Happy Birthday Papa Joe

The family got together for pizza and cake to celebrate Papa Joe's birthday. We had a great afternoon hanging out together. Alex and Aaron were able to meet Kyla and Jocelyn for the first time. It was really nice to see Papa Joe with all his grandkids.

Aaron, Alex, Kyla, Papa Joe, Reese, and Jocelyn

Papa Joe with his kids and grandkids.

Papa Joe loves having babies around again. He really enjoys spending time with the little ones and they spending enjoy spending time with him too! You should see the smiles that these girls give their grandpa.

Nine Months Old

Kyla is now nine months old! She had her 9 month check up and the doctor said she is doing just fine. She weighs 18 lbs. 9 oz. (50%) and is 28 inches long (50%). Here is a little of what Kyla has been up to the past month.

* Kyla is cruising! She is both standing and taking steps with support. I have seen her stand for a few seconds at a time without support, but it happens so fast I don't think she realizes that she is standing.

* She is constantly on the move and puts EVERYTHING in her mouth. I cannot take my eyes off of her for one second. If I do (and I have), I can usually expect to find her chewing on something (lint, paper, hair, granola, etc....).

* Kyla loves to sit on my lap and read books. She likes to touch the pages as I read the words and turn the pages for me.

* She is eating cheerios like crazy. She puts about four of five in her mouth at a time. I have to watch her very closely to make sure she doesn't choke. She is also eating canned green beans, peas, and carrots. She loves it all!

* Kyla will throw a little fit when she doesn't get her way. I am amazed that at nine months she gets mad when she doesn't get what she wants. It just seems too soon for this to be happening. She will stomp her feet, cry, and throw her head back when she gets mad. This little tantrum usually happens when I try to take the laptop, cell phone, or remote away from her. :)

* She loves to be outside. The weather has been very cold so we haven't had many opportunities to go outside lately. However, we almost always go outside and hang out for a bit when the weather is nice.

* She makes all kinds of noises and sounds, especially when other people are talking, singing, or being loud. It is so funny to hear Kyla start squealing and yelling at others. She makes these loud noises from the bottom of her throat. When she does, everyone around her just stops talking and starts laughing. I know it is her way of communicating and cannot wait to hear what she really has to say when she starts talking.

Kyla makes us smile all the time. She fills our hearts with joy. I know I say that all the time, but it is so true. Thank you God for blessing our lives with Kyla. She is wonderful!

Kyla being silly for mommy. I love that I was able to capture this HUGE smile on camera! If you look closely you can see something....

Her pearly whites! Kyla's two bottom teeth are her only teeth at the moment. We think her little chompers are too cute!

I love walking around the car to get her out of her car seat because she ALWAYS looks so happy to see me there. I usually get a huge smile as soon as I open the door and it melts my heart every time!

Kyla at bath time.

Standing up in her crib...before we lowered her mattress.

Helping mommy put her new toy car together.

Riding on her car. She isn't really able to drive the car around yet, but she loves to sit on it and play with all the gadgets.

Sliding off her car.

Kyla's first day at the park. She was fascinated by the other children at the park. I love this picture because it looks like she is thinking... "I can't wait to play with you guys some day."

"I think I am going to like this mommy."

"This is fun!"

"I LOVE THE PARK! Weeeeeee!"

Our little 9 month old.

Water Baby!

Kyla is now a water baby! We started a water baby class this week and she absolutely LOVED it! Kyla is one of four kids in the class. She was smiling, splashing, singing, and babbling the entire time. The class went by super fast because we were having so much fun! I could tell that Kyla was very tired after swimming because she threw a fit when I put her in her car seat to head home. By the time we got home she was fast asleep! Although I was VERY happy that she was sleeping, I wanted her to nap in her bed rather than her car seat so that she would sleep longer. I figured that she would wake up when I got her out of the car, so I planned to give her lunch and then put her down for a nap. My sleepy baby woke up as I picked her up out of her car seat, but as I started to head inside the house, my munchkin (who is the worst sleeper in baby history) rested her head on my shoulder and went back to sleep!!!! She was asleep the entire time I walked up to the house and through the house. And stayed asleep while I put her in her bed AND took the longest nap EVER! I know this might not sound like a big deal, but for us it is HUGE! We have the hardest time getting our Kyla to take naps and sleep through the night, so this was a wonderful change! Now I know the trick...swimming! It pooped our little one out! :) I am already looking forward to our next water baby class and I am keeping my fingers crossed for another nap!

