17 months & Grandma's funeral

These are pictures we took when Lyla was 15 months. She is such a fun, happy girl and loves to go outside and ride her little bike even when it's only 30 degrees! We're still struggling to get her to eat more than toast and crackers, but we find ways to sneak in vegetables and protein.

My sweet Grandma passed away on April 16th when she was 93 years old. Although it was very hard to see her go, we are all excited for the reunions she's been having with loved ones and for her freedom from the earthly pains she suffered. Here is my family at the funeral although lyla was missing:

All of her grandchildren were there other than my brother Tyson who is on a mission.

The day before the funeral we had some fun Easter celebrations as a family. I'll have to post more pictures later when I get them from my mom. My sweet little girl:

She wasn't extremely interested in picking up the eggs but enjoyed being there with her cousins.

My new motto:

In Sunday school a few weeks ago the teacher said this little phrase that I think I'm going to adopt as my personal motto:



This life isn't the reward, it's the test


Sometimes I get so frustrated with daily life, the hard things I go through, and how tired I get. I guess I sometimes feel that life should be all happy and easy, but I need to remember that this is the time I am learning and being tested to see how I will handle different situations. I need to be better at facing stressful situations with faith and optimism instead of becoming a grumpy, negative person. We'll see how I can do at this as I get big and uncomfortable through the hot summer and then start the sleepless nights again with a sweet little newborn baby! :)

Updates

Here are some random pictures from the last several months- not really in any order.

We had a fun family play date at the mall when Lyla and I visited Utah in March. The kids loved going down the slide together!

Especially after a nap, Lyla just loves to sit while we rub her back and neck. She'll sit there not moving a muscle for up to 20 minutes some times. It's the only time she isn't running all over the house!

Happy girl!

Our family Valentine picture Since I looked gothic in the first picture, i made Paul take one that showed my pink skirt so you can tell I was festive that day.

We had a nice relaxing Valentine's weekend and the best part was the amazing breakfast Paul made! We bought an ebleskiver pan for our joint present and he made some with blueberry jam, some with strawberry, some with apple, and some plain. He also found really good blueberries and strawberries (my favorite but I rarely splurge on them time summer) to go with the flavered ebleskivers. So yummy! I was so excited to eat that I didn't take a picture til we were done.

Lyla has played with our neighbor, Chandler, several times although sometimes they fight more than they play. Here she is settled on a bean bag with all of the toys she is claiming (all of which belong to him of course)

She sees him start to come toward her:

Then she pushes him away. She's a feisty little thing, and she always surprises me with how strong she is!

In the end though they did have fun together.

Anytime I leave the refridgerator open for a minute, Lyla runs over and starts reaching for everything.

Apparently she found something yummy to taste... And you gotta love her tights. We're still wearing them all the time since she refuses to wear socks.

"Look Mom! I got it all by myself. Can I eat it?"

Lyla went with Paul to a BYU basketball game. They had fun together although she looks a little crazy in this picture...

Playing in a bouncy house- or actually sitting there and watching all of the kids climb past her.

Playing with her uncle Jared Hmm...is she trying to tell us something...? I guess we'll find out in a few weeks if she's right!

If it's a boy, should we name him Jimmer???

It's a legitimate question, but before I dive into some sports talk I'd better get down to the real news before Tiffany decides to delete this post :) So we're having our second baby! Right now the due date is October 6th and it will still be another 7 weeks before our Ultrasound will try to determine the gender. We're both so excited, and if Lyla understood when we told her, then she would have been excited too!

In much less exciting news, I've decided that I can become a fan of the NBA again. Since the Seattle Sonics Owner betrayed the city of Seattle (really the whole state of Washington) by taking the team to Oklahoma City, I banned the NBA from ever being watched in our home. I've decided that I will follow Jimmer Fredette and become a fan of whatever team drafts him (of course this excludes the team who shall not be named...). And for all of you doubters out there who think he won't be a contributer in the NBA.....Fredette about it.

How could you not love this happy, jam-covered face?

Dinosaur Play Mat

I found this darling easy craft online and decided to make it even though it's not the most girly thing ever.

It's a dinosaur play mat that kids can take in the car or to church with little dinosaur figures to play on. The instructions and some better pictures are here:

http://servingpinklemonade.blogspot.com/2010/06/dinosaur-play-mat.html

It was so incredibly easy- the hardest part was going out to buy wonder under because I didn't have any but the actual process of making it took about an hour. I'm thinking of making a few different scenes like a jungle scene or ocean scene but I'm not sure if I'm creative enough to do it on my own... if anyone is interested in sharing ideas for that let me know!! :)

First Steps!!

You never quite realize how much your child has grown until you see them next to other kids that are younger. We just got back from Utah last weekend where we got to spend time with family, especially the new addition to the Grossarth's! Madison is so cute, and we forgot how tiny babies are when they first arrive!

One of our favorite things about Lyla is her inquisitive personality. She loves exploring and figuring out how things work. Sometimes it means that she's getting into things she shouldn't, but how can you stay mad at such a cute face??? For Christmas we got Rock Band, and for Valentine's day we brought it out to play/sing some love songs. Afterwards we just played around for a bit and Lyla decided to join in on the fun with Mommy!

A few weeks ago Lyla surprised us by taking her first few steps! Paul had taken her out of church because she was getting a little fussy, and when he set her down in an empty classroom she began walking over to one of the chairs! When we got home we quickly set up one of her favorite toys ("Sweet Talkin' Pup" from Hallmark) on the couch and set her loose. She was a little wobbly, but we were so excited! She's gotten a lot better since then, but still prefers to crawl. Right now that's the fastest mode of transportation besides Mommy and Daddy's arms :-)