Christmas

Ever since I started my 365 blog, I feel like I have neglected this place when it comes to pictures. So many of my pictures are taken just to get that one picture a day in, and I just don't take as many photos. I am especially hesitant to take pictures because the flash is always on (yuck and boo for dark winter) and my house is always a big mess. So, just because, here are finally a few pictures from Christmas. I will spare you the pictures of poor Thea's forehead after she fell and grew a golf ball sized goose egg.

when will winter end?

I am so ready for spring to get here, I can't even express how much I hate winter...snow be gone!
I haven't written in a while because our computer was out of operation, and we finally got everything fixed this weekend.
Leila has been doing some really cute things lately :) She makes this face that I call her frog face. She sticks her tongue out and sucks it back in over and over. She smiles and knows how cute she is!
She has a little car that you can adjust to stand up so that she can hold on to it and walk. She has mastered this now, and pushes her way around the house.
She is eating all grown up foods these days and she loves to feed herself.
We also experienced our first baby injury this weekend. Leila has a little bit of a black eye that she got while playing with her pan on the living room floor. It looks pretty sad, but she got over it fast.

Here are some pictures of our princess :)

She is 10 months old, came across a pacifier in her toy box and NOW decides that she likes to suck on them!


Leila loves her dog Zoey...she especially likes to harass her while she is lounging around by pulling on her tags. Zoey takes it like a champ!



We made a trip to Champaign last week and Uncle Evan bribed Leila to hang out with him by giving her his watch.



Fettuccine Alfredo is good!


The Coobs family hanging out!


Much love from the Coobs family, Stay warm! Spring is just around the corner!!!

Picture time!

Daddy had just gotten back from his trip to Orlando, and he brought along a friend for Leila


Leila hanging out with Aunt Andrea and Uncle Steve


Just because she is cute

Welcome to Single Motherhood

Cory is out of town this week, so I am testing out single parenting...I think I am going to try to keep him around I have decided.
While Cory is hanging out at Walt Disney World for a "conference" Leila and I are freezing our butt's off in Iowa. We had a snow storm today and the snow has been blowing all day. This is when it would be nice to have Cory around to scoop the snow...oh well I guess, I have just learned to accelerate very strongly as a pull out of the garage, and hope for the best! :)
Cory will be back on Thursday evening and we can't wait.

In other news, we got a new camera, so I am going to post some new pictures. Leila is standing and walking along the furniture like an old pro... she will be walking in no time!

Here is Leila making faces at Zoey while she is stuck out on the deck in the cold


Here is Leila showing us how big she is


And Leila hoping to get her turn to check out the new camera

9 Month Pictures!

snow :(

It is January 15th and we have finally gotten our first snow storm of the year. I can't say that I am excited about it, I hate snow. Cory and I both have today off of work for MLK Day, so we have spent it hanging out at home, doing laundry and using our new vacuum cleaner.

Leila's sleeping habits have really improved lately. We have to give a lot of the credit Marla, Leila's babysitter. She has been working with her at nap times, and she lets her cry...something that I have had a hard time doing, though I think it is necessary. Today Leila took a two hour nap, in her crib. Yes, in the crib! AND last `night she slept 8 hours, in her crib. Shocking I know. We are almost there and it is beautiful, now if only she would do this long enough for me to get used to it and actually sleep through the night instead of waking up and wondering what she is up to.

I have been planning to update and kept forgetting since new years. New Years Eve we drove back from Tabor through a snow storm (no fun). When we got home we hosted a small get together with some friends. It was nice to have people to hang out with at home since it really isn't cool to bring your baby to the bar with you. Here is a picture of Leila and her friend Bryce hanging out on the kiddie couch on New Years Day.



Here are a few other pictures since it has been a while...

Here is proof that we really needed the baby gate :)



Here is Leila sitting on the car that Great Grandma and Grandpa Howard got her for Christmas...I think this is her favorite new toy!


And here is Leila giving mommy a kiss...one of her new tricks.

Leila's First Christmas

Just a quick update to put down some thoughts about Leila's First Christmas...Everything went really well. Leila did great considering that she was low on sleep and high on activity!
Christmas Eve both mine and Cory's families came over for some snacks before we all headed off to church. Church was very good, as it always is on Christmas Eve...a wonderful service to really pull to the front of your mind the reason for the celebration. Leila got some great toys and clothes from Cory's parents and sister Donna and was off to bed at about 9:30...an hour and a half past her normal bed time. Christmas morning came and after breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa Coobs we all headed off to Lowden for our Howard family Christmas morning, where Leila got a bunch more toys and clothes and spent the day getting constant attention from her loving family. Here are some pictures from the events...

