Golden Girl

Lyla Marie turned 1 on September 1,2011.  Celebrating her "Golden Birthday"!  It was a fast year and I can't believe that my sweet baby is one.  She brings so much joy to our family.  I love watching her giggle as Ty plays with her.  I love seeing her big sister carrying her on her hip.  I love the way Andrew plays "boo" with her.  They love making her laugh and love laughing at her.  Just so much joy to be had with Lyla around.

It was just a low key celebration.  Lyla of course was treated to her very own cake.  Everyone was excited to see what she would do with the cake.  Smash it to smithereens like Andrew.  Nibble it and scream with unhappiness like Alli.  Barely make a dent like Ty.  And wouldn't you know...She didn't really even know what to do with it.  She smashed her fingers in it and it took some coaxing for her to realize she was suppose to eat it!  She nibbled a little bit.  It was a homemade cake with buttercream frosting that was sort of melting because of the hot day, so it pretty much turned into an oooey  gooey mess.  So much to the other 3's delight there would be cake to share!  They really wanted to try Lyla's cake!

She really seemed to enjoy her birthday song.  I think it was fun to see her realize that we are all singing to her!  I think she felt special.  It was a great celebrating full of smiling faces, cake, pictures, outfit changes, presents & of course a bath! 

Happy Birthday Lyla

1st Birthday

21 lbs 2 oz (50th%)

29 inches (45th%)

•  She loves watermelon
• She is crawling and will stand on her own unassisted.
• She likes to flip thru books
• Her first words: eow (hello) & uh oh
• She loves phones (hence the 1st word...still trying to coax mama & dada out of her!)
• She empties boxes, drawers, shelves, toy bins faster than you can clean!
• When I put her down for bed I sing her "Little Ol' Lady", rock her with her blanky, lie her down and give her not one but two binkies. 
• She wakes up just babbling and crawling around her crib.  She likes to take those precious binkies and tosses them out of her crib!  It is her little game of hide and seek.  She hides them and I have to find them!
• She has 11 teeth!!!!  And she didn't get cranky when those big nasty molars came it! 
• She drinks whole milk and has easily transitioned to a cup.  Only one bottle in the morning!
• She crawls to the top of the stairs all by herself!  Hasn't quite figured out the going down part.  However she loves to sit at the top of the stairs and yell down for her brothers and sister!
• Takes 2 naps a day and goes to bed around 7-7:30ish.
• She claps when you say "yea", waves bye bye, puts her hand to her ear and says "eoww".
• She is loved where ever we go.  She melts the hearts of strangers and I am constantly told what a cute baby, sweet baby, beautiful baby, sooo cute she is!  And I couldn't agree more!  She is a very sweet baby...or 1 year old!

 

Summer at the Pool

We have had a blast this summer!  Or should I say we have had a "splash" this summer!  We decided that the only way to beat the heat and humidity of Virginia was to join a neighborhood pool and go EV-ER-Y DAY!!  So that is what we did!  We would go after Lyla's morning nap and swim for a few hours then head home so Lyla could get a little nap in the late afternoon.  Of course our Saturdays were pool days too.  Just so much fun to be had at the pool!

Alli and Andrew celebrated their birthday at the pool with their Feldman cousins.  We spent most of the day splashing and diving!  And perfect timing, we enjoyed some pizza while we waited out a classic "10 minute summer downpour". 

Ty got really good at swimming.  He hasn't officially had swim lessons but he has managed to learn by watching others.  And an occasional swim lesson from Dad or Mom!  By the end of the season he was swimming the width of the pool unassisted!  He even tried his skills at freestyle.  I noticed him swimming the freestyle one day and asked him who taught him.  He said "no one, I just did it!" So there you have it...the third child can teach themselves lots of things!  Including freestyle!  His cousin Alyssa would be so proud!

Kids loved the ice cream truck that rolled in every day around 2pm.  Ice cream trucks always provide great childhood memories!  It also emptied the pool!  As soon as the music was heard the kids would run and get in line for ice cream.

We knew lots of people at the pool from church or school.   It was fun to swim with our acquaintances from VA!

The pool had a diving board and the kids had so much fun testing different dives! 

 Lyla even loved the pool.  Lyla and I would mostly work on our tans, but we did venture out into the cool waters when it just was too hot to sit on the sidelines!  I covered her in sunblock but she managed to get herself quite the little tan.  She has little tan piggies!  So cute! 

Lyla would people watch drinking her juice and was very content!












At the end of the summer we asked the kids what they enjoyed about summer.  It was unanimous!  They loved the pool this summer!  It was well worth it.  Happy kids all around!

Bring on the "nines"

Today my babies are 9!  It seems like forever ago they were just tiny little wads of blanketed bundles riding home in the back of our Integra.  Shane and I thinking...whoa, what next?  Well, I tell you it has been an amazing "9" years that those two have been blessing our lives.  I don't know what I would do without them!

