Happy Easter!

Lainey's Easter bunny did not visit until Sunday afternoon. After we came home from church, Lainey took a good nap and then ate lunch. After lunch, she discovered that the Easter bunny had paid her a visit while she was napping. He brought her some plastic eggs with binkies in them, two new books, and a big fluffy squawking chick.

The Easter basket she's holding is actually my childhood basket. I only added a new ribbon - I replaced a blue one with a pink one.

Any eggs in here?

Out of that darn dress that I kept stepping on and tripping over... yay for playclothes!

This is Lainey's favorite drawer to empty in her room - the one with all her binks. Seriously, she does this about 10 times a day.

up to more mischief

Dad and Lainey pointing at the ceiling fan and thinking big thoughts.

with Bud and Yiyia (and her Elmo Easter basket) at our family celebration late Sunday afternoon

chaperoned scooter rides

tiny baby, big gym

She LOVED all the action. She was sweating from moving around so much. Her favorite things to chase were the balls - the soccer ball, the basketball, the plastic softball, the yellow bouncy ball... and then she had fun chasing after her cousins, too. :)

Playing outside

throwing Reagan's squeaky toy

another killer shot of those thighs

questioning my authority

"Sorry, Reagan. These are now my toys. Yes, they used to be yours but now they're mine. Too bad. You snooze, you lose..."

Truly, these two toys of Reagan's are her prized possessions. She finds them as soon as we go outside, and really doesn't like to let them go. We throw them to Reagan and laugh as Reagan chases them, but Lainey rushes to get them back from her. It's funny to see her try to stand up with those two toys - she won't let them go! She could probably stand up faster if she would just leave them on the ground.

Happy Birthday, Cally!

Last night we got together at Cally's house to celebrate her seventh birthday!! Happy birthday, Cally! :)

Cally, Brooke, Ella, Yiyia

Collin, Kate, Cally

Here are all the kids...(and Yiyia and Aunt Tisha). Yes, that's Lainey bonking Collin on the face.

Lainey's first tricycle ride with Great Grandpa James.

*******
We played this game when we got home. It's one we like to call "put the shoes on the stairs and then grab them off and then put them back on the stairs". It occupies a great deal of time (10 minutes in baby time - that's a while!).

Easter Egg Hunt at the church

Hmm. Eggs. I bet they'd fit in my mouth...

 I know I can smack them together to make a fun sound.

our little family of three

train ride (that she fully enjoyed)

Partners in crime

Our baby loves dogs. She points to them on TV. She waves to them in parking lots. She laughs at them from across the park. She would happily befriend any dog. (This makes Reagan nervous, given her history with strange dogs.) Yesterday we spent some time at Emmy's house and Lainey and Sofi shared lunch. Literally. I think Lainey would hand-feed Sofi pieces of food on her tray, and Sofi would happily accept. It was pretty funny watching them.

Can you tell that we got a new camera? We LOVE it. It takes very clear pictures and I'm so excited about that!

s0 someone wouldn't feel left out...

On a serious note, please continue to think of and pray for our friends Dustin (Nora's dad) and Keegan. Dustin is the one who survived a horrible accident with a moving truck and had his pancreas severed in two. Complications are surfacing, and he's having difficulty with his tube feeds and is currently dealing with a painful case of pancreatitis. There are almost daily updates on their blog. (Kate, you are doing a great job of this!) Additionally, little Keegan's liver is having a hard time due to all the stress his little body has been over in the past year. Also, Maddie posts almost daily updates on their blog from Boston. Please pray for these two and their families: Dustin (Kate and Nora) and Keegan (Maddie and Gray). I know they are appreciative of everyone's support and prayers during this time. And I'm grateful for your support, too!

I. love. these. thighs.

As my friend Amy so perfectly expressed, "Why can't all chubby legs be this cute?" So well said, Amy! :)

I also love these cute little toes that she digs into the ground to steady herself.

