What we've been up to

Mama's back at work and boy have I been workin'. I have been coming home soooo sleepy and if I wasn't coming home to this face
I would probably fall to sleep on the couch watching the news at 6:00. Instead we've been getting into all kinds of fun that I haven't made a point to blog about, but here a some pictures at least. We've played with chalk. Played in the sprinkler. Played dress up. (Maybe we need to work on that one a litte bit)And learned how to clean up a mess. (This is a big help for a tired mama!)

We have also done lots of other fun things that I actually hope to blog about, but we'll see. Playing with, snuggling, and teaching my lil' lady always comes first! :)

Craft night!

Lylah and I had another craft night tonight. I got the idea from the latest issue of Parents magazine. Here is what we did: I separated vanilla pudding into 3 different bowls. Then I let Lylah choose a food coloring to dye each bowl of pudding. She chose purple, pink and green. After showing her how the pudding changed colors (her favorite part), I spooned a small amount of each color onto her tray and let her "finger paint". The good thing about this was if she ate the "paint", it didn't matter. Now, as for tonight, she wasn't a big fan of the craft due in part to having shots and being sleepy from a very BIG weekend. I think if we try it again (pudding cups do come in four packs!) when she isn't sleepy and cranky she will enjoy it much more. Super fun way to let your little one get messy and explore art!!

One Year Old!!

Lylah had her one year appt. today. She is tipping the scales at 18.8 lbs...as the doctor says, "She's not the biggest baby, but she's healthy!". She got her shots and didn't cry too much but that might be because I packed some vanilla wafers for her for afterwards! :) Anyway, I can't believe she is one!! Here are some of the things she is doing:

She is getting brave and trying to walk more and taking lots of steps in a row.
She is saying dada, mama, ball, hello, and bubble.
Her fine motor skills are getting better esp. when playing with stacking cups, rings, bracelets.
She is drinking whole milk during the day, she does okay mostly.
She can do a lot of signs: milk, more, all done, eat, water, help, please, hello/goodbye, and thank you.
She is also using pointing to communicate.
She has become VERY ticklish, esp. on her feet!!

As always I'm sure there are lots more. I was telling my father in law that I feel like she learns something new every couple of minutes!! It is amazing watching her grow, learn, and change! Here is our little lady in a cute shirt my aunt got her:


And here she is all dressed up in her very first cute outfit!

**Notice how long I've been waiting to put the little pink and brown flower in her hair!!! :)

The Best Party Ever!

Lylah celebrated her first birthday on Saturday. We had a pool party at my parents house. Everything was ocean theme and everything was wonderful. Thinking back about the day it just couldn't have went any better. The weather was beautiful. The pool water was refreshing. The decorations were cute. The food was yummy. Family and friends were there. Lylah was in a delightful mood and kept right with her nap schedule. A big thanks to my parents for hosting and staying up late Friday helping get everything ready. My dad is a master with an ice cream cake!! The cakes were perfect. Another big thanks to Nathan's family who drove 3 1/2 hours and made camp on the family room floor in order to celebrate with us!!! Those of you wanted a more detailed account of the party read on....

I rushed home from school on Friday so we could head to Indiana. We arrived, had dinner and watched Lylah play in the cabinets of my mom and dad's hutch. Lylah went to bed only fighting sleep for about an hour!! When I went down stairs at about 9:00, she was just sitting there like a little sleepy zombie. I layed her down and she finally went to sleep. That was when the preparations began. Dad decorated his awesome cakes even though he wasn't feeling well. Mom and Emily worked on making Jello jigglers. Nathan and Adam tried to make my potato salad fish which didn't go real well. I guess that's why I didn't take any pictures of them :) We finally got to bed a little after 11.
I woke Lylah up on Saturday morning at 6:30 so as to hopefully keep her on her weekday schedule. Mom and Dad gave Lylah her shopping cart present and she and Bella played with it for a while. After breakfast Lylah went down for her nap without any problems. Thus began the second wave of preparations. Dad finished up some cake decorating and some other food stuff. Me, mom, and Emily worked on decorations while Nathan and Adam put up tents for shade and blew up balloons. We got everything ready before the little lady woke up. When we brought Lylah out to see where her party would be she of course had to study it all for a bit before the excitement really hit. She oooo'd and ahhh'd at the balloons and rafts. People started showing up and the party began!!! When one of Lylah's best buddies got there she was so excited she even offered her several kisses!! We all played in the pool until lunch was ready. After lunch we moved right on to the presents as Lylah was starting to get sleepy. She was so sweet and excited about every gift, although she left most of the opening to me :) Finally we brought out the ice cream cakes. Lylah didn't know what to think at first. She just watched the candle as we all sang. By this time I did finally have to hold back a few tears!! Anyway she LOVED her cake!!! She didn't really dig into it, but she ate it up as we fed her and she did eat some of the whipped topping and twizzlers with her hands. After that Lylah was ready for her afternoon nap. She slept for 2 1/2 hours!!! I guess it was all of that fun! It was as my nephew put it THE BEST BIRTHDAY PARTY EVER!!

A year ago

We tried to get pregnant for a year and a half so when I woke up suddenly at 2:00 in the morning on August 7th, 2009 I woke up with a thankful heart. My water had broken and Nathan and I were so excited! We made several phone calls and headed to the hospital. Once we got there they had to make sure my water had really broken. I was so nervous that they were going to tell me to so home because I'd only peed to bed. Thankfully, my water had broken. Thus began the almost 13 hour journey to meet our baby girl. I'll spare you the personal details, but I will say that we were so thankful that Dr. Davis left his weekend at the lake to deliver and that LaDonna Forshee was our nurse. God is faithful. At 3:21 we met our little lady. We cried, we laughed. I can't explain how I felt except for an overwhelming love for Lylah and Nathan and all of our family. Looking back on that year and a half of trying, I realize that it built up in me a love that was overflowing by the time I finally met our little one. Lylah has been a blessing and a joy every moment of our lives since. She is a thinker and a studier. She is giggler and a hugger. She is our baby girl and no matter how old she gets she always will be. I love you Lylah Mae! Happy Birthday!

Field Trip #9: Fun at Hopscotches!

We had a very impromptu 9th field trip. We were on our way out the door Wednesday for story time when I realized I had a message from a friend inviting Lylah and I to Hopscotches. I wasn't sure if Lylah would be up to it or not since we were up early for story time and she hadn't had a morning nap. Anyway, Lylah was still wide awake after story time so we headed on over. Lylah had a great time!! She is trying to climb (yes, before she actually walks) so this place was perfect!! She played on a climbing toy and went down slides. She also pushed a shopping cart which was fun because her Bebe and Poppy are getting her one for her birthday (don't tell!). The other toy she liked was the rocking toy, sort of like a teeter-totter, she rode with some big girls several times!! The only toy she didn't like was the tunnel, but since then she has become rather fond of crawling under and through things so I think she would like it now. We will definately go back some time soon and I'll take my camera!! Anyway, as we were leaving my car wouldn't start...bummer!! Turned out my battery was dead which sort of changed up our plans for Thursday and Friday (more on that soon!)Anyway, our impromptu trip ended up being a lot of fun!!