Here we go...

She did it folks. Cora is off and running. Today she started the awkward beginnings of crawling. The arms and legs aren't fully coordinated yet but she's up on all fours and using them to get where she wants to go! Heaven help me now!
So aside from that my original intent for a post today was to do a little "Then and Now." Below is one of my all time favorite pictures of Leyna as a baby. She was about 6 1/2 months old at the time.
Today I put Cora (now about 7 1/2 months) in the same outfit and tried to recreate the scene.
I think they're both too cute for words!!!

Amazing Feats!

Cora must be determined to break some kind of record this week. She pulled up, she's really close to crawling, and today she started waving hello and goodbye! Her brain must be in overdrive! This morning I waved hello to her and she looked at me and did an awkward little wave and said something like "ha-ya." Later on she was eating some cheerios in her high chair and she looked at me, did her little sideways wave, and said "ba ba." It was definitely an attempt at bye bye! I looked back at Leyna's calendar and the week before she turned 8 months old she pulled up on a Monday and crawled that Wednesday. A few days later she was waving. Wowy...
And while we're talking about amazing feats, I took a little video of Leyna today. I know I write what she says all the time and one of my friends who hadn't seen us in a while said she just assumed I was sort of embellishing how well Leyna could talk since I'm around her all the time and know what she's saying. Once she saw her in person she said "Oh, she really talks that well!" This video shows off her language and memory skills. We haven't read this book in over two weeks and she got most of the words right. She's amazing!

Leyna Reading from Jami _ on Vimeo.

And one last amazing feat - below is a picture of how much laundry two little girls can make in one week. I'm both impressed and appalled.

Home again, home again, jiggity jig

We left the hotel at 4:15 this morning and FINALLY headed home. For real this time. The girls slept for the first couple of hours and then we made one last stop at Cracker Barrel for breakfast. The rest of the ride went decently until we were about 15 minutes from home and then everyone just lost it:

 

Poor babies :( It was a long 15 minutes but we made it with most of our sanity in tact. The first thing Leyna did when she got inside was ask for pickles. She's been wanting them for days but all the restaurants only had dill and she likes the little sweet midget ones. Cora got right to work on crawling. She's SO close. We spent the rest of the day hanging out and getting reacquainted with all of our toys. Now, our own beds are calling us. Good night!!!

Our family vacation, unplanned Day 8.

We left the beach at 5:30 this morning with the intention of driving all the way home. Once the girls woke up with lots of energy and a touch of car sickness we decided to extend our trip by just one more night. After that it was nice knowing we could take a little longer to stretch our legs during our stops. We had another breakfast at Cracker Barrel. As soon as we got out of the car Leyna said "Hey, we ate at Cracker Barrel yesterday!" I was shocked that she remembered the name of the place, even though she was a little off on her days. Vacation does that do you ;) One of my favorite memories of the day was nursing Cora in one of the fifty rocking chairs on Cracker Barrel's front porch as we listened to "Georgia On My Mind." Very relaxing. We also took a long break at the South Carolina welcome center. We spread out a blanket, had some peanut butter sandwiches and cheerios, and just enjoyed being out of the car. We made one last Cracker Barrel stop in the evening just to use the bathrooms and play some checkers on the porch. After that we headed to our brand new, super nice hotel. Leyna loved the room and after sitting on every couch, bench, bed, etc we headed down to the lounge for dinner. That's when the day got much less relaxing. Leyna started saying her tummy hurt, which she had been saying all day, and the poor girl soon tossed her cookies all over the booth we were sitting in. It was a mess and she was extremely upset about it. We cut dinner short and headed up to the room to clean up only to discover that our room only had a standing shower and no bath tub. Not cool. We made it through, Leyna rested, and soon she was asking for orange juice and yogurt, neither of which seem like a good idea for an upset stomach. We were watching TV and as the food commercials came on she added cravings to her list. "Mommy, I want orange juice, yogurt, pizza, and french fries!" Yikes! Daddy went down to the sundries shop and bought her some strawberry ice cream. That hit the spot and she was ready for bed.
Meanwhile, since Leyna threw up Cora decided she was going to pull up. She was sitting in her hotel crib, grabbed the rails, and pulled herself up to a standing position like she had been doing it for months. Go Cora! So that  was our day and night. Tomorrow we are really going home for real this time and we can't wait to get there :)

Our family vacation, Day 7.

Today we spent a full day at the beach! It was awesome and so relaxing to see and hear the ocean. Cora managed to eat two entire fistfuls of sand and Leyna has so much sand in her hair I don't think it will all come out until  next summer. Leyna and Conner spent tons of time just laying and playing in the sand. We ate lunch on the beach and that was pretty much covered in sand too. The sand in our teeth will remind us of the beach for the next few days after we leave ;)
Tonight we ordered pizza and said our goodbyes to everyone. We're going to miss Uncle Kris & Aunt Gretchen and hope to see them again soon! Off to bed with us, we're getting up super early to drive home tomorrow. I think we're all ready to be in our own beds again!!!

