November 2008

Our second month is kind of a blur! The lack of sleep & lack of extra help caught up with me. But there was a big reward for mommy - Lyla's first smile! On Thanksgiving Lyla gave her Poppy her first big gummy smile. We spent Thanksgiving in Chattanooga with TJ's family. It was her first chance to meet her cousins Alayna(5), Alijah(3) and Abby(2). She thought the big kids were pretty entertaining! Also in the month of November we took Lyla to her first Hornet's basketball game and her first Monday Night Football Saint's game. She loved them both and was such a good fan. She really enjoyed the bright lights and noise. In fact, at both games she fell asleep in the 4 quarters. I wanted to pipe in game noise to our house at bedtime to see if that would help with her sleeping! At two months old she has already done more than I have in 28 years. We also had our first night alone together. Daddy went bow fishing with some guys from work. Ladies Night was fun!At her 2 month check up she weighed 11 pounds and 13 ounces and was 23 inches long. Our mile stones for this month included grasping, holding up her head for long periods, cooing and babbling, and my favorite - smiling. Some of her favorites include reading the Five Little Monkeys, bath time, her floor gym, and her mobile.

October 2008

Lyla's first four weeks were filled with learning, mostly for mommy. Even though I read almost every book on babies there is nothing like "real world" experience. My mom and TJ's mom came to help out and they were great. We both enjoyed having them here and the extra help was wonderful. Some of Lyla's favorite things in the first month were her swing and going places. She was a great little adventurer, although she didn't much enjoy the rides in her car seat. We took her to a church pumpkin patch and to the Angola Prison Rodeo and Craft Show. Very different venues for our little baby! We also celebrated our first holiday, Halloween. It is my favorite holiday and Lyla had lots of cute Halloween clothes to mark the occasion. She was a Lady Bug and helped pass out candy to the big kids. It was a very exciting and very exhausting month!

First Picture

Our Lyla Bug

Lyla's Nursery

Since most of you won't get to see Lyla's Nursery I wanted to get some pictures posted. Her Daddy did all of the hard work (that's why everything is level!) and mommy just got to play foreman and make a few things. I think it turned out pretty cute considering we are in an apartment and couldn't really do too much! My mom gave me some of her grandmother's hankies to frame above her crib. They matched everything perfectly! What a treasure for Lyla some day. I love lambs so she has a lot of those throughout her room but my favorite is her Lulu chair. It was one of the hostess gifts from my baby shower and I drove with it in my lap all the way from Borger to Baton Rouge - a 14 hour trip. Our car was stuffed with gifts for Lyla and I didn't want to leave Lulu behind. It was a little cumbersome as I was almost 8 months along! But we all made it just fine.

The Beginning

My Family

I have started this blog at least 3 times since Lyla's birth but after 4 months I think I can finally keep up with it. No promises though! She is growing so fast and I do a pretty good job of monthly email updates but I thought this might be a better venue to show off my precious little girl. And since we are living in Louisiana alone, I thought this might help family and friends watch Lyla change.

I'm going to catch everyone up on what has been going on with our family over the last several months. They have certainly been exciting! TJ and I moved to Louisiana in June of 2008 for his job. We both really like it here. Lots to do and being a history lover, lots to see. Being pregnant during a South Louisiana summer was interesting! I have never been so hot in my entire life. Here is a picture of my prego self exactly one week before Lyla was born.Lyla made her debut on October 4, 2008 in Baton Rouge. She was exactly 3 weeks early and at 7 pounds 5 ounces mommy was very glad. We had a few extra days in the hospital with jaundice so she started life in a tanning bed. I hope that is the last time she is in one of those but it did make for some cute photos.