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!