My husband the hair dresser

I've been complaining for months about my gross dark hair which hasn't been cut or colored since before we moved (meaning almost a year- that's so awful)! Finally Paul had heard enough so he asked me how brave I felt. Then he suggested that we go to Walmart to get hair dye and then he would do the highlights. I was a little worried at first but he did a great job and it's so nice to feel like me again! I don't have a good before picture, but just imagine me with dark hair that always looks greasy and ugly- this is so much better!!

Paul also trimmed the back of Lyla's hair while I held her so she no longer has a mullet! Melaleuca better watch out- if they don't treat Paul well he may just leave to open his own salon. :)

Our early morning:

This is what we were doing this morning at 5: Ok, I guess it's hard to tell but we were wrapped up in blankets watching the super bowl. We didn't want to watch it on Sunday so Paul recorded it and we got up early to finish it before Paul had to go to work.

Don't we look lovely so early in the morning? :) I can't believe I used to get up that early or even earlier for work. My body has gone downhill in the last year- I definitely couldn't handle that anymore!

This picture was from a few months ago but I just found it. We went to Red Robin to celebrate Paul's b-day. Lyla started out in a high chair but before we could even order, she threw a fit until she ended up on our laps for the rest of the meal.

I just love my sweet little squirt! She is growing so fast and constantly changing. She can stand well on her own but hasn't yet had the desire to learn to walk. She loves to either cruise around the house with her speed crawl or she begs me to carry her everywhere until my back aches. She's a picky eater so I hide vegetables in her cereal and find creative ways to get her to get a little protein. It's also really hard to get her to drink milk now that she's switched to cow's milk. Her favorite activity is to sit on my lap in the rocker while I read to her and then if I get tired she turns through the pages of the books over and over. Her favorite time of day is when daddy comes home- she starts clapping her hands and gets a huge grin and screams with joy. So fun!



We took family pictures when Lyla turned 1:
This one's kinda crazy, but I especially love Lyla's eyes. So pretty!

My baby knows how to shimmy!!

Every Valentine's day, my mom gives us little stuffed animals from Hallmark that either sing or say funny things. Lyla loves to play with all four that we have gotten over the years. She sits and hugs them for hours and then has me hug them all. Her favorite is El Toro of Love- a funny red bull- and every time he starts talking, she does this little dance:

She is so hilarious- she's constantly making us laugh with her huge smiles and babbling and little tricks that she learns. She has so much energy, and I love hanging out with her!

Christmas & Wedding

I've been lazy lately and just haven't felt like blogging, but I guess I better post some pictures before it gets too far from Christmas. We had a great 2 1/2 week visit to Utah over Christmas and enjoyed joining in with my family's hectic lifestyle! :) We got there just in time to help with the last minute preparation before my brother Josh's wedding on December 21st. The wedding was in the Manti temple which was absolutely beautiful, especially with the 18 inches of snow that fell the night before the big day! Unfortunately the snow prevented some people from making it to the sealing, but luckily we all stayed in a little bed & breakfast the night before so we all made it. They are such a great couple- I know that they will be so happy together. I'm very excited to get to know Alisha more and to have her in our family!

Josh was so sweet and sang a song to Alisha at the wedding luncheon.

We had a pedicure so that we would have pretty glitter toes for the wedding! Of course no one saw them because it's winter, but we knew that they looked great! :)

After the wedding, we all relaxed a bit and got ready for Christmas. We had a little visit from Santa but Lyla was not extremely excited about that!

I especially loved the red lacy skirts that my mom got to go with Lyla and Kaitlyn's p.j.s.

A sleepy Lyla on Christmas morning

Clapping yay for her new toys after she finally woke up enough to care.

Grandma Rumsey gave her a band set- she loves to shake the rattle and the bell.

After Christmas, we were excited to escape the snow and freezing weather and go to California! It was nice and warm in Palm Desert and we loved the resort we stayed in. It was so nice to wear shorts again and to swim for hours everyday! Grandma stole Lyla for some bonding time:
I want to go back there- this winter has already been way too long! We had a great time being together and relaxing all week.

Playtime videos

Lyla loves to dance to the music that her toys play.

Paul started juggling the other night and Lyla loved it! She giggled and laughed and was entertained for so long!

Birthday Videos

We were so excited for Lyla to get her first real taste of chocolate on her birthday, so we made her a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. We were thinking she would just dive right in and love it, but it didn't go quite as planned...

Since she didn't seem to like the feel of frosting on her fingers, we tried another piece of cake without any frosting...

when that didn't work, we resorted to what we knew could never fail with her:

Here are videos of Lyla opening her presents and then playing with her puzzles. They are kinda long so don't feel pressure to watch them all!

My amazing friend Kjerstin sent Lyla the cutest gift ever! She made an apron, chef's hat, and two oven mitts that all match an apron Kjerstin made for me recently! They are so darling- pink and brown which of course I love, and Lyla already loves playing with them. I'm slowly making her some felt food (all with lots of help from Kjerstin who is the expert) and this gift goes perfectly!
We had to try our aprons on of course! And Lyla actually left the hat on for at least 10 seconds which is a record. Thank you Kjerst- I absolutely love the set and can't wait for you to come back up and play with us!!