ELMO!!

Anyone who talks to me frequently has probably been made aware of Layna's new ELMO obsession. Although I'm not a big fan of 'character' things...I just cant resist when she cries out 'MELMO...MELMO' Its just so darn cute! So in my garage-saling frenzy this morning I managed to find 10 Elmo books and Elmo Slippers! SCORE! My only fear now is that she wont want to wear anything OTHER than ELMO SHOES!!

Schellhas Visit

Our long-lost friends Aaron, Leeann (who babysat Layna last year) and Natalee came for a visit this week from Peoria. We were so excited to see them and had a great time watching Natalee and Layna play together. Karl and Aaron had fun smoking pipes and revealing that they were both 'technically obese' (Picture #1) I introduced Leeann to the world of kids consignment shopping and lying about her birthday to get a free desert. These events along with many other fun memories have me hoping we didn't scare them away from ever coming to visit again! Good friends are hard to find! :)

Trip to the Park!

In the attempt to find something to do between the hours of 5:30 and 7pm last night we decided to take a trip to the park. Although Layna was too small for most of the equipment, she was able to swing, go down the side and ride the merry-go-round. Here are the pics! Enjoy!

Wonderfully ONES Pics..oops!

Wonderfully ONE Class!

Our 'Parents As Teachers' program here in the public school district offers awesome opportunities for parents and their children to take 'classes' together. Layna and I are now in the 'Wonderfully Ones' class every Wen. morning. Its a blast!! We do singing time, circle time, playtime, arts and crafts, and snack. Best of all- they bring out all the messy stuff that mom's don't want to do at home! We paint, use shaving cream, play in water tables, and play with play dough. I have enjoyed meeting other moms and seeing Layna interact with other kids. Here are some pictures of Layna doing her 'projects'. I'm such a proud mom and Im running out of room on the fridge...:)

WHEEL OF FORTUNE!

Well as some of you have heard, our daughter is now obsessed with 'The Wheel'. It all started when we first noticed her plopping down to watch as soon as the show came on. Then we noticed the clapping and calling out letters. One night last week Karl grabbed my attention and whispered 'listen to this'...Upon this I saw my daughter staring up at the TV telling 'Beee...Peeee...Nnnnnn..' It was hilarious!! Needless to say we have been TiVoing 'The Wheel' ever since. Well last night we hit an all-time low. I had turned 'The Wheel' on while I put Layna in her P.J's so that she would sit still long enough for me to do so. With out thinking much about it- I left the TV on and we went about our bedtime routine. After I tucked her in- I went to check my email. All of a sudden- after about 2 or 3 minutes had gone by- I hear Layna crying. (This rarely ever happens at bedtime) So I go in there to check on her and she is sitting up and crying 'Weee...Weeee' to me. What??? I think to myself- So I pick her up and she starts clapping wildly and chanting 'weee...weeee' OH MY GOSH!!! She could hear 'The Wheel' still on the tv! So I took her out into the family room and she starts smiling, laughing and clapping through the tears. We quickly finished 'The Wheel' and went right back to bed without another sound. In conclusion- It's confirmed: My daughter IS in fact obsessed with 'The Wheel', I will NEVER leave the show playing in the background at bedtime, Maybe this is a sign that Layna will be a contestant one day!

Shout out to my WONDERFUL husband!

As I've read friend's and family member's blogs I occasionally have seen someone post a 'shout out', if you will, to someone they love. At the very least..Karl deserves just that. Frankly I dont know if he is ever really going to check this thing, and I know he'd be embarassed if he knew I was typing this but he's down stairs enjoying the Bears game so...oh well! Any of you who know Karl probably already know that he really is an awesome husband and father. The past few weeks have been no exception. He has worked so hard to finish our basement project only to be followed by my grand idea that we need to relandscape the front yard! He has done an excellent job on both projects! Thanks K for all your hard work. Last night he watched Layna while I had an wonderful time out with my girlfriends at a bachelorette party. This morning he woke up with Layna and let me sleep another 1/2 hr. After church he agreed to let my mom and I go shopping and out to lunch and to top it all off...when I got home all of the laundry was clean and folded and there was new multch outside. I type this 'shout out' in order to make a public announcement to all my 'blog-reading' friends and family that Layna and I have been blessed with the most wonderful, caring, considerate, and helpful husband, friend and *ddaaddy* we could ever ask for. Sorry K..but I had to tell all of blog-world that YOU ARE THE BEST!!

Mowin' the..Driveway!

This Saturday Karl was kind enough to hang with Layna while I went 'garage saling'. Not only did I have a great time running from house to house..I also found this adorable lawn-mower for $1. Layna had a blast pushing it up and down the driveway. She is still hesitant to actually take it on the grass..oh well! She has time to learn! I also thought I would include a picture of my little girl drinking a sippy cup. Those of you who know our 'bottle saga' can appreciate this! The girl loves her cup. Thank God!

Grants Farm

On Labor Day we took a family trip to Grants Farm. We got there early and were the first ones on the train ride. Layna loved pointing out the animals and walking around. She's not such a fan of riding in her stroller now...walking is much more fun! Here she is with daddy! (Here favorite word by the way)
Layna and Mommy on the train ride.
Here is Layna giving us the sign for 'all done' as we attempted to get a picture of her by the pony. Poor girl..atleast she knows her baby signs :)

Layna 15 mo

Such a big girl! Layna is walking/running all over and really starting to talk. She loves to *chill out* as shown here in the picture! (ok..truth be told..Im just posting another blog to see if I can get a picture on this thing)

Hello!

Hello Friends and Family!

As I am sitting here while Layna is napping, I have been catching up on some of my friend's and family's blogging sites. I started thinking to myself..'hey..why dont I set up a blog?' So here it is. I figure I have a cute daughter that I can post pictures of at the very least. I will give a few warnings..I SUCK at spelling...so please expect to see errors and dont correct me on them! :) I dont really know what Im doing here in *blog world* so bear with me! Ok..now I have to see if I can post some pics! Wish me luck...