Baby Layton has arrived

Caleb Stone Layton was born on Thursday, July 14th at 8:15am, weighing 7lb 1oz. We are enjoying having a newborn again and all the cute little things they do. He is adorable and snuggly and just a precious little baby. All the kids LOVE him (a little too much) and are constantly wanting to hold him and touch him and give him kisses.


Here's the best (although unflattering) profile picture just before having the baby. I was braiding Valencia's hair just before the baby came so I wouldn't have to do it for awhile. I thought for sure this baby would be my biggest because he jetted out there so far, but nope - he was smaller than Beckett.


The kids came to visit me in the hospital and meet the new baby the next day and they were all excited to hold him.

Our new family of six. I still can't believe I have 4 kids! I haven't been left alone with all four yet so I don't really know how that will be.






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Here are some pictures of the other kids to compare -- who do you think Caleb looks like, Tallie or Beckett??


Beckett's newborn pictures:





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Tallie's newborn pictures:

Catching Up

Here's a quick catch up for the last 6 months of the Layton home. I wanted to get this posted before the new baby comes. If you didn't know -- we're having another baby -- arriving on July 14th. You'll notice in some of the pictures I'm looking VERY big and pregnant.

January - Beckett turned 2!



Grandparents/Parents day at school
Each of the classes did a presentation that was really cute. Valencia's class talked about the Creation and each child had a part and drew a picture. Valencia's was that God created Eve.


Tallie's class presentation was Noah's ark. She was the frog that went on the ark.


Tallie's last day of school
Tallie finished her first year of school in a pre-k program. They had a party at a park on the last day of school that was a lot of fun.


Valencia's last day of school
I love this video clip of the kids from her class singing - a great Catholic education! It's such a cute song. On the last day of school the kindergarten class did the Mass and they each had speaking parts and sang songs. It was really cute.

They had a little "graduation" party for her kindergarten class after they got out of school:

I can't seem to get this video to work :( It's so cute!




Summer fun
We took a trip to Storyland with the kids in June. It's a great amusement park designed for kids 7 and under -- all the rides are little kid rides. We had a lot of fun.


I haven't been up for chasing the kids (or really just Beckett) around a playground this summer - actually I don't think it's physically possible right now :) so we've been visiting farms instead. Much more low key and the kids like it so it's great. Beckett especially is SO into farm animals. He's some kind of animal everyday - and usually it's a llama.


Nightly book reading
Jared is usually in charge of putting the kids to bed. I thought this was a cute picture of him reading books to the kiddos.
My shopping helpers



Strawberry Festival
One of our favorite activities here -- we've gone to this festival the last 3 years. You can't beat fresh farm strawberries, lots of free samples of strawberry foods, fun activities, and a tractor ride! Jared and Valencia did the strawberry shortcake eating contest and Jared won a big container of strawberries.

The next post will have pictures of the new little guy!!!

I'm really getting into Valencia's hair so I have to post again. I braided it again this week and tried 2 colors of hair this time. I think it turned out really cool.
I decided to add one row of beads to spice it up.


I gave Tallie a row of beads too for fun.


Here are a couple funny pics of Beckett. That boy is soooo cute.
He's into gloves lately and HAD to wear these when we left the house.
I put him in his chair for breakfast and on his own he decided to say a prayer. How cute!

1 year appointment

Valencia had her 1 year home doctor's appointment yesterday. I was very interested to see how much physically she's changed in the year that she's been home. You will not believe the results of a balanced diet (that includes veggies!) and exercise (they did a lot of sitting and laying around in the orphanage).

In one year Valencia has grown 8 inches and gained 3 lbs!

Isn't that amazing??

Hair Braiding

I've made my first attempt to braid in extensions for Valencia myself. I thought I'd give it a try since the difference in cost is $4 vs $70. I watched a couple youtube videos and was ready to go.

Since it took almost an entire Saturday just to take out her old braids I had to leave her hair out for the week before doing it and here's what she looked like:
I learned from a Haitian woman recently that vaseline is the wonder product for her hair and it's true! A little vaseline , well, a lot of vaseline makes her hair look great.


First... the supplies:

Here she is almost done. It took three movies to complete -- that's a lot of sitting! I was worried she wouldn't sit for me as good as the women at the salon, but she was really good (I think it had something to do with the movies!). Tallie and Beckett enjoyed watching movies ALL DAY too.
In the end it turned out okay - actually I was pretty proud of myself. I got better as I went along and luckily you start underneath so the first braids aren't noticeable. The only thing I didn't do great was pull the hair tight enough. The next day she looked like she'd gotten her braids done a few weeks ago, so unfortunately they're not going to last as long but that's okay. She loves her new long hair and we'll try again. Next time I think I want to try putting in beads.
What's funny is I didn't take a picture when we were all done. I think we were all tired and it was bed time by the time I did the last one.