Laynie's cheer performance

This was such a special night for all of us. Words can't explain how wonderful it is to see Laynie with her cheer squad performing! Laynie's cheer team performed at half time at an Eagle Rock bball game. She loved it and did a great job!!!

This is Madison, Laynie's Jr. Coach! She is my friend Whitney's sister. She is so sweet with Laynie!

Shaking her thang!!!

Go Laynie!!!

We went to Utah to have her first competition last weekend. It was so much fun! They performed in front of a big crowd who cheered for them so loud! They felt pretty special! Laynie got a little overwhelmed and sort of froze for the competition performance. She knows the dance so well but it was sooooo loud and a lot of people were there so I think she got a bit overwhelmed!

They received a big trophy and they were pretty happy about that:)

I am so proud to be a cheer mom to this little girl. She has come so far and has fought so hard to be where she is today! I am so proud of her!!!!

The last while.....

We have been sick since the week before Christmas so we haven't been doing much at all. Literally, we might have a couple days where everyone is healthy and then the next bug starts in someone. It has been so horrible and I am soooooo ready for everyone to be healthy again. The weather has been unusually warm and it is really giving me spring fever.

Here is Drake snuggling his favorite buddy on the couch.

Daphne loves the bathtub. She splashes and laughs and has so much fun! It is so cute!

Watch out... she is mobile!!!! Ahhhhh, I'm so not ready for this yet!

She LOVES to be held and snuggles so sweetly. Trevor loves their late night snuggle fests. It melts my heart!

My uncle David turned 61! David moved in with my mom and Leonard this summer and they are taking care of him now since it is too hard for my grandparents. I really admire my mom. I often times wonder if Laynie will live with Trevor and I forever and it is a really big stress for me to think about who would take care of her if something were to happen to us. So I can only imagine the gratitude and relief my grandparents feel! We had a little bday party for him and he was sure a happy guy.

Laynie loves her cheerleading! She actually does a really great job. She has her first performance next week at a middle school half time. And then she has her first real performance/competition at the end of the month. I can't wait to watch!

She can stand up to things now!

Do you think she has enough blanket and stuffed animals???

Laynie's new nickname is the "Hall Monitor" because her whole day is now consumed with monitoring Daphne. I feel really bad because it is actually a BIG stress for Laynie. She watches and follows Daphne EVERYWHERE she goes. She is okay if Daphne touches anything baby related, but other than that she comes UNGLUED if she touches anything else (a toy, the chair, phone, etc...) Ever since Daphne started moving Laynie has been struggling. It is really sad, and I just don't know what to do???!!!! Laynie sure loves her though:)

And I love this girl so much!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was 4 years ago on Feb 7th that Laynie got her cleft lip repaired. I like to look back at these pictures every once in awhile to remember that cute face!!! Her surgeon did an amazing job. I think she looks so great!

Daphne 8 months

8 months old and so cute and fun!!!! We love you like crazy Daphne.

You are crawling everywhere. You still don't love solid foods but you are doing a little better. Your sleeping habits are the worst in the whole wide world! You are snuggly and so lovable and kissable. You are sooooo loved!!!! Happy 8 months old baby girl!

Drake update

This little dude is growing into such a wonderful boy. I love how he is growing into someone I can chat to, joke with, and play games with. He is one serious kid. There is no fooling around for this boy. He does great in everything he does. He is very smart in school. And he is awesome at all the sports and activities he does. He LOVES to go skiing with his dad and Trevor says he is so good. I really want to go up and watch this year sometime. He is also great at soccer and basketball. He has improved so much in basketball this season and it is awesome to watch.

He has a heart of gold, he is so sweet and very kind to others. He loves McDonalds, his new Nintendo DS, playing chess, running around the house like Flash, hanging with his best buddies, talking superhero lingo with his dad, playing legos, and hanging with his dad. He is crazy good with numbers and dates. Today he told me that his birthday was on a Thursday this year. I haven't even checked yet to see if he is right, but I am sure he is. It's weird watching your first baby become a boy instead of a little boy! At the end of most days I wish I gave Drake more attention. His sisters are both pretty needy! Thank you Drake for being patient with me and always telling me how much you love me. I love you more though!

