Little Miss Leila

We found this pink bucket that is rubber that we got to use for her toys, but she seems to think it is better suited for storing her!

My happy Leila-girl.

LOVE pigtails!

Sitting on the kitchen counter eating pretzels.

I am finally sitting down to write all about our Little Miss Leila. From the time she was just a couple weeks old, we knew her personality was MUCHO different than Liam. She is quite a bit more "high maintenance" shall we say. But, hey, she is a GIRL after all! :-) And she is, through and through, a Daddy's Girl. Completely!

Leila is now 21 months old. I can hardly believe her 2nd birthday is just around the corner. These kids just grown way too fast. She is a skinny little thing, but a bit tall for her age. I think she has a super speedy metabolism. This girl could eat all day, and only gain maybe an ounce. She is also constantly moving from the time she wakes up to the time she goes to sleep. She has no interest in any videos or anything on t.v. That really is not a bad thing, but sometimes I like to put on a Curious George or Thomas or Einstein to just have a little bit of quiet in the house, which works just fine with Liam, but not her. She just has to be moving or talking or something.

Speaking of talking, this girl is a talker! She chatters all the time. She speaks very well and very clearly for her age. Liam still was somewhat hard to understand at this age, but you pretty much can understand most of what she is saying. It is not just me saying this as a proud and biased mommy, either. I can't tell you how many people who hear her talk tell me how good she is and somewhat advanced. What can I say - she is like her mommy and LOVES to talk. She seems to have a bit of a lisp, though, so I guess we will have to see if it sticks around or not.

She, like all kids, says some of the cutest things. Whenever she sees me blow my nose, she comes up to me, points to the tissue and says, "Mommy, I got nose." She then repeats this until I hand her a tissue and she proceeds to "blow" her nose (I think it is so cute to see little kids mimic this!). She often calls Libby her "baby sister" and Liam is "Bubba." She often will say, "Mommy, sing a song!" and then will start to sing either "Jesus Loves Me" or "If Your Happy And You Know It" which are her two favorite.

She follows Liam around everywhere and tries to do everything he does. Poor guy likes to have his space and she does not give it to him. When I try to distract her and let Liam have some time to himself, she loves to help me do laundry. She will say, "Go laundry room, Mommy." So we will go and she will tell me to "Move, Mommy" and she will then get in front of me and help switch the laundry from the washer to the dryer, then she wants to "Push the button" to start everything.

She loves to "take a bath" and tells the water, bubbles and toys good-bye as she is getting out. And already, I am seeing the difference between the interests in little girls and boys. Liam couldn't care less about me doing my hair and make-up, but Leila is always right there, wanting me to do hers too. She loves it when I use hairspray on her hair after I have fixed it. She loves to put on my chapstick, and is always getting my shoes out and wearing them around the house.

She is already quite particular about what clothes and shoes she is going to wear. If I try to put on the shoes that she does not want to wear, she will shake her head and say, "Not those, Mommy." and then point to the ones she does want to wear. She likes to pick out which shirt she is going to wear too. Whew! I didn't know that started this early!

We are dealing with temper tantrums with her, and she loves to scream and smack her hands together if she does not get her way. She has the SADDEST yet funniest pouty face I have seen! And when she is in trouble and we are having her say "Yes, Ma'am" she says it in the cutest little voice.

Before I had kids, I always thought I wanted to have all boys. I thought this because I don't like all the drama that girls seem to bring, and I am not overly "girlish" with all the fancy bows and flowers and frills myself. But, now that I have sweet Leila, I LOVE having girls and am so happy to have two of them now.

We have our moments with Leila when we want to just scream, but then there are all those other times that we just pick her up and kiss her because she is just too stinkin' cute. She is full of life and always gives us something to laugh at! She is a beautiful little girl (her name actually means "dark beauty - so at least have half of it is right! :-) ) and we just love her! I heard someone say the other day that they loved their kids so much it hurt, and I totally understand that. That is how I feel about Leila and all my kids. Words cannot describe how deeply I love them!

Leila keeps me busy, but she is such a joy. I look forward to what God has in store for this rambunctious, full of life little girl. If we can just reign in her enthusiasm and energy and focus it on the Lord, what great things she will be able to accomplish for God!