Little Miss Leila

FYI

2009-05-28T14:08:00.000-07:00

Just to let everyone know I will be combining this blog with my other blog, Angel Face Designs. I think it's primarily the same people reading both, and it will be (a lot) easier for me to just have everything in one place, instead of going back and forth, posting on two blogs.

So, starting now please book mark http://leilasmom.blogspot.com/ as it will be the new home of all Leila-related posts, videos and pictures. Hope this doesn't cause any inconvenience.

Thanks!

A couple of videos

2009-05-27T19:47:00.000-07:00

Here's a super brief snippet of her dancing to (what else) "Mamma Mia:

She was dancing like a crazy girl before she caught me turning on the camera!

And here's one of her singing her ABC's. I know I just posted one a couple of days ago, but I just love watching her sing it!

Bathtub tea party

2009-05-27T17:03:00.000-07:00

Leila loooooooves bathtime, because bathtime is teatime! Her sweet friend, Emily got her a super cute tea set for her birthday, and it now lives in the bathtub. She would spend hours in there, "having tea" if we let her. As it is, she's in there so long that the bathwater gets cold and her fingers and toes get pruney before it's time to get out. It's hard to believe that she used to hate bathtime - now she begs for it!

Leila the builder

2009-05-27T17:02:00.000-07:00

Leila is helping Daddy build an arbor in the front yard:

All she's missing is the tool belt!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-05-27T12:21:00.000-07:00

Dance party

2009-05-22T19:57:00.001-07:00

ABC's

2009-05-22T19:52:00.001-07:00

The Bunny Hop...Leila style

2009-05-22T19:50:00.000-07:00

Wordless Wednesday

2009-05-20T12:32:00.000-07:00

New hangout

2009-05-19T19:45:00.000-07:00

Leila's new favorite place to hang out it under the kitchen table. Not sure why, but lately she loves it under there, and will even take books to read under there. Whatever. It makes for some very cute photo ops.

Dance!

2009-05-14T20:59:00.000-07:00

As I was uploading tonight's pictures from dance I realized I haven't posted any dance pictures for the last few weeks. I pretty much can't take any pictures during the class, because Leila's making me hold her hand and do all of the moves with her, but here are a handful of before dance pictures:

Leila loves her dance classes and is getting better and better every week!

springtime.

2009-05-09T22:28:00.000-07:00

Princess in the Pool

2009-05-08T14:16:00.001-07:00

{Please don't mind the small wardrobe malfunction, I think Tony put her swimsuit on backwards...}

Wordless Wednesday

2009-05-06T14:19:00.001-07:00

Our morning battle

2009-05-04T13:57:00.000-07:00

Almost every morning for the last two weeks or so Leila and I have had a battle over what she wears for the day. She either wants to wear this swimsuit:Or this shirt: She probably wears that yellow shirt twice a week, usually once for a full day and once after her nap because she's begging for her "Beautiful yellow shirt, puh-lease!" I've washed it about ten times already, and think I'm going to have to start handwashing now to make it last as long as possible.

Again, I think Leila forgot that she's two!

I think she forgets she's 2!

2009-05-04T13:47:00.000-07:00

Leila is my little accessories queen, always has been. The other morning, she went to pick out a bow (this is how it's been lately, she either picks out her shoes or bow first and I match the outfit to that) when she looked at her bow board and said

Leila: "I need new bows, Mama."
Me: "No you don't, babe. You have more than anyone needs."
Leila: "I like flowers and feathers, Mama. Not these." (pointing to a standard bow.)
Me: "You're two."
Leila: "I like flowers and feathers, Mama."

Um....who is this 16-year-old in my 2-year-old's body?! Leila has a couple of feather and flower bows and headbands from craft shows I've been to, and apparently those are the only ones she likes now.

I am not looking forward to the teenage years!

My little NKOTB fan

2009-04-30T14:08:00.001-07:00

She is *so* my daughter!

No more Elmo potty

2009-04-29T16:58:00.000-07:00

I think if we hadn't moved Leila would be full potty trained by now. She was doing really well for a while. BUT, we did move, and potty training regressed a little, but that's ok - she's just a little over two!

