Lankford Love

Just wanted to give a picture update of our last week! Mimi and Pierre came to visit. Lilleigh loooved Pierre! And she walked around the house calling for "Mimi." It's just so easy to say! On Saturday night we hosted an ice cream social for our street. It was in our yard and our next door neighbors' yard. We had a decent turn out. And two families made their own ice cream!     Sunday was Father's Day. We went to church together and then Brendon opened his gifts, with Lil's help! And that night we had friends over for a steak dinner. They are pregnant with their first child, and Tristyn has been on bed rest. Thankfully though she is off bed rest, as of yesterday!     Also last time I updated, Lil was not enjoying swim lessons. I am happy to report that last week we had a fun swim day with some friends. Aunt Randi helped her enjoy the water! Then today at swimming lessons, she was much happier...

It's naptime, and of course, I have a bajillion other things I could and should be doing, but I also think it's time for an update. It's just been too long! Today Lilleigh is 16 months! Here's a little about her this month... Running!  Loves bubbles. Says a bajillion words. When I counted about 6 weeks ago, she had 30+ words. This month it seems that she's had 1 or 2 new words per day. So I've stopped counting. The girl can talk! Oh and she can now say "Jesus" and sign it - well her version of the sign is clapping, but she understands what it means and assigns meaning, which is the key I think! She also understands a lot! Daily I am amazed at how much she understands. Today I was letting her play with some Lilleigh-friendly apps on my iPhone (to keep her from falling asleep after swimming lessons). The app turned off, so I told her if she handed the phone back to me, I'd fix it. She handed the phone to me immediately. Amazing. Love that. Nu...

It was a wonderful Mother's Day here! A gorgeous day in Dallas! Blue skies and 70 degrees. Love it! Lilleigh was even found sporting this awesome shirt! Tonight Brendon grilled burgers while we sat out on the new patio. Lil loves to play outside, so it was awesome! After dinner, we went to a local ice cream place called Sweet Firefly. Can't say enough great things about it. Come to Richardson and check it out! And about the patio furniture ... It was a Mother's Day gift. Sort-of. Our old furniture was falling apart, so our sweet friends the Widemans said we could have their old set which was in decent shape, since they has recently replaced it. Anyway that had been the plan. Brendon was going to make the effort to go get it for me, borrow a truck, etc, and get it all set up as my Mother's Day gift. But then I got a sweet deal from Kmart involving a free patio set. I belong to a blogger network that helps connect businesses with bloggers to assist in PR. Blo...

At 15 months Lil is... 32" tall, which brings her down to the 20th percentile! Up till now she's been tall - at 89th percentile - but it seems she's slowing down. Wonder who she got that from... 20 lbs, which again is around the 20th percentile. Super talkative! Her pediatrician actually said not to waste how verbal she is and to work on language with her. Attached to "Woof Woof!" She loves her lovey and carries him with her everywhere! I try to limit him leaving home though. Loves to play outside, riding in her wagon and playing in her sandbox and her water table! Says "noooo" and points whenever the chickens come near her. She was pecked once. Loves apples and calls them by name. They join her favorite foods of yogurt and banana. Has been weaned from the morning feed. One left, right before bed. She sleeps 7:30 pm to 7 am and then naps 1-4/4:30. I'm loving her new extended nap! And it's so fun to get out in the mornings with he...

This post is mainly for my memory, so I'll be able to remember when I have future babies how things went down with weaning Lil. I've mentioned before that since Lil was 7 months old, she's been waking up at 5ish to nurse. I'm sure this was a case of what the Baby Whisperer would call "accidental parenting" because she slept a full 12 hours early on and then regressed. Still, I didn't complain because that early feed also meant she slept in till 8:30 or 9. Recently though I decided it was time to drop this feed. I mean really shes 15 months! We started this Friday night/Saturday morning. For some reason on Saturday morning she decided to wake up a lot earlier. Brendon went in, picked her up, and tried to comfort her before putting her back in there. I'm guessing he was in there 20-30 minutes, but she kept crying because she did not want daddy. So eventually he put her in her crib and left the room. She cried another 15 minutes before falling back as...

This past week Brendon was out of town, so Lil's Tita and Aunt Morgan came up to visit! Lil was toddling around the house this week calling "Ta-ta, Mo-mo" - super cute! We had a great time with them! Playing at Chickfila Don't you love their matching outfits? And this weekend we helped host a neighborhood block party for Cinco de Mayo! Lil sleepy from her 3-1/2 hour nap! (Woohoo!! Note: This is not normal. She was up A LOOONG time the night before, upset because Mom is trying to wean her.) Anyway, we were on our way to the party in this pic. Playing with a Little Tikes car Playing with her friend Ella. Aren't they super cute together? They look so much alike! I missed getting photos of the bounce house while it was up, but you get the idea! We are super involved in our neighborhood because we see our neighborhood as an outreach. We strongly feel that God has placed us where we are, so we want to take the opportunities He gives ...

Since Brendon has been traveling a lot lately, I have resubscribed to Netflix. And I've begun watching the Duggar family on 17 and Counting (aka 19 and Counting , but I'm on season 1). I had heard about this family, but since we don't have cable, I have not ever been able to watch it. For anyone new to the game, the Duggars are the family with their own show on TLC because they have 17 (now, 19) kids and America seems to be enamored with that amount of children. Image courtesy of DuggarFamily.com Without saying that I agree (or disagree for that matter) with their views on child-bearing, I must say that I love their show. I am only four episodes in, but I think what strikes me about this family is that they do the big family thing well ! These parents really get what it means to parent their children and to do it as if working for the God. They get what it means to shepherd their children's hearts and point them towards the Lord. Sure there are critics who say ...