Just for fun

Look who turned into a 3 year old overnight...!? I think Lainey looks so old in this picture!

trying on shoes (a favorite activity)

Lainey has really taken to feeding Reagan. This morning, she took pieces of food into the bedroom where Reagan was. Reagan was still on the bed, so Lainey made a small pile of them on the floor in front of Reagan. I did lift Reagan down (she doesn't jump off by herself) to enjoy her "breakfast in bed".

"Cheese!"

She's had enough of "cheese" and is now going for the camera...slightly frustrated.

I am having the HARDEST time taking pictures of Lainey lately. She's either so focused on the camera that she won't stop grabbing for it OR she won't give me the time of day. I was happy to get this single shot of her smiling! :)

Keegan's 2nd Birthday and Heart Transplant Anniversary

Yesterday we celebrated Keegan's second birthday and heart transplant anniversary over at his house. Despite the rain and the fact that he didn't feel so hot the day before, the guest of honor threw a great party! Thanks for having us over, Maddie and Gray. It was so much fun, and it's such an honor for us to be able to celebrate both of these occasions with you.

Happy Birthday, Keegan!

the beautiful spread

Notice someone's head in the bottom of the picture...she didn't want to miss any of the action.

sweet Ainsley

Again, she had to take part in the opening of the presents.

More dancing with Elmo

As Lainey has gotten older, her dance moves have evolved. She still loves to dance with Elmo, but as you can see, she has changed some moves. Where she used to just bop up and down, now she turns in circles with most of her weight on one foot. Sometimes she just pivots, and that is pretty funny. She does a modern version of "The Sprain". (Imaginary bonus points to anyone who can name the late 80s/early 90s TV show where that phrase comes from!)

Which one of these is not like the others?

Today Lainey took one of Ben's books from his office and put it on her bookshelf. It fits quite nicely, doesn't it? She placed it right between Elmo's Sleep Tight and Numbers.

Lake! Monday, 9-7

Our friends Kelley and Carl (and their kids Gage and Ainsley) invited us to the lake Monday morning! It was perfect - for a holiday weekend, the lake was so calm and the weather couldn't have been better. We left around 9a.m., and Lainey was home and in bed by 1:10 p.m. It was a such a fun outing. Thanks so much for inviting us, K & C! We missed you, Maddie, Gray, and Keegan!

trying to peer into Kelley's bag to see what else she had to snack on... ;)

helping Kelley drive the boat

First tubing trip with Dad - we went VERY slow and it only lasted for a few minutes. :)

Ranch party, Sunday the 6th

On Sunday evening, we headed out to our pastor's ranch in Collinsville, TX for a cookout with several other families. What a fun experience! Lainey enjoyed all the animals had fun with the other kids. She had her first real hot dog - loved it - and ate a bunch of other fun snack-type foods. She was a happy camper! :) It was a great evening, although we didn't get to stay for s'mores...we had to get Lainey in bed!

Bud pointing out cows to Lainey

Cally

eating a smooshed Cheeto off the ground (sad to say that this happened more than once)

Collin

Ella and Lainey...a captive audience

She LOVED putting these water bottles in the chair's cup holders. As you can see, she filled each slot!

17 weeks! You can see that the belly is definitely there!

Cally on a hay bale

feeding time for the cows

Hook 'em!

Purse on the shoulder, ready to leave for the game.

Maybe I'll take this brown purse instead?

Or maybe both? Brown and black?

It's decided - I'll take both purses. Off the train and into the car we go!

Blog book

I finally finished the blog book!! It came in the mail last week and I am so excited about it. I did miss a few things (one picture has some foreheads missing) but overall, it turned out great and I'm very glad that I did it. It took me awhile to put it together, and I was grumpy about it sometimes, but 250 pages later (it's only a 7x7 book), it's all in there. I combined 2007-2008, and now I've started working on 2009. I am thankful to the website, www.blurb.com, for assisting me in this process! Check it out if you are interested in doing this same thing. The site actually imports the blog into a default format, so it's up to you to design it the way that you would like. I know there's another site out there called Blog2Print that does the same type of thing but I had already started my book on Blurb, so I stuck with that!

front cover

sample pages

School, day 2

Yiyia and Bud are back in town after being in Colorado for 5 days. Since Yiyia's office is right there at the church (you can see it in the background), she can be a little "spy" and check on Lainey and Ella throughout the week. Welcome home, Yiyia and Bud! My parents, Emmy and Pops, are still in Colorado and will probably come home at the beginning of October. Cannot wait for y'all to come back - it's been a long time!

Today at school Lainey made a red barn, she painted, and they sang songs. Oh to be a fly on the wall...I bet she loved every second of it!

Fun with K-cups

Lainey looooves playing with these coffee k-cups for our coffee maker. When I'm making dinner, she generally pulls them out of the pantry, dumps them out of the bag, and starts to just play with them. They go in drawers, they get stacked, they go into other containers, they get spread across the kitchen and living room. It's fun for her and easy for me...except last night, when I was cleaning up after dinner, I accidentally stepped on one and it popped. A bit of a mess, but nothing that the dustbuster couldn't handle!

First day of school

Lainey's saying "cheese" in this picture (well, it sort of sounds like "cheese").

"What is in this bag? Why have you never let me play with this bag before? Oooh, diapers and a sippy cup...and my sleep sack...where on earth am I going?"

So our little girl started school today. I didn't even try to take my camera inside the building to take any pictures of her inside of her classroom because (1) I knew she'd be crying and (2) I was going to have to get out of there as fast as possible...no lingering! I am going to pick her up in about 30 minutes and I wish that she could tell me how her day was. I bet she had fun! We go back again on Thursday. :)