Anyways, Leila has taken a major interest in going potty on the toilet again. She's been doing really well going on her little Elmo toilet, but when we were at the mall last week she had to go pee, so we went to the bathroom at Pottery Barn Kids and ever since then she's been over the little toilet. "I like Daddy's toilet" is what she now says. That's fine and good, but she wouldn't go #2 on the big toilet, until today...

I'm so proud of her! I know she won't be proud of that video, so I won't leave it up for long ; )

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-29T14:17:00.001-07:00

Flower power

2009-04-26T21:28:00.000-07:00

We were lucky enough to get a gift certificate to Alden Lane, a huge, gorgeous nursery really close to our house. We went last weekend, and Leila had a ball!

She got to ride in a wagon:

Take her first ride on a big girl swing:
(we've since put up a big girl swing in the backyard!)

Pose in front of a fun, blue door:

And show me which was her favorite flower:

Alden Lane was beautiful and so much fun - we can't wait to go back!

Leila's new pool

2009-04-23T12:53:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago we bought a pretty big pool that would easily fit all three of us, and even the dogs if they were so inclined. Tony took the giant pool out of the box and read the instructions. Very first line read : DO NOT PLACE POOL ON ANY HOLLOW DECK. Uh-oh. That's exactly what we were going to do.

The pool wasn't going to work out, and no one felt like driving back to the store to exchange it. It was 95 degrees, so we decided some rubbermaids would work for the time being. Leila had a blast in the "pool" and loved getting Daddy wet with the hose!

I exchanged the giant pool for a kiddie one, and of course today is not hot. Oh well, at least we don't have to use storage bins.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-22T16:44:00.001-07:00

Little Miss Nature Girl

2009-04-18T14:54:00.000-07:00

My jewelry business has been crazy busy lately, which is awesome, BUT means I have been up until 2am a few times trying to complete orders, since I can really only work when Leila is sleeping. Leila's been waking up around 6:30 for the last few weeks, and needless to say: I'm tired.

Tony was home yesterday, and I told him that I need at least a few hours completely uninterrupted. He said "no problem" and decided to take Leila and Ramon on a hike. They walked about five miles, and had a great time! Leila loves throwing rocks (her new obsession) into the creek and running free! She came home very tired, and had a few new cuts and bruises on her legs, but said she had (and I quote...) "so, so, so much fun!"

Leila and Tony had some great daddy-daughter time, and I got all of my orders completed and sent out. Yesterday was a great day!

Hmmm...?!?!

2009-04-16T21:10:00.000-07:00

I went to put a couple of things away in Leila's room, when I noticed a few bottles of wine in her hamper. Hmm...the bottles were still sealed, so obviously she wasn't getting smashed. I had no idea why she would have put them there, so I picked them up and walked to the wine cabinet where I saw this:

Notice anything funny? Look closer:

Apparently Leila thought the wine cabinet would be a good place for a bottle of bubbles, a mini Cinderella and one random flip flop.

I love her.

Dance - week 3

2009-04-16T20:58:00.001-07:00

Little Miss Leila was not into me taking a bunch of pictures today at dance, so I didn't get any great ones. But, I did want to share how dang cute she looked in her yellow tutu!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-16T19:35:00.001-07:00

Happy (late) Easter, everyone! Sorry for the late update, but for those who haven't heard my computer crashed Sunday night and I just got it back. Anyways, Easter was wonderful! We dyed some eggs a couple of days before...we actually had a variety of different colored eggs, until Leila decided she wanted them ALL pink, and starting dumping the already dyed eggs into the pink bowl...we ended up with a handful of pink eggs, some purple eggs and a lot of brownish, over-dyed eggs! ; )

Leila and the puppies got some fab baskets from the Easter bunny:

looooves her new shades!

and then a little egg hunt in the backyard. Tony thought my eggs were lame - they were filled with organic fruit snacks, some socks and undies, some dollars and quarters for her piggie bank and a couple of chapsticks. I thought they were good, but Tony didn't like the lack of candy.

Then we headed over to my Auntie Mary's and Uncle Ralph's for a really lovely Easter celebration with family, some of which we hadn't seen in a while - it was so nice to reconnect!

