6 month pictures

The Many Expressions of Laneah

Laneah makes lots of faces and most of them are hilarious. These were taken on the trip back to St Louis from Nauvoo and were all in reaction to a plastic cup from Taco Bell.

St Louis/Nauvoo

Sorry for the delay in getting my vacation pictures up. Our trip to St. Louis was great. We had so much fun and it was so nice to see my family. We took Laneah all over the place, she was tired but she had lots of fun. She didn't like the zoo too much. It was a really hot day and she just ended up falling asleep while sitting on Jason's shoulders of all places:) She did have her first carousel ride there with her daddy and seemed to like it. We also took her to Grant's Farm and they have a petting zoo there. You can feed the goats milk from a baby bottle, but the goats are really aggressive and they all jump on you if you have a bottle. I didn't want Laneah to have bottle and have the goats all over us, plus she probably would have tried to drink the bottle herself:) Laneah's uncles fed the goats to keep them close so Laneah could see them and pet them. She had a good time there, she likes to be able to see the animals up close. I think that her favorite place was the butterfly house. I love the butterfly house too. It is a beautiful indoor tropical botanical (enough adjectives for you?:) garden filled with plants, waterfalls, and of course, tons of all kinds of butterflies. Laneah loved watching the butterflies floating all around her and kept trying to catch them. Most of all, Laneah loved being around her aunt, uncles and nana and grandpa. They kept her entertained.

The fourth of July was fun. We had a BBQ and set off some fireworks. Laneah wasn't scared of the fireworks, but she wasn't as interested in them as I thought she would be. That night, my mom watched Laneah and we went to the annual fireworks show at the Arch in St Louis. Usually they call it 'Live at the Levey' but because the river level was already up to the steps of the arch, they had to have it elsewhere and called it 'Live off the Levey'. They still shot off fireworks from a barge on the river. We sat in the park almost directly beneath the arch. The fireworks show was really cool, especially with the arch.

Nauvoo was awesome! I love that place. We saw a lot of flood damage on the trip there (it is about a 3 hour drive from St Louis). The temple was beautiful and the sealing was amazing. We ended up having Laneah sealed to us in the same room that Jason and I were sealed in. It was cool because the sealer said to us that he didn't know why we were having it there because they normally don't do child/parent sealings in that room. But we knew why. What a special place. We hadn't been there since we got married. We stayed the night in Keokuk which is across the bridge and they have what they call a mall next to the hotel. At the "mall" they had baby tigers that you could play with. My sister and I got in a cage with a 5 week old baby tiger and a 6 week old baby liger. They were so cute and playful. Bummer we couldn't take pictures while we were in the cage, but we got a few pics of the them afterwards.

I know that I am missing a lot of stuff but it is late and this is already a long blog so I will write more later:)

Adoption Day and Celebration

So its final! We went to court on Tuesday morning. It only took about 15 minutes. Jason and I had to get on the stand and verify our names and information and state that we wanted to adopt Laneah. Then the judge ruled in favor of adoption and it was over. We took some pictures with the judge and then got our paperwork and left. It is such a relief to have everything finished. Now we have the sealing to look forward to next week.

Saturday was our adoption celebration. We had family and close friends over for a bbq and pool party (at Jason's grandparent's house..no we don't have a pool :) It was great. The rain held off until after the party and the sun was shining. Laneah actually did really good in the pool too. It was a lot of fun! We can't wait for our trip to Missouri and then Nauvoo:)

Sittin' Pretty, Bat Baby, and Happy Father's Day

Today was Jason's first father's day and he had to give a talk in church. Most people dread doing this, but Jason loves it. He gave a great talk. I think my favorite part was when he said that out of all the fun and great things he has done, nothing compares to the happiness he feels when Laneah laughs. It was really sweet. Here is a picture of the proud papa: Now to the sittin' pretty. Laneah has been sitting with little assistance for a while now, but today things just clicked. She sat on her own, no help for 15 minutes. Look how happy she is:)
So here is something that I find very strange; Laneah loves to be upside down. If she is on your lap, she will usually lay back and and hang her head off your knees. We literally have to make her come back up, I mean it can't be good for her with all her blood rushing to her head. But she loves it. So Jason starting hanging her upside down for a few seconds now and then and she cracks up. It is hilarious.
Here are a few pictures of her in daddy's hat. I thought they were cute.

