Happy 1st Birthday Layla!

Today Layla turned one. I can't believe it. This year has gone by so fast. We were supposed to have a party for her today but instead I spent the morning at the doctor. The diagnosis was a double ear infection and sinus infection. No wonder she looked like she felt horrible.Not the best way to spend your first birthday. So as I left the doctors office I called Danielle to tell her we should cancel the party and move it till Friday when Layla was feeling better. Danielle had already made the cake but just popped it in the freezer till Friday. Perfect. 

Layla we love you so much. You have brought us so much joy and laughter. God knew you would fit perfectly in our family. You love your brother and sister and want to be with them all the time. You go search for them in the house if you don't know where they are. You love to join them in a good laugh. You are so expressive and have tons of personality. You are beautiful! You also know exactly what you want and will let us know too! You have no fear of anything and you love to wrestle on the bed with your Daddy and your siblings. Layla we love you!

Layla pushing her new train that her Nanna and Poppa gave her. 

All Aboard!

A lot of Kayleigh and Zeb's pretend play has to do with travel. They often pretend that my bed is an airplane and they pack up to go to Thailand or America. When I stop to think about it that seems crazy! Crazy that my 5 and 3 year old would play pretend travel and their destinations are another country! When I was their age if I ever pretended to travel anywhere it was probably to the beach or mountains in the same state I lived in! A little over a year ago one of Kayleigh's good friends moved to another city. She still thinks that her friend lives in another country! She often asks me how long the flight would be to get there or how many airplanes does it take to get to Julianna. I didn't even fly in an airplane until I was 21 years old! Anyways, this particular pretend time was with a train. As you can see I was the conductor and they were the passengers. We all took turns driving the train. It wasn't going anywhere in particular just through a bunch of tunnels and down lots of hills. I love to watch their imaginations work as they play.

Children's Museum

Today we went to the Greensboro Children's Museum. Kayleigh and Zeb had a blast! I was very impressed at all the fun things they had there. They had things like a post office, a news channel station, fire truck, police car, race car, giant airplane, and train to name a few. Kayleigh and Zeb loved playing and pretending at each station.

Zeb sitting in a giant chair at the entrance.

Me and my rather large belly!

John's dad taking it easy.

Train Ride

We have been showing my parents around the town trying to hit all the highlights. One of Zeb and Kayleigh's highlights of course is the train, so we decided to take my parents for a ride. We had a great time and they actually got to see some of the city that way. Kayleigh and Zeb are loving every minute of having my parents here. It is like they have a constant playmate for a month.

As you can tell, Kayleigh took the above two pictures of my parents.

Cousins

One of the sad things about living overseas is that Kayleigh and Zeb miss growing up with their cousins. Terry and I decided to take Zeb, Kayleigh, Lily, and Graylyn to the park for a day of fun. We spent lots of time on the playground and then rode the train and the Merry-go-Round. We finished up our time with some Chick-fil-a for lunch, which is Kayleigh's favorite. I am so thankful for the time they do get to spend with their cousins. Kayleigh just adores them.

Train rides and other things.

I realized that my last couple of posts have been about sickness so I plan to write one more post about sickness and then move on with another topic. Since my last post Kayleigh has thrown up again! Really?! I am starting to expect to clean up throw up once a week now. John and I are starting to think that it might be a food allergy and not just virus after virus. We are going to make a food diary to figure this whole thing out. I am praying that she will not get sick this week because I am hosting a ton of people at my house on Thursday for Thanksgiving.

While I was sick a couple of weeks ago Kayleigh and Zeb spent the afternoon riding the train. Their little friend Brennen had a success party for potty training and invited them to come along. I wish I could have been there to see Zeb's reaction. We haven't ridden the train since he was little. He loves trains now and talks about them often. John said that he had the most fun playing with the rocks in the train yard while they waited on the train to arrive. Looking at these pictures I am reminded of the warm weather. We have been freezing this past week but it is looking like we might have a nice warm Thanksgiving.

If you look closely you can see the drool coming out of Zeb's mouth. Maybe it was due to pure excitement!

Brennen the guest of honor.

