This month has been a bit on the insane side, so I want to post some of the fun, cute things that have also happened this month. And of course this all about Kayla because she is what makes life so cute and fun.
First, we got Kayla a new bed. It's a bit on the princess side, but since she's my little princess, I love it for her. The best part is that she seems to love it, too.
I found a blue comforter for the bed that works great! It's actually one I already own but flipped over. We put all of her stuffed animals at the end of the bed (since she only takes up about 1/3 of the space), but they've slowly gravitated towards her side. She now sleeps with them all around her, and I think she is perfectly happy that way.
I think the best part of this bed is that it's so versatile. It's supposed to be a princess carriage, but since it's metal, you can interpret it to be just a bunch of swirls. We're planning on making this room an under-the-sea theme, hence the blue tulle (from my wedding!) and the blue comforter. We'll eventually bring Amanda over and she'll help us put fish on the walls. We'll see how long it'll take us for that to happen.
My Little Miss is turning into an independent little toddler. She likes to do things herself.
Like drive.
Read books.
And wash her own hands and feet.
Sometimes she'll let me do her hair but most of the time when I ask, she says no. And because of this, her hair kept getting in her face. So I had to cut the bangs. This was my first time, and I think I did a pretty good job!
Every once and a while it'll look like this: (nice and even)
But most of the time, she's running around and messing with her hair, so it'll look like this: (less nice and even). But it's still the same cut!
And when she's super nice (and mostly distracted) she'll let me put it up. She's watching one of her favorite movies, Monsters Inc., on the computer and playing with the other hair clips.
She's my sweet girl, and I'm so happy I have her in my life. She certainly makes it interesting! She's been so cute saying "please" and "thank you" without my prompting her to, and she's a big advocate of sharing (when she wants to anyway.) If she has something, she feels like you have to have it too and visa verse. Most of the time, it's super cute. I love it!
She helps me get my exercise by wanting to go to the park almost every day. Her favorite thing there are the swings, so I get more exercise pushing her. This last trip she decided to play with them a little differently.
She's trying to do the underdog trick I do when she's in the swing. That's why she goes back and forth with it, counts, and then runs away from the swing to run back to it. I love how she gets distracted by every little thing, but when she remembers, she gets right back to the fun she was having before. It's amazing watching her development.
I love her so much. She's such a blessing in our lives. She loves her friends and family. She loves talking to her grandmas on the phone and Skyping with both sets of grandparents. I love that Brandon has the opportunity to stay home with her in the mornings so she can get to know him (she's totally a Daddy's girl). I love that we get to be a forever family.
The end of August was a whirlwind of activity, I'm not quite sure if we got a chance to breathe or not. Besides all the craziness Brandon usually does for film, he also wanted to host a neighborhood BBQ on the 31st. He didn't just want to do a lunch or dinner BBQ, oh no, he wanted to do BOTH! A friend from the ward provided the meat for dinner and we did hamburgers and hotdogs for lunch. It turned into an all-day event. The turn-out was good and we had a lot of fun times. But the craziness didn't stop there. Brandon had the crazy idea to set up Rock Band in the back yard so we could play when the sun went down. We had a surprising number of people stay so they could do that. I'm glad it turned out, but I'm sorry for all the neighbors who wanted sleep that night...I had fun, but I'm glad it's over (until next time).
On top of all that planning for the BBQ, I was planning with Katherine for our annual HoBo birthday party for the twins (Kayla and Amy) the next day (Sept 1). We decided to do lasagna and french bread and have family bring side dishes. I think it turned out really yummy. I was so full I almost didn't have room for the amazing cake Katherine and I made! It was Katherine's idea to do a flower, and we both thought doing cupcakes would work really well. I think it turned out fantastic!
Katherine bought the dresses so they could match. So cute!
If you want to see more super cute pictures, Katherine put some up on Facebook. I just love these girls so much!
Yesterday was Labor Day, so Brandon and I were both off work. We decided to go to his grandparent's place and swim in their pool. Once she got used to the water, she had a lot of fun playing in it. Eventually I'm going to teach her how to swim; then she'll be our little fish.
Grandma and Grandpa had some friends over, and they brought their new puppy. She was so friendly! She came right up to us and started sniffing and licking us. (The licking may be due to the salt water from the pool). Kayla instantly fell in love with her.
In addition to this crazy, fun weekend, Brandon got a new calling in our Ward. He's the new Elder's Quorum President. It's the same calling that gave Brandon's dad his peppery hair. I think it's a very selfless calling. Brandon will be fantastic. I think it's going to give us a lot of opportunities to serve and love our neighbors more. Brandon's charitable nature has already blessed our family, and I think this will open up the windows of Heaven and bless our lives even more.
