Laekin's 1

I'm not sure where the year went.  I keep looking at Laekin's newborn picture in her room and then at this big girl sitting on the floor grinning at me with all 4 teeth.  I love those days and I love these days!  It's just such a blessing to be a mama.

Laekin is a very busy girl.  She loves to crawl upstairs and explore Lucy and Brandt's rooms.  They are very good about letting her do that.  We try to block Laekin in the living room because she can go up the stairs, but she hasn't learned how to go down backwards yet.  So we block all the main areas off, which worked with Lucy and Brandt, but this stinker discovered the hole between the chair and end table very quickly and makes her break.  She has to crawl through the kitchen and around to the stairs, so we have about 1 minute and she is crawling back up the stairs again.  She is quite persistent too because we will pick her up, put her on the other side of the ottoman and she goes for her break out again.  What's funny is that she will pause at the bottom of the steps and wait for me to grab her up, or right when I am bending down to grab her, she will laugh and try to take off up the steps.  This girl of mine is crack-up!! 

Miss Laekin started cruising on her birthday, and every now and then she will be busy with something in her hand and stand on her own for a little bit.  I think she will be like Brandt and start walking around 14 months, but I guess we will see.

Laekin loves her Daddy...she says "Dada" all day long.  She will give him kisses and lay her head down on his shoulder for a while when he comes home from work  I will say "say, mama" and she will say "dada."  We have this conversation often throughout the day... I really think she likes teasing me.

Laekin loves butterfly kisses...she will giggle and then lean in for some more after she stops laughing.  She also loves the BIBLE, just like Brandt did.  We finish the song and she signs for more.  I love the way she signs more...she does it so carefully and with her 2 pointer fingers.  It's quite cute!!

Laekin loves to take her bows out of her hair...she will check the top of her head sometime to see if it is there, so she can take it out, even if she doesn't have one in. 

Laekin will be crawling across the floor and if it is carpet, she will all of a sudden lay her head down on the carpet to take a rest.  If you say something to her, she will pop her head up and flash you her smile.  She's just such a happy baby girl!

Brandt loves his Laekin...he's very protective of her.  He will lay across the steps and yell for me that Laekin is trying to get up the steps and I need to come quick.  When she wakes up from her naps, he always runs up there to give her toys and talk to her before I get her out of bed.  He is always giving her kisses and telling her that he loves her.  He takes his big brother job very seriously.

Lucy is very proud of her, and she loves to match Laekin.  She takes very good care of her, gives her a lot of kisses and hugs and always tells her that she loves her. 

Laekin has so many expressions...she just makes us laugh at all the faces she makes.  She loves music.  Whenever she hears music she starts moving and smiling. 

Laekin signs please, more, thank you and all done by herself now...well, thank you and please need reminding :)  I find signing so amazing at how they communicate with us.  She looks so pleased with herself when she does it. 

Laekin, we love you so much and have enjoyed this year with you!  You are loved by everyone you meet, and the Lord truly answers our prayers that you will bring joy to others each day.  We can't imagine life without you. 

Brandt's imagination

Last night I laid in bed with Brandt for quite a while because he was in such a talkative mood.  He started out by telling me that he and Daddy were going to build a tree house.  He was going to work on the roof and Daddy was going to work on the brick.  He said it was going to have a big round slide like the one at the North Pole (the amusement park in Colorado Springs that we were just at).  He then started talking about that he was glad that we didn't have tigers in the house, but he wished we had elephants in the backyard.  I wish I would have come and written it all down last night after I got up from laying with him because he talked non-stop for over a half hour before I told him he needed to go to sleep.  He's a funny boy with a great imagination.  He also told me that he was my buddy and gave me a kiss.  I love my boy!!

Crawling

Laekin started crawling on July 18th at my parents.  She's been on her hands and knees and pushing herself forward, or else army crawling, but she figured out how to move those hands and knees together.  So I told Mike that night since he was not with us.  Then the next night I was giving Laekin a bath and I had her lying on the bathmat while I was running the water, all of a sudden I looked down and she had pulled herself up and was looking into the tub.  I screamed, and she sat back down.  I told Mike that night and he said good grief, she's crawling one night and standing the next, what is she going to do tomorrow?  Thankfully, she hasn't done anymore milestones.  There's only so much a mama can take!!  She sure is a happy little girl.  Whenever you ask her a question, she just nods her head yes.  It's so cute.  We just keep asking questions to see it.  She also got her 3rd tooth while up in Wisconsin.  She's almost 11 months old.  Time is going by so quickly and each day she blesses us so much.  We're so thankful for our 3 precious gifts!!

