Lyla- 18 Months

I am officially the worst blogger.... but I'm going to work on it! Lyla is growing so fast! She's 18 months old! I wish I could freeze time right now because I love every little thing she does- even when she tells me 'no'. She is such a happy girl who is going to be an excellent big sister to her brother who's due in March! I know she's going to be a great helper. She points to my belly and says, "baby" and can also say, "brother"- it sounds sort of like "bruddy". We have decided that baby boy's name will be Hagen, which is my maiden name... Lyla says "Hagy"... so cute.

I wish I could just squeeze and snuggle with Lyla all day long. She gives hugs and kisses, says, "I love you", lays her sweet head on my shoulder, etc. Tommy and I both love picking her up from day care- she runs to us yelling, 'Mommy' or 'Daddy'! I remember when she was born that was something Tommy said he could not wait for! Speaking of when she was born, just the other day, Tommy and I watched our home video from the hospital- (no, we do not have footage of the actual delivery!) It brought tears to our eyes to remember that special day. I can't even imagine being able to love another little baby like I love Lyla, but I can't wait to see what it feels like!

Since I've written last, life has been pretty crazy! Thankfully, Tommy is back on a normal daylight schedule which definitely helps... although he does still work a lot of overtime. I started teaching 4th grade instead of Kindergarten which has been a good adjustment but a little overwhelming at times. And, I started classes at VCU for my Post-Masters Degree in Educational Leadership. I took two classes this fall! Wow! I am really looking forward to Winter Break which begins in one week.

Tonight, we went around to look at Christmas Lights... Lyla enjoyed this so much! I honestly can't believe she stayed awake in the car. Once we left the last house, I said, "ok, Lyla, you can go to sleep now"... and then she was out! We plan to visit Santa sometime next week- I'm not sure how Lyla will react with him this year. She sees pictures of him and says "Santa", so hopefully she will be well prepared for the man in the Red Suit! :) It's definitely going to be a fun Holiday this year!!!!! :)

Below you can find a few recent pictures of Lyla. Just yesterday, I realized that I can put her hair up into a pony tail- wow!

Lyla LOVES books! She will go pick one out from her room and bring it to one of us to read to her. She sits so nicely (better than I remember some of my former Kindergarten students sitting!!!!!!)

Here's Lyla at the Carpenter Theater. We went to see Barney Live! :) She was SUCH a good girl for the entire show.

This picture is from Zoey's 2nd Birthday Party... they had a huge blow up bouncy thingy... I think Tommy enjoyed it more than the kids! :)

Here they are coming down the slide together!

Big Girl Lyla!

Wow! Obviously I haven't been the best blogger the past few months!... I think about blogging- especially whenever my friend Erin posts on her blog about her cutie, Sean! I just don't get around to it... so here's a recap from the last few months!

Lyla turned ONE on May 26. We had a really great party with a monkey theme. She enjoyed the company of friends and family and loved her new toys and clothes. This was her outfit for the special day:

The school year finished out wonderfully- Lyla was sad to leave her babysitter for the summer... but I am so excited to spend every single day with her... that's the huge perk to being a teacher! We started off our summer with a trip to the beach!... Myrtle Beach! It was such a fun time- it's all about the kids now! We went to Ripley's Aquarium, Pirate's Voyage, the Boardwalk Carnival, Broadway at the Beach, and Barefoot Landing (as well as the Tanger Outlets! :) ) We also spent a lot of time at the pool and a little bit of time at the ocean. Lyla loved the sand and water. The kids had a blast.

Lyla is growing so fast! Her hair is getting long and she's doing lots of 'big girl' things. She impresses me every day with saying words. The words I can think of right now that she says: Hi, Bye Bye, Momma, Da Da, Ta Ta (thank you), Bubba (her uncle), Zo Zo (cousin), go, dog, ball, and I'm sure there are more that won't come to my mind right now. Her newest one - shoe... which sounds like 'joo'. That one is my favorite! She loves wearing shoes! Whenever we say any word to her, like, "bug", she will usually say at least the beginning sound back to us. All this, and Lyla is yet to walk! She will be walking any day now though. She will take a few steps now before falling down... she's still working on balance.

Lyla loves Seven more and more everyday! Seven knows to sit next to her high chair during meals because Lyla is sure to look over the side, say "dog", and drop Seven a human food 'treat'. Along with this, Lyla is not a good listener to the word 'no'. Hopefully she will grow out of this... we say "no" and she will turn to look at us and smile, then continue to do what she knows she shouldn't be doing. She's just so cute though! ;)

Just recently, Lyla has become able to climb up onto the sofa and get off all by herself. This morning she climbed onto her toy chest and sat down with cousin Zoey. This was them still in their pajamas:

We are trying to enjoy every day to the fullest! I will definitely be sad to go back to school and leave Lyla :( but I'm really excited to start the school year as a FOURTH GRADE TEACHER!!!! I'm ready for the change and new adventure! We still have a little summer left to live... and we still have another beach trip- to Hatteras. Hopefully I'll do better about posting now that there's so much going on in this big girl's life! :) Thanks for reading!

She's EVERYWHERE!

Here's the latest of Lyla Grace CRAWLING! :)

... and another really cute one of her:

Crystal's Bow-tique!

In honor of Valentine's Day, I made Lyla 2 new cute bows!!!! I've gotten pretty good at this now- I made these in record timing! :) Maybe I should make my own little bow-tique! (Just kidding... I totally do not have time for that!)

I sat down earlier to post on my blog and that was when I remembered I had bought the ribbon for her Valentine bows... I had a totally different post in mind- but now I'll just show off her new accessories!

P.S. Does anyone else's photo's lose quality when posted on here? What should I do differently? These look so dull and not like the original photo's on my computer.

A Very Traumatic Experience!

Lyla Grace had her ears pierced today!!! If you're a mom and getting ready to have your daughter's ears pierced, this isn't the post for you! I knew it was going to be bad- but not THIS bad! And gosh, I thought they would have two guns to pierce both ears at the same time. Poor baby. Lyla produced a cry that I had never ever heard from her before. But don't worry Grandparents, the cry lasted for less than 3 minutes. Now, Lyla is 10 times more beautiful with her "December Rhinestones"... and yes, I know she wasn't born in December, but it's just such a beautiful color! :)

My new earrings: (I like them better in the package right now!)

Marking the spot: (The lady has a q-tip because she had to wipe off the first mark she made... it wasn't quite perfect!)

Ear #1: One nurse holding her arms and head, the other nurse piercing...

HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME, MOMMY??? (One ear down, one to go!)

NO! NOT AGAIN!:

All better! :)

Please let me try what's in that cup!

While trying to capture the dynamic duo in their matching outfits, it turned into a cute moment of Zoey sharing her juice with Lyla! (Usually Zoey is found hitting or sitting on Lyla... so, this was memorable!)