A year ago

Many great and not so great things have happened this past year. Many things to be proud of, a few this to be sad about, and a few things that were so-so. I feel very blessed in so many ways. I'm blessed with a wonderful family, a steady job, a husband that loves me (most of the time :) ) and most importantly I'm blessed because I'm able to live and enjoy my life.

A year ago today, something very special happened and something that changed my life in so many ways, all good, of course. A year ago today, I found out I was expecting. I was overjoyed, excited and nervous. So many what-ifs and lots of waiting. I found a little bit of patience during that time and bonded with my husband more than before. God granted me a beautiful gift, one that I will forever cherish. Not everyone is able to have babies, some have babies that don't make it and some are blessed with children but unfortunately lose them to soon. I will never take my time with Lyla or Sean for granted.

A year ago, Sean and I's life started as a family! A family of three. I find myself filled with so much love every time I look at her, hold her, nurse her or snuggle with her. I love seeing Sean as father. I love watching him interact with her and can see just how much he loves her. Lyla has made life so much better for Sean and I. She had made our lives just a little more complete.

Thank you Lyla for bringing so much love and joy into our lives! We love you!

It's a holly jolly Christmas!

Can I tell you I love this season! Ahhh, bliss!

Sean, myself and Lyla head to Salina day for a quick, and I mean quick, day trip to get somethings and cross a few things off the Christmas list. And a lucky little someone got to meet Santa Claus. And no, it wasn't Sean!

We met my parents at the Salina mall and all went and visited Santa Claus! She had this adorable little Santa dress on! She had no interest in Santa really at all, didn't even look at him!

We made just a few stops in Salina and we were headed back home. I had a photography session and had to be back by 3. And now we are just hanging out at home. I'm hoping to get a few presents wrapped and hope to finish up Lyla's Christmas tree!

OH, and Lyla rolled over today from her tummy to her back. She's kinda done it before, with a little help. But tonight Sean laid her down on her tummy and as he walked away she rolled over. We tried to get her to do it again, but no such luck. Hopefully I'll get it on tape soon! I'm so happy for my little girl. Also, when we were changing her at the mall she sat up for about 5 secs on her own, just like a big girl. I'm sure that milestone isn't to far off.

Well have yourself a fabulous evening! We sure will!

Let's place catch up

Hold on tight, this will be a fast one.

Lyla's first Thanksgiving was great! We got to spend time with a lot of people that we love and most importantly, people that love us! :) At least they tell us that they do! Lyla also got to see her Aunt Sonya (Sean's cousin) again and meet her Uncle Jonathan (remember the bromance?) for the first time! We also took some family pictures and well, I must say we are an ADORABLE family!

Lyla and I then met my mom and we traveled to Wichita to do some shopping. We hit up Carter's outlet and got Miss thang a bunch of new clothes!!! I love their clothes. I got majority of my Christmas shopping done, which is great! We then stayed with my brother and my new SIL and visited with them and did more shopping until we came home on Sunday (with a lot of stuff and no money leftover). Sunday evening we put away the thanksgiving decor and put up the Christmas stuff! I also got Lyla her own Christmas tree for her room! Get this, it's pink and Zebra... and Sean hates it, but I LOVE it! :) But more on that in a different post.

In the world of Lyla, she's still an oinker! And she also still hates sleep. So yesterday I started to let her cry it out whenever I put her down for the night. 7 minutes later and she was asleep. She cried pretty hard for a little bit (and so did mama) but she/we/I both survived it. It wasn't near as bad as I thought it would be. Then tonight I was expecting it to be worse, but it only took 3 minutes. Hopefully she's getting the hang of it and not teasing us! Unfortunately she still isn't sleeping for more than 3 hours at a time so hopefully after she gets used to this, she'll go to sleep better and she'll learn to sleep for a long long time! She is also getting close to rolling from her tummy to her back and she loves to lift her legs off the ground. She hasn't found her toes yet, but I'm sure it's coming. She also loves to stand and bounce whenever we hold her up.

Well I think that covers it! I'll do a picture post soon as I took over 230 pics in the last week!! Wooza!

There is a reason...

I haven't been blogging.

I'm tired. Like overly tired. Like I could sleep 24 hours straight tired.

I'm plum wore out. Between a little girl that doesn't go to sleep until late, that doesn't nap for more than 30 minutes when I'm around, my photography business doing awesome right now, and trying to be domestic... I'm tired.