Easter was so much fun! I hope you and your families had a wonderful holiday too!!

Dance - week 2

2009-04-09T19:52:00.000-07:00

Leila had a much better time at dance this week than she did last week! All afternoon we practiced "tap tapping" and "balleting" and by the time we had to leave Leila couldn't wait to dance, dance, dance!

When we got there she picked out a green crown to look like Tinkerbell:

and then she tried out a tough, new move:

After ballet she moved on to tap, her favorite!

And her sweet teacher, Miss Jamie made the girls some super cute cupcakes for Easter! Leila and I both had a great time at dance this week!!

Free Diapers

2009-04-09T13:43:00.000-07:00

Go and fill out this form and you'll get a sample of Huggies new Pure & Natural diapers!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-08T19:01:00.001-07:00

Dance!

2009-04-03T20:39:00.001-07:00

Leila's first dance class was yesterday, and I think she'd give it mixed reviews. We've been getting her excited for dance ever since I signed her up. We've been doing tap moves on the kitchen floor for weeks, and when she woke up from her VERY short nap yesterday she couldn't wait to go to dance.

<-- here she is, so excited to go!

Then we got to dance....she didn't want me to put her down, and had a kung-fu death grip on me! I did the entire ballet portion of the class holding Leila...at least I've still got some moves ; )

The teacher (fortunately) brought her baby to class...the baby dropped something, and Leila jumped down from me, ran over to pick up whatever it was and was *quite* impressed with the lovely noise her "tap tap shoes" were making. That broke the ice, and Leila tapped the rest of the class.

After class we stuck around a little bit to watch some big girls dance. Leila loved watching them and said she wanted to come back next week.

I think she'll get more comfortable at every class!

Leila and Sugar

2009-04-01T19:29:00.001-07:00

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-01T13:41:00.000-07:00

Little Miss Gardener

2009-03-30T14:38:00.001-07:00

Leila's got style

2009-03-30T14:19:00.001-07:00

Leila dressed herself today.

Lunchtime

2009-03-29T15:59:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous. We were outside all morning, and at lunchtime Leila wanted to stay out. So, we brought her highchair out to the front porch.

She ate a delicious lunch of pasta salad, strawberries and a yogurt smoothie under the shade of the house, while Tony planted our pumpkin patch in the hot, hot sun!She has quite the life!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-03-25T17:32:00.001-07:00

Leila's first day

2009-03-25T12:59:00.001-07:00

Today was the first day of Mommy 'N Me "Preschool". It's really more of a class designed to help get 2-year-olds ready for preschool, and the moms get to stay to help them through the process, but it was Leila's very first day of school nonetheless. Tony and I got her excited about it by talking all about school last night. This morning as soon as she woke up she said she was "ready for school!" and could not wait to get dressed. She insisted on a dress, and picked the cute, little plaid dress she ended up wearing out of alllllll (and their are a lot!) of her dresses. She wanted to wear backpack (she was the only one wearing one, LOL!) and before she left she said she wanted to go in a school bus. Unfortunately for her she had to settle for my car.

When we got to school she was a little shy. She really enjoyed singing "Pop Goes the Weasel" and playing with the doll house. I think she'll get less and less shy and more interactive every week. She still had a great time, and said she wanted to go back.

Keeping with tradition, I made Leila take some pictures in front of the door on her first day. She didn't seem to be into the "photo shoot" but I still managed to get a couple cute shots!

She was very happy about climbing to the top of the play structure: After class we stopped at Panama Red for some foffee (milk in a coffee cup...don't tell her, though!)

Love her!

2009-03-21T20:15:00.000-07:00

This picture makes me happy - she is doing such a classic Leila face! Not much to say other than I love that little peanut!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-03-18T16:22:00.000-07:00

Obsession du jour...

2009-03-16T14:23:00.001-07:00

I'm in love with these beautiful hair clips from Lil Pixie Boutique! At only $5 a pop I think Leila definitely needs one...or two. The only decision is which!

Help - which is your favorite?!

Big girl in her big girl bed!

2009-03-16T13:36:00.000-07:00

So, I found my camera. To the left is a picture of Leila's big girl bed. She loves it, and so do I - it's so girly! She is still sleeping really well, and this afternoon when I gave her the "two minute warning" for her nap she said "Oh, otay..." she walked into her room, took off her shoes and hopped into bed.

