A sister's love

Lately I have been noticing the bond between Addisyn and Layne. I've watched him go from not really knowing who his sister is, to seeing him smile and giggle everytime she walks into the room. I've watched Addisyn go from really not knowing what to think of him, to wanting to be around him every single minute.
Today when while I was taking their pictures, I was trying to get Layne to smile. He was more interested in the Easter eggs that were around him than looking at Mommy and her camera. Addi said to me "Mommy, don't worry.. I'll get him to smile." She walked over to where I was, said "Layne!" and instantly he looked up and had the BIGGEST smile on his face. I got one of the best pictures of him I've taken since he was born. Addi didn't  say "see?" or "told ya I could get him to smile".. she looked at me and said "I just love my brother."
After experiencing this, along with how well she treats him, how often she wants to play with him, how well he responds to her, and how well they actually do play together, I find myself hoping and praying that this bond..or SOME sort of bond will last between them. Brothers and sister's aren't really known to be 'close' as say, sisters are..or best friends are. But I really hope that one day, they can both look back on the pictures and videos I've captured of them and realize that they loved each other so much. And even though they'll grow and change, I really hope that love never does.

Brothers and sisters are as close as hands and feet.  ~Vietnamese Proverb

Shoe vs. Dog

Whoever has a dog, raise your hand. Whoever has a dog that they love (for some reason) even though he chews everything in sight. *raises hand*

Last night, Jeremy and I were talking about how Gibson (our chocolate lab) was becoming quite "bold". By bold I mean stealing food when there's a chance or opening to do so, licking Layne's spoon clean while I'm waiting for Layne to be ready for another spoonful of pablum, and chewing stuff just because he is angry, for whatever reason. I mean, he's still a puppy, yes. And he is a lot better than he used to be, but it still drives us nuts!!!
I let Gibson out into the backyard this morning and notice that Jeremy's boot had lost the battle between itself and the dog. I had to laugh a little. It IS Jeremy's fault for leaving his boots out there knowing our dog has a habit of bypassing his Kong (chew toy) to chew on people's things. But I also had to laugh because as I was taking this picture, I realized that Gibson's cuteness has saved him multiple times. He really is a good dog. Great with Addi and Layne, and he has more of a personality than most people do. AND, if he left us, we would all miss him dearly. He came over to me and looked at me as if he was saying "Mommy.. I chewed the shoe, but now you have something to blog about!" Not to mention wanting his presence known in the picture.. :P 

“No matter how little money and how few possessions you own, having a dog makes you rich."- Louis Sabin

Teddy knows best..

Over the past couple weeks, Jeremy and I have been trying really hard to get Layne used to soothing himself to sleep. We rock him and comfort him until his little blue eyes get heavy, and then into the crib he goes. At first, it was horrible. He'd scream so loud I thought his little lungs were going to give out, and then calming him down afterwards was a war in itself. BUT...we kept being persistant.
After a few days of being stubborn and getting frustrated, we invested in an "Ocean Wonders" thing for his crib. Ya know, the ones that have the dim lights and play ocean sounds? Yeah. That. It helped a bit but Mister Layne needed more..

Teddy is his new fav. Not sure what's so special about this Teddy in particular, but he loves to hold Teddy tight. Maybe it's the feeling of having something close to him while he drifts off, or maybe it's because it's soft. Whatever the reason, they are buds. So now you can comment on how babies aren't supposed to have things in their cribs with them, and hopefully I don't get too many people on my case about this (afterall, I DO take Teddy away when he is completely asleep..) but he's attached.

"Everything in life I share, except of course my teddy bear" - Anonymous

Oh hey blog!

So, I broke down and decided to keep a blog. Not sure if anyone will choose to follow this or not, but I love to share stories and pictures from my every day life and I thought..what better place to do so!!! Addisyn and Layne are always doing so many things to make me smile, and sometimes I forget to jot them down or post a photo of them, so I thought if I could steal a couple minutes out of everyday to keep a small blog, perhaps keeping track of all these funny moments wouldn't be so hard. I'm sure my husband can watch them while I type this up, right?? :)

I wanted to start a 365 day picture project, but I'm not sure if that will actually happen. I just think it would be nice to look back on my year in pictures next year at this time.

With that said, stay tuned!!