Just Between Friends

This past weekend we went to Spokane for their JBF Sale. Think . . . . ginormous garage sale. These sales are held in many locations all over the US, and we are so excited that there was one near us. Let me show you what I mean  . . .

We have BOOKS and PUZZLES

TOYS

CLOTHES GALORE (imagine 10 more racks)

SHOES

And SOOOOO much more!!

The deals that you get are so good, you'll never want to shop in a store again. I recommend seeing if you can find one in your area. You wont be sorry!! (JBF Sale)

Meow...

Our neighbors have two cats that love coming into our yard. And since Lyla has a small obsession with cats, we don't mind at all.

And here she is trying to give the cat a kiss.

Random Photo's

While cleaning out my craft/sewing draws, I found an envelope of old photo's. I showed them to Lyla, and she sat and looked at them for almost an hour. She was so excited. This girl LOVES pictures, especially if she knows the people in them.

I Pray When . . .

Each night, I pray that I can be a good mother to Lyla. I pray that I can be patient, and understanding to her needs. I pray that I can know how to best help her to learn and grow to be a good person to others. 

Yesterday, on our way back from the gym, Lyla started to get a little whiny. My plan was, once we got home, we would go on a 2 mile walk then have lunch and take a nap. But once we got home, she just seemed really upset. Lyla absolutely loves to go on walks, and loves being outside, so I figured, as soon as we started our walk she would calm down. But instead of telling her to calm down and then distract her by going outside (like I sometimes do), I decided to ask her to show me what was wrong. 

Lyla walked into her room and pointed to her bed. I picked her up and asked if she wanted to go night night. She then reached for her crib, and again I asked her if she wanted to go night night. It was an hour and a half earlier then she normally takes a nap, so I was a little surprised. But I put her in, gave her her monkey and blanket, and she rolled over and went straight to sleep. 

It' seems small, but I'm so grateful that I was blessed at that moment to listen to Lyla's needs. She was completely exhausted and desperately needed to sleep. I'm glad I asked her what she needed instead of going on that walk. I feel blessed that I have the Lord on my side to help me raise my little girl, because I could sure use the help. 

18 Months

It's amazing how much this little girl has changed our lives. She brings us so much incredible joy. I love seeing her little personality come out, the older she gets. 

She understands so much. . . probably more then we realize. 

She LOVES:

~ Being outside. Whenever the weather is nice outside, we try to go out. And when it's time to come back in, she cries. 

~ Stuffed animals. We purposely don't have very many, because I don't want to have to wash 20 of them every week. But when we are in the store and we pass them, she just starts squealing with excitement. 

~ Coloring and painting.

~ Eating. She is a great eater, and I love how she is willing to try new things.

~ Her favorite animal sound is ' Quack, Quack'. 

~ Dancing. If music is playing, this little girl is dancing. Even during sacrament meeting while singing the hymns.

~ Bath time. When she hears the water running, she gets excited. She loves to splash, and thinks it's really funny to get us totally soaked.

~ Books. She has always loved them, but loves them even more now that she understands a little more. We probably read her 15-20 books every day. 

It's sad she's getting so big, but also exciting. I'm looking forward to seeing what the next 6 months will bring!

Lyla wanted to dress up, and this is how it turned out.

We recently got Lyla a new car seat. She loves it, and so do we. Yay for safety!

I am LOVED

Last night Daniel brought these home for me. No reason at all.........just because. 

Art Project

Every now and then I want to do something creative with Lyla, but my mind goes completely blank. That's when the internet comes in handy. Yay for Google! Anyway, I came across this super easy art project, and since I already had everything I needed, we jumped right in. 

You'll need:

It took only a second for me to show Lyla how to stick the paper pieces on the Contact Paper, and then she was in her own little world. She had so much fun, and was very proud of the art she created. 

Then we stuck it on the window for all to see.

When The Sun Is Out...

..... So are we!!

Had a wonderful time at the park today. Gotta take advantage of this awesome weather while we can.