Here she is snuggled up for the night:

And here she is first thing the next morning:
Leila's bronchitis seems to be doing much better. Today is the last day of her medicine and she's coughing a lot less, although when she does cough it still sounds awful. She's gotten her appetite back, and seems to be in a much better mood - I think she'll be 100% in just a few days!

Bronchitis

2009-03-14T20:43:00.000-07:00

Poor Leila has bronchitis. She started off with a cough in the beginning of the week and it just got worse and worse and worse. I took her in Thursday afternoon and the doctor said she has bronchitis, which has been going around big time. It is absolutely heartbreaking to hear her cough, or see her when she puts her hand on her chest and says (in her little gravly voice) "It hurts" : ( She's on azythromycin and mucinex and I have my fingers and toes crossed that she starts feeling better very soon!

She's in a big girl bed!

2009-03-14T20:39:00.001-07:00

First off, sorry for the lack of posts and pictures. For those of you who haven' t heard (but who hasn't?!) we bought a house. We started moving in last Sunday. Moving and unpacking is going well, but we're tired and busy. Anyways...

Leila is in a big girl bed! We are completely crazy because her first time sleeping in her bed was last Sunday - our first night in our new house, and daylight savings time. We figured we'd take our chances and it paid off - she went to bed perfectly and didn't get out once! We've been so lucky that the transition from crib to big girl bed went beautifully. Her third night in the bed she realized she could walk right out, and she did...6 times in 45 minutes. Oy! On the sixth (and final) time I told her that I'm so proud of her for sleeping in her bed like such a big girl and it makes me so happy when she stays in there. It worked, and now we make sure to tell her that we're so proud of her every time she goes down for a nap or the night.

I'll post pictures soon, but I can't seem to find my camera. It has to be around here somewhere...

Wordless Wednesday

2009-03-11T15:37:00.000-07:00

...guess who's starting tap and ballet April 2nd. : )

{so I guess that wasn't technically "wordless"}

Wordless Wednesday

2009-03-04T13:22:00.001-08:00

A Day at the Park

2009-02-20T16:09:00.000-08:00

Today is gorgeous!! We took advantage of the beautiful weather (the calm before the storm, literally) and went to the park. Leila was happy to ride her new tricycle and run wild!

Love the static hair!

Monkey see:

Monkey do:
Photo-op on the stairs:

After all of that running around and riding her bike, Leila decided that Daddy's shoulders were the perfect way to get home:

Wordless Wednesday

2009-02-18T17:24:00.000-08:00

Movie Time!

2009-02-18T15:21:00.001-08:00

Tony and I took Leila to see her second movie in the theatre today - "Hotel for Dogs" It was super cute and she really liked it! She loved watching all of the cute "fuff-fuffs" (dogs, for those of you who don't speak Leila), loved eating her popcorn and loved bouncing back and forth between our laps.

We all had a great time!

Little Star Cafe

2009-02-14T21:18:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, Leila and I had a pre-Valentines party at Little Star Cafe and had an absolute blast! (How can we not, though when we have all of our best buds, a full espresso bar and lots of places to play?!)

I was lucky enough to hold baby Kaitlyn (only 3 weeks old!) and while I enjoyed every second of it Leila did not - her thoughts on seeing me hold baby Kaitlyn - "baby back, mama. My mama." Hmmm...

Leila was decked out in her Valentine's wear:

and loved her sunglasses - she didn't take them off all day!

...and one of her favorite things to play with was the vanity:
We had a fantastic time with all of our friends and can't wait to go back!

Pictures courtesy of my good friend, Kelly.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-02-04T20:37:00.000-08:00

Leila's first dollhouse

2009-01-30T13:11:00.000-08:00

Leila got a cute, little doll house for her birthday and absolutely loves it! We just set it up last night, and Leila immediately went to work finding every small, plastic person and animal she owns and setting them up in the doll house.

Leila's favorite room in the house is the bathroom, and here's how she set it up:

Here's what she had to say about the bathroom set-up:

"Mommy and Leila in puppy bath. Daddy goes poo-poo. Eww, daddy!"

