six month favorites

Hey guys! Today is the first day all week I'm not having to nap with my kids during nap time (hallelujah!) so I'm excited to share this post I've been working on with you. Lyla's first tooth that I feel like she has been working on for the better part of 3 weeks now finally popped through yesterday (poor girl!!) and she slept sooo much better last night and is back to her smiley self today. It makes me so happy! 

Speaking of teething ... just wanted to share some of the things we have been loving with 6 month old Lyla for teething, solids, and sleep! 

carrot & reddish teethers | teething mit | bumbo seat | spoons | jammies

| f o r   t e e t h i n g |

Lyla is constantly chewing on her fingers and toes unless she has a teething toy in her hands. Her favorites so far have been this carrot/raddish teether set and this teething mit that we got her for Valentine's Day. I love that the teething mit can be velcroed around her wrist so that she isn't constantly dropping it like she does with her toys.

| f o r   s o l i d s | 

We have LOVED having a bumbo seat for Lyla! Not only does she love being able to sit up and look around before she could on her own but it has also served as the best place to feed her solids in. We also got the tray to go with it. It is easily removable and has been great for encouraging baby led weaning with things like banana and avocado. We didn't have a bumbo seat with Liam and it made feeding him an absolute mess for the both of us until he was big enough that he could sit in a highchair on his own. Another favorite, these spoons! They turn white if the temperature of the food is too hot for baby. Love them!

| f o r   s l e e p i n g | 

When Lyla is ready to go to bed she LETS.ME.KNOW.IT. So much kicking/thrashing and these zipper jammies have been a lifesaver this time around. Liam was never like that and so I loved the snap jammies because I didn't have to undress him 80% of the way to change his bum in the night but it has been impossible to button Lyla's pajamas when she kicks like that. One zip with these bad boys and we're good to go! I love that they come in several different cute colors (love these strawberry ones I got for her too) and they have fold over mittens for younger babies who scratch their face.

And I'll leave you with these baby blues (alllll the heart eyes!) ... Happy Easter weekend! XO

six months | letter to lyla

s i x   m o n t h s   o l d

18 lbs. 2 oz. (75th percentile)
25 in. (25th percentile)

| LOVES |

Rolling over.
Being on her tummy or standing.
Bouncer.
Grabbing on to everything.
Cow toy and carrot teether.
Nursing.
Liam.
Smiling.

| HATES |

Shoes.
Hats.
Solids.
Being alone.
Naps.

| DEVELOPMENT // GROWTH |

Lyla hit SO many milestones this month ... her latest being sitting up on her own! She has become so much more mobile ... rolling around everywhere and has started getting up on her hands and knees for a second or two at a time. She rotates herself around in circles while on her tummy and it is the cutest thing ever. She chews and sucks on her fingers and toes constantly and has all of a sudden been grabbing everything in sight. Lyla is wearing 6-12 month clothes, size 3 diapers, and 0-3 month shoes (#tinyfeet!). Her bald patch is finally starting to grow back in and her hair is still a really pretty reddish brown color like mine was when I was a baby. So far her eyes look like they will be blue and she is taking after her daddy in head size (haha), 45 cm., 95th percentile. 

| SLEEP |

Lyla sleeps on her tummy now with her knees tucked and her bum in the air. Cutest thing ever!!! Her longest stretch of sleep at night has been 9 hours (it only happened once when she didn't nap all day) but for the most part, she still wakes up once in the night to nurse. Despite my sleep training efforts, she will only take one nap during the day. It is anywhere from 2 to 3 hours. The timing of that nap is different depending on the day but if she wakes up any earlier than 4 in the afternoon than it is a struggle getting her to make it to bed time. She goes to bed at 7 pm, wakes up between 2-3 am to nurse, and sleeps until 7:30 am or so. 

| EAT |

Over the course of the last month Lyla tried oatmeal, apple sauce, banana, blueberries, avocado, peas, green beans, and broccoli. Due to continued acid reflux problems, a few nights of throwing up, no longer wanting to eat when it is offered, and a rash on her face, our pediatrician has recommended we wait another month or so before beginning solids again. At this age, spitting up should be dying down but she still struggles with it so right now she is strictly nursing. She doesn't have any teeth yet and still has her gum cyst (but it is smaller). Besides when she was sick with a cold for about a week and half this month, she is only waking up once in the night to nurse. She nurses every 2-3 hours during the day.