*Alli has such a sweet spirit and loves to help with her baby sister.  She loves to practice her mommy skills and slings Lyla on her hip like she is a seasoned pro.  She loves to teach her brother Ty math & fractions!  (She sets the bar high for him.)  She excels in school and loves every moment of it...well, except math homework with mom!  She is loving jewelry, hair accessories, & LOVES her earrings!  She likes swimming in the pool, loves fruit (any), loves basketball and recently received "the Coaches Award" trophy at her basketball camp, enjoys playing the Wii & enjoys reading.  She is a terrific 9 year old!  Happy Birthday Alli!!

*Andrew is an amazing kid!  He just loves playing tricks on his family and has recently become fond of scaring his mother! (had to put a stop to that one!)  He giggles and laughs at all of Lyla's funny faces.  He is very creative and is always drawing something or another.  He likes to play with his creations.  He loves to read and is currently reading Harry Potter #5 & a "Heck" book!  He excels at school.  He has found a new love for baseball and was even privileged to attend a Nationals game & a Yankees game!  He loves swimming at the pool, playing Pokemon with Ty, playing Wii, setting up animal families, collecting ev-er-y thing & swinging on the rope swing outside.  He is a terrific 9 year old as well!  Happy Birthday Andrew!!

4th of July in DC

Wow!!  What an amazing experience to celebrate the birth of our nation!  We were so excited to join the many others at the National Mall downtown.  We went there with some of Shane's co-workers.  We found a spot right in between the Washington Monument and the WWII Memorial.  I think we were a bit more excited about being there than most around us.  Shane and I just couldn't stop smiling because it was just so cool! 

Contrary to what you may think it wasn't that big of a deal getting there.  Shane dropped us off and then parked the car not too far away.  We got there about 3 hours before the fireworks and the kids had fun playing games. 

 We were close to a stage where the US Air Force Band was playing and also were treated to a performance by Jo Dee Messina! 

Just hanging out listening to the music and enjoying the scenery.

Lyla's First 4th of July!  Wasn't she cute!  She did great and fell asleep right before the fireworks started.  She woke up during the grand finale but didn't make a sound just sat back and enjoyed the view!

Then when the sun went down we got to see some amazing fireworks.  We were so close!  It was a good show! (the only thing to compare with would be the Kettley's 4th of July firework extravaganza!!!)

We had such a fun time.  It was amazing to see fireworks with the Lincoln Memorial in the background!  One of the fun perks to living here!

Update...

Just a few additions to Lyla's 9th month...

She is 19 lbs. 12 oz.  and has jumped into the 75th percentile.

She is 28 inches long which is again the 75th percentile.

Another big move...

SHE IS CRAWLING!!!! 

Everyone here is SO excited...well everyone but me!  She doesn't move fast but she finally figured out the crawling thing! She started crawling on June 23rd.  Soon I will have to post a video.  She IS too cute!  We all love her so. 

So here is to closed doors and gates at the stairs as we look ahead to Month 10!!

 

End of 3rd Grade

It was a great year at George Mason Elementary.  Alli and Andrew both did an amazing job and sported quite a lot of A's and B's on their final report cards.  We are so proud of their accomplishments this year.  We knew that moving to across the country and starting in a new school wouldn't be easy but they did great!
At the end of the year for Social Studies each 3rd grader had to do a project on an ancient civilization they had studied through out the year.  Alli and Andrew both picked Ancient Greece.

Alli chose to make a 3D map of Ancient Athens for her project.  We made it our of salt dough and she painted it with watercolors.  She did a great job!

Andrew made a game called "Zeus' Challenge".  This year he has been facinated with Greek Mythology.  So for his project he created a game that he could show off his knowledge of Ancient Greek and his drawing of Greek characters.  He did a great job and we can't wait to try out his game!!

The 3rd Grade picnic got rained out so we had lunch with Alli and Andrew in the classroom.  All of their classmates loved Lyla!  We set out a blanket on the floor and had a great picnic together!

With the end of the year comes Field Day!!  They were grateful to have a hot and sunny day.  They got to play lots of fun games and they even got wet!!  As an extra bonus their cousin Cassidy came all the way from WA to celebrate Field Day with them.

 

Alli, Cassidy & Iris (Alli's friend)

Andrew with Lyla his friend from 3rd Grade.

  Finally, the last day of school. 

Alli and Andrew both had great teachers that helped them all through the year to be the best 3rd Grader they could be. 

Andrew with his teacher Mr. Novelli.

Alli with her teacher Ms. Arthur.

And on our way home from the last day of school we had to get a picture with Wanda.  She is the crossing guard and helped my babies walk safely home from school every day!

What a great year!  Now we can't wait for 4th grade & Kindergarten!!!  Ty can't wait!