Shooting

Brandt is a typical boy, he likes guns.  My Mom bought the kids a bunch of balloons while we were at their house.  Brandt took a really big one, tucked it under his arm, and said "mama, this is my gun, I shoot you."  I said, Brandt you don't shoot people, what should you shoot, and he said "animals."  So a little while later Lucy comes running through the kitchen and into the back hall and shuts the door.  Brandt comes running in and says, "where is sissy."  Grandma is pointing to the back hall, and Lucy is yelling "don't tell him where I am" like he can't hear her, but obviously he didn't pay attention because he went downstairs to look for her instead.  So Lucy comes in the kitchen, puts her hand on her hip and says "do you know why I didn't want Brandt to find me?"  We said no.  She said "because he said I was a bird and was trying to shoot me."  I just started laughing, which Lucy didn't like, but Brandt figured out a way to shoot his sissy and still just shoot animals.  Oh what a little boy!!

Surprise

While we were in Wisconsin this summer, Lucy told me one night that she had a surprise for me the next day.  I said, what is it, and she said, you just have to wait and see.  So, the next day came and I forgot about it and she never said anything.  A few days later, I found a note behind her pillow.  It was to the tooth fairy.  She said Dear Tooth fairy, I'm sorry that I do not have a tooth for you to day (then she circled to day and said it should be 1 work...love that she is correcting spelling).  Then she went on to ask the tooth fairy if she could pleeeese turn her into a fairy.  Lucy was by me when I was reading the letter.  I looked up at her and she had this disappointed look on her face and said, "that was your surprise."  I told her how happy I was that it didn't happen because fairies are so small and I would be afraid that I wouldn't be able to find her and then I couldn't hug and kiss her anymore.  It was so sweet that she thought she could be a fairy, and so sad as I thought about how disappointed she was that morning that she couldn't fly around the room and surprise me.

Lost tooth

Lucy lost her first tooth last week.  It came loose about a month ago while she was eating a bagel at Panera.  She got this scared look on her face, and when I asked her what was wrong she said her tooth made a funny sound when she took a bite.  I said, I bet your tooth just became loose.  She checked it and sure enough, it was loose.  She was so excited.  When the tooth was really loose, Mike said, I think I can just pull it out with the pliers.  Surprisingly, she agreed to it.  She laid in bed and Mike sat over her with the pliers.  I couldn't watch.  He pulled at it, but he was too nervous to pull hard and it hurt her a little and she was done with that.  Mike said, I should of just pulled hard, but I couldn't do it.  Anyhow, she was eating a hamburger last week, and she said this is really hard to eat with a loose tooth.  All of a sudden she said, mommy look... she was holding her little tooth out.  So now we have a sweet smile with a hole!  The night before she lost her tooth it stormed really bad, so Lucy said, I hope it doesn't rain tonight because the tooth fairy won't be able to fly here because her wings will get wet.  We put her tooth in a special pillow case that my Grandma had made for my sister and me.  It has a little pocket for the tooth, and thankfully it didn't rain and the tooth fairy made it.  Her new tooth has already started to pop up, and she has another loose one.  Crazy!!  Didn't she just get her teeth? :)

9 months old

Laekin is 9 months old.  She is learning things so quickly this month it seems.  She started clapping, signing more, saying mama, waving, dancing by rocking her bottom on the floor while holding her hands together, and now she is pulling her knees up under her. It won't be long until she is crawling.  I can't stop it, although I do try because I hold her a lot!  I love my Laekey. 

Brandt loves Laekin too.  It's so cute how he runs to be first to see her when she wakes up from naps.  He lays toys by her that she can play with.  He gives her kisses a lot and still talks to her in his high voice.  He really loves her.  It's such a blessing!!