Trains

When I think about how much trains have been a part of my life I am a little surprised. When I was little my grandmother lived about a block and half from some train tracks. Every time I stayed at her house and we heard the train whistle we would run up to the train tracks to see the train. Now that I have kids I am thinking back and I am really impressed that she actually ran with me all the way up there. Way to go Grandmother! Anyways, since we have lived overseas I have ridden in a train to go on vacation and also lived very close to some train tracks. Kayleigh has ridden the train in our city several times. Now that we are back in America we have more trains to ride. There is a local park near John's parents home that has a train that kids can ride around the park. Yesterday we spent the afternoon at the park riding the train and playing on the playground. It was a lot of fun. The kids loved the train.

Family Visit Day 5- Train Ride!

Today we got up and had a relaxing morning. Then I decided to take Hayley and Charlie to a local shop called Hearts and Hands. They have tons of handmade crafts that are beautiful. We finished up and had lunch at the restaurant next door called the Wicker Basket. After the kid's naps we headed to the train station to ride the train. It was so much fun. Kayleigh and Zeb loved it! Hayley and Charlie were able to see a little more of our city. It was a great day.

Family Visit Day # 3- Zeb's Party

Monday morning we decided to rest since our weekend had been so busy. We took Hayley and Charlie to one of our favorite Chinese restaurants. That afternoon we had Zeb's birthday party. Danielle volunteered to make the cake. It was amazing!! She even made a miniature train for Zeb to eat on his own. He absolutely loved the cake and had no problems digging in right away. Most kids cry during their first birthday party but this little man had a great time. He only cried when we had to give him a bath to wash off all the cake. It was a great party and I am so glad that Hayley and Charlie could be there to celebrate.

Here he is getting ready to dig in. We decided it would be best to let him eat in his diaper. In hindsight I am very thankful for this decision!

Cheers everyone! I've downed this cake no problem!

Zeb opening his presents. Marianne and David gave him this really fun truck that actually backs up and goes a different way when it runs into something. However, it plays this really annoying song that can drive you completely insane.

Kayleigh's Potty Training Reward

We have been telling Kayleigh for months that if she would start using the potty she could ride the train that passes by our house several times a day. She had been on this train before at a friends birthday party and loved it. So after several days of successfully using the potty we decided that it was time to reward her and take her on the train. This train is a real passenger train in our city that you can ride for about 22 cents per person one way. We all had a great time riding the train. We rode it to the end of the line and watched the engine come around and attach itself to the other side of the train so we could ride back to where we started. The kids thought that was very interesting. Kayleigh's friends Bright and Zion joined us for the ride.

Here we are waiting for the train to arrive.

Hanging out on the tracks.

Not sure what kind of faces Zeb and Kayleigh are making here. They really did have a good time I promise!

Kayleigh Did It!!!

Kayleigh is successfully potty trained. Well at least for the most part. We still have a few accidents every now and then. However, we are going on our third week of no diapers and it is going great. She seems so much older now that she doesn't use diapers any more. We are so proud of her. I have to give a lot of credit to my friend Danielle. If you read my previous post about trying to potty train her then you know that my problem was that she was holding using the bathroom until she was in pain. Danielle suggested that I stick her hand in warm water to make her go while she was on the potty. It worked! This helped her to realize how to go on her own and the rest is history. Thanks Danielle!

Friends for Dinner

We had our friends Brooke and Aaron over for dinner last night. They have a little boy named Nathan. Kayleigh and Nathan play really well together. Nathan has a birthday coming up soon. For his birthday they are going to ride a real train. Ever since Brooke gave me the invitation Kayleigh has said everyday that she is going to ride the train with Nathan. She is so excited! Since his party is several weeks away I told her one day that we were not going to ride it today. Her reply was "tomorrow". Luckily, she doesn't have any concept of when tomorrow will come. Below they are watching the movie "Cars". Kayleigh really likes that movie and she wanted to share it with Nathan. You can see they were glued to the t.v.

Kayleigh Used the Potty

Lately, I have been thinking about potty training Kayleigh. I made a deal with John that when Zeb started to sleep through the night I would start. We need to get one child out of diapers so we can start saving a little money! So, I got a potty from a friend and placed it in the bathroom. I have been talking this potty up a lot. I have no idea what I am doing so I have been waiting to get a book on potty training from a friend. The other day Kayleigh looked at me and said "Mommy I pee pee in the potty". She was jumping up and down so I thought I would give it a shot. I took off her diaper and she ran into the bathroom and actually pee peed in the potty! I was so shocked. I gave her an M&M for a reward. I haven't hit the potty training hard core yet because we have had to go somewhere most days this week but I am hoping that this is a sign that the potty training will go smoothly!