Videos for Seamus

These videos are open for everyone to watch of course but they are especially for Layla's cousin Shea. He loves watching videos of Ms. Layla before breakfast. My sister said that she and Jamie are growing a little tired of watching the same couple videos over and over again :-)

So I don't know how exciting these videos are, but here are a few little clips of Shea's favorite LAY-LA. Now Shea, eat a good breakfast for your mommy!!!!

First, we have a video of Layla...well, eating lunch. She does use her sign "more" at the very end of the video which has been very exciting lately. It eliminates some of the yelling that used to take place when she wanted more food! Oh, and let's blame it on "mommy brain?" that I call that fruit a nectarine...oops!!

The next video we have titled, "Trying to Keep Layla Up Until 8PM." Layla was totally ready for bed but she has to stay up until at least 8 or she is up way too early for her mama in the morning :-) Layla loves "helping" Ryan and I do laundry so I found her this mini laundry basket to sort socks in. It helped distract her until the clock struck 8, and I just love her little finger at the end. (Sorry for my especially annoying voice in this video).

And lastly a totally random meat eating video. Layla is not a huge chicken eater (I only eat poultry and fish) but she likes pork and red meat which we get a big kick out of. Don't worry, Layla's lunch was much more balanced with veggies, fruits and bread after this video :-) Oh! And I honestly had no idea what was distracting Layla behind me in the video...you'll see the extra special guest for Seamus that was entertaining Ms. Layla from behind me.

Forking It

Layla almost always has an obsession with something eating/drinking related. She has been obsessed with sippy cups, green beans, drinking from water bottles, frozen peas, etc. Her newest obsessions? Eating with a fork and drinking from a straw.

Here is Layla trying to pick up food with her fork. She loves practicing this new skill. The picture to the right is Ms. Layla trying to get that asparagus all the way in that mouth!

Of course she gives herself a clap when the mission is completed!

And here is game I love to play at dinner...Can Layla follow a direction?

"Layla can you show me your fork?" Check!

"Layla can you take a drink of your milk?" Check!

"Layla, where is your nose?" Ummm....sometimes if it is not food related she just is not interested!

Silly girl! But we sure love watching you learn to eat :-)

Family

Our family has been doing very well lately, but very busy.

Layla and I have settled back into our fall routine. I am enjoying the peace at the parks now that the elementary schools are back in session and the craziness in the stores now that the college students are back. Isn't that weird that I enjoy both ends of the spectrum?? Now Layla and I are just awaiting the grand re-opening of our local Target. I just cannot wait for it to re-open in October, we will be knocking down the doors!!!

Yep, Layla even helps with the cleaning! She LOVES the Swiffer broom.

Ryan has been very busy with the opening of the school and the students starting back up. His hours have been very long but he enjoyed meeting the students for the first time yesterday. He called the elementary kids "very refreshing." Ryan loved middle school kids, but there is nothing like the excitement of elementary aged kids on the first day of school. Layla and I joined the community at the Open House and ribbon cutting ceremony at the school on Sunday. Ryan spoke at the ceremony and did a very nice job. Layla enjoyed the ceremony and of course clapped after everyone talked (she clapped during one of the speeches, I think she was ready to head to the playground so she was trying to wrap things up!).

And now for Mr. Howie. His craziness has finally caught up with him. I am determined to have a nice (and calm) family dog so Howie is in personal training sessions right now and we will join an obedience class following these one on one sessions. Even though the training started just over a week ago, we have seen progress which is motivating. If you see a dog walking in our neighborhood with a backpack on...yep, it is us!

And yes we have been busy, but we did have time to get some family pictures taken a couple of weeks ago. The pictures were taken by the wonderful Heather Woodward in Lake Geneva and the first few pictures were taken on the same dock as a portion of our wedding pictures were.

Here they are:
http://www.heatherwoodwardphotography.com/proofs/index.php?do=photocart&action=accessGallery

The access code is just our last name.

I hope you enjoy the pictures of our family!!!!!

Cars

Layla is overall a very happy little girl, but have I ever told all of you that Layla is a not so great car rider? She cries, yells mama (a lot) and well...very rarely falls asleep in the car.

Sidenote-Layla never falls asleep in her stroller on walks or when shopping either. She never really has. Isn't that odd for a baby who loved the motion of the swing? I guess I should just be thankful she sleeps in a crib. Anyway, I have found a temporary fix for the car problems. The mini magna-doodle. It used to be a diaper bag toy but has now been transitioned into a car toy. Yoo hoo!!!

And yep, if you're wondering, Layla still uses a pacifier. She mainly gets it when she sleeps and in the car (for my own sanity!) Another yep, she is still rear facing in her carseat. For now, it is still safer to have her backwards but I will switch it in the near future I am sure :-)

Have a great rest of the week everyone!