Ready for some fun in the sun

Meditating before she braves the water

I love vacation!

Sandy baby toes :)

Beach babes

Another family portrait

So sweet

Snoozing on the sand

Almost snoozing in the sand :)

Digging for treasures

 Leyna & Mommy's sand castle

A quick nap with Daddy

And I just have to show these two old pictures for the sake of posterity. This was Leyna's first trip to the beach at 9 months old. Same hat and swim suit!

Our family vacation, Day 6.

This morning we said goodbye to Nana and Pee Paw and Disney World and headed for the beach for Uncle Matt and Kara's wedding. We checked into our new hotel and Aunt Gretchen came to see us! It was the girls' first time meeting her and they really hit it off. Aunt Gretchen is married to Daddy's oldest brother, Uncle Kris, whom they had also never met. For the whole trip Leyna acted super shy around Uncle Kris but whenever he was out of sight she wanted to know where he was and when he was coming back. It was cute. Anyway, we hurried up and got dressed and headed for the sand. The girls were a bit antsy so we wandered around making footprints on the beach until the music started. The wedding was very nice. Cora slept through it and Leyna did a great job sitting still. Later in the day when someone asked Leyna what princesses she saw this week she said "Kara" :) Next was the reception where Leyna and Conner danced and chased and played the afternoon away. Cora was happy to be passed around from person to person and then took a loooong nap on Aunt Chrissy's shoulder.We finished off the day with 18 of us going to dinner at the hotel. The kids were exhausted by the end of the meal so we called it an early night and hit the hay. Tomorrow is a beach day!!!

Feels so good to have our toes in the sand!

Cora's first time meeting Great Grandpa and Great Grandma

Uncle Matt, Uncle Steve, Daddy, and Uncle Kris

Waiting for the ceremony to begin

Pouring sand together

Princess Kara and Prince Matt - The girls have a new aunt!

Family portrait

Cora & Aunt Gretchen. LOVE this picture

Leyna & Conner at it again

Cora getting a horsey ride from Great Grandma

Cora & Uncle Steve

Cora & the groom

The moment Leyna waited all day for ;)

Passed out on Aunt Chrissy

Our family vacation, Day 5.

Today Uncle Matt and Kara arranged for everyone to meet them at Magic Kingdom to celebrate on the day before their wedding. Uncle Andy, Aunt Kim, Conner, and Scott were there too! We started the day off with the Jungle Cruise ride. Very fun with lots of cheesy jokes by the captain of the boat :) Next Leyna and Conner spent some time dancing to the parade music. They had some good moves! Leyna was also excited to see Baloo from "Jungle Book" up close. We did quite a few other rides and then the exciting, busy, fun week caught up with the girls. They both conked out in the stroller while the guys took the race cars for a spin. We decided to call it a day not long after and head back to the hotel pool. I think the babies enjoyed the water even more than the toddlers. We finished off with dinner outside and some splashing in the fountain. It was an awesome last day at Walt Disney World!

Dancing machines

Sharing confetti and refusing to smile for the camera :)

Back to dancing

On the "People Mover"

Zonked

Best buds at the pool

Mini best buds at the pool ;)

Trying to get Uncle Andy's pennies back - LOL

Our family vacation, Day 4.

We woke up very excited this morning. Even Leyna's hair was excited. (this is the real deal people - I didn't touch it at all)

This morning was extra special because Nana and Pee Paw arranged for us to do a character breakfast. It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. We had lots of fun and got to get up close and personal with each character. After eating 2 Mickey shaped waffles Leyna was ready to meet all of her friends. Cora was much more interested in her cantaloupe and bagels at first but she got into the fun too. Check it out!

These are definitely some of the cutest pictures from the whole trip! After breakfast we took the monorail to Epcot and our first stop was the "Finding Nemo" ride. Very cool. We also did Spaceship Earth, Figment, and a few other things before heading over to the countries. Leyna was feeling extra sleepy this afternoon and at one point she was using the potty and actually started to fall asleep while she was sitting there! As soon as she was done I had her lay down in the stroller and close her eyes for a little nap. It was much needed! After her nap we listened to the Voices of Liberty sing for a bit, checked out the countries, and headed to China for dinner. Leyna didn't eat much and seemed like she wasn't feeling well. We soon found out why: Our poor little princess tossed her cookies all over the sidewalk in China :( Everyone around us was so helpful and concerned, giving us napkins and helping us get cleaned up. Once she was all changed and cleaned up she was really wiped out so we made a couple more stops and headed back to the hotel. I'm sure she'll sleep well tonight!
I also have to note that Cora hit a new milestone today - kisses! She was giving them to Daddy throughout the day and yes, I was jealous :) She also continued to stop people in their tracks. One couple followed us around for a minute and just gushed over her cuteness. Another woman exclaimed "Oh my gosh!" when she saw her. LOL

Outside the "Finding Nemo" ride

Giraffe shrubs

Sleepy

Not sleepy

Leyna listening to the "Voices of Liberty" on Daddy's lap

A cool little train in Germany