Layly Fayely

Oh my Layla Faye, what a joyful spirit you are! This summer started off very challenging for Layla and me. Good night, was that girl sassy! No kidding, it about made me crazy! I'm talking pouting, rolling eyes, tone of voice, crossing arms, huffing and puffing, you name it! UGH!!!! It was a battle I was quickly losing and just didn't know how to handle! About three weeks ago, it all came to a head.

After her 3rd time out in 15 minutes, Layla and I sat on her bed and prayed. We prayed that God would help us do the right thing, even when we don't feel like it. We prayed that we would obey His word and act as we're supposed to. We prayed talked and prayed and talked. And, the new boundaries were set regarding behavior. God is faithful and we've been doing great since! What did I learn? It really all starts with me and my behavior!

Layla has also had a big summer in the pool. She has straightened her kick out and is cruising. She loves swimming underwater, but is also working on strokes. She is soooo close to back floating! She's got it all, but just can't quite keep her face above water. Next summer she'll take her first swimming lessons and I know she'll get it.

She has discovered the joy of chapter books and the non-fiction section of the library. We have read books about celtics, ballet, oceans, desserts, animals teeth and fangs (yup, a whole book on teeth and fangs), recycling, science projects, etc.

And, I'm sad to say, once the shorts are put away for the summer, this girl will officially be out of ALL toddler clothes. So sad! She loves the girls section of stores, but I don't! The clothes look like stuff I wear...too mature! Gone are the sweet little girl dresses!

And, in 25 days, she will be 5 years old.......

Peas and Carrots

I am very sad that we are on the home stretch of summer. I held a firm line to my "no organized activities" policy and it was wonderful! It was hard at times, but very rewarding. The kids and I have enjoyed our play dates at the park, library trips, a great library reading program, lots of travel and fun at the aquatic center. But the thing that has been even better than these little outings has been seeing Layla and Cooper's relationship grow. They are in their own little imaginary world most of the time, coming our for potty breaks and food on occasion. Yes, they fight. Sometimes to the point wrestling each other to the ground, but that's all part of figuring it out.

Layla is going on her first big cousin trip to Mama Faye's on Saturday. Her, Sam and Henry will spend a several days with Mom. I'm not sure what Cooper will do without her. Although she will be with her favorite people, she has already started talking about missing Brother. She actually started crying at Kum and Go today, just thinking about being gone. I told her she didn't have to go, but she wants to so badly she said she's doing it.

The week after she returns, we take her for a big girl trip to Chicago and then to New York for a friend's wedding. That will be another 7 days without Coop. I look forward to all of these adventures, but come August 17th, I will be ready to have all of my family back together again! I'm sure the kids will too.

"I'm the wanderer, yeah the wanderer.."

"...I roam around, around, around" I grew up with a restored Rockola jukebox full of 45's. I can sing 'em all! This particular Beach Boys song is Cooper's theme this week. Since returning from vaction, the boy is out of his bed at least once a night! Now, this isn't the first time we've had such issues! But, I thought we were past it. I think the fact that we all slept in one hotel room last week was what set this off again.

I will give Coopy credit in that he isn't disruptive. He'll get out of his room 2-3 times when we lay him down. As soon as we hear his door open we yell, "Get back in bed!" Then we hear him is, "Otay mom" and run back into his bed. If we don't hear him, he quietly sits outside our bedroom door, watching TV. But, if it's the middle of the night, he's in a dead sprint to our room, climbs up the foot of the bed, stands up, runs between us, plops down face first and goes to sleep.

Layla, on the other hand, NEVER got out of her big girl bed! She was in that thing for a year before I convinced her that Daddy or I didn't need to come get her in the morning. She would lay in there and yell, "I'm awake!"

Last night, after getting out of his bed 3 times at bedtime, he did stay in it until 6am. Let's hope we're back on track!

The Dells

This year AgriGold took us to the Kalahari Resort at Wisconsin Dells. We have been to the Kalahari in Ohio, so we knew we were in for a treat! It's a huge resort with indoor and outdoor water parks, an indoor theme park with a Ferris Wheel and two level go-cart track. We played ourselves into complete exhaustion! Yesterday, Layla was in the water for 6 hours and was begging for bed at 6pm.

We are thankful for these family trips that AgriGold treats us to every summer. This is our 8th year of enjoying such trips. But, I do have to admit, this was my most exhausting year. It was a culmination of several things that did me in...Dave had meetings every morning, Cooper is way more active than last year, the resort was huge, which made navigating with the kids was a little challenging, all 430 people in attendance with AgriGold ate most meals together and it's hard to explain to tired, hungry little ones that they need to wait for 400 other people to go through the buffet line first, the kid's diet and sleep schedules were out of whack and we all shared one hotel room. This means Cooper was up every morning at 6am when "Doddy" left for meetings. But, breakfast wasn't served until 8am.

We had our challenging moments, but seeing how much fun the kids had made it all worth it! I loved watching them play together for hours at the water park and how patient they were with each other as we split time between each of their favorite areas. And the excitement on their faces as they rode shotgun in our go carts was priceless!

But, man oh man, it will be good to be home!!!!

"What's your name?"

Although Cooper is talking more, there are still a lot of things that come out of his little mouth that I can't understand. His newest game took me awhile to understand.

He holds your hand and says, "blah, blah, blah name?"
I look at him, baffled and he says, "I'm Cooper"

Then, he walks to the next person and does the same. I finally figured it out! He's asking what my name is and introducing himself. Now that we get it, he does it all day long. The only thing that I can attribute this to is he spends a lot of time with his daddy and Dave talks to everyone!

Independence Day

As per tradition, we headed to Okoboji for the 4th of July. The kids were so excited, they were up at 5:45am the day we left for the lakes and were in bed by 6:30pm the night we returned. Needless to say, they were tired! They stayed up 2-3 hours past their bedtime every night and, after 4 days, we paid for it! Layla was a blubbering, sobbing, emotional wreck. But, it's all worth it. They got to see grandparents, swim, boat, tube, play with cousins and watch the big Arnolds Park fireworks from the boat. We made memories and that is what we will choose to remember.

Layla and Cooper tubed for the first time and Cooper learned to ride a bicycle with training wheels. And we got to listen to sweet cousin Oscar talk for days and watch happy cousin Louis play, play, play. I have never seen a 5 month old baby love playing on his tummy as much and for as long as Louis.