licking her fingers.
Before her party we went to the Doctor for her 1 year old visit, and she is doing great. She is 20lbs (25%-50%), and 29″ tall (50-75%), and is doing everything else right on time. Walking is still not much interest but she loves to stand and walks around the crib.

And finally to our Baby Girl who attracts attention where ever we go with that beautiful contagious smile. I hope you know how much we love you and how much joy you bring to us everyday. We look forward to watching you grow and figure out this world. We Love you and wish the Happiest Birthday!!!

Easter Bunny!!!

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Originally uploaded by justin_slife.

Well we took the girls to see the Easter Bunny on Tuesday and as you can see things did not go as planned. I was glad Justin was there and at least we got a family picture out of it. Layla loved the Bunny and the only reason she looks a little unhappy is because she  wanted to look at the bunny and touch him. Maggie on the other hand wanted nothing to do with him, it took us awhile to even get her out of the stroller and when she finally did it was to hide behind my legs. Finally she agreed to sit on Daddy’s lap.

We saw a white Easter Bunny last week at an Egg Hunt so after we left Maggie was very interested as to why the Bunny changed colors! We have another Egg Hunt this weekend so we’ll see what color we get this time!

***MIA***

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Originally uploaded by justin_slife.

I know we have been Missing in Action lately but as evidenced by this picture we have been busy with Maggie and her new fashion career. Things are going well for her too, short skirts work great in this Wisconsin weather. The headbands are a real stylish added touch.

Life here has been crazy with the girls and work. We got Maggie into the Preschool we wanted so she will start in September going Mon, Wed, and Fri mornings. We are very excited and I’m sure she will love it. Layla is growing so fast, I can’t believe she will be a year old at the end of the month. What a crazy year it has been since her birth. She has finally decided to show us that she can crawl, although she does not do it at our house. Must be those hard wood floors, because anywhere with carpet she has no problem. She is pulling up and standing, not too much walking yet but she tries. FOOD!!! Layla gets to eat real food and will eat anything and everything, and lots of it! She still has only 2 teeth but that does not hold her back. She still has that incredible smile and is such a happy baby!!

Maggie has had enough of winter, she comes out of her room everyday in shorts and a t-shirt and is just waiting for me to say she can go outside in it. And I should mention she has no shorts that fit her, so most of what I’m calling shorts are really Layla’s pants that are just to short on Maggie. She is in a phase where she will change her clothes many times a day, she goes in for nap in one outfit and comes out with something completely different (like the one in the picture). Usually I’m too busy laughing at her to tell her to change back needless to say I feel like I’m doing a lot more of their laundry these days. Maggie is still so much fun, she love her babies and princesses, and of course she loves to dance (as long as she has a dress on).

Well I guess that catches everyone up for now- except for Justin and I which I’m sure nobody really cares about. We are both extremely busy with work, I’m back coaching with him a couple of times of week so it will take some getting used to. We have hired a wonderful nanny Yumi, both the girls adore her and she not only keeps them busy and happy she helps me with the little chores around the house. There is nothing better than coming home from work to happy children and a clean house.

Enjoy the few pictures and I promise to add more soon!

Happy Valentines Day!!!

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HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful day- and what a surprise we got more snow.

We celebrated yesterday with our friends from our Mom and Tots Group, and for once I dressed the girls alike which as most of you know I normally don’t do, but they looked so cute.  Maggie loves her Pucker Up shirt and was very excited when Addyson had the same one on at the party.  We tried to get their picture but that did not happen, and as you can see taking a picture of our girls together did not go very well either.  I was the only one home and was afraid Layla was going to fall or jump off the couch. Layla does not sit still very well she is constantly on the move and talking more and more everyday.  She thinks she is actually talking but its just a whole lot of noise according to Maggie, the next word we are working on is Maggie, and she has a specific sound that she repeats every time she sees Maggie.  If she can hear Maggie but can’t see her she will point and start yelling until we take her to wherever Maggie is.

Snow Day

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Here are some pictures from last weeks “little” snowfall, we had a lot of fun playing in it and sledding down our little hill. Layla seemed to enjoy it a little more this time. She loves being pulled in the sled although she is still not very fond of her sister throwing snow in her face. We are working on that.