But please don't think I'm complaining. Because I'm not. I'm more than thankful for my adorable little girl and or my photography doing as well as it is. But all these things combined don't allow for much else. Like blogging. Or crafts. Or well,sleeping. But it is all worth it and I'm happy to be doing it! I have come to realize I will live with little sleep, when I used to think I wouldn't!

I have so much to post, so I'm hoping to get my to-do list crossed off tonight and hopefully blog!

Until then..

O.M.G.

You may need to sit down for this one...

...drum roll please...

Lyla slept almost 6 hours last night! Yes. I know. Unbelievable! I laid her down at 9:30ish and she slept for about 45 minutes and then started fussing. About 15 minutes later she was out, but not completely asleep. And she fell asleep in her pack n' play. I woke up at 3:30 wondering if she was ok and it wasn't shortly after that I heard her moving around. Now, after the 3:30 feeding she was back up at 5:30 but that's ok. I can handle that! I just can't believe it! I'm sure this is just a fluke and tonight we'll be up about 5 times but I'm gonna be positive and hope this is a step in the wonderful direction of sleep!

I should mention that we used to have her sleep in an old cradle that I slept in as a baby. Well I think we've reached a point where she is just to big (she is an oinker, you know. She ate 9 oz at 1 feeding yesterday. Holy cow!) and therefore whenever she moves she's hitting her hands on something and wakes up. So we put the pack n' play up in our room and we'll see. So far so good! I'd love to be able to move her to her room but that is downstairs and she's not a good enough sleeper yet. Our next step is going to be to get her to sleep in her pack n' play all night and not sleeping in bed with me after she wakes the first time. This is totally a me thing, not a her thing. And it's kinda sorta a me thing I like!

Anyways, I'm super excited!! :) Please, please please let this happen again!

Our new sleeping arrangements. Out with the old, in with the new!

And in other exciting news, Miss Lyla finally got to meet her Uncle Jonathan. Jonathan is pretty much my 2nd husband and my 1st husband's boyfriend. Get it? Yup, best friends. They totally have a bromance going on. But Jonathan is such a great friend to the both of us and it was great getting to see him and for Lyla to finally meet him!! Jonathan lives in SC and is back to go to the KU-Mizzou game with Sean and some other friends.
(I told you they had a bromance!!)


And because she hasn't made her presence on the blog since Lyla was born, here is Miss Reese. Her and Lyla get along great! Reesie *loves* to kiss her and lay with her on the floor. Lyla still has no clue who she is or what she is, but they are so going to be best friends!!

And just because she's cute!

Have a great Wednesday!! :)

Anticipation

Wanna know what I was *SO* excited about?

My boys came to town. Well actually my boys came to KC but that's the closest I've been to them since I lived in PA. Can you guess who my boys are??

These studdly boys,the STEELERS, that happened to lose to what I consider, one of the worst teams in the NFL. But that's beside the point! *MY* boys were here and I got to see them in action! It was an awesome football/tailgating day! We got up at 5:30, only had a few hours of sleep, and headed off to Arrowhead. The tailgating included my mom and dad, brother and SIL, and Sean and I. I missed Lyla *SO* bad, but managed to survive 29 hours without her. Yes, I counted down. I do that. Anyways...

We played some washers, ate an awesome meal and drank a little. Believe me when I say I got my mother to take a shot. Yup, she was a trooper. You see, my mother doesn't drink. Period. I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen her drink. But this was a special occassion and called for a Vodka shot! I wish I could upload the video of it because it is *HILARIOUS*. And I should mention that was the first shot I've had since having Miss Lyla. And Sean could tell the minute I was feeling it because this chick becomes even more talkative then I already am. For some reason I like to ramble about random things when I drink. I'm cool. I know.

We then headed into the Stadium and got to watch my boys in action. Now it was a great game, BUT it would have been about a million times better if we won. I'm still not sure how we lost to the stinkn' chefs of all teams, but oh well. It was still a good game! We all had an awesome time and I think we are all ready to head to another game.

Here's some pics from the weekend! * Warning * Possible Picture Overload *

My madre and padre!

We didn't want people to know that Sean was with us!


Ok, just kidding. We let him back in. But only because he's cute!