Big thanks to Mari and Dave for the fabulous present!

2-year stats

2009-01-30T12:59:00.000-08:00

Leila had her 2-year-old doctor's appointment yesterday and it went really well! She had to get one shot, and handled it like a champ (the stickers they gave her definitely helped!) Dr. Sam said she was way ahead developmentally and was really happy with how she was doing. She weighs 27.4 pounds (70th percentile) and is 35.5" tall (75th percentile.)

Our little princess is growing up so fast!

She likes to move it, move it

2009-01-30T12:58:00.001-08:00

Baby Gap

2009-01-28T15:31:00.000-08:00

Baby Gap's new Coastal collection, might be the cutest batch of toddler clothes I've ever seen. Leila agrees. Thanks to Auntie Auta, Leila wound up with quite a few pieces from the Coastal collection, and I've added a few myself. These clothes are so darn cute, and I feel like any child wearing them needs to be on a cruise ship, or on vacation some place fabulous. Leila's favorite part of the collection are these shoes which she wants to wear all the time, even to bed!

Check out the collection for yourself here.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-01-28T14:14:00.000-08:00

Leila's birthday video

2009-01-26T15:00:00.001-08:00

Leila's birthday weekend was great! We had her family birthday party on Saturday, and a relaxing day on Sunday. I will post party pictures soon - I didn't take any (oops) but fortunately my fabulous cousin did!

Leila's "Chowa" song and dance

2009-01-22T13:11:00.000-08:00

That is her second time wearing that shirt this week - she begs for it. Her pants got all wet from the rain, and as soon as we took them off she started dancing, and I started recording.

Rainy day fun

2009-01-22T12:28:00.000-08:00

This morning we woke up to very wet streets, so what better to do than splash in the puddles? Leila put on her rain boots, and Tony put on his work boots to do just that.

She had so much fun and was bummed when we told her it was time to go back inside.

Movie time with Leila

2009-01-21T20:06:00.000-08:00

Leila set this all up on her own. She wanted to watch a movie with some of her "friends" and being the sweet girl that she is, she wanted them all to have seats.

Foffee

2009-01-21T15:01:00.001-08:00

Nap time

2009-01-21T14:40:00.000-08:00

Daddy had a really rough night at work...so Leila helped him sleep it off.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-01-21T14:24:00.000-08:00

It's January, right?

2009-01-17T12:31:00.000-08:00

Not that I'm complaining about the 75 degree weather, but isn't it supposed to be freezing? The nights are still cold, but these days we've been having are beautiful! We've been taking advantage of the Spring-like weather, and on Wednesday Leila went to the ridge for a hike with Daddy, Uncle Mike and the dogs. She had a blast and loved running free!

Later that afternoon we went to the park (wardrobe change due to Leila getting VERY dirty at the ridge!) She played with some new friends, and swung, swung, swung!

She even decided to try out the big girl swings!
I will be so sad when the winter weather is back!

Since I was told you guys enjoy the videos...

2009-01-15T22:47:00.001-08:00

She is so my daughter!

2009-01-15T22:25:00.001-08:00

Tony thinks it's a little weird how much pride I take in the fact that Leila can detect a George Michael song within the first few seconds of music, before he's even begun singing. I used to sing her (my favorite song in the whole wide world,) "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" as a lullaby when she was an infant, and it's long since been one of her favorites. She knows George Michael as "Go-Go" (which I love!) and whenever a song of his comes on the radio, or my iPod she gets excited and starts yelling out "Go-Go!! Go-Go, Mama!" She often times requests to hear "Go-Go" or watch his videos on You Tube. Yesterday Tony (such a good sport) and Leila watched five George Michael ("Go-Go") videos on You Tube. Today when she woke up from her nap she asked to watch Go-Go, so we went to You Tube and I typed in "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go". The video started and she got irritated.

Leila: "No, no, no, mama. No Go-Go."

Me: "But you said you wanted Go-Go."

Her: (big, irritated sigh) "No Go-Go Go-Go. Faith-a, faith-a, faith-a."

Me: "You want to listen to 'Faith'?!?!"

