New Friends

I am unbelievably thankful for our new neighbors, and for the friends they've become of ours in such a short time.

Somehow I don't have any pictures of Eli and Declan together. He's the 2.5 year old that lives directly beside us. Our two families spend a lot of time together in the evening and on weekends. The boys have so much fun together! Eli talks about Declan ALL day everyday. His day starts and ends with, "can I go play with Declan?" and "is Declan home?" 

Jacob (7) and Kady (6) live about 5 houses down, and spend hours each day playing with our two. They go back and forth between our house and theirs, and play SO well together. 

 Last night was spent running through sprinklers and jumping in puddles. It was hard to say no, considering it was 100 degrees out!

 Kady is my little helper. She loves playing with Layla, and is always wanting to help me with her. 

Layla is so smitten with Jacob. Every time we pull in the driveway, she says "Jacob house!" 

There's nothing better than sweet neighborhood friends to grow up with. 

Kid's Say the Darndest Things!

It's no secret that Eli knows no stranger. He'll talk the ear right off of anyone willing to listen.

His imagination is wild, and he seems to retain everything that he hears. 

So, that leads us to our latest Eli story...

He's quite taken with our neighbors next door. Even if his best buddy Declan (almost 3) isn't outside, he's more than willing to go hang out with Declan's mom and dad and shoot the breeze in their garage. This past weekend, he was over playing, and persisted to tell Miss Beth (declan's mother) quite a mouthful. She assured me that there was no conversation that led up to this story. It simply came out of left field.

Eli: "My mommy and daddy were married, and then mommy had a baby in her belly. But now my mommy doesn't have a baby in her belly, and mommy and daddy aren't married anymore."

We have NO idea where this came from, but it sure gave us all a good laugh!!! I assured Beth that I was neither pregnant, or getting a divorce! :)

Layla Grace - 17 Months

I figured it was time for an update on the littlest Morgan. She's not such a baby anymore, although I think we'll always refer to her as our sister baby.

She's an absolute talking machine. She says far too many words these days to list them all, but I would like to mention that MAMA has finally made the list!

She knows most all of her animal sounds, and parts of the body.

She's a water baby, and has no fear. A dunk in the pool or tub doesn't faze her a bit.

She's a climber! Loves to stand on chairs, stairs, and anything she can find her way onto/into...

She's becoming more of a daddy's girl every day! Just this week, she started yelling 'daddy home!' when he walks in the door after work. She then follows him around repeating 'hi, daddy!' 

She absolutely adores Eli. She tells him 'Hi, Eli!' all day long. 

We're on the verge of dropping the morning nap. She's ready, I'm not!

She continues to love her bed. We all love watching her on the video monitor. She talks, sings, and loves on her babies.

She has 8 teeth that we can see, but she's been working on cutting molars this past month.

We're a bit independent these days, and go from calm to on the floor tantrums in no time flat. The girl knows how to send a message, that's for sure!

She loves to read. She will drag you by the hand up into her room, and tell you 'read!'

 Elmo has won her heart. She loves anything and everything Elmo.

She LOVES shoes. She spends a good part of her day trying to put her shoes on. She's mastered the crocs (her favorites), and sure tries her hardest on the others.

She is so happy at the beach.

She's starting to enjoy some meals at the 'big kid table' and does great! 

She's growing up so fast!

I'm so grateful that I get to watch her grow, and experience all of her "firsts." This is my absolute favorite age! 

The Sandbox

We are happy to have survived a week of non-stop rain. Not exactly a stay at home mother's ideal start to the summer! It did allow us to check some things off of our summer fun list though! We met some friends at the Sandbox children's museum to help burn off some indoor energy. 

Eli was far too busy for pictures, as usual.

This was Layla's first real visit, and she loved it!

My two share the Morgan love of all things construction!

And trains! 

Can't get enough of her cheese face! She makes this face and give you a big long cheeeese every time the camera comes out.

Up, down, up, down. She would've done this for hours!

Day at the museum. Check!

Eli at the Dentist

Eli had his first trip to the dentist this past week. After three months of rescheduled appointments, they were finally able to get us in. We had a GREAT experience, and my lover of all things doctor/dentist enjoyed every second of his visit! You never know how they'll react, but he was so calm, cooperative, and very interested in everything they did. 

He passed his check up with flying colors. No cavities! However, the poor guy has my mouth, and we were assured that he'll definitely need braces down the road. No surprise there.

He's already looking forward to his next visit. Maybe that has something to do with the mini movie theater  and game room in the waiting room, though. :)