 

I heard you’re the sibling to a child with special needs, and I wanted to write you a letter explaining why you have a one-up on life. I know your life might seem hard or different from your friends, but trust me, you most definitely will be more prepared for this life than anyone else. Let me explain…

Laynie bug update

Our Little Laynie bug is becoming a big girl. Some days I look at her and I seriously just can't believe how far she has come and how big she is. She is such a sweet girl.
We are really starting to see the communication gap and it kills us. We really need to learn more sign language. It's so hard teaching yourself a new language. I counted the other day and she has over 120 signs, but that's just not enough. She is starting to mimic or say words. Some of the sounds she makes are similar to the word, but not quite there.... for example, she says "haaa" for hot. Other words that she sort of says is MOM (yay, I can't tell you how excited this made me!!!!), owe, and no. This gives us a lot of hope that someday she might be able to speak! She also points at her ear when she hears something new and asks what it is! It is great that she is recognizing so many new sounds. Her next surgery will be this spring/summer. I am dreading it so incredibly bad. It will be the rest of her soft palate and her hard palate. It won't be a fun one!

Something inside this girl can just light up a room. I feel so lucky to be her mom. I often times wonder why I lucked out to get a real life angel in my home:)

The jealousy has started and it is getting BAD! The more things Daphne plays with and the more mobile she is getting, the worse the jealousy gets. Laynie makes sure Daphne doesn't touch ANYTHING that isn't hers. She will run over and yank it away and sign whoever name it belongs to. It was funny at first, but it's getting pretty bad! Laynie is going to come UNGLUED when Daphne started to crawl (which is any day now). Literally, Laynie will be consumed by following her, telling on her, and making sure she doesn't touch anything other than a baby toy. It should be a fun time:)

School is going well. She LOVES to go to school and is learning a lot. She lights up when she comes home from school and shows me all her stuff that she made. Her interpreter is really helpful to her and she sometimes will watch him and sometimes she won't want anything to do with him. She actually SAYS no to him quite a bit!

I sure love these tight hugs!!!

She has had pneumonia this week. It is her 7th time fighting pneumonia. That just makes me mad, sad, and scared. How much can her little lungs handle? She is only 4 years old. I am 28 and I have never had pneumonia. This girl is a fighter and the MOST amazing person I know. I wish so bad I could take her place. Even though she is so sick, she still walks around with a smile on her face all day long. Sickness has been terrible at our house this year. It has been a really hard week! Please leave us alone germs!!!

7 months

This munchkin is 7 months old....

She is so close to crawling. I think I am excited for her to crawl so she will be happier and not want to be held so much. But, it's been awhile since I've had a little crawling mischief maker around the house, so I'm a little frightened:)

She has 2 bottom teeth and the top two are going to be coming in soon! She still doesn't like to eat solid foods. We try baby food or purees every day but she is NOT interested.

Sometimes I want to eat her for breakfast because she is just SOOOOO yummy! I love her so, soooo much! She is a big momma's girl and I LOVE it!

She has stranger danger and gives strangers the stare down. It's kinda cute! Her brother and sister love her, but a really intense jealously has taken over Laynie lately. It took a long time to set in, but the jealousy is here and it's getting worse and worse. haha

We love watching you grow Daphne.... and you are loved so much! xoxo

2014 year in review

Here are some of my favorite pictures and happenings from 2014. It was a year of good health, a new baby, a new house, fun with family and friends, and a few challenges. We are ready for a new year. Bring it on 2015!!!!

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

Christmas 2014

Christmas came and went way too fast. It was magical like always. Our kids are really getting to a FUN age during the Holiday season:)
I did a lot of shopping online this year, which I have never done before. Life is really busy and Daphne makes it hard for me leave for very long, so online shopping was really nice.
Drake and I caught the flu the week before Christmas and we were sooo sick:( I'm not sure how no one else caught it, but I am pretty happy they didn't!

My girls are the CUTEST snow girls!!! Love them sooooo much!

This was Christmas Eve. We were headed over the Grandma Debbie and Papa Leo's house. We spent Christmas Eve with my family and Christmas Day with Trevor's family!

Daphne helping mommy wrap presents on Christmas Eve. She loved all the ribbon and chewing on every present to make sure it tasted okay!

I sure love my hubby!

Drake and Grandma Debbie

Drake was quite excited to find out if Santa visited our house!!!! Good thing he was a good boy this year!

This little lady was awake from 1-5am so she wasn't ready to wake up at 5:45am when Drake woke up. haha We let Drake open up his big Santa gift... a Nintendo DS and then we made him wait until 8 then we woke up miss party animal for the rest of the presents!!!

Once she woke up, she was excited to see what Santa brought her:)

We had a wonderful time at Trevor's parents all day on Christmas day, but I didn't get any pictures. It was such a wonderful Christmas and we are so grateful for our Savior and for all our family and friends! Merry Christmas everyone!