One year ago…

Today, I am remembering a very sweet surprise we received on June 21st last year.  Remember this?

Last year on this day, I saw my sweet Layla’s face for the first time!  I am full of gratitude today as I reflect on all that God has done for us.  Layla was the missing piece in our family.  She is such a sweet gift from God and brings so much joy to our lives.

Look how much she has grown!

Sometimes I just  pinch myself because I can’t believe I get to be her mommy.  I’m so blessed to have my children and I’m so thankful that God has placed them my life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pure joy…

I got my kiddos and my cousins’ kids together to take some pics of the whole bunch.  I love this picture of Cooper being chased by Josie.  The look on his face just makes me smile.  Aren’t all the kids so cute together?

 

Attempting to photograph five kids ages 4 and under was quite a challenge.  I’m glad we did it, though!  Oh, and look at Layla Love’s legs in the last picture.  She is really filling out :)  I love baby legs in summer time!

Swerve 2011

 

Last weekend, our church “swerved” from our usual Sunday routine to go out into the community and serve.  It was awesome to see everyone coming together to be the hands and feet of Christ to our city.  Josh and I were one of the photography teams.  We went to several different sites to take pictures and videos.  Layla stayed with my mom, while Cooper came along as our little assistant.  Thought you’d enjoy seeing some pictures of him from the day.

Park fun

How big is Layla….?

SO BIG!!!
  Layla is 15 months old today!  Here are some of her 15 month “stats” :)

She is walking now!  She walks about half of the time and still crawls about half the time (when she wants to get somewhere quickly!)

She has 5 teeth and I think I think a 6th is coming soon.

She is feeding herself and using a cup by herself very well  now.  These were both things we had to work on when she came home.

She says lots of words and repeats things all the time.  My favorite things to hear her say right now are good girl (to the dog as she tosses her food from her high chair…little sinker!) and Waywa (she is trying to say her name!)

She’s getting really good at pointing to various body parts when asked and she loves to make animal noises.

When you ask her if she’s cute she tilts her head to the side and bats her eyelashes at you.  I promise I did not teach her that.

Her favorite person is Cooper and when they see each other in the morning for the first time, its the cutest thing ever.  She screams, kicks her legs and reaches for him as if she just can’t get to him fast enough.  He hugs her, kisses her on the cheek and always says “Good morning, pretty girl.”  They melt this momma’s heart.

She loves to blow kisses, dance and makes some of the most hilarious faces.  I’m hoping to catch some of the faces on camera soon!

She’s been home nearly 4 months now and I don’t know what we ever did without her!

Sibling love…

They adore each other.  I had my camera out while they were playing at the park the other day and this was not posed.  They love on each other all. the.time.  Cooper takes breaks from playing just to come give Layla a hug. So sweet!

Precious..

She MELTS me!  Love everything about her.

He Is Risen!!!

Happy Easter!

Layla is taking some steps!

IMG_0121.MOV Watch on Posterous

We’re going to have a walker on our hands really soon…..

A few of my favorites…

Thanks for the feedback about books!  I will add your suggestions to my reading list for the upcoming months.

I haven’t posted many pictures lately, so I thought I’d do a post to share some of my favorite pictures from the last few weeks.

The little man loves to take his nap in our bed.  He never comes to try to sleep with us at night but there is something about naptime that makes him beg for our bed.  He’s such a cute little sleeper.

I decided on a whim to pack up the kids and go see my parents for a couple days.  After I decided to go, we were on the road two hours later.  Its so unlike me to do something that’s not scheduled, but we had lots of fun! Cooper got to go for scooter ride with his Pops and thought it was so cool.

Layla really loves her Mimi.  She wants Mimi to hold her all.the.time.

We go to storytime at a local bookstore on Wednesdays.  This week the theme was Africa, so of course Layla had to wear some traditional Ethiopian clothes for the occasion.

And look who is standing really well on her own now…

Some of our friends from out of town stopped in for dinner at our house when they were driving through our area.  They have three young boys and our house was crazy loud and really fun that evening.  I tried to get a picture of all 5 kids together and was not very successful :)

But look at these cute little feet!?!  Their youngest little guy is only about 9 months older than Layla but he is huge compared to our little peanut. We were laughing about the size difference of their feet and decided we needed a picture

Whew..that’s all for now!