Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Leila's Birthday Buddy

Sawyer Patrick Smith was born this afternoon around 4:15. On his big cousin Leila's 2nd Birthday. He is a beautiful little boy, I just couldn't get over how sweet his little features are! I didn't get any great pictures of him, my flash was just too bright, but I did get a few.
Leila loves "baby Sawyer" and when he cried she wanted to give him a blanket and make him all better. She was really excited to see him and she did great following the gentle rules.
Here is our new little family member!





Monday, April 21, 2008

Leila at 2

Tomorrow is Leila's 2nd Birthday. At 1:35 AM on April 22nd of 2006 Leila Brianne Coobs came into this world. When I was laboring in the hospital our nurses and doctor asked us if we knew what we were having. We said no, but that we felt like it was probably a boy. They asked us what we were going to name our child and we said that if it was a boy, we would have to wait and see him before we decided between two names. If it was a girl, we were going to name her Leila. When Leila entered this world the doctor held her up and said, "It's Leila!" I will never forget that moment.

I have been terrible about keeping a baby book. It is not at all a reflection of how much I love and adore my daughter, but I prefer to write things as they come to me, and share moments here on my blog. As Cory and I have discussed, we don't really care if we don't have a record of when each one of her teeth appeared, it is most important to us to remember her personality as she develops and to be able to tell her when she is grown about how proud of her we were when she did all of the actions to the wheels on the bus for us. In Honor of my baby's second birthday, here is a little bit about Leila as she is at 2.

Her Smarts-
Leila is definitely a smart kid, she can talk very clearly and she makes sentences of several words. Sometimes she gets her word order confused, but for the most part she is very good at getting her point across. "No Mommy, Leila do it."
She recognizes all of the letters in the alphabet, and they don't have to be in order, she really does know them. She can also recognize all of her numbers from 1-9. She can count, but she tends to forget number 4. When we are in the car I catch her sitting back there counting a lot.
She tries to sing the alphabet song, but she tends to skip big portions of it...still adorable though! She also knows all of her colors and likes to point things out to us and tell us what they color they are. When her daddy took her for a walk recently she saw a bird and she told him, "Look, a bird up in the sky!"
She loves to sing songs and has been singing happy birthday to one of her school friends all the time recently.

Her Moves-
Leila loves to dance, she does this really cute and funny shoulder shimmy move. She doesn't like to dance alone though, so she will bark out her orders when the music starts, "Daddy Dance! Mommy Dance!" So we dance, but it isn't nearly as cute as when Leila dances...though, if you try to tell her to dance, she will flat out tell you, "No." Leila makes the rules. Just recently she started doing summersaults. She does pretty good, sometimes she needs a little help to keep them straight, but she has been known to do it pretty well on her own too!
She is starting to use the potty chair pretty regularly. When we are at home, she almost never wets a diaper.
Her likes-
Leila loves to go outside. Spring in Iowa is tough on a little one, when one day we can go outside in a t shirt and play in the yard, and then next day the cold wind makes it a chore to go out even with a heavy coat on. We try to get out as much as we can. We like to take Leila on walks and to the park. We are very excited that we are getting a park in our neighborhood this summer so we can just walk to the playground! Her legs have recently gotten long enough to reach the pedals on her trike, though she of course expects mom or dad to push her still...pedaling must not be for princesses.
She likes to play with her balls and she will kick her soccer ball across the room and she likes to throw balls for Zoey to chase. She is definately a Leftie like her momma. :)

I could go on and on, and I may have to come back and add to this post, but I wanted to try to capture a snapshot of our lady for all of you readers. We really do feel so blessed beyond words.

Now it is picture overload!!!
First of all, Saturday night we went to the Grand March for my adorable sister Dani's senior Prom.
Leila loves Dani, as you can see.



Dani and her boyfriend Derek


Now on to the Birthday fun!!!

Looking at her Elmo cake with Aunt Andi


Elmo!


Opening gifts



Leila got some cool new shades, but I think her favorite gift would have to be her tea set!


Trying out the baby cradle that Grandpa Carey made for her


She was one tired girl after a napless day, so she took a time out in her cottage tent

I think she had a great time! :)

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Monday, April 14, 2008

One of those days...

This morning we dropped Leila off at daycare and when I crouched down to get my morning goodbye hug, Leila's wonderful soft baby cheek was pushed up against mine and it took every ounce of will power I had not to just scoop her up and turn around and leave. It is kind of embarrassing when your kid is trying to get away from your overbearing embrace so she can get to the playing already. I could sure use another one of those baby hugs right now.

On to phase 2 of today's update. Comic relief. So we have been working with Leila on manners. She is really good at "Please" and "You're welcome", and needs a little reminder for "Thank you" and "Excuse me". So this weekend Leila and I are hanging out and this conversation takes place:

Leila: Farts and says, "I farted"
Mommy: "What do you say?"
Leila: "You're welcome"

This is now officially an inside joke at our house. All burps and farts are promptly followed up with, "You're Welcome."

So much for teaching manners.

The Camera has been located. Stay tuned for a video of Leila multitasking as she somersaults in the living room without taking her eyes off of the TV.

Disclaimer: We really aren't terrible parents, even though our 2 year old daughter does know and use the word fart and watches Family Guy (It really was just once). Really, we aren't terrible parents. Really.

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Enough

I get a lot of junk email, I think we all do. This is something that I recently came across while wading through my inbox. It came attached to a heart warming story about saying goodbye. I didn't feel the need to put the whole story here in my blog, but if you want to see it, you can find it here: http://www.bobperks.com/wish.htm

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much
bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish enough "Hello's" to get you through the final "Goodbye."

This story and blessing made me ask myself the question: Do I have enough?

I am one lucky woman, I feel blessed everyday to wake up with my husband who I just know I was meant to be with and to get to peak over the edge of my daughter's crib to see her bright brown eyes looking up at me and a playful smile on her face.
My answer to that question: I have more than enough and I will always want more. In the words of my beautiful daughter when faced with the last cookie in the bag, "one more Mommy, please, just one more!" One more day with everyone I love around me. One more day of sunshine before the rain comes. One more.

I think we have probably all come to the point when God has cut us off of the cookies. Sometimes I have a hard time enjoying the cookie I have because I know it might be the last one. To me this poem, forwarded from a chain email, is a reminder to savor that cookie you have. So though I may be looking forward to my next home, my next car, the next big step for my family, I am reminded to thank God for all of the abundant blessings that I have right here. I have enough. I hope that you are able to ask yourself that same question and be lucky enough to share my answer.

Monday, April 07, 2008

Heard in our car this morning...

on the way to school.

Leila: "Hi Daddy"
Daddy: "Hi Leila"
Leila: "How doing Daddy?"
Daddy: "I am good, how are you Leila?"
Leila: "How doing Daddy?"
Daddy: "I am good, how are you Leila?"
Leila: "Good Daddy"

And then as we pulled up to Love-A-Lot, "Yay! School day!" I love that she loves school!

Thursday, April 03, 2008

Lost Camera :(

For those of you that have been checking in hoping to see updated pictures of little Leila I am sad to report that our camera is missing. I do have a couple of pictures to offer you that Aunt Dani took on Easter though. She also took one of her picking her nose, but I would consider it cruel to post such a thing, so here is our baby.