Lainey's Baptism

Lainey was baptized today! We were thankful to have such pretty weather. Here are some pictures from this special day, a day we have been looking forward to for quite some time. :) 

before heading out the door

This girl LOVES Crocs sandals. One time she even crawled over to some stranger's feet at a restaurant to touch their Crocs. I know, gross, baby crawling on a restaurant floor. But it was pretty funny. 

sisters

Lainey wouldn't go to Rev. Don. We kind of knew that was going to happen. I watched though as the other sweet babies went to the other ministers, but I had to follow Don around with my little punky. :)

the whole group

Totally fried - no nap, an unwanted nursery stay, and some strangers. 

A new video for you!

Little Punkin is walking. It's definitely not her preferred mode of transport at this time, but she'll do it when she's not thinking about it.

Since she'll be 11 months old tomorrow, I think I'll post a few fun developments that we've noticed this month! 

• Tooth count: 5 with two breaking through as I write (I feel like they've been "breaking through" for weeks now, but I really think that they'll officially appear any day now.
• Sleep patterns: Going down about 8ish, sleeping till 6:30 or 7. She does best when she has one giant nap in the morning, about 2 hours after she awakens for the day. Then she might take a small 30-minute nap in the afternoon (like in the car). She absolutely will fight a nap if given the chance, so either we (1) let her cry and she'll eventually pass out (when we know she's tired) or (2) I will bring her to sit on my lap at the computer and she'll fall asleep staring at the screen. Weird, huh?
• Grinding her teeth is something she loves doing! It is the worst sound. I hope it stops when she gets more teeth.
• She has a great sense of humor, and laughs at so many things. I love that she laughs at us or her cousins and her other family members and friends. 
• She still loves, loves, LOVES to be outside...to where she'll cry and arch her back and scream when we leave the park or come back inside from playing outside. She would crawl around on the grass for hours if we let her. She's thrown fits at the park when I've had to put her back in her stroller or her car seat. 
•  The newest accomplishment is walking. She can almost pull herself to a standing position without using an object to pull up on, but she's not quite there yet. 
• She can find her bink and her duck when we ask her to (for the most part).
• She can wave hi and bye (although not in that video!).
• I absolutely love the way her little cheeks smell. Don't know why...but I do. I sometimes just pick her up to squeeze her and smell her little face. And I also love her chubby, chubby legs and feet. So cute. 

I think back to where I was a year ago today. Back at school after Spring Break, aware that I only had three weeks left until I was on maternity leave. I received so much encouragement from my co-workers and family members to take off after her due date, and I think I finally made the decision to do so. So my last official day of work last year was the 18th of April, and then Lainey arrived on the 24th. I cannot believe it's almost been a year since Lainey was born! We love this little baby to pieces. Enough said. :) 

Some recent pictures and updates

Sorry for the lack of posts lately! This week has been a busy one. Here are some pictures of Lainey around the house. We've been spending a lot of time outside lately, happy to take advantage of this gorgeous weather. Lainey enjoys the park and loves to try to eat the woodchips. Not so enjoyable for Mom. But it just means I have to watch her closely and follow her every move. :) 

Lainey closing the door (which she will then realize leaves her trapped in the room...and then the tears flow).

Hmm, a snail. In a shell.

This is a blurry pic - grabbing for the camera. Check out those toofers! 

More Mac 'n' Cheese, please?

Now for a quick update on our friends:

1. Dustin (Nora's dad): He is recovering in the ICU from a very invasive surgery during which the doctors worked for four hours to repair his damaged pancreas. More details are on their blog (click on the link "Nora" on the right side of the page). His wife, Kate, is amazing. She is so focused on the health of her husband and the needs of their 11-month-old baby. Her world has been turned upside down, yet she remains positive, strong, gracious, and above all, faithful that God will pull her, Dustin, and Nora through this time. Please pray for Dustin's healing and Kate and her family's strength. :) She is with Dustin as much as she can be but is missing her baby like crazy. Thankfully, Nora can make visits to the hospital to see her momma. :)

2. Carmelita (Cameron's mom): She is home from the hospital and recovering well from her surgery. We are grateful for that! Continue to take it easy, C. No over-doing it!! :) 