Me, Cory and Leila before Church


Leila's special gift from Grandpa Howard...a homemade rocking horse!


Leila taking a Christmas snooze with her new train under the Christmas tree


And last but not least...Leila in her Christmas outfit from Aunt Donna, sitting in her new kiddie couch.

Grandpa Ed's Birthday Party

Saturday afternoon we celebrated Grandpa Ed's 70th birthday at Biaggi's in Cedar Rapids. Leila had sent out an invitation to all of her Aunts and Uncles on Cory's side of the family and we had reserved a private room in the restaurant.
Cory's brother Evan and family weren't able to make it because of the weather, but the rest of us had a really good time. Leila looked so cute in her little teal velvet dress.
For the first time as parents, we forgot to bring the diaper bag with us...it was one of those days when I was very thankful to still be nursing so we didn't have to worry about what to feed Leila, and we lucked out and didn't have to change a diaper in the couple of hours we were out, or we would have had to run to K-mart.
Leila behaved really well and was very good about being passed around to everyone in attendance. We think that Grandpa had a good birthday, and it was really nice to get together with the family, since we had spent Thanksgiving with my side of the family this year.

Not only did we forget the diaper bag, but we also forgot the camera and the camcorder. Here are a few of the not great quality pictures that we were able to get with our camera phones.

Here is a picture of some of the party attendees...


Here is Leila with Aunt Donna and Uncle Chuck...Chuck is reading her hand puppet book to her :)


here is Leila with her Grandma Sandi


Last but not Least, Leila and the Birthday boy! :)

Here are some recent pictures

Here is Leila sporting her poncho...made by myself, Andrea and Mom


Here is Leila hanging out in her jammies


Leila and her Buddy Bryce. He is 13 months old and the son of our friends Matt and Cindy Weber.



Here is my project from this afternoon...a taggie blanket for Leila


And a couple of Leila's 6 month photos.

I am not going to open my mouth.

Her favorite book...both fun to read and delicious

Leila enjoying her bath

6 months!

Today is the day, Leila is six months old! Leila and daddy are following their normal weekend routine so far this morning...I took a picture in case you are interested :)



I on the other hand, can't seem to sleep past 7:30 in spite of the fact that I am still getting up to feed Leila three times a night. :( Oh well I guess, this does give me some time to get things done without having to worry about what Leila has gotten into. She is a rolling machine these days! When we lay her down on the floor it is only a matter of seconds and she has rolled herself across the carpet to the other side of the room. It is very exciting to get to see her gain some independence, but it is also very scary!
When Leila and Daddy get up, we are going to rent a carpet cleaner, since we can no longer contain our girl on a dog hair free blanket. This past week we installed our baby gate. Since our house is a split level we had to get a wall mounted gate for the top of the stairs. So far it hasn't been a problem for anyone but Zoey...that is just one more new thing that she will have to adapt to...and I must say that so far Zoey has been a very good doggie with a baby in the house...fingers crossed!
Last night Leila had a friend over to play. My friend Amanda and her husband Bryan and daughter Lilly were over for dinner. Lilly is a sweet little peanut, and in this picture you can tell that Leila was very interested in her...that is my arm holding her back from clawing Lilly's eyes out...and Lilly just took it like a champ, such a calm little girl. :)



What else is new in the world of Leila...
We recently tried out green beans...they didn't go over so well, but we continue to force Leila to eat them, in the hopes that she will learn to like veggies. I think maybe I should start force feeding veggies to Cory and I too so Leila doesn't feel left out.
Well I think I had better get ready to clean my carpet...I am saving my pennies so I can afford to replace all of this carpet with a nice laminate floor...I am getting very tired of the dog hair and stains...well I hope you enjoy the pictures, here are a few more.

This is Leila and her friend Elmo...Leila wasn't sure about Elmo the first time she met him..he kept shaking and making this giggle noise that made her cry, but now that she is older and braver, Elmo doesn't seem so bad.



Here is Leila showing us her favorite sleeping position...yes she is 6 months old and still sleeps in our room in the cosleeper...I can't quite let her move out yet...but she doesn't seem to mind the lack of space, since she curls up in a ball as it is. :)



Here is a picture of Leila and Mommy, don't ask about my hair...I live my life in a constant tired state...but doesn't my girl look beautiful?!?!



And last but not least...here is the Coobs family at Leila's first Hawkeye tailgate...there is nothing like this cute little face to look at to soften the blow of a disappointing football season. Go Hawks!