I finally figured out why you crazy girls called my mother thinking I was pregnant… that statement is referring to my big backyard reveal! It’s almost done and I can’t wait to show pictures! We completely redid it!
Don’t you two know I will come up with a way better way to let ya know when I am preggers again! Laughing. But Lola really does need a little brother or sister soon, right??? :)
Come see us! Wish I was with mom right now!
Love!
I fell behind in life when Lola got sick which doesn’t make a lot of sense since I was stuck at home… but anyways- now that things are back to normal, life feels more productive than ever!
And sleeping is going good for Lola. Clay and I are dying to move the twin mattresses in her room, but are waiting till we get our hands on a twin bed frame as well as the bed rails at BRU. Hopefully this week will work something out. We were going to put the mattress on the floor, but want to make a big, fun deal out of it for her and let her see it’s a real bed! But napping and bedtime is going good and still without the paci. She has actually quit asking for it.
Naps on the couch… she always wants her baby and Elmo. 
Lola and I have been baking weekly and we really love it and Clay seems to benefit nicely from it! This week we made Apricot Bars and Ooey Gooey Cookies. I feel so good when I bake (and cook but working on doing that more) because it’s fun to share with others, it’s cheap, it’s time consuming, Lola typically likes it, and I feel productive.
Maw-Maw had surgery Friday so we shared our goodies with her hoping it would make her feel a little better.
The cookies were fun to make because of all the powdered sugar!
And man were they delicious! Laura came over and loved them as well!
Last week Lola had pajama day at school. I love when they have special days at school. The best picture I could get while we hurried out the door!
Look how sleepy we both look. Haha- Thursday mornings really get us going sooner than normal!
Lola really loves taking pictures when we are the ones doing it. 
Lola’s little ponytail- surprising long but still not quite long enough everywhere.
My little rock star girl- always keeping me entertained…
Can’t wait to post pictures when we give her a big girl bed!
Also, have some other exciting things to post but in due time 
Have a great week.
Guess what?
Great news- it may seem small but it’s something to celebrate in the Swartz home, even if it doesn’t last… fingers crossed and praying hard.
Lola has been much easier the last couple of nights at night time AND WITH NO PACI! We got to have a fun bunkin’ party (for those Texans who don’t know what that means = sleepover) with Nonna Friday night since Ba was out of town and Kebby came home from school to join us… well I think she came home to go on a first, pretend second, date but anyhow she joined us!
And as Lola said “Aunt Kekky’s Home!”
Lola was Nonna’s little shadow so I just tried to enjoy the time while she wasn’t my little shadow and didn’t bother trying to put her down… so about midnight she finally quit playing and snuggled up in the big chair with me to go “night, night.” She asked for her paci, which I forgot, and just explained we didn’t have it. So within minutes she fell asleep! Yayaya! Granted it was after 12 but anyhow no one put up a struggle or cried. Greatness.
So the next day, back at home, I told her to climb up on the sofa for her nap and she asked for her paci so I just thought maybe last night was the perfect beginning for getting rid of it. (She only wants it when she’s ready to sleep.) So I told her big girls don’t need pacis and snuggled up with her and minutes later, asleep! She sleep for almost 3 hours too! I think that had something to do with staying up so late the night before! And then last night, I fell asleep on the couch and eventually she decided she was tired and crawled up with me to fall asleep on her own with no paci. And nap today, she didn’t even ask for her paci and laid down on the couch by herself and almost fell asleep so I joined her and she quickly fell asleep. So I hurried up to go gather all the pacis in the house so I could hide them away. I was scared if she found one she would remember it! Ha! I have found 12 pacis! Can you believe that! Crazy!
So hopefully this means bye-bye paci (which I am pretty sure it does) and hello better sleeping (which I am pretty sure it doesn’t)… but only time will tell us!
