Little Miss 1-Year Old

Lyla Jane (a.k.a. "Ly-Ly", "L.J.", and "Janie") turns 1 tomorrow. It is so hard to believe it has already been a year. It seems like just yesterday that I was pregnant with her. Time has definitely gone by faster with each of my children. My mom always tells me to cherish these years because before you know it they're over. I am beginning to understand what she means.

Lyla has brought us so much joy. She is such a sweet little girl. She is happy ALL the time... Really, she rarely cries. Maybe this is because she is such a great sleeper?! This little girl loves her naps, eating (she is particularly fond of circus animal cookies), her mommy, her star-stacker (She crawls all over with a star in each hand. She loves the sound of them banging on the hardwood floor.), wrestling with William, climbing on anything & everything, and her "ba-ba." Oh, and did I mention she loves to eat? Her latest accomplishment was conquering our staircase. She is so proud of herself when she gets to the top! Her top two teeth have broken through (4 teeth total) and her vocabulary is growing ("uh-oh", "oh wow", "mum", "me"). Patty-cake, giving "5", and pulling her blanket on and off her own head are favorite games! She is full of energy and keep us on our toes... My mom likes to call her the "wild thing", which is very fitting. She has the prettiest eyes that light up and get so big when she smiles. We are all so in love with this little angel and cannot imagine our world without her. She had us all wrapped around her finger from the first moment we all saw her. Happy 1st Birthday, sweet Lyla Jane!

Lyla's 1 Year Old Photoshoot

I just got these pictures back from Lyla's 1 -year old photoshoot. She was SO good for it... At least until the end when I made her eat her birthday cake. There are 2 kinds of kids... Those that attack their cakes & those that won't touch it because they don't like being sticky. Lyla is definitely the 2nd type. She got so mad. All she would do was touch it & then cry because she didn't like having the frosting on her fingers. Then I smeared the frosting on her face to make it look like she'd been eating the cake (because we just had to have a picture!). I can't imagine where she gets her obsessive-compulsive tendencies from?

10 Years?!

Nate & I celebrated 10 years of pure bliss on October 9! Where has the time gone? I swear I shouldn't be a day older than 23! I cannot imagine a life not married to Nate. He is such a wonderful husband & father. He is so kind & giving. He goes out of his way each & every day to make me feel loved. He is so funny... He can make me laugh & bring a smile to my face like no one else! He works so hard to provide for our family. He ALWAYS puts our family first. He is always so willing to help me out with the "daily routine" stuff. He is a peacemaker. He is truly my best friend & I love him so much! I look forward to the next 10 years!

We celebrated by taking a trip to Hawaii! We had never taken a trip like this together in our 10 years of marriage (unless you can count super exotic locations like St. George & Las Vegas!). We had also never been to Hawaii. Needless to say, we had a fabulous time. We were total beach bums for 7 days straight... We did take breaks now & then for some snorkeling, shopping, & a Luau (Nasty food!). It was so great to just be able to spend time with one another. Now that we know what we've been missing, we will definitely be taking another trip together soon!

P.S. Whoever advised us to take the "Road to Hana", I was not amused! I threw up 4 times on the side of the road... super romantic!

Family Pictures

Is it just me or is getting family pictures taken one of the most stressful things there is? Even when I think I am so prepared, I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off the day of the pictures... Ironing the clothes, making sure we are "perfectly coordinated" (like it really matters), curling Liv's hair, crossing my fingers that we get at least 1 shot where we are all smiling or at least just looking at the camera, running to my friend Tara's at the last minute to get matching flowers for the girls' hair. Despite all of this, our pictures turned out great & we actually had fun getting them taken. I couldn't be happier with them! Here is a sampling of some of our favorites... O.K., a lot of our favorites. I couldn't decide which ones to post.

Tiff's Wedding

One of my best friends, Tiffany, got married the last weekend of August. She has been through a great deal over the past 3 years... More than many of us encounter in a lifetime. I have learned a great deal from her. She has faced each trial that has come her way with amazing faith & grace. She is an incredible woman who married an equally outstanding guy, Ryan. I have no doubt that he will make her very happy. Congratulations to you both! I love you, Tiff! Thank you for your example & for inspiring me to be a better person!

She Crawls!

It's official... We have a crawler at our house. Life has gotten a whole lot busier! Lyla started to crawl at almost 9 months to the date. Even though I am feeling a little crazy, she is a lot happier! She loves her new found freedom. It is so cute to watch her follow Liv & Will all over the house. Her favorite spot to crawl to is in front of the sliding glass door. I tried to keep it clean for the first couple of days but finally resigned to the fact that it was going to be covered with little Lyla hand prints no matter how many times I wiped them off!

First Day(s) of School

Since I have been M.I.A. all summer & haven't blogged, I decided that the first day of school shots were a good place to start again. Both Olivia & Will were so excited to start school. Liv had some "jitters" about being a 1st grader, but she is doing great. All that I can get her to tell me about school is that it's "good"... I guess she's not in tears & is excited to go each day, so all must be well. I think I had a harder time with it than she did! Starting school for Will was a very good thing as he had started to get quite bored with Livi being gone. He loves Super Start School & can't wait to go each day. He has been a little confused as to why he doesn't get to take a lunch like his big sis... We compromised on packing a snack in his lunch box that he can eat when he gets home!

Our Little Princess

I couldn't resist posting this picture. I had my heart set on hanging up one of Peekaboo Photo's "Princess & the Pea" shots in Lyla's room. The first one didn't turn out too great...it was the last shot we took & she was DONE. So Katie let me come down for a retake. This picture was taken on Lyla's 8 month birthday. She was "herself" this time...nothing but smiles. She has found her voice, babbling "da-da" mixed with squeals nonstop. She can roll across the room in a matter of seconds & can go from laying down to sitting up on her own.

6 Month Photo Shoot

I just received an email w/ a few of the pictures from Lyla's 6 month photo shoot. Can I just say that I am in love. This age is so fun. Lyla Jane is so yummy. Katie, you did it again...you truly amaze me with your talent!

Cowabunga Backyard!

For her birthday party this year, Liv wanted to go to Cowabunga Bay (a new & pricey waterpark that just opened by our house). The list of friends & cousins that she wanted to invite got rather long, so we settled on Cowabunga Backyard instead. It was a blast! We had an inflatable bounce waterslide, slip-n-slide, swimming pool, & turned the sprinklers on under the tramp...we even had a snack bar & a place to search the "beach" for buried treasure. We ended up having 25 kiddos total. It was a little crazy, but LOTS of fun. Thanks to all of Livi's friends & family who came to the party. She is one blessed little girl!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to the best dads around! We love you!

7 Months Old

Sitting up, rolling all over the place, grabbing for EVERYTHING, & 2 bottom teeth. Lyla is 7 months old. It is so bittersweet...she keeps getting more & more fun, but it is sad to have our baby get bigger!