7 Month Leila Update

Well, I am a little behind. The good news is that she is STILL 7 months, albeit, barely :)

Here's some pictures of my princess

Hanging out in the bathroom sink while Daddy takes a shower

#whitetrashbumboseat

Leila's Aby (Jared's mom) made her this freaking cute hat - Cabbage Patch Kid anyone!?

I couldn't help but put this one in! And big news in the Joyner household is that the binky is GONE!

Here is a headband that I made with help from my friend Stephanie!

Another view

Ugh. Melts my heart she is so cute!

Aaaaannnnddd....here's her scary face! See, she isn't always cute but she sure makes me laugh!

She still has zero interest in crawling, but I am alright with that. She is getting taller, but still isn't putting on much weight. Don't get me wrong, she is totally fine and healthy, but I think all her chubbiness is in her face! I just wish this little mama would eat. It is still a no-go for solid foods. I have decided not to worry about it. She is still nursing, I still consistently offer her cereal and other baby foods and now it's up to her. Although she is extremely sweet and easy-going, oooowheeee, this girl will NOT do something she doesn't want. Stubborn anyone?

She loves her jumper and her legs are getting stronger everyday. Leila loves anything with music and that is light enough for her to lift and put in her mouth. My favorite developments have been when she wants to be picked up she will start flapping her arms and kicking her legs and reach for me! She is rolling like crazy and determined to get what she wants. I am hoping she will wait on crawling just a little bit longer. Leila loves to suck on her bottom or top lip and blow raspberries on her own arms. It's hilarious. Love my little Leila girl!

***Just a quick plug for Christian. I know I don't do his updates anymore because, let's be honest, he's old news!;)  But he is growing like a weed and is a lot of fun. He has officially entered the terrible twos, just a little late since he will be 3 in March. He loves to throw tantrums and toys, but for the most part is a sweet kid. He talks NON-STOP and is very detail-oriented, just like his Dad. He is in size 4T clothes and size 11 toddler shoes, so I still call him my Great Dane puppy. His newest things are:

1. Asking me to go to Disneyland DAILY
2. Puzzles
3. Learning new songs (his favorites are "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star", "Row, Row, Row Your Boat", "A,B,C,D,E,F,G", "The Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Give Said the Little Stream", "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" and asks for each before bedtime at night)
4. Yes or No questions. "Mom, is Leila awake? Tell me yes or no.", "Mom, is Dad going to be home right now? Tell me yes or no.", "Mom, do you want some crackers? Tell me yes or no." Cute. Funny. Annoying. All of the above :)

My friend, Nik

I think everyone has that friend...the one where your mom and his mom are friends - you are around the same age and you are thrust together by circumstance as much as anything else. I had that friend.

Last week I learned that he had finally succumbed to the brain tumor he had been valiantly fighting for twice as long as the doctor's said he could. That was just Nik. In all honesty, I almost believed he would fight it off, because he was just THAT strong; that determined.

 I found out on Saturday, Jared's birthday. I cried, but I knew I couldn't grieve. Jared was counting on me to put together the party at our house, there was too much to do. I put my pain and sadness in a compartment to be re-visited later. There were moments of sadness, but always at inopportune times: church, work, at a friend's house for dinner. Again, I stuffed it back inside and moved forward.

Yesterday I read a post from his mom. She said, "It's interesting how, when your world stops....you sometimes look around at others nonchalantly going about their day and think "what are you THINKING?!! Don't you know what has HAPPENED?!?!?". 

It caught up with me. The memories. The pain. The sadness at a life such as his being taken. I didn't take the time to do it, so it creeped up and forced its way in. Last night, I couldn't sleep. When I did finally fall asleep, my dreams were memories of Nik and his friendship. We were the younger kids. Our older siblings played and "hung out" when they were teenagers, and Nik and I weren't included. You know how it is, we weren't as cool as them, or so they thought! We were thick as thieves when we were together.

I thought of his quiet demeanor, always taking things in first before acting or speaking. Some people took that quietness as shyness, but I knew he was really just thinking and examining the situation before jumping in. He was always smarter than me, but kind enough to not let me know. He laughed at all my jokes. We were total opposites, but friends for so long that we didn't let it stand in between our friendship. 

I remember, as a teenager, thinking that I wished I could be more like him; that I could be as brave as him. He was himself and made no excuses. He didn't try to fit in. He didn't try to change himself so that he would be more accepted and people loved him for that. I wished I could be more that way.  