Actually the couch seems to work great with Lola, but we are about to put a twin bed in her room to give her a little more wiggle room while she sleeps and also so we can lay down with her (me or Clay) and help her fall asleep. She really MUST learn to sleep in her bed, in her room- through the night and during naps. I think she is more ready than she has been- so hopefully we can have more success this time.
AND BY THE WAY:
These cute light-weight flannel sheets are on clearance for $4.98 at Target! I was so thrilled to find cheap, yet soft sheets I bought her two sets and another for Aubrey… leaving one behind. Target Online has some cute ones with different prints, yet not the low price tag. Sad.
Aren’t these animal ones cool? Love the colors. 
They also had stripes, polka dots, stars, plaids, etc… Wonder if other Targets have the other prints on clearance… oh man, I am such a sucker for sheets!
Well hopefully in another week I can report in on some more improvement with Lola Lou. I must not lie, I would be happy if it just stayed the same… as long as we don’t go backwards.
When did you put your toddler in a
big bed and expect them to stay in
it throughout the night and
especially while falling asleep?
Maw-Maw brought Lola a bag of left over Christmas M&M’s so I thought they would be perfect for M&M cookies! We had fun and Lola loved the batter… her little pointer finger couldn’t keep from it…
I love this picture. Makes my heart melt.
Lola got out her mixer and helped!
Notice Lola “helping.” Look closely at the pointer finger.
I told her to say “cheese” so she picks up the bowl, leans in, and says “cheeesseeeeeee.” Snap, snap.
We had fun, but looking back- I think we, especially me, could have used a shower first. Waking up and baking right away isn’t good for pictures. Haha!
Love baking with my Lola. She’s a great help in the kitchen. I look forward to more baking as she grows up.
So I just thought Lola would love the Dallas Aqaurium after Kebby and I discovered her love for turtles out at Northpark. Plus she is over the top in love with Finding Nemo so she knows about fish and Dallas Aquarium type things. Even Elmo has been on the back burner, which I finally was coming around to giving her that Elmo birthday party, but it may not even be her thing by then. So long story short- she was scared of the main parts because of all the water and bird noises but loved the downstairs aquarium part.
Pictures:
Just arrived and super curious…
She’s trying to figure out if we are good excited or bad nervous… she isn’t too sure…
Checking out some birds…
Uh-oh, not quite as happy as we thought she would be… doesn’t like the alligators. Who does?
These things are weird…
Lola likes Northpark turtles better than these.
Don’t you love her uneasy little look on her face?
Aquarium Time! 
Nonna stops to give the fish some lovin’
Lola is very interested…
They found a turtle!
Lola didn’t like Kebby by her fish.
Is Lola destined to be a an Aquarium Keeper?
Lola decides to crawl along with the turtle…
This was grossing me out, but I let her do it. But don’t think for a second those pants didn’t get washed immediately upon walking through our door.
Things got a little R rated so we had to leave to go find Nemo…
Smile Lou Lou
We found Nemo!
This guy scared me to death…
This is Ba as a fish. Haha
This is Kebby… an octupus.
Lola was telling Kebby to swim through the glass…
Lola loved to swim like the fish…
They are hiding from the fish, I think.
And the best part was Nonna got pooped on! We kidded Kebby about it the whole time because she has been pooped on so many times, but the birds spared her and got Nonna instead! They said it doesn’t actually happen that much and Nonna got a free shirt considering Kebby and I made such a scene laughing hysterically at her.
A little bathroom trip then off to see the Flamingos.
Thanks to mom, I was going to get out of this great adventure without it costing me a thing until I made the mistake of walking into the gift shop with Lola. She spotted a stuffed Nemo and turtle and we weren’t leaving without them. I gave in and thought she looked super cute carrying around her favorite movie stars.
Since Kebby and I were in such a great mood, we kidnapped mom the rest of the day and went to Magiannos and Northpark to shop. We had a great time and it was a great day. It’s fun to do fieldtrips for me Lola.
Thanks Aunt Kebby and Nonna for going with us!
P.S.
This is what I looked like the last trip here… one month before Lola was born. I was huge!!!