More snow is on the way!!!!


PIF- Follow up

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Well it was easy to pick 3 recipients for the Pay it Forward post, Beth, Rachel and Lizzie.  Beth and Rachel I already have your addresses, and Lizzie I just sent you an email to get yours.  I will put something in the mail to you on Monday.  Now the idea is to pass this along to 3 more people, in a blog if you have one or just to friends if not.  Thanks for playing!

Snow, Snow and more Snow!!!

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So it has been snowing for over 24 hours now!! Giving Justin a snow day- yeah. It was a lot of fun to have Daddy home all day, and I got breakfast in bed which I will never complain about. While attempting to sleep in this morning Maggie kept coming in of course and finally got back into bed to talk to Mommy. Of course I was very quiet and not really responding to her, she had to get my attention. She leaned in my face for what I thought was going to be a kiss and after I kissed her she kept smiling with this funny look. I said Thank you for my kiss, and she corrected me that it was not a kiss, she
“was giving me a smile” it was the sweetest kind of kiss and how could I not smile after that.

What better way to start off the day!

The Greatest Noise!!

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Tonight after putting the girls to bed I heard a few little noises at first and then before long Layla was hysterical laughing. Every few minutes I would hear Maggie laugh a little bit, but you could tell she was trying to hold it in probably so Mommy wouldn’t come in and tell her to get back in bed. After about a half hour I had to peek in and see what was going on, Maggie was so busy entertaining Layla that she didn’t even see me watching. She had one of her babies peeking into the crib and playing hide and seek with the baby and her little sister. They played for about an hour and then I guess they both finally passed out, what an awesome sound to hear them laughing and playing together. Really brings back memories of nights when I was younger and playing after bedtime with my brothers and sisters, I can still hear my dad yelling to us to go to sleep or else. I’m not really sure what the “or else” was we never did find out, but I know we spent many hours laughing and playing in our beds. I feel so lucky to have been raised in a family with siblings who of course had their fights but always loved each other and had fun!! I pray my girls will be as lucky to always have a best friend in each other as I have been with my siblings. To all my brothers and sisters I hope you know how much I love you and I wish we could all see each other more, I miss you all everyday. And speaking of siblings- Happy Belated Birthday Sam!!

The Catch Up!!

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So – a lot has been going on around our household and there has not been much time to write, but I’m going to attempt to do some catching up right now. Maggie decided about 2 weeks ago (after a huge meltdown about going on the potty) that she was ready for panties. Well it was a rough couple of days and there was nothing positive happening with it, just a lot of laundry. Therefore I decided we needed to try this a different way and we found some Princess Pull Ups- and they worked miracles. I’m not sure if it was just timing, the Cool Alert (whatever that really means), or maybe the Hershey Kisses but Maggie has been dry and clean for 2 weeks now. YEAH!!! Today we are back to panties- so we’ll see how it goes. So far this morning has been very successful. Having only 1 in diapers has been great, of course the amount of time the 3 of us spend in the bathroom is putting a damper in our day. Our bathroom is very small and there is only one!!!

Layla is already 10 months old, I cant believe how fast it has gone. She is still just army crawling around, she pushes up but will not move. She has no problem moving around the house, and will stand if you put up. I’m sure she’ll eventually decide to pull up and then it will all be over. So I am not rushing it, and the army crawl really helps to keep the hard wood floors clean. She is babbling a lot, and laughs all day especially at her big sister.

Winter has hit WI pretty hard the last couple of weeks with snow and cold but we are surviving our first winter and keeping the house warm. We are still looking for a new nanny Part Time, Megan is back at home doing her internship but has come back to visit. Maggie still talks about her all the time! I was planning to go back to coaching a couple of evenings but so far no luck we’ll see hopefully in the next month. Leotard Crazy has been going really well and keeps me very busy and at the computer a lot which explains my lack of posts.

Well I guess that is all for now- hope you are all having a great weekend and enjoy the game tomorrow- Go Pats!!!

DON’T FORGET TO LEAVE A COMMENT ON THE PIF POST!!