Dear Lyla,

I can't believe we are halfway to your first birthday. You are getting so big and so much more mobile. It is only slightly freaking me out to think of the shenanigans you and your brother could get into any time I turn around for 2 seconds. haha Speaking of Liam, he is still your very favorite person. You could watch him play all day long and are mesmerized by everything he does. He can do almost anything to make you giggle and he adores you right back. You are the first person he asks to go see in the morning and is disappointed whenever you are still sleeping. You have the most shrill scream we've all ever heard and it makes Liam cover his ears. haha Any time we lay you on the ground you roll over 10 times within a minute or two and find yourself on a completely different side of the room! I cherish every nursing moment when it is just the two of us and I can carry you asleep in my arms. You started tucking in your bottom lip and doing this closed mouth smile that is equally as heart melting as your big grin is. A few weeks ago, you were sitting with me at the kitchen table while I was eating my breakfast and side swiped my water glass while I was taking a drink. It spilled all over the two of us. haha You've been grabbing onto everything in sight eve since! You are really loving your toys, especially teethers that can easily be chewed on. I'm looking forward to the day when you will sleep through the night but I cherish those quiet moments with you too. We celebrated your first Valentine's Day and I couldn't resist not covering you in kisses. Nothing new though, kissing your neck rolls is my favorite! We adore you so so much!! Happy Half Birthday baby girl!
Love, Momma

| SIX MONTH PICTURES |

Lyla's first Valentine's Day ...

Yummiest little tootsies ...

Practicing her new trick, sitting up!

Any time I take a picture of Lyla, Liam wants to be in the picture with her too. It's adorable!

I love her I love her I love her I love her I love her ...

That belly!!!

The way she looks at him ...

this is us

It's not very often that I get a picture of the four of us together but it always mean so much to me when I do. A little glimpse of our family at this very moment because heaven knows, life moves faster than we can even imagine and our babies grow bigger every single day. So in an effort to capture pictures of the four of us more often and to remember the sweet and silly things about each of us at every stage together, I'm starting a new series called "This is Us"... 

L Y L A 

s i x   m o n t h s

Is as stubborn and sweet as they come! She started doing this closed mouth smile that is equally as heart melting as her wide open one. She has no interest in learning how to sit up when she can dig in her heals and someone will help her stand, her favorite way to see the world around her. She loves nursing more than solids and wants very little to do with sleeping, especially through the night.  

L I A M 

t h r e e   a n d   a   h a l f

Is talking up a storm and beginning to ask questions about everything! He has an internal alarm clock that wakes him at 6:45 every morning but every other day or so he'll patiently wait for his "OK to wake" alarm clock to turn green so that he can have is beloved donut reward. He is starting to fight nap time more and more lately but when he does fall asleep he has to be woken up or he'll nap for a good 3 hours. He begs to watch Blippi and is obsessed with transformer toys. His favorite thing about preschool is snack time. ;)

N I C

r o c k i n '   t h i r t y

Is as incredible of a dad and husband as they come. He gets home from a long day of work and doesn't hesitate to fold the pile of laundry that didn't get done or help give the kids a bath while I clean up the dishes. He remembers the little things like making sure my car is filled with gas and grabbing a burp cloth for me as I'm about to nurse Lyla. He diligently gets up to exercise every morning whether I can or not from being up all night with the baby. He'd eat scrambled eggs and peanut butter toast for breakfast every morning and pizza for dinner for the rest of his life if he could.