Water, Water Everywhere!

It has been so incredibly hot here, like in the high 90's low 100's and with everyone's best friend (humidity of course), it made it absolutely miserable. So naturally my car's air conditioner broke (and I am not kidding, the temperature in my car read 125!), then my radiator cracked and so I couldn't drive anymore, which was perfect because Jason's car was already in the shop. Ugh...so anyway, a carless week and a couple of grand later, our cars are fixed (except my air, but at least it has cooled down some). It was a busy week. And I bet you are wondering why in the world is this post titled "water, water everywhere" so I will get to my point:) Last weekend we took Laneah to Jason's grandparents house for a family gathering and the pool is open so we brought our suits. Laneah hadn't been in a pool yet and I was a little nervous because she isn't crazy about bath time(she hated it at first, and now she tolerates it). We started out in the kiddie pool and she did great so we decided to ease her in the big pool. I sat on the steps with her and she was squirming trying to get off my lap into the pool (face first:) Daddy took her out into the water and she was having a great time and then her uncle jumped in the pool next to her and splashed her right in the face. Not a little splash, like a wave. She became hysterical and we had to take her out of the pool. Several tries later we got her back into the pool without crying. Then someone else jumped off the side into the pool and splashed her in the face again! She wouldn't stop crying. I tried to get her back in the pool after breaks, but she didn't want anything to do with it. Every time she she heard a loud splash, she would cry again :( I felt so bad. I hope she will try the pool again because Jason and I are such water lovers. Anyway, here are a couple of pictures before the splashing incident.

Court Date

We have a court date:) Laneah's adoption will be finalized on June 24, 9 a.m.! I can't believe that it has almost been 6 months. I am so excited to have her officially be ours!

First Beach Trip

Over the Memorial Day Weekend, we went to Virgina. Originally, my cousin Thomas was supposed to be coming home from Iraq and that is why we were going there. Unfortunately, he didn't get to come home over the weekend after all, but we still had a great time. We stayed with my cousin's wife (Krista) and their daughter Madison, who is 8 months old. My mom was with us, and Thomas' mother (my mom's sister) was also there. Madison and Laneah had so much fun together. They played and laughed at each other. They even look like each other. As you can see from the pictures, they both have fuzzy blond hair, blue eyes, full lips and fair skin. When we took them out, people kept commenting "look at those cute twins!" We spent Memorial Day at Virgina Beach. Laneah did really well at the beach. Of course, she tried to eat the sand, but who can blame her? She liked the ocean waves lapping on her feet. I was surprised she did because the water was so cold. She had a lot of fun, but was worn out. After the beach she was sitting in her special chair watching a Baby Einstein video. As soon as the credits came on, she passed out in the seat! It was so funny! It was a great trip. Thanks Krista for having us at your home!
(Hint: for those of you who aren't computer savvy, click on the collage and a new tab will open up with an enlarged picture collage) Enjoy:)

4 years!!!!!

Yesterday was our 4 year anniversary. It has been a wonderful 4 years. We have been through a lot but I can honestly say that these past four years have been the happiest of my life. I am so lucky to be married to such a wonderful man and better yet, to be sealed to him for eternity. What a wonderful blessing! I LOVE YOU JASON!!!!

Anyone for some rice cereal?

Wow, this little girl is growing so fast! She turned 5 months yesterday. She started eating solids today! We mixed some rice cereal in a bowl with her formula and she took to the bowl and spoon like a natural. She loved the stuff! It was fun because she got it all over her face and hands. Here are some pictures and a video. The video is a little long so feel free to cut it short:)