3. Keegan is in Boston (still) and will most likely be there for another month or so. He's hopefully going to be discharged from the hospital towards the end of next week, but will have to remain in the Boston area for an additional month or so. His problems are not solved, but he's tolerating more formula and doing things that he's never been able to do before, so that's a positive sign. Please keep Keegan and his family in your prayers as they continue to search for answers and treatments for the little guy. :)

Hurting friends

It has been a rough couple of days for two of our friends. My former co-worker Carmelita, Cameron's mom, was diagnosed with pancreatitis (caused by gallstones) on Wednesday and had surgery this morning to remove her gallbladder. I went to visit her yesterday and am thankful that she had a successful surgery this morning and that she's recovering well. She is so strong and has wonderful, supportive family members and friends that have been surrounding her during this time and looking after her 3-year-old son, Cameron. Get well soon, Carmelita!!

Shortly after returning home from my trip to the hospital and running a few errands, I learned that tragedy had struck my good friend Kate's husband, Dustin, who is Nora's dad. He got pinned between the moving truck and their new house (that they closed on Thursday) and was rushed to the ER here in Plano. He was under observation all night and then he, too, had surgery this morning and the doctors discovered that his pancreas was severed in two by the force of the impact. Needless to say, he's in a lot of pain and there will most likely be two more surgeries to help repair his pancreas. His road to recovery will be a long one with the possibility of being on lifelong medication to help his pancreas perform its jobs. Kate and Dustin, too, have many family members and friends supporting them and loving them and taking care of little Nora (one week older than Lainey). Stay strong, Kate and Dustin. We are here if you need anything.

Please keep these families close to your hearts and in your thoughts and prayers.

One year ago today...

this is what we were dealing with! Our poor Reagan dog and her vicious attack. This is the night of the attack after we arrived home from the expensive Emergency Animal Clinic...she's pretty miserable (and a bit loopy). I remember this night so well - it was so awful and I was so pregnant and uncomfortable anyway and Reagan didn't sleep well and it was just stinky.

This is the actual x-ray of her broken bone! Poor Baby.

in her cast that she (thankfully) only wore for one weekend

post-surgery, Tuesday, March 18th

a few weeks after Lainey was born, but before her surgery to remove the pins and scaffolding

And for those who are wondering - nooo, we never got reimbursed for the $2,800 that we spent on vet bills. We received $600...and then we received the notice that the man had filed for bankruptcy. Reagan has a titanium rod in her leg to this day and she has made a full recovery. We still take walks, but I am much more aware of my surroundings and am very wary of other dogs (so not like me in the past).

Seeing Kelsey

Today I got to see a friend that I've known for a long time...about 13 years! I used to babysit for Kelsey and her little sister Shelbi during my senior year of high school and throughout college (holidays, summer, and some weekends). I also coached them on their summer swim team and I became quite close with their family. They moved away about 6 years ago to Kentucky, but Kelsey has been in the Plano area for the past few days and we got to see each other for lunch today. I cannot believe that I used to babysit this beautiful, mature young woman! She's a freshman at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. and is loving it and doing really well there. I still have so many memories of her and her sister when they were little bitty kids...can't believe these girls are grown! It was neat to see Kelsey with Lainey - I wish she lived here so she could babysit my baby! :)

Tuesday's pictures

Yesterday evening we went to a campaign kickoff party for our friend, Nathan Barbera, who is running for Plano ISD School Board. We were only able to stay for about an hour, but Lainey was a trooper for the majority of it. She had had a looonggg day. (She would not look at me and smile - she was only looking and smiling for the woman to my left!!)

Having a shoe for a snack... Our friend Patsy tried to explain to her that "you can't chew on your shoes, Lainey, because then they won't be cute anymore".

Before going to the kickoff party, we made a visit to see Emmy and Pops (and Sofi and Lucy). Lainey was fascinated with her old bouncy seat. Sweet, growing baby!! I can't believe she was once so tiny in this thing.