PS People in the Wal-mart parking lot were looking at me like I had lost my mind taking pictures of the backseat of my car (I don't think they could see Layla). This was a very big moment for us so I just had to photograph it!

Whirlwind Weekend

It was another busy weekend for the Janisch family this weekend. Ryan worked and worked and worked some more, but he did manage to get away for a couple hours on Friday night and joined us for Round 2 at the fair.

Layla loved this little tractor. And now she gets to ride it whenever she is at Grandma and Grandpa Sloan's house because my dad saw just how much Shea and Layla enjoyed it :-) Layla likes to turn the wheel and honk the pretend horn. Doesn't she look just like Ryan in the picture on the right? I mainly only see the resemblance between daddy and daughter in pictures and this one is very strong!

Layla and Shea also enjoyed the fish game. Well...they enjoyed throwing the fish and Layla almost knocked another little girl over trying to get to a moving fish, but they sure had a good time! Look at Shea's face in the picture on the right.

I know this is fuzzy...but perfectly Layla right now. She is ALWAYS clapping and nodding her head these days.

Later on we met up with Ryan's family at the fair and Layla loved this big tractor too. She sat with Grandpa Janisch on it for almost a half an hour. Our niece Kelsey also joined in on the fun. Can you even believe Kelsey is going to start middle school this week? I cannot believe that she is already in 6th grade.

And next are pictures from my cousin Kyle's college graduation party on Saturday. Congrats Kyle! He is looking for a job as a police officer and he had some very interesting stories about his internship with the police department this summer.

Anyway, we had a very fun time and Layla enjoyed keeping an eye on the dogs, looking out the sunroom windows and watching all of the little kids running around. Here is Ms. Layla with her Super Aunt Ann playing bubbles. My cousin Trevor is in the pictures helping with the bubbles. You just have to double click on the left picture to enlarge it. I love the look on Layla's face and I really like to think that Bella (the dog in the picture) took a liking to Layla. See her looking up at Layla?

Sunday was a work day at Ryan's school for my family. We (mostly my mom to be honest) helped Ryan get all of the keys organized for the school (this is a HUGE job for a brand new building) and I happily labeled all of the teacher mailboxes. I just love a label maker.

Layla enjoyed toddling around the building and loved the slides on the playground. Ryan and I are just loving Layla walking right now. She is getting into more, but I think she crawled for so long that we can really appreciate the independence and she is so darn cute staggering around.

Have a good week everyone!

Hungry anyone?

Here is Layla eating 1 of about 18 snacks today. I think she didn't eat a lot yesterday because of being in the heat (Erin, I feel bad even writing "the heat" after reading about the horrible heat in Morocco! You are so much stronger than I would be!) so today she ate and ate and ate. I cannot remember why Layla only had a diaper on in these pictures. I promise she did have clothes on for a majority of the day!

Oh, and Layla also figured out how to get into the snack cabinet today. Every time I turned around she had a snack in her hand saying "Mom?!" Ryan just installed the safety lock on this cabinet about 15 minutes ago. Layla getting into the snack cabinet also involved a lot of sweeping on my part :-)

"Wow, I love soft pretzels! I thought they only had these at the zoo..."

"I'm a big girl now!"

"Am I one cool chica or what?"

Fair Day, Fun Day

Today my mom, Aunt Joan, Layla and I went to the big fair in my hometown. We had a fun day introducing Layla to her first fair day. Below is a picture of her in the horse barn. Layla loved the horses and she even touched one! But we didn't get a picture of it :-)

Speaking of horses, Layla rode a pony! Don't worry (I would be the one worrying so I thought I should add this), we went to the ponies that are seemingly treated nicely. They were under shade and had a nice shaded relaxing area to rest after too many spins in the circle. I didn't get a picture with her on the pony because I was walking next to her but I am hoping my mom or aunt caught a good one. Anyway, Layla did well until the pony shook her head and then Layla was done. But we were proud of her while it lasted...and then of course after we got off Layla wanted back on the pony. I told her maybe when we go back with Daddy :-)

Layla also enjoyed the duck game, any type of ball she could spot on the fairgrounds and the live country music being played at the fair. She really enjoyed herself.

Possibly up there with the horses for the best part of the day for Layla was the raspberry creme popsicle that Aunt Joan bought for her. Layla loved it and you know, just ate it like a little lady not getting a bit on herself :-) Ha ha!

And lastly, here is a picture of Layla in her stroller. Do you think we use it as a big purse? On it you will find cotton candy, kettle corn, Layla's 1 year pictures I picked up at her photographer's booth and of course her new beloved soccer ball she won at the duck game....oh, and yes Layla is STILL clapping just before we leave the park :-) Thanks Joan for a great day! Ann we will see you Saturday, we missed you!