Naptime is Craft Time: DIY Thanksgiving Card

You better believe it took me no time at all to start busting out my craft box after having a kid.

Since I'm no longer teaching I have been deprived of my "art therapy" time.  Not saying I'm the best crafter in the world, but I can say there's nothing better than getting your hands on some paint!

Anyways- here is Lyla's first art project:

{Let me tell you how fun it is to do this project with a 9 week old baby}

The best part is that I decided to make Thanksgiving cards for some of our family with this same foot print project. All I can say is- thank you Lyla for being able to sit in a bumbo seat for 2 minutes!

I forgot to get a picture of the finish project. But I bought some brown card stock cards and envelopes at Michaels, glued the turkey on the front and then put this picture on the inside:

{Made using the app RedStamp}

I think it turned out great. Hopefully everyone can tell it's her footprint though--- some look a liiiiittle  crazy thanks to Mrs Squirmy-pants.

Next up:  Homemade Christmas ornament!

2 Months

I seriously cannot believe my little baby is two months old already.  Where oh where has time gone??  In some ways it feels like yesterday that I was meeting Lyla for the first time but in so many other ways it feels like she's been in my life forever.  We just recently got our cd of pictures from Lyla's birth and my heart almost breaks every time I look at it.  Lyla has already changed so much that it almost feels like I'm looking at a completely different child.

I'm seriously writing this and becoming so overwhelmed by the thought of how quickly my little pumpkin is changing that I just want to go snatch her up from her crib right now and cuddle with her all night long.  

I have purposely taken moments out of every day to stop and truly cherish Lyla for who she is at that moment. I know that one day I will blink and it'll be her first birthday and I refuse to get to that point and regret not embedding her milestones in my heart.

First piggy tail!

Some of my favorite moments include Lyla's sweet snuggles after she eats. I'll be trying to burp her and all she'll want to do is bury her nose in my neck.  Really I just love snuggling with her in general!

I also love watching the way she tries to suck on her fingers. There's no way to really capture how hilariously cute she is as she has slobber pouring down her chin after she's attempted to stick her knuckle in her mouth. 

I love the noises she makes as she sucks on her binkers. Especially when she's mad about getting a diaper change or when she is tired of being in her car seat.

She is becoming more alert every day. It is so much fun watching as she explores the world around her.  

By far my favorite parts of the day are those moments when she is smiling at me and talking to me!  Her coos are getting louder and longer and I swear we are almost carrying on mini-conversations.

Don't you want to eat her up?!?!

We went to her 2 month check-up today.  She broke my heart when she cried from getting her shots.  I consider myself pretty lucky for having a baby that is as happy as she is.  But it's made me totally unprepared to hear her cry so hard!!!  Can we just skip shots completely?!?!?!

Lyla's stats

Weight: 10lbs 5oz (25%)

Height: 22.75in (60%)

Head: 39cm (70%)

Clothing size: 3 months

Every good and perfect gift is from above, 

coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights

James 1:17

Update on Little Lyla

Last week we took Lyla to get the much-anticipated ultrasound done on her hips.  I was so thankful that it was finally time to start getting some answers and insight on what was going on and what kind of timeline we were looking at.

It really is true that motherhood brings out a whole new side of you.  Since the moment I heard her first cry I have been feeling emotions that I never knew possible.  My love for her is immeasurable and it was breaking my heart to see my itty bitty laying there on that huge bed already going through obstacles in her life.  I just wanted to swoop her up and take her home in that instant.  

mmmm snuggly!

But luckily Lyla didn't care one bit about what was going on around her.  As soon as her bumpkin hit those heated blankets she instantly went to snoozeville.  It was so adorable!  My mood quickly relaxed because of all her smiles and because my sweet sweet husband was being so loving and protectant of her.  (Having a baby also brings out a whole new love you have for your husband too). He's such a great daddy.  Really.

Two days later, on Halloween, we went to see Dr Geitz to hear about the results.

While at the ultrasound a doctor came in and pulled on her legs and said she couldn't feel anything abnormal at all so we went into this appointment being very optimistic about what he would have to say.

Dr Geitz explained to us that your leg should be going into your hip socket at a 60 degree angle.  Lyla's hips are at 56 & 57 degree angles and therefore, she is doing exceptionally well.  