I couldn't get a picture of her face because she was going a mile a minute after her class! Here is her cute little self trying to get to her Gerber puffs while we were in the changing room.

Fun Times with Grandparents

Kyla and I were finally able to visit Grandpa Dan. We didn't make it over to his house this Christmas because we were really busy. It was nice to be able to spend the day with him. He was very happy to see Kyla! We had a great time hanging out.

Nonie has a broken leg, so she is stuck at home for a while. Kyla and I stopped by her house recently to check on her and say hello. GG always loves to see Kyla's smiling face. Here they are hanging out together during the Cowboys game.

Here is Kyla at Anna and Grandpa's house. Anna and Grandpa watch Kyla every Monday for me so that I can have a "get things done" day. I know Kyla has lots of fun playing at their house because she usually comes home very sleepy!

Kyla and JJ are always up to something when they are together. Here they are using the cookie tin as a drum. Kyla loved it!

And, here is Kyla with Grandma CC. CC bought Kyla this hat to keep her warm during the winter.

This and That

We have been staying pretty busy lately. Most of the time we just travel around to say hello to our family and friends. Kyla loves people so its always fun to take her out. Yes, she does have her occasional melt down, but for the most part Kyla is a good baby when we are out and about.

We went to visit Uncle Rick and Aunt Cheryl over the weekend. Aunt Suzy and Jocelyn went with us and Nonie and Pa Cobb came over too. We had a great time talking, hanging out, and eating great pizza! Kyla had a blast. She crawled around the entire downstairs looking for Uncle Rick and Aunt Cheryl's two cats, Domino and Smokey. The cats did not want much to do with Kyla, so they walked away every time Kyla got close. Well, Kyla was determined to reach them so she just crawled around and followed them all day. She even got fed up with them walking away from her and started crying because she couldn't ever catch up. Miss busy body Kyla was so tired when we left their house that I think she fell asleep as soon as I turned the car on. I looked back at her when we were at the end of the street and she was already sleeping.

Uncle Rick, Aunt Cheryl, Jocelyn, and Kyla just spending time together.

Aunt Cheryl playing with Kyla.

Aunt Suzy, Kyla, Uncle Rick, and Jocelyn.

Aunt Suzy with Kyla.

Here is Kyla and Max at Max's 1st Birthday Party. This was such a fun party! There were a ton of kiddos at the party and there was so much for them to do. They could get their picture taken with a long horn, ride a pony, get their face painted, get a balloon animal made by a clown, and more.

Here is Cowboy Max and Kyla saying hello! Kyla ate her Gerber puffs while mommy and daddy ate mexican food. Yum!

Here we are in front of the long horn and cowboy.

And, here is Kyla and Reese getting their picture taken on the long horn! Talk about an adrenaline rush (for me). :) P.S...The horn looks much closer to Kyla than it really was. Trust me...I am a paranoid person and I had my eye on those horns the entire time! :)

This is Kyla and Bianca having a play date. Bianca is one month older than Kyla. The girls played great together. They were crawling around all over the place and playing with the basket of toys. Their favorite toy was the blender!

Here is Kyla in her Dallas Cowboys outfit. Uncle Mario and Aunt Tina, who are the best Cowboy fans on the planet, bought Kyla her first Dallas Cowboys outfit. Kyla always looked so cute on game days in her pink t-shirt and pink socks! I loved dressing her up for the games.

It was so nice to have Katy home over the holidays! The whole family loved having her in town. Here is Kyla and TK hanging out before TK had to head back to school for the spring semester.

Happy New Year!

Jesse and I had a wonderful New Year's Eve. We went to a really great party with several of our family members and friends! We had a blast and danced the night away! Happy New Year!!