Her: "Yeah. Go-Go faith-a."

So, we watched the video for "Faith" and all was good. That girl cracks me up!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-01-14T14:09:00.001-08:00

Hello from Leila

2009-01-10T21:17:00.000-08:00

Shoes

2009-01-10T14:22:00.001-08:00

I have to say, I really love Leila's taste in shoes. I wonder if I can get those in my size...oh wait, those *are* my size!

Casual Friday

2009-01-10T14:18:00.000-08:00

Wordless Wednesday

2009-01-07T22:03:00.000-08:00

Super Franks!

2009-01-06T14:39:00.000-08:00

Thank goodness for Super Franks - I don't remember how we ever lived without it! Yesterday it was cold and rainy so we met up with some friends at S.F.'s We had a wonderful time, as usual!

Park friend

2009-01-06T14:35:00.000-08:00

Leila always seems to make a new friend or two whenever we go to the park across the street. The other day she met a sweet little girl named Lizzie. They played store, and Leila charged only $2 for everything.

And then Leila showed off Ramon, and told Lizzie that he's a chowa (chihuahua) and that he's "Leila's! My chowa!"
As always, it was a great time at the park.

A collection of pictures by Leila

2009-01-06T14:33:00.000-08:00

Maybe she'll be a photographer....

...or maybe not

Tub crayons

2008-12-28T14:22:00.000-08:00

Best stocking stuffer ever.

Tricycle Time!

2008-12-28T14:16:00.000-08:00

Leila loves her new tricylce! Her legs are still about a half inch too short to reach the pedals really easily, but she totally understands what to do, and she loves it!

We went to the park yesterday and she road for about a half hour before she wanted to go to the playground. I'll try to get video of her riding - it's very cute!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-28T13:18:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope you and your families had a wonderful Christmas and Christmas Eve - we sure did! On Christmas Eve Tony had to work, but Leila and I went over to my parent's house, where we got to see my dad's side of the family. We had a great time hanging out and laughing with everyone! When we got home that night we put out cookies for Santa and carrots for his reindeer....

The next morning, when Tony got home we went into the front room to see that almost all of the cookies and carrots were gone!

Santa had also stuffed our stockings:

...and left a ton of presents for Leila!

Leila loved that we wore matching "night nights"

The first thing she saw was her new baby stroller:

Then Daddy and Ramon helped her unwrap some presents:

She also really loved her sherpa hat - hopefully we'll go to the snow so she has an excuse to wear it!

Leila got so many great gifts from Santa, friends and family! Her favorite is her baby stroller, but she also loves her new tricyle, babies from around the world (her favorite is the one from Madagascar, who is sitting in the stroller in the picture above - she calls her "pretty girl") And she also loves her new Ugg boots from Bamma and Papa!

Christmas morning my parents and brother came over - we watched Leila open presents for hours, and then we stopped at her Gigi's house where we also got to see Auntie Katie and Uncle Michael, and then Grandpa Tom stopped over. Later in the day we went to my parent's house for dinner where we got to see my mom's side of the family. Christmas Eve and Christmas were busy, but wonderful! It was so much fun to see Leila's reaction to things this year, versus last because she is so much more into it now! It's hard to believe that she will be two in less than a month!

We're ready!

2008-12-24T22:10:00.000-08:00

We've placed out cookies and milk for Santa, and carrots for the reindeer. Leila is nestled all snug in her bed, while visions of sugar plums dance in her head...

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

Wordless Wednesday

2008-12-24T13:42:00.001-08:00

Snug as a bug in a rug

2008-12-23T19:45:00.000-08:00

Leila chatters herself to sleep every night, and tonight she is cracking me up! I keep hearing "Sassa!* Sassa! Leila a good girl! Ruuuuuuuuudolph. Ho ho ho!"

I think my girl is ready for Christmas!

*Sassa = Santa

Eek!

2008-12-23T19:42:00.000-08:00

Another "what happens when Daddy gets her dressed" post. Leila and Tony went to the library, the grocery store and Chuck E. Cheeses like that. : )

Deacon Dave's

2008-12-23T19:39:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I'd never been to "Deacon Dave's" until just a few days ago! It's probably the most Christmas lights I've ever seen in one place, and it's amazing! Leila got to see Santa there, who told her he knows she's been a good girl, and his favorite cookies are chocolate chip.

