I love this face

Better late and never!

Lyla turned 5 months old on the 5th of February and is doing all kinds of new things. She's trying to sit up on her own, she can do it for a few seconds at a time now. No rolling over yet, but she doesn't really spend a lot of time playing on the floor (for two reasons... Brock is scary and mommy likes holding her). :) She sits in a bumbo seat on the table with us when we eat dinner and we noticed her looking a little jealous and pretending to chew while we ate. I felt bad so we started her back up on cereal, she has now had rice and oatmeal and really likes it. Instead of eating several times a day she now has breakfast, lunch and dinner with the rest of us and then just eats one more time before bed. Still sleeping like a champ at night and taking 2 long and 1 short nap during the day.

She really has a very sweet spirit. She's not very active and will hold one toy for a very long time and pass it back and forth between her hands. She watches and studies people... several times a day I'll catch her watching one of us and smiling to herself. If you look at her and smile she'll cover her face and giggle.

Brock has given her several nicknames: "sista beans", "baby why-ya beans", "sista baby", and "prin-chess" are my favorites.

We love her so much and she is never in need of attention around here!

This is Brock's hand print he made us for Valentines day. It says:
Let me hold your heart in my hand

I gave Brodey and Brock more Geo Tracks for Valentines Day (the best toy ever.. even Jeff and I love to play trains with them!)
And Jeff gave Lyla this little baby doll. She loves it. :)

Okay, so maybe it's not as cool as I first let on, but it was a lot of work! And at least 60% hand sewn. Definitely did not turn out perfect... but I think Lyla really likes it!

And a picture of beast #2, the boy version I made for my friend Ann's baby.

Sometimes while playing outside I will have to run inside with Lyla for a few minutes to change a diaper or some other baby maintenance thing. The backyard is fenced in and we have a very protective dog, so I'll leave the boys out there to play while I take care of her. Friday, when it was 60ish degrees outside, Lyla needed a diaper change (and clothes change.. big mess) so I was inside for a bit longer... no more than 10 or 15 minutes. When I got back I found Brock like this...

In that short time he had taken off all his clothes (interesting fact: when I ask him to take off his clothes, like for a bath or something, he "can't" do it.), pulled this little pool out from behind the dog house, filled it with water (???), pulled the slide over, and was swimming. Again, 60ish degrees outside.

**Yes, I realize he is so so so skinny. His doc says he's fine and it's okay that I can see all his ribs. Seems like he would try harder to stay warm though right??!

Brock, Lyla and I went to another party at Brodey's school this morning. I'm noticing that Brodey always sits next to this same little girl... Mandy. She's a cutie! And Brock, as usual, pushed him a little chair right up to the table next to Brodey for lunch and also joined in the song again. He was a little disruptive this time. Instead of sitting with the rest of the class on the floor, he chose to lay on his back and sing. Then he got up and bolted out the door. He was almost to the parking lot before I caught him (after I tossed poor Lyla off to another mom).

While uploading pictures, I came across some I didn't take. It seems Brodey has grown very confident in his picture taking abilities and now takes them with my camera.

First a couple of self portraits.

Mr. Clint and Maddy

Jeff was invited to Brodey's school last week for "Donuts with Dad". Brodey was so excited. Jeff got some really cute pictures with his iphone, but I keep forgetting to grab it from him to upload them on here...

Anyhow, after donuts they worked together on a Valentine for me.... so cute. I love it. And then the kids gave their dads the cards they made for them, here are some pictures of Brodey's card.

I like it when he draws people!

And the inside. Ms. Angie asked them these questions and then filled in the blanks with their answers.
He was only one year off on Jeff's age! I'm so impressed! Jeff said one of the other dads was "5" and another "70".

This is the first time I have seen Brodey's signature. I can make out a "B" and a "D"... love it!

THIS IS FOR YOU DAVIS!

I'm working on a toy for Lyla. I'm calling it the Beast for now because it is really taking up some time. The most complex sewing project I've ever done and I am obsessed with it. I can't do anything else (except for of course, change diapers, feed the kids, an occasional game of Candy Land and force Jeff to eat yet another hot dog for dinner). I haven't even showered in two whole days. Gross, I know. Just look at the mess I have made...

(my craft area... that thing hanging from the chandelier is totally unrelated to my current project)

a close up of the floor
and next door to my craft area... the playroom... looks nice doesn't it. Don't you love how they built a ramp out of the rug??