Unfortunately though, since it's not at 60 degrees yet he wants her to continue to wear her brace for 6 more weeks.  We will be getting another ultrasound done in December and hopefully then we will see better results.

We sat in his office for a while as he talked to us more about hip dysplasia and all the scary things it can mean in the future for children (being braced for 2+ years, major hip surgeries, full body cast, etc).  Jesse had to remind me once we got in the car not to get too emotional and freak out just yet because we were just hearing all the worst case scenarios.  The doctor is completely optimistic about her recovery and I think he was just telling us those things just to educate us on this condition and all it can mean (especially since I also had this as a kid and had multiple surgeries because of it).  We just have to continue to trust in God and his plan and trust that if we continue to do what the doctor says we can soon be putting this all behind us.

So, keep praying for our little one!

And we will keep you updated on what we find out next.

In the meantime, take a gander at all these precious little gems of my precious little girl:

I could eat her up!

cuddling with her sucker

so expressive

smiles for miles

one of three pictures of me and Lyla... I need to work on that

7 weeks old!

brace-free morning cuddles with daddy

haha

still so itty-bitty

love.

priceless.

another picture with mommy

What an amazingly amazing little girl she is.  

We are so lucky to have a sweet baby like her.  

I love everything about her

and could watch her all day long.

She is already seven weeks old! 

I can not believe it

Praise God for Lyla Mae!

And I'm ending my long picture series with this shot. 

This is when you know you've gone a little too crazy with the pictures/videos 

Happy Halloween

I love that Halloween was Lyla's first holiday!

She was way to little to even begin to enjoy it 

but I loved every minute of dressing my little cutie up in her costume.

I wanted to make something simple that would work with her brace.  

So I figured a little tutu action would be just the ticket.  

And besides, those colors look amazing on her!

I can't wait to take this girl trick-or-treating!

Yesterday morning Lyla had her doctor appointment.  

The receptionist there is so sweet and LOVES when Lyla stops by

So we were sure to make her look nice and festive that morning.

Too bad that outfit didn't last too long.

{Oh that joys of motherhood!}

After her appointment, and outfit change, Lyla and I did a little bit of shopping while we waited for daddy to get out of his appointment.

That evening we went over to our friends house for dinner.  

Julia did an amazing job with the decorations 

and inspired me to be a bit more festive with our house next year!

So cute!

I wish I could've got a picture of the other little boy there.  

He's 5 months old and was dressed as a chicken!

They took a white boa and made his body and yellow rubber gloves for feet.

a-dorable!

{If Lyla is a chicken next year you know where I got the idea!}

Trick-or-treaters were few and far between but it was still a fun evening.

Lyla all snuggled up on Julia (and meow cat)

One holiday down and more to come!

Morning Sweetness

Mornings have never really been my thing.

Back when I was a kid and I would be grumpily sulking into the living room 
hair an unruly mess 
a "don't even think about talking to me" look on my face
my mother would always chime

"Good morning, Medusa!"

Yep.  

My nickname was after the woman who people turned into stone when looking at her.  

Thank you.  

Thank you.

Okay so maybe it had a lot to do with the hair...

Well, now mornings have quickly become my favorite part of the day.

I happily wake up to my smiling newborn!

But not only is it her irresistibly cute face that puts my mood in a happy place, 

it's the time I spend with my little family.

Since Jesse is still off work our routine goes something like this:

Lyla finishes her morning feeding
I put her in the bed between us

propped up on her boppy 
  and out of her brace

Jesse and I stare at

play with 

laugh at 

and take a million pictures of Lyla.  

This is when she is the most alert and content and doing a million and a half cute things!  

We do this for over an hour until she is ready to take a nap 

then usually she falls asleep on one of us 

and we continue to stay in bed as we drink our coffee 

and browse the internet or watch Netflix on our iPad  

Seriously could life be any sweeter?

 

Her faces make me laugh!  

Love this girl so much.

1 Month Old

Lyla is one Month old!

Hooray 

Hooray 

Little Lyla Mae!

{Okay, technically she is 5 weeks old today... I'm a little behind}

My sweet little girl is still sporting the newborn clothes.

She loves to look at her mirror.

She has started smiling at her mommy & daddy.

She loves bath time.

And she has started to make the occasional coo sounds.

We love our little girl so much.

I can't believe how much she has grown and changed so much already.