First Big Road Trip

I really couldn't begin to tell you how many hours this little trooper spent in the car. Mike, Amy and the kids live out in the beautiful country so to get anywhere, we drive and drive and drive. The weather was just beautiful and Lyla had SOOO much fun. Everyone fell in love with her. Here are some pictures with Mike, Amy, my neices (Lizzy and Alicia and my nephew, Justin) We went to Bishop's Castle, the Denver Zoo, and took Lyla to an indoor pool. Justin dared Grandma to go down the twisty water slide and she couldn't back down from a dare so we got some pictures of her too. My dad, Aunt Cookie and Cousin Yolanda made it down with her girls. What a fun filled vacation. We had a wonderful time

Some of the latest.....

Lyla is 13 months old now...definitely growing. Our baby won't be so little for much longer. She is wanting to be more and more independent, feed herself and doesn't like being "trapped"(by our hugs and kisses). She is on the go and on the move. I have uploaded some pictures of her just to show you a few of the latest. Her stats as of now: She's in 18 mos, working her way into 24 months clothing, size 4 shoes, trying for size 5. She's running and jabbering, examining everything, being sweet one minute and throwing terrible two tantrums the next. She is very advanced, trying to grow up too fast. She knows quite a bit and surprises me all of the time. This week, I let her play with one of my rings and she placed on her thumb, as if that's where it belonged. She grabbed a purse out of my closet and ran around with it, just like mommy does. She always surprises me with how much she knows. She has learned to climb on the recliner/rocker all by herself. She can't quite make it onto the couch yet, but it won't be long.

Lyla's One Year Celebration!!

What a great time we had at her birthday! She was the Belle of the Ball, and she made sure to work the room to visit all of her guests. Although we celebrated on Mother's Day, we had a great turn out and everyone just showered her with love and beautiful gifts! I'll never forget how excited and happy she was!!

My Big Girl

Here is Lyla Jane with some of her latest and greatest pictures!!! Hope you enjoy!!

Cruisin' around

So this is a very unprofessional video cut of Lyla Jane cruising around with her walker. She is very proud of herself when she does it and normally checks back for approval. Sometimes its freestyle with one hand, sometimes one-handed with a toy, you just never know what this little one will try. I hope you all can see it alright, I know its a little shaky and a little dark but it'll give you an idea of how much fun we are having with her. = )

Santa baby!

It was all about tradition, Lyla had no idea whose red lap I put her on and wasn't quite sure what was going on. She was fine until I walked away to let them take a photo and the picture they captured is one that had shown her pouty lip. Not the best picture but cute to mommy because I know that pouty bottom lip. Ha! Grandma, Grandpa and myself took her to Bass Pro Shop in Garland, and they had an oversized aquarium that Lyla just loved to look at. There were like 200lb catfish in there, hard to miss and she sure enjoyed it. Just wanted to share her cute dress with everybody.

Milestones

It's official! Lyla is independently sitting and crawling since last week. At just six months old, she's about a month ahead of her "class". =) She's got very good balance and she is always on the go. Today she had a very busy day. We took her to her first service at First Baptist Church in McKinney and then to lunch at the Texas Roadhouse. She had on her pretty dress for church and was so excited to see all the people while we were in the foyer waiting on some friends. She was laughing at all the people (in excitement, not at them) and they all just thought she was BEAUTIFUL. When we got into the sanctuary, my friends mother asked to hold her and she got passed down the pew, everyone just ooo-ed and aww-ed at her. After a long, fun-filled day with Grandma Jane, Lyla had her bath and bottle and is sleeping peacefully. I feel so blessed to have such a beautiful baby that is so good natured and happy. It's so wonderful to share her, but the most rewarding part of all is when she finds comfort in me, more than ever. The music was very loud in the church and she fell asleep in my arms, even through all the noise. Grandma said, "only in the arms of her mother could she fall asleep through all of that." That's one of the most wonderful parts of being mommy.