Sorry

I am officially the very worst blogger on the internet. Not only do I rarely include any substance in my entries, but I am now also slacking on my picture entries.
Life has been busy, Work is work. Cory has been traveling fairly frequently all year and my job has presented me some personal challenges that have taken a lot of energy to deal with.
Leila is doing wonderfully, she is growing so much and changing everyday. She keeps coming up with new ways to express herself. She has lots of words and she also does lots of sign language. She picks up on things so quickly that Cory and I are constantly amazed.
She loves to carry the phone around with her and say "allo? allo?" Ever since she started walking she has been unstoppable when it comes to getting into things. She loves to empty out the cabinets in the kitchen and climb under the computer desk and shut off the surge protector. She can be so frustrating and yet so freaking adorable all at the same time!
Leila loves animals and every time she sees a dog or a cat she is sure to point them out to us. At the mall there is a pet store where there are tons of cats in the windows...I think Leila could stay there all day, running in front of the windows and laughing at the kitties.
She especially loves her dog Zoey. When Zoey gets worked up and runs around the house Leila just laughs and laughs, it is so cute to see them playing together.

For the last few weeks my sister Andrea and her husband Steve have been staying with us while they wait for the closing date on their house. It has been a fun time so far, Leila loves the extra attention and I love having someone else to share the cooking with! Everyone thinks we are going to end up at each other's throats, but I don't think people realize how much time we spent together before they were living in our house. I was a little nervous that it was going to be like living in a frat house with Cory and Steve playing video games all the time, but so far that has not been the case at all, though Cory did buy himself an enormous TV and has an xbox 360 next on his shopping list, so things are bound to go downhill.

We are constantly being challenged with daycare issues it seems and we have yet another big change coming up. We have always been happy with our care providers, but unfortunately, with our first babysitter she was planning to move away and we needed to switch. When we found our current provider in April we were very excited to have found yet another wonderful care provider. Unfortunately for us her life is taking her in a different direction and she will be moving out of state and retiring at the end of this month. I hate to have to transition Leila yet again to an other's care. It makes being a working mom even more of a challenge, but that is a post in its own. I decided that things happen for a reason and even though Leila was only with this babysitter for a few months, there is a reason she came into our lives and we are doing the best we can to help her get ready for her big move.
Which brings me to the latest change for Leila...starting in September she will be attending a daycare center. From the time that we knew we were going to have to find childcare I did not want to send her to a center. I had the idea in my mind that they were impersonal baby factories. Well, after dealing with the uncertainty of an in home provider we decided to check out centers. We visited a couple of them and we were very impressed with Leila's new school...She will have less kids per adult at the center and lots of different activities to stimulate her little mind. The center offers structure and contact with kids her own age. Hopefully the center will add some stability and we won't have to transition her again until she starts school. I am very hopeful about the change and I feel like we are doing the right thing. Parenting is a hard and expensive job but the perks are amazing!

And now for the pictures....

Leila playing in the pool


Yeah, she pretty much spent the whole summer in a diaper


Her new favorite hang out


hanging out with mommy


and these last three at with Grandma and Grandpa Coobs at a 50th wedding anniversary celebration for Cory's Aunt and Uncle




I also have a cute video if I can ever get it to upload. Hope you all have gotten your fix, sorry it is has been so long.