Little tidbits about our family: Matt, Alicia, Lyla, Hayden and Ella







Saturday, December 31, 2011

What has Lyla been up to?

Now it's time to update you on Lyla and what she has been up to.


  • Can count to 20 pretty much on her own

  • Loves to sing ABC's....even though some of the letters in the middle are hard to understand! Can go A-G and M-Z.

  • Song she loves"Country Girl" and she loves to sing and dance to this

  • Still loves "Frosty the Snowman" and would sing this even in the summer!

  • Doing much better potty training lately...on Dec 18th she wore big girl undies all day with no accidents! For daycare purposes, we put her back in pull-ups but she went a little backwards. Hopefully with me being home with her this last week will help get her in big girl undies all the time!

  • Very competitive and doesn't like to lose. She tries to compete on various things like eating, getting upstairs first and etc. Not sure where this came from!

  • Still continues to love being with Hayden and is such a big helper. She is also a big protector at daycare and doesn't want anyone to get too close to Hayden!

  • Continues to have a great memory and remembers things from many months ago.

  • Her sitter is amazed with how well she can communicate and just hold a conversation...she is getting too big!

  • Word she made up: "tacoway" At first she would say this when she saw pictures of a crocodile but when we say "tacoway" she tells us we are silly.

I can't wait to look back at the blog when Lyla and Hayden are older to show them the things they used to do when they were little.

What has Hayden been up to?

I really haven't updated eveyone on what Hayden has been up to lately. Here are her updates:


  • Still such a happy baby...very content and stays on her 3-3 1/2 hour schedule very well

  • At 4 months, she was at 50% for height (25 inches) and weight (13 lbs 15 oz)....we will see what her 6 month appointment has in store for us in mid January

  • Rolled over on December 2nd...of course I put her on her playmat, walk away and then she is on her back 1 minute later! Hasn't rolled over too many time since but she loves moving around her playmat. A lot of times she is in a totally different direction than you put her in.

  • Has been fussy with her bottles and had to change to a totally different brand

  • Gets really excited when she sees daddy and momma. Gets a big smile on her face and starts moving her legs a lot.

  • Very interested in her hands and really looks at objects that are in her hands

  • Loves to grab your face, nose, mouth when she is looking at you

  • Every time we put on her Packer onesie for the Packer games, she always has a blow out! I'm not sure what she is trying to tell us!

  • Loves to watch Lyla

  • Big drooler like her sister Lyla was but still no teeth

Happy Holidays 2011 from the Brown's

I will try and recap what has been happening the last 1 1/2 months before 2011 is over. We have been here, there and everywhere so I'm looking forward to a couple weekends at home to relax with the family.

Our PJ girls






Thanksgiving
We had a great Thanksgiving this year, being able to celebrate with my brother, Megan and Colin. They were able to make it out to IL this year and it was great to see them! My mom and I did our annual Black Friday shopping and Megan came out with us to brave the crowds. We got so much shopping done that I think Megan needs to come every year! Brett and my dad watched the girls and Colin so they had fun as well. Let's see what we can do for next year!

Grandma Knox




My Grandma, Helen Knox, just passed away December 8th, a couple days away from being 92. She had long, healthy life and we are so grateful to have spent so many memorable times together. She is going to be greatly missed and it was a hard Christmas to be without her. I'm so grateful for everything she has done for me and my family along with being such a great role model. Even when she was sick the last couple of months, you would ask how she was feeling and she would just say "fine." She didn't want to be a bother to anyone and just loved spending time with family. The picture above was one of our visits back in October. I'm so glad I was able to brighten her day seeing her great grandchildren a few more times before she passed. Grandma we love you.




Christmas Eve




This was the year we traveled back and forth for our Christmas celebrations. Christmas Eve lunch was in IL with the Knox extended family and Christmas Eve night was with the Brown extended family. We love seeing so much family in one day, we just wish we could spend more time with everyone.
The stomach flu was spreading around this holiday with affecting over half of the family on the Knox side and a couple on the Brown side. We luckily have not caught that bug yet but Hayden has come down with a bad cold and I feel myself getting it as well. Welcome winter and all the sickness!




Hayden with Reagan (my cousin Jaime's daughter)





Family picture


Family picture with Grandma and Grandpa Knox





Lyla in her Christmas dress





Our beautiful girls





Ella and Lyla






Christmas



This was a great Christmas with Lyla this year. She was excited for Santa to come and give her a lot of presents for being such a good girl. It's so much fun seeing Christmas from a child's eyes...makes you want to go back in time. Christmas gets so busy with trying to decorate, get the tree, buy all the presents and I just need to stop and remind myself that this is a time for family. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family and I just appreciate everyone around me.




Our PJ girls before they opened their presents




Lots of presents to open from Santa!






Smiley girl in her Christmas dress









Now we will be welcoming 2012 at midnight and can't wait to see what this year has in store for us!