Dominoes with Daddy

One night, out of nowhere, Lyla said "I want to play checkers." A: When has she ever played checkers? B: We don't own a set of checkers. We finally got her to explain a little better and discovered she meant DOMINOES. Seth got our set out and they began setting them up to knock down.

They had excellent teamwork

and Lyla was very careful

Then Seth got creative and set up a new game.

That's a piece of cardboard leading up to hoop made out of the ring that goes around medical tape.

These two played this newly-invented game for quite a while.

Love it.

Pajamas, Christmas Cards & The Grinch

What a coincidence that I am posting pictures from December 16 when I was fighting strep for the 2nd time in two months...and it's December 29th (my 33rd birthday) and I am sick again...or still...however you want to look at it. I am thankful that pregnancy-wise, I have felt great. Baby Boy is quite the mover and kicker and all seems to be going great on that front. However, my throat and my sinuses have not been so lucky. The sinus infection I am currently fighting has been awful. In fact, I have been so miserable that we did not get to go to Georgia for Christmas---I'm getting ahead of myself, though. More on that later.

Anyway, the pics below were taken one day when Lyla and I were having a Pajama Day. We didn't change out of our pjs all day. It was a perfect day...well, aside from that fact that I felt pretty crummy. Lyla has an amazing way of lifting one's spirits, though, that's for sure.

She put all of her dad's drinks in the fridge and then proceeded to use the box as a racecar

Then we made Christmas cards for all of her friends!

 The finished product!

The snowman buttons worked well as eye sparkles, too.

Fun with Christmas stamps!

She had green ink under her fingernails for days

The cards were lovely, though, and her friends liked them, too.

We still have a few to hand out...because we haven't seen those friends yet.

Shen then requested hot chocolate...and promptly guzzled it down

Then we watched The Grinch (Jim Carrey version) and took some silly pictures

Check out Lyla Lou Who!

She loved her new do!

I did the best I could with a cup and a rubber band...

but it didn't last long.

Two side notes:

1) Thank you so much to those who brought us food and helped by taking Lyla for the day. Being sick is no fun for anyone but being sick & pregnant (which means unable to take strong meds) and having to care for a family that includes an active 4-year old...is even less fun. There have been days when I have felt like the worst mom because I just didn't have the energy to do anything with Lyla or lift a finger in the house. To know that dinner would arrive later in that day or that Lyla would get to play with a friend all day the next day helped more than you know. I hope I get to repay you or pay it forward.

2) We'll celebrate my birthday some other day. Today, Lyla's Granny is going with me to meet Mimi, DDaddy & Alison in Tennessee to bring Lyla back home. Oh, as I mentioned above, we didn't make it to Georgia for Christmas but Lyla got to spend a few days there. It has been nice to rest and relax (and get better) knowing Lyla is having a blast with her aunts, uncles and Mimi & DDaddy but having her home will be a pretty great birthday present!

Preschool Christmas Party!

Signing the tags on the gifts to her teachers

Hearing a Christmas story about the Evergreen Tree

Being silly

Refusing to look at the camera

Posing for the camera HER WAY

Opening her gift!

 They had each parent send $5 and bought all the girls the same gift and the boys the same gift.

A My Little Pony!
Complete with a dvd of an episode of the show.

Giving Mrs. Pam her gift--an ornament & homemade banana bread in a Christmas loaf pan

Mrs. Stein said she would call the angel "Lyla"

Lyla LOVES Mrs. Pam and Mrs. Stein!

Newest Trick

 In case you are wondering if this gets annoying after a while.
It does.

Fancy Gloves & A New Ornament

Mimi & DDaddy came to Kentucky with gifts, of course.

In a bag of goodies from Aunt Andrea and Ken T was a fun game, a bun cover for ballet and

the fancy gloves seen here. Lyla immediately had to put her Belle dress on.

Mimi & DDaddy also brought her a Rapunzel ornament!

I guess Christmas came a little early.

Christmas Cookies

Lyla and I made and decorated sugar cookies for her school Christmas party. As always, it was a fun time.

Disclaimer: many of pictures were taken using the tripod and timer.

She wanted to roll the dough all by herself

She got a little carried away and it wrapped around the pin

She wanted to do the sprinkles by herself, too

All was well until I turned my back to wash my hands...

Oopsy. They looked and tasted great!

Merry Christmas!

Dear Santa...

At Lyla's school, they have all of the students write a letter to Santa--or in Lyla's case "dictate" a letter to Santa.

Do you know what I love best about her letter?

Not the fact that she already HAS a teapot, The Lion King, Belle & Ariel. (Hilarious)

Not the randomness of her "toy firefighter" request (although I know her friend Miss Maria is proud).

Nope. My favorite part is that she asked for something for Daddy.

One of Seth's favorite TV shows is Andy Griffith and he has Season 1 on dvd.

We also catch it on TV every now and then and Lyla has come to like it, too.

Our sweet girl has asked Santa for an "Andy movie" for her dad and it warms my heart.

Follow-Up:
Lyla's Granny (Seth's Mom) kept Lyla for me the other day and sent Lyla home with a gift to give her Mom and Dad. It's a 50th Anniversary Andy Griffith DVD set! The cover is in color and Lyla said "now you have a NEW one dad...since your other one doesn't have any color!" Two things: a) Seth doesn't much care for the later episodes that were done in color b) Most of the episodes on the "new" dvd are older and probably black & white. Hopefully Lyla's not too disappointed.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Any time Lyla wants to take a picture with me...I'm in. 

In our hats and scarves? Why not?!

Lyla is a fan of the song "Baby, It's Cold Outside" thanks to the movie "Elf."

Her favorite line (and one of only two lines she knows):

"I ought to say no, no, no, sir."

Can you guess the other line she knows?

NC Friends Come to Town

We love when our friends, the Larsens, come for a visit. Even if they're only in town a few days and we get see them a few hours, we'll take it.

Sophia and Lyla were both a little sleepy and crabby

but I guess balloons really can bring happiness

I love the serious looks.

Lyla was saying, "I'm sorry you have to go..."

I'm serious. They were saying "good-bye."

These two have grown up so much since they first became friends.

Check this out from a fire station field trip in May 2009

David is ALL boy (as you can tell by the bruise)

David can be silly

and he can be bashful (or sleepy...or both)

 So thankful for friends like Andrea.

We lived near each other literally for a season but we will be friends for life.

Andrea also brought Baby Boy Martin his first handmade gift.

It has a bell inside and I just know he will love it!