We love to laugh!

Updates on the Garner clan

I am a little sad that we have done so much traveling these last couple of months, but only a little. (I think our bank account might be hurting about it more than I am !)  Because I love to travel. And I love to visit family even more.  But I think Seattle is such a fun city in the summer! We have been trying to take advantage of it when we're home. Movie nights at the park, blackberry picking, playing at the beach, swimming in the lake, exploring new parks, and of course visiting all the new baby animals at the zoo (they must have put something in the water there because recently they have had 4 different animals deliver!)

Here we are at Golden Gardens (a beach right of the sand). We packed a picnic and had a blast playing beach volleyball with a bunch of friends. 

Here are a couple pictures from our most recent Utah excursion. 

Proud Opa juggling both the kiddos. Boy do they love him!

Best looking babe out there! Even sporting a bright orange bow-tie!

Laila and her handsome daddy !

Cousins! 

I love love love this picture of Laila with Grandpa and Grandma Garner. 

Laila got a crack up with these streamers at Will's (Kaitlyn's cute boy) birthday party! So much fun to reunite with old friends! 

6 months!

Can you believe it?! Little bug's 6 months old already! Time flies when you're having fun! This is such a fun age! She is so much more interactive. And you can see little bits and pieces of her personality coming out, which I don't know if that makes me more nervous than excited. :) I think she is going to have A LOT of it! 

Here are Laila's top 3 for 6 months;

Top 3 Cutest things she does...
1. After a GOOD nap, she'll give a little shout out or start talking, calling for someone to come rescue her. When you come into the room, her face just lights up and she gets the biggest grin. Like, "I have been waiting my WHOLE life for you. You're my favorite person in the whole world! And I am so happy you are here. " Same reason people own dogs. :) Ya that's right CAMERON....people love coming home to a dog that just thinks they are the best person in the whole world, well....some people. And ya, I guess I just compared my daughter to owning a dog.
2. Late night giggles! She gets slap happy! Anything makes her laugh! and laugh and laugh. My favorite sound in the whole world!!!
3. Snuggles! Rare, but those oh-so-precious moments are maybe beginning to surface. 

Top 3 Least Cutest things she does...
1. On the other side of tired, she turns into Gremlin Laila, aka purple minion. Holy moly. Seriously. She'll punch in the face, then the nose, dig into your neck, jump off your lap, pull out your hair, punch in the nose again and pull out some more hair. Its uncontrollable sometimes. Yikes!
2. Ya...we're going to have to put blowouts on here again. I kid you not, traveling with this little bug this summer has been an adventure. Poop everywhere sometimes. 
3. She thinks its the funniest thing to spit her tongue while her mouth is full of mashed up carrots, or peas or potatoes. Pretty soon we're all sporting speckled outfits! 

Top 3 Funniest things she does...
1.  She's become a contortionist. Nap time now means, as we are trying to get her used to sleeping flat (her reflux has calmed down, A LOT, as far as laying down flat on her back goes. However, on that note....the reason for this abrupt switch is Laila has figured out how to undo the velcro from her made-up rocket ship wedge and I found her upside down, on the wedge, with her face smashed up against the crib. The worst part? She was already throwing a fit pre-disaster so I was letting her cry it out. Who knows how long she was screaming in desperate need of a mother's rescue. FAIL. I didn't want to put her down for the rest of the day. I felt so bad.) Anyway....Nap time now means fit all your limbs through the bars of the crib at the same time, at different places, on your back or on your tummy, doesn't matter...ready GO. 
2. Laughs to herself. She'll be playing on the floor with her toys, in her bumbo, on her tummy, or sometimes with no toys at all and she will crack up and then talk to herself. Its a hoot!
3. Still gotta love checking herself out in the mirror! "Ya gurl!" But my new favorite is her in her jumper ! See below...

Top 3 Favorite things
1. Her Jumper - It hangs from the door frame and she sits in it and bounces. I honestly think she could stay in there forever. Sometimes she'll camp in there for an hour or so...while I am showering, or doing things around the house. LOVE IT! and so does she! She is a crack up to watch. Its perfect for her. Ever since she was tiny, she loved to bounce. 
2. Dance. I don't know if she has made the correlation yet, but I like to think so. When you turn music on she sits and bounces on her butt. Too cute!
3. Her zebra. She loves her zebra! When you hand it to her when she goes down for bed or for her naps, she reaches for it with the biggest grin and gives it the sweetest hug. 


Top 3 Dislikes
1. Getting dressed...still! You would think you would learn to get used to that when its an everyday x10 kind of thing. 
2. When you take away her toy. She is really good at throwing a fit! Already!?!? AHHH!
3. Peas! Ya, not a fan. 

Top 3 Accomplishments
1. Rolling over! Yay! and finally! Now the trick is getting her to hold still.
2. Starting solids!
3. Sleeping all the way through the night. She had been doing it earlier, but with a pretty early wake time (5:00 am or so just for an early morning feeding and then back to sleep...) Now she goes almost a full 12 hours! Woo hoo! 

Here are a few of the pictures from Laila's 6-month "photo-shoot". There were too many cute ones to pick from! Love her!