After Deacon Dave's we drove around looking at some beautifully decorated mansions and called it a night.

Wordless Wednesday

2008-12-17T13:45:00.001-08:00

{so I know these words are not making this a true WW, but I just wanted to let you all know that Leila picked out that hat and is obsessed with it!)

Cruising for Christmas lights!

2008-12-17T13:39:00.000-08:00

On Monday night we went cruising the town for Chrismtas lights. We went first to Bob's World, which is where I've been going since I was little. Leila loved it! Bob, himself was out there and gave Leila a candy cane and a glow-in-the-dark bracelet. Then we went to "Papa's World" - my parent's house. My dad has been decorating for Christmas more and more every year, and Leila loved it!

We finished off the night at "Candy Cane Lane" which Leila also loved. We read Christmas stories at bedtime and had a great night!

Decorating the tree

2008-12-12T13:40:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday we decorated the tree!

Leila's favorite part of decorating the tree, was sipping apple cider after every ornament: And after the cider was gone, Leila decided she was done:

Apple Hill

2008-12-12T13:05:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday we went to Apple Hill to spend the day, and find the perfect Christmas tree. Tony's family used to do it when he was little, and although I didn't think driving 2.5 hours to get a tree was my idea of fun, I was wrong! We left around 9:30 - stopped at the Starbuck's and Noah's Bagels and were on the road by 10:00. We got to Apple Hill a little after noon, and drove around for a while until we saw "High Hills Ranch" We walked all over the grounds, sampled fudge, got fun crafts, and I even got some home-pressed apple champagne bubble bath. We had lunch at their apple cafe, fed the ducks and then went on. We stopped at Boa Vista Orchard and bought a ton of different apple things - apple cider, apple juice, apple wine, apple butter, applesauce (in two varieties), apple pancake mix, and three different types of apples - I think we got a couple of other things, but they're escaping me right now.

By then it was about 3:30, and although Leila was still in a great mood, she hadn't taken a nap and we thought we should get moving....BUT we still hadn't gotten a tree. We ended up going to a place where the trees were already cut (Tony had big plans for chopping down our own tree) and found the perfect one pretty quickly. Leila made friends with a nice old man who used to play Santa on the weekends, while Tony loaded up the tree.

We got in the car around 4:00 and Leila passed out within minutes. We stopped in Tracy for dinner at the Olive Garden, and finally made it home around 7:30. It was a long, but fabulous day and I can't wait to do it again next year!

When Leila got out of her stroller, Ramon got in:

Leila loved her grilled cheese dipped in ketchup (yuck!)

After running around the grounds Leila's legs got tired so she hitched a ride on Daddy:

...and then we found an old tractor to play on:
Finally, Leila picked the perfect tree:
My loves:
All loaded up and ready to go:

Wordless Wednesday

2008-12-10T22:58:00.001-08:00

Christmas parade

2008-12-08T14:03:00.000-08:00

Saturday night we went to the big Christmas parade downtown. It was very chilly and very long, but we had a great time. Leila loved the parade, especially when there were dogs!

We got sandwiches at Quiznos and she stole mine right away. Seriously, she had my sandwich and most of her Sammie. I think she's growing!
Leila kept Bamma warm:

ALCO kid's Christmas party 2008

2008-12-08T13:46:00.000-08:00

Tony's fire department is awesome enough to throw a really great Christmas party for the kids every year (I guess it's been going on for over 20 years!) Leila had a ton of fun this year playing with the other kids, eating cookies and seeing Santa, but she had the most fun singing! They had a live holiday band singing fun Christmas songs, and the kids got to participate in a lot of them. Leila was the only kid who didn't want to stop singing, and was way more interested in the microphone than Santa. Oh well - maybe next year!Leila and Tony had a vital part in "Must be Santa"
Santa came in on a fire engine!

Leila was fine seeing Santa, as long as she had her Daddy close by!

And, just for cuteness a full view of her outfit with her coat.

Wordless Wednesday

2008-12-03T08:38:00.000-08:00

Ho Ho Ho!

