In Case You Were Wondering...

...what Lyla would look like as a blonde.

Lyla Grace is Five Months Old!

Lyla is officially five months old. Oh, how far she has come in a mere five months. She has mastered the arts of blowing bubbles, giggling uncontrollably, putting anything and everything in her mouth (she is teething) and will beat anyone in a staring contest. Her ability to focus and engage continues to amaze us. She can play with her toys for hours and will engage with you even if you are sitting across the room. Lyla is so so close to rolling from her back to her belly (she did it once but I think it was a fluke) and sitting up totally on her own. Her legs are very strong and she can stand really well when she is holding onto something. She is also getting good at grabbing her bottle or pacifier and putting it up to her mouth, although sometimes she just pokes herself in the eye. We think it's cute whether she gets it right or wrong.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Tonight we celebrated my mom's birthday. We were planning on going out but the weather was so yucky we decided to stay in and ordered some good Italian food and got ice cream cake. Me and my sister coincidentally got my mom the same birthday card. We've never done that in all the years she has been our mom :) It was one of the rare moments when all three kids were awake and in good moods so we tried to get a good shot of the them. Me, Dina and my dad all had our cameras out and were angling for the best shot. We were like the paparazzi snapping away. Out of the 100+ pictures we took of this one scene, we hopefully got a few good shots. Lyla fell asleep during the festivities... ...so we took advantage of her for our own amusement. Happy Birthday Mom!

Bethany Beach

We had a great long weekend in Bethany Beach with Mark's whole family. Jack and Donna rented a house for the week and we headed down on Saturday morning. We hit a ton of traffic on the way down but Lyla was a trooper and only fussed when we were at a complete standstill (and, really, who doesn't get cranky when they are sitting in bumper to bumper traffic). We arrived close to dinner time and John, Nikki and Leah were preparing an amazing dinner that could have fed about 30 people. They made halibut ceviche, chicken shish kabobs and tabouli. Leah made an incredible banana bread and blueberry cobbler. We all sat around the table and had a lot of laughs. Lyla was passed around like a hot potato and loved every minute of it. A certain three siblings stayed up way past their bedtimes and had a great time catching up. Yummy food. Sitting around the table. In typical Donna fashion, she had sheets sets for everyone tied in twine and labeled with the appropriate bed size. On Sunday, we all headed to the beach. Everyone bee lined right to the ocean. This is a fish family, I tell you. The waves were big but breaking so close to the shore that you couldn't ride them in without getting pounded with shells, rocks and sand. Mark had some nasty cuts by the end of the day. Back under the umbrella, Lyla made herself quite comfortable. She played and played and played and passed out. She wasn't the only one that passed out -- certain siblings I mentioned earlier all took a little nap to catch up from the night before.

Naps all around.

We were practically the last men standing on our beach. When we got back, everyone took outdoor showers. An outdoor shower after a day at the beach is just about the best thing in the world. Mark felt the need to show off his Notre Dame towel so Lyla one-upped him with her Indians onesie. As Mark said, the bow has absolutely nothing to do with the onesie, but added to the cuteness factor. Lyla enjoying all the oohs and aahs. Kelly was such a natural with Lyla. She was a huge help all weekend. I offered her a job as our nanny :) Bammie with Lyla and a mojito. Life is good. All those leftovers came in handy since we got back from the beach so late. After devouring the leftovers, we all headed to Dickey's Custard for ice cream. Well, not Laurie. She was in Lyla heaven. The line at Dickey's (Kel is not happy about it). The cones were bigger than anything I had ever seen. We headed back to the beach on Monday and decided Lyla needed to take a dip in the ocean. It was a little rough, but she was great. We got hit by such big waves! And again. One more time. So proud of our girl! Lyla and I headed back to the chairs after her little jaunt, but the others stayed in pretty much the entire day. Our little family back from the beach. Thanks everyone for a great weekend! We miss you!