His eyes were so blue. I felt like he could look into me and see the facade I sometimes put on. He was completely without guile. Never trying to be someone he wasn't. Never pretending.

He was my first friend. I am grateful for a religion and belief that I will see him again. Those blue eyes deserve to be seen again. 

To his mom I say, "Yes. We know what happened. Life, for me, will never be the same without your dear, sweet son." 
 

Leila's First Feeding

Oh children. They are all so different, aren't they? Let me remind you a little of how things went with Christian's first solid food experience here

He was a joy. He took one bite and never looked back. His first feeding and he ate THE WHOLE bowl.

Now Leila? She's a different story. I should preface this by saying she has never been a great eater. I pretty much have to beg her to nurse most of the time. If it were up to her, she would eat two to three times a day and waste away to nothing. I mean, who has time to eat when there is so much to do and see!? I mixed up the bowl of rice cereal with high hopes...that were dashed almost immediately. She took one bite and that was it. She managed to dodge the spoon like a freaking ninja. I couldn't believe how quickly she could move and avoid that spoon! 

Here she is eyeing the spoon - already wary



Big brother motivating her and trying to show her how it's done. "Open wide Baby Leila".







I get a little bit in.



HA! Don't you just love that expression? It says it all, doesn't it?

Not amused

You want me to eat WHAT!?

Get me outta here

A Haircut was Inevitable and a 6 month update

My kids and their hair. It's incredible, really. How many moms can claim giving both of their kids their first haircut before 6 months?

Remember this little guy?

Here he is before the haircut. I titled this picture "Bath Pimp" :)

And here he is after the head shave. 6 months

7 months

 Leila's problem was different than Christian's. He was losing his hair around the middle and the front so it just looked FUNNY. With Leila, it was getting into her EYES and looking crazy.

Here she is - the chubby little minx. Before - looking cray-cray on the left and then her sleek pixy on the right.

At 6 months, Little Miss is definitely developing a personality all her own. She is fiesty, but sweet. She currently loves screeching, standing, trying to throw herself off couches, her chair, the bed, whatever. She likes to stretch her legs out and bounce and basically doesn't want to be contained. She is eating better, but solids are NOT going well. That will be another post. She is still sleeping great and is very curious. On her first trip to Disneyland she was a dream. She loved watching all the people and the bright colors. I think her favorite ride was probably Small World, followed closely by Pirates of the Caribbean. Leila ate up all the attention from her extended family on both sides and did not disappoint on the cute factor. I am so happy she is mine :)

Happy 6 months, Leila girl. You are such a joy.

Happy 5 Months, Leila!

Happy 5 Months to my sweet girl. Here is an impromptue photo shoot of my little doll. After the Primary Program practice on Saturday we went to the park to let Christian run around and be crazy after having to be SO GOOD for an hour and a half while I played the piano for the kiddos.

I cannot even express how much I love this girl. More and more of her personality is starting to shine through and I am loving it. She is quick to laugh and smile, buuuuuuuuutttt....SUPER stubborn. SUPER STUBBORN. I can't wait to see what her teenage years will be like. Right now she loves to sit up and chew on whatever toys she can get her pudgy fingers on. She doesn't have any teeth coming through yet, but there is some serious drool going on so I know it's on the horizon. She is starting to get interested in food and has begun reaching for whatever we are eating or holding.

Her favorites right now are: Having Christian hold/play with her. She thinks he is HILARIOUS! I love watching them interact and I hope that they are creating a great and lasting friendship; siblings are the best! She loves sitting in her Bumbo seat so that she can feel like she's part of the group. She loves playing with our cat, Dora and petting her nose. Mom has to be on the look-out to make sure that there is no whisker pulling going on though, because that is another favorite! Other favorites include hitting people with her rattle, kicking her legs, patty cake, raspberries on her belly and getting tossed (gently!) in the air by her dad. Oh, she also likes when he rubs her feet on his beard and screaming like a banshee for fun. This girl has a DEEEEEEP voice, so she loves to screech and thinks it is so funny. Mom did not think it was as funny...especially when I thought it was a cat getting run over.

Things she hates: Being on her tummy, but I make her do it anyway...more motivation to learn how to roll over, girl! Laying down on her back because then she is missing out on the action. Being left alone for even a second and her Mom trying to make her eat when she really just wants to look at anyone and everyone around her. She is SUCH a busy body; it's pretty funny.

Happy 5 months Lala :D

The small things make all the difference

Yesterday was kind of a hard day. I felt out of sync and kind of stressed/behind all day. I am not sure why that is - other than lack of sleep. I got home from work and I still just felt behind and anxious. But instead of letting it fester, we had FHE. I had Book Club Monday night so we decided to move FHE to Tuesday and I am so glad that we did!