2008-12-01T19:14:00.000-08:00

Thank you so much for the Santa headband, Great-Grandma! Leila loves it! She likes to look at herself in the mirror and say "Sassa Leila! Ho ho ho!" : )

Zoo Day

2008-11-30T14:37:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was GORGEOUS so we decided to go to one of our favorite places - the Oakland Zoo. Hardly anyone was there, and we had a fabulous time! Leila ran around most of the time, and said hello to all the animals, doing her best impression of each. My personal favorite was her chimp impression. Then we played on the playground, rode on the train and called it a day! That zoo membership was some of the best money we've ever spent!

Our monkey loved climbing all over the spider web!

Leila loved brushing the goat. The goat enjoyed it too, until she went for it's eyes.

"Red Ribbit, Mama!"

The Christmas lights were up for "Zoo Lights" We'll probably go back one night to see them lit

Dog days of...Fall?

2008-11-24T14:18:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we met up with Leila's Uncle Mikey, and his new puppy, Titus for some fun at the dog park. Leila and Ramon showed Titus around the park and all three of them slept well last night!

New idea for bows...

2008-11-19T13:20:00.000-08:00

I have to admit I am pretty pleased with myself... This morning after I got Leila dressed I went to put some brown, leather mary jane shoes on her. She didn't want to wear them -- she begged for her pink crocs. I don't mind these shoes with jeans, but am not a big fan of them with dresses. I decided it wasn't a battle I was willing to fight so early in the morning, so I let her wear her crocs and we went downstairs. A few minutes later Leila asked me to do her hair so I went back upstairs to get a ponytail holder and a bow...a lightbulb went off! I grabbed a set of piggytail bows and put them on the top of her crocs. I just stuck the bottom of the alligator clip through one of the little holes on top of the shoe, and voila - SUPER cute crocs! You can get a ton of great, custom bows from Rya at Crybaby Boutique! There aren't a bunch of bows listed on the website, but email her and she can create anything!

Spray Pancakes?!

2008-11-17T12:26:00.001-08:00

"Ewwwww!" I know, I know - that was my first reaction, too. But, after hearing howmuch Leila loved them (she had them for breakfast at my parent's last weekend) I had to buy some for our house too. The pancake batter is in a whip cream-like container, and sprays out. They cook up quickly and Leila loooooves them! I made them for Tony, too who said they were actually really good (I don't eat pancakes, so can't give ya a first-hand opinion.)

Anyways, they're right around $5 and make for a super quick and easy breakfast for the kiddos. If you haven't tried them yet, they are on sale at Safeway. At least they're organic!

Like the shoes?

2008-11-15T22:00:00.001-08:00

The second I put those shoes on this morning, Leila approved. "Cute shoes, mama." she told me about twelve times before we even left the house. The instant I took them off, she snatched them, took off her own shoes and replaced them with mine.

*Sigh* Is it odd that I take pride in that?

Leila's first movie!

2008-11-13T12:45:00.001-08:00

Yesterday we took Leila to see her first in-theatre movie..."Beverly Hills Chihuahua!" She'd seen the preview for it a couple of times, and every single time would get soooo excited and dance around! We decided to take her yesterday, and she had a blast! We were lucky to have the entire theatre to ourselves. Leila kept yelling out "Ramon! Ramon!" (the main dog, Papi looks *a lot* like our Ramon, and has a similar personality!) There were a couple of parts in the movie that made her sad, but overall she loved it! She got a small popcorn and also loved that!

We saw a preview for a movie called "Bolt" and we can't wait to take her to see it next month!

That is the only picture of Leila sitting in her own seat. We tried putting her in a booster seat but she hated it. She spent half of the movie on my lap, and half of the movie on Tony's!

Wordless Wednesday

2008-11-12T16:38:00.001-08:00

Wordless Wednesday

2008-11-05T18:29:00.000-08:00

Just Dance

2008-11-03T16:52:00.000-08:00

One benefit of daylight savings time...

2008-11-03T12:41:00.000-08:00

...super early mornings don't feel *quite* so early. This morning we: walked downtown, went to the park, drove through Caffino, went to Target and Safeway and were home by 10:00. Sheesh!