Valentine's Post

Daniel and I have never been huge into Valentine's Day. We don't really do gifts, instead we just plan on doing something together. Sometimes it's big, sometimes it's small, but it's just us spending time together.

But once Lyla came around, the meaning of Valentine's Day changed for me. It's not just about the love I have for Daniel, but the love I have for my daughter too. And for that reason, I wanted the day to be special for my little Lyla, and let her know just how much I love her. So this year, Valentine's Day was a little more exciting.

We started off with a few decorations

Then we made some delicious goodies.

First was homemade Oreo's with strawberry cream cheese frosting. They were so incredibly yummy!!

And then I made some Rice Crispy Treats with chocolate for my little love, Lyla. I used strawberry flavored marshmallows. I will never go back to regular marshmallows again. That extra bit of flavor was amazing. I cut them into little hearts, and spread a little melted chocolate on top. A definite winner!!

Lastly, I got a little creative, and put together a few treats for Daniel. 

Each Riesen Chocolate I taped on a reason why I love Daniel. It was really fun putting these together.

I have a new love for Valentine's Day. Now that we have Lyla in our family, there is so much more love to share.

Blessings of Tithing

Near the end of last year, we were stretched a little thin, financially. We weren't bringing in as much as we had thought, and so we were on a tight budget. What made it harder, was that Christmas was coming. I was concerned, and had more then one emotional breakdowns about our financial situation. We had to get creative about our Christmas gifts, and we went over our finances several times to make sure we had enough to make it through the year. We were going to make it, but it was going to be tight.

Then, at the start of December, Daniel had to have his wisdom teeth taken out. An emergency we hadn't accounted for. We didn't have dental insurance, and no money in our budget for it. 

Daniel and I had several discussions about our options. One of those options was to use our tithing money to pay our medical bills. It was the only 'bill' we had that didn't have repercussions if not paid. Well, not financial repercussions anyway.

We prayed for answers, and for help. Do we pay tithing, or medical bills? But the answer was obvious. We didn't really need to ask, because we already new the answer. We pay our tithing first......always! And we did.
Yes, we're still in a bind, and we have not yet recovered, but we made it. We have been blessed too many times before for paying tithing, that there was no way we couldn't do it this time. I believe in paying tithing, and I know that we will be blessed for it. It's not always easy, but I know it's worth it.

This past General Conference, Elder David A Bednar gave a wonderful talk about the blessings of tithing entitled: The Windows of Heaven.

Mama Daughter Date Night

Last week, Daniel went out of town for a work meeting. Even though Lyla has been sick all week, I decided to make a special night of it anyway. We decided to go out to Shari's for some goodies. 

We started off with a strawberry milkshake. I did ask for a small kids size, but that isn't what we got. But that's okay. Lyla loves shakes! 

Then we colored for a bit, and ordered some chocolate pie. Honestly, it wasn't very good. It had so much whipped cream on it, but again..... Lyla didn't mind. She just went right in.

Don't worry, she only had a few gulps of the shake, and just picked at the pie. I couldn't even bring myself to finish it all. It was just too much sugar for me. After we got home, Lyla turned into a crazy child. The sugar definitely got to her. It was nice to see her so happy after being so miserable from sickness. It was a great night, and will certainly not be our last mama daughter date night. Even though we spend all day together, it was still nice to do something special with my favorite little girl.

Help Mama!!

I was in the living room, when I heard Lyla start fussing in the kitchen. She seemed to get more and more upset with a frustration in her voice like she wants something but can't get it. This is common when she wants her monkey that's in her crib. She can see it, but can't get it. 

Anyway, so I go into the kitchen to see what's wrong. She points to the side of the fridge, and that's when I notice a letter magnet that had fallen back there, that she apparently really needed. So I try and try, but can't quite seem to reach it. And as much as I try explaining this to Lyla, she is just not happy. And since my little bug is sick, I really really want her to be happy, so I end up moving the fridge to go and get it. 

I finally get it out, give it to her, she puts it on the fridge and walks away. SERIOUSLY!!!