I cut out pictures of Jonah, the whale, the people of Nineveh, the sailors and the boat. I pasted them to cardstock to make it sturdy and I told Christian all about Jonah. I told him about how Heavenly Father had asked him to tell the people of Nineveh that they were making bad choices and Jonah was afraid and so he didn't listen. He tried to run away from what Heavenly Father wanted him to do. He got on a ship and Heavenly Father sent a frightening storm and so Jonah had the sailors throw him off the ship and he was swallowed by a whale. For three days he had time to think about what he was supposed to do. After the three days, and a lot of praying, the whale spit Jonah back onto land and Jonah was able to make better choices and listen to what Heavenly Father wanted him to do. He went back to Nineveh and told the people they were making bad choices and they listened! And everyone was happier! And we can be happy too when we listen to Heavenly Father.

Simple, water-downed version of Jonah, right? I cannot tell you what joy it brought my heart to not only share this simple story with Christian, but how excited and fascinated he was with it.

Afterward, we carved our pumpkins. Christian did not have as much fun as I expected. In fact, he didn't even want to touch it! Once I took the top off and showed him the insides, he just kept saying, "Ewwwww! That's gross!!" over and over and over. I tried to tell him that it wasn't gross, it was cool and he said, "It's cool? Nooooo! It's GROSS!!!". hahahaha Love that kid. Needless to say, Jared and I carved the two pumpkins, but Christian got to pick what we carved. I did Lightning McQueen (no surprise there!) and Jared did a "scary face" aka Jack from The Nightmare Before Christmas. I think they turned out pretty good :)

And yes...that is our baby sitting in the dark next to the pumpkins :)
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Kids Say the Darndest Things Volume 1

I guess really this should be Volume 2 because there have been SOOOO many funny things Christian has done that I have already shared. If you haven't heard about Noah being Santa Claus, Baby Jesus and Noah being best friends, Baby Jesus not being able to swim or Daniel praying to be eaten by the lions, tell me and I will give you the scoop.

One of the absolute best parts of having a 2 year old (honestly, one of the only great things about having a 2 year old...thank you tantrums!) is the funny things they say. Here are some of my favorites of late.

In Sacrament meeting, Christian was again playing with his beloved Bible Quiet Book. This time, Elaine was playing with him. They got to the page with Daniel, the lions and the lion's den.

Me: Who is that?
Christian: Daniel!
Elaine: Uh. The Prince!
Me: That is Daniel. And who was Daniel?
Christian: A Prophet!
Elaine: A DOLPHIN!?

I couldn't stop laughing! Looks like Elaine is getting different lessons at home ;)

In FHE this week Jared was teaching about the scriptures. He started to talk about Moroni and drew a parallel to the Angel Moroni on top of the temples because we had learned about them/him before.

Jared: Do you remember Angel Moroni?
Christian: Yes!
Me: Remember, he is the one on top of our temples
Jared: Moroni wrote in the scriptures. He made a promise to us....
Christian: No, no, no, no, no. Uh Angel uh temples and Jesus and Fireworks!
Jared: Well, Angel Moroni is on the temples and the temples are Jesus's house...
Christian: Yeah! Jesus! He...He...He...He loves fireworks.
Jared: (talking over Christian at this point) Moroni wrote in the Book of Mormon and he made us a promise..
Christian: NO! No scriptures!

Don't you love when your carefully planned FHE lessons are hijacked by a toddler?

Last night when we pulled up in front of the house Christian started to roll down his window.

Christian: I no can touch the trees! Uuuuummmppphhh (reaching for the tree across the street).
Me: You can't reach it? You need to get out of the car. You can't reach it while you are in the car.
Christian: Maybe Jesus can help me?
Me: (laughing) Yes! Maybe! How do we ask Jesus for help?
Christian: Oooooohhhh JEEEESSSSUUUUSSSS (if any of you have seen Mickey Mouse Clubhouse it sounded a lot like calling for Toodles). Ooooohhhhh JEEEESSSSUUUUSSS. OOOOOHHHHH JEEEEESSSSUUUUUSSS.
Me: (laughing some more)
Christian: Oh no. Jesus no come. Uh...maybe He in the house?
Me: Yes! Maybe He is in the house!
Christian: LET'S GO!

I love my little man and I love that he is so excited about what he is learning. It is hard work trying to teach a person the basics, but I wouldn't trade it for the world!