Kevin and Kelci

Steeler Hugs!

We're hot, I know.
*The* Shot!
Sean and I

Celebrating Kev's 24th Birthday!
More pics tomorrow!

A moment of laughter

Or maybe a moment of complete mortification.

I think you'll laugh.

I'll continue to be mortified.

And for the record, I'm not sure why I'm blogging about this because it isn't something I want to remember...but I'm addicted to blogging. And you'll get a kick out of it.

You know about GROTB? Sure you do. It's my wonderful blobness left over from my princess. It's gross. Disgusting. Ugh. And you know I'm *trying* to lose it, right. And when I say trying, I mean that word very loosely. Very.

Anyways, I was at work today and it was our 2nd to last patient of the day so I was way ready to get out of there. Well, we finish up with him and as we are leaving he asks me...

Ready for this...

"When are you due"?

Yup. He thought I was knocked up.

Very politely I tell him, I'm NOT. That is it my leftover blob from having my daughter 3 months ago.

I'm not sure who was more mortified. Him or me.

And for the record, I don't think I look pregnant. The girls at work don't think I look pregnant. At least they told me that. They might have been trying to make me feel better. I was shocked. I mean come on people. I just had Lyla 3 months ago. I don't have totally awesome genes that allow me to rebound into a size zero 2 days after having my baby. I'm just not that kinda girl. I mean, I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight, in my pre-pregnancy clothes, but that *blob* is just there.

Call me a plastic surgeon. I need a tummy tuck!

But I also feel bad for the guy. No one ever wants to be in that position. His face turned bright red and he told me profusely that he was sorry.

So friends, I think I have finally found my motivation. Starting Monday GROTB is back into full effect. And this time, I'm actually going to try!

Hope you enjoyed a good laugh! I sure didn't! :)

P.S. I'm a blogging hiatus until Monday for a super awesome reason! I'm so excited! But I can't tell you about it until Monday! Be excited!

Like Father, Like Daughter.

Lookie at what I came downstairs to last night.

My two loves.

My one love watching his beloved Hawks while my other practice tummy time! Which she loves! She's getting so good at holding her head up at 90 degrees and pushing up with her arms and shoulders! She looks so big! :)

These pictures make me smile! And thought maybe you just might too.

Happy 3 Months, Baby Girl!

Again and again I say how fast time is flying. And once again, I'm going to use that phrase!

I can't believe how fast time is going!!! To think that just 3 months ago Miss Lyla was born! 3 months ago I was in horrendous pain waiting for my little miracle! Ahh, I love her! Everything about her. I only wish everyone could experience this type of love! It's the best thing. EVER.

Well Miss Lyla dear, here's what you are up to at 3 months.

1. You still don't sleep much at night. Momma would love for you to sleep just 5 hours straight. Most of the time you sleep about 3 hours straight, 4 if I'm lucky. After that 1st stretch however, you wake up about ever 1.5 to 2 hours.

2. You love to blow bubbles and are becoming more vocal!

3. You wake up the happiest baby every single time!

4. You weigh around 12 lbs.

5. You just started pushing up with your shoulder when lying on your tummy! You love tummy time!

6. You are still in 0-3 month clothes.

7. You wear size 1 diapers at daycare!

8. You smile every time someone talks to you! You love to smile and have the cutest smile!

9. You got your ears pierced and look so cute with them in!

10. You are starting to grab and hold on to things more.

11. You take 2 good naps a day and 1 small nap in the early evening. You go to sleep around 9-10 at night. 11 if you are fighting sleep, like you do most of the time!

12. You are a very active baby and love to throw your arms around and kick those chubby legs!

13. You still have the lacrimal duct obstruction but it's not as bad as when you were born.

14. You still co-sleep with momma, but that will soon be coming to an end. Hopefully.

15. You have great neck strength and can hold your head up for long periods of time now!

16. You love your fingers and hand and have started sucking that thumb! You mostly suck your thumb when you are tired but you will suck on your whole hand whenever you get the chance!

We love you more and more everyday Miss Lyla! :) You are getting so big and it is so fun watching you grow up and change everyday! We love you!

Happy 24th Birthday Little Bro... hope you had a great 1st married birthday!! :)

Little Lyla wanted to wish you a Happy Birthday!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZBFycbL0AY

I can't get it to be embedded so you have to click!! Sorry!