So today is Brittany's birthday but Eric and I weren't quite up for the long drive to Houston for the cake/ice cream celebration. But neither of us really wanted to go without the cake either. So we decided it would be fair to make a batch of cupcakes in Brittany's name! Thank you Brittany, I was so craving something sweet!
For the last little while I've been encouraging LaNea to help me with the cooking. She and I both really enjoy getting to do this together. She's so great about not touching the stove or oven door but will peer in with me and do her best to help where she can. I believe she had a lot of fun helping me stir the cake batter and twice as much helping me frost.
My dear friend Amber made me a couple of aprons and I discovered today just how useful they can be! LaNea was thrilled to be wearing it and it kept her completely chocolate free! THANK YOU Amber!
As you can see, Snow White and Aurora had to help with each task. These are her favorite toys and she keeps them with her always. You'd not believe how augmentative they can be, which means its probably a good thing LaNea doesn't have a sibling yet. For the most part they keep LaNea happy and take lots and lots of naps!
Her almost finished product. Literally! She got another good glob on there and then began to lick it off while I finished up the rest. :)
Yeah, she's pretty happy. She loved the frosting but not the cake so much. 
Even Izzie got involved in the mess. As I was cleaning up LaNea's left over cupcakes, Izzie jumped from under the table to snatch a piece from my hand. Is it terrible that I was more proud of her for being so brave than angry that she did something she shouldn't? As difficult as our poor dog can be, we really do love her and hope that one day she'll recover from all her anxiety issues.
LaNea attended her first day at swim lessons this morning. We had so much fun trying to get her to do the different things that were asked. She has no problem floating on her stomach but she hated to be on her back. We might have to have her practice more during her baths.
She loved the game of throw the duckie and then swim to get it. More she loved when the teacher would stand next to us and cheer her on but she enjoyed chasing her duckie too.
The only other big problem we faced was when she tried to teach them how to push off from the wall. She couldn't grasp the concept of holding on to the wall while getting ready to push off. When the teacher wanted them to move around on the wall, LaNea did great. She could move quickly all by herself but I kept having to stop her from climbing out. 
So overall we had so much fun and LaNea did amazing. We'll go each day for the rest of this week and then Tuesday thru Friday of the week after. Don't expect her to be a swimmer by the end but I hope we'll both just feel more comfortable with her in the water.
We have lived in Texas for the last 3 years. For us that's a good amount of time. And yet, I still don't like it here. I'm not complaining or trying to criticize the state, but I just don't like it. I hate that the grass looks and feels so different than what I grew up with. I hate that the bugs here are bigger and a little more scary. I hate that I don't feel comfortable walking on unpaved paths. And I hate that the predators here seem so much worse than everywhere else. I guess since Pioneer Day is coming up, somehow my thoughts began to think about the pioneers. I gained a new appreciation for what they must have surely went through. I know that if we continued to live here, LaNea would be just fine with fetching balls out of bushes, rafting down rivers with alligators nearby. I admire anyone who has made a change like the pioneers whether for a better job or to be closer to family. I can't imagine that any of those first pioneers were every very comfortable in their new surroundings and yet they stuck it out for the benefit of their future. Pretty impressive to me. Anyways...
Now, I am sorry that I haven't really taken any good pictures of LaNea lately, ever. One day, I'll do better. For now, here's just a few to show what LaNea's been up to lately.
I hate that she sucks her thumb. Not that it doesn't look cute but I know way too many horror stories to want it to continue. Now that LaNea has a terrible habit of picking her nose while sucking her thumb, I have the perfect excuse to encourage her to stop! :)
This little girl is Lexi. I was watching her for the last little while. LaNea loved Lexi and would always enjoy getting her to laugh. That's not to say she didn't get completely jealous of Lexi too. If I was giving Lexi too much attention, LaNea would make sure she climbed in between Lex and I, who cares if I was giving her a bottle!
LaNea has begun making many friends in church and at playgroup. But her best friend would still have to be Izzie. She always needs to know exactly where she is and is always willing to share her food with her. Izzie is now sleeping in LaNea's room at night and I'm sure that's only helping the friendship grow. Now if only I could teach Izzie that "dom" means "come", LaNea would be in Heaven!
This is just to show how helpful LaNea is. She's always okay with picking up her toys and putting her clothes in the basket. She is also good about putting dirty dishes in the sink, throwing away garbage and LOVES to wipe down the house in general. She's also very interested in helping unload the dishwasher. The good side for me is I tend to unload it twice as fast to make sure she doesn't get to the breakables! I love my little girl and how big she thinks she is.
LaNea has the funniest routine in the morning. Eric always opens her door and normally she's waiting for him. She will always grab both her pillow and her blanket to bring with her. She also likes to bring a doll if she had one with her. But this morning she decided she needed a little more than she could carry on her own, so she loaded her daddy up. She held onto her blanket but brought daddy a pillow, a book and a random part to her kitchen. She in turn held onto the blanket and her doll. She's funny because while she's not attached to one thing in particular, she loves to have her things around her!
Unfortunately her favorite spot is in her big chair, right in front of the tv watching The Cat in The Hat!
At the beginning of the month, my mom paid for LaNea and I to come and visit with her and my sisters. I think we all had a lot of fun and LaNea really enjoyed getting to see her grandma. I'm sure it helped that she didn't have to take all her naps and got to stay up with all the adults each night.
Laura's boyfriend, Fernando planned a small surprise for Laura while we were all there. While she was spending the morning with us, he got their apartment all decorated with streamers and balloons and set up her birthday gift. He also got her a delicious cake called a Tres Leches cake. Soo yummy!
Mom and Laura
Dinner out
Getting to cuddle with Aunt Melissa
After our short hike, we stopped for lunch at a really fun restuarant that even allowed dogs to join us.
This was my favorite picture. It was such a beautiful day to go hiking.
While I was there I got to visit with one of my closest and longest friends! I had so much fun getting to visit Amber's family and together we got to relax and catch up!
We also met up with our other friend, Melissa. We hadn't seen her in a LONG time.
Overall, I was very happy to be able to go back to my own schedules and sleep times but it was great to see everyone and especially to have LaNea get to know her family. Thanks again for the trip mom!
While we were in Utah, Melissa's good friend and amazing photographer took pictures of LaNea. You'll have to take a look on her website
sharstinmillerphotography.blogspot.com
(Sorry, don't know how to make a link!)
Since Eric wasn't able to go to church since he's on standby, I gave him the task of hiding all the eggs. He did such a great job by making it a little difficult but still in plain sight. LaNea loved the idea of finding eggs. I almost want to do stuff like this more often.
She had a ton of her goldfish crackers, now its time to share with Izzie. 
Putting the final egg in her basket.
So this picture is just thrown in because I just had to show the proof of how much this little girl loves her daddy! Every morning she'll drag her blanket and doll and crawl up into daddy's lap to watch TV. She also seems to know whenever he's getting home from work and she'll stand by the window ready to call out when she sees him.
Here's just a few more pictures that we took of us outside this weekend!
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