M E A G A N

t w e n t y ' s   f o r e v e r

Is lucky if she can get a loud of laundry and the dishes done every day but diligent about dance parties in the kitchen with her kids. She misses being able to clean the house in one sitting but is slowly recognizing this just isn't the phase of life for it. She is obsessed with taking pictures and videos of her kids and is learning the ins and outs of Lightroom to find her photo editing style. She adores kissing Lyla's neck rolls, snuggling with Liam in his bed for story time, and holding Nic's hand while out and about (something that is rare with kids these days). She has never been more tired in her whole life but also never happier either!

our weekend in meridian

We just got back on Sunday from a four day weekend in Meridian. I don't want to sugar coat that between traveling in general, the kids and I being sick, next to no sleep, and the daylight savings time change it was rough at time and we are all still recovering. But, it was so good to see family and we are glad we went! 

One of our favorites of the entire weekend was seeing Liam interact with his cousins. He loved every minute of being surrounded by them. We spent Thursday afternoon with Edie and my niece, Olivia, (who Liam kept calling "pink shirt" because he couldn't remember her name haha) and they had the best time together at this little park. The weather was also incredible! We left snow on the ground at home and came to 60 degree weather! 

Grandpa with his girls ...

Olivia loves "baby Lyla" and when Edie asked her what she wanted to do when she got there, Olivia said hug baby Lyla and play toys. SO stinkin' cute!

We spent Friday with my mom and brother. The day started exceptionally early (5:30 AM) #hellotravelsleep so we took the kids out shopping at the Village fairly early and braved the rain. I was on the hunt for some Easter basket surprises, Lyla slept the entire time, and Liam threw a huge tantrum in Marshall's because we wouldn't let him get this ginormous musical instrument set he wanted. You can imagine who was the favorite child during that moment. ;)

Liam is super into making silly face right now, he must have gotten this one from me ... haha

Of course we had to stop and check out the fountain along our way! Sita gave him some coins to throw in and after tossing in a handful of pennies practically all at once my mom exclaims, "man, I'm at this rate I'm going to have to start getting out the silver coins!" We were all dying laughing! Also spotting a plane in the sky to show his uncle.

Naturally since Lyla napped her way through the shopping experience she didn't sleep a wink during Liam's nap. Pretty proud of herself if you can't tell ...

My mom and I entertained her on the floor with this little monkey and some magnatiles (which apparently make some pretty good teething toys) while Nic and Liam both napped.

Later that afternoon we had some amazing hors d'oeuvres at my dad and Edie's house! Liam was having a ball chasing the girl cousins around with a flashlight in hand and that was right about the time Lyla's lack of an afternoon nap caught up to her and was that officially losing it. We took both kids back to my mom's and promptly put them to bed. Between Lyla battling the bedtime routine for a good 2 and a half hours and an unusually late dinner, I was ready to go to bed myself.

It was a long night of a whole lot of wake ups (likely due to Lyla's stuffy nose, poor girl) but Saturday morning I woke ready to try and turn this day around. We met my sweet friend Brooke for breakfast at Jamba Juice and it was so fun to catch up on each other's lives. Love her so much! This is also one of my favorite pictures of Liam. Nic did his hair that morning and he looks adorable!

Saturday we just hung around my mom's house. The colds and sleep deprivation were catching up to all of us so we took the kids out in the sunshine. Lyla squinted a ton from lack of exposure to sunlight so far in her life haha and Liam found the one spot in my mom's backyard where he could cover himself with the most dirt. We sure got some cute pictures though ...

I love that he wanted to hold his rock that he found for the picture! 

My Grandma Crockett was in town for the weekend too! Not only was it fun to see her but pretty special to get this generation picture. Doesn't she look amazing at 95 years old?! Blows me away she is still healthy enough to travel and is always dressed to the nines. 

Saturday night we got all the cousins together again for lasagna and s'mores. So much chaos from the laps they were running around the living room but SO.MUCH.FUN. too! I love this picture of Lyla girl and her auntie so much!

It's good to be home and settle back into our routine. This daylight savings time change is kicking our trash (please tell me WHY we have this again???!!) so I'm praying we are all on the mend and catching up on sleep very soon.