Cajun Queen

There is a mini brick castle in front of the Louisiana National Guard building that I have wanted to take Lyla's picture with, but I have always needed some help. Since we had daddy with us Friday night, we took advantage. I think Lyla needs one of these in our backyard, when we finally get a backyard!

Shot by Tate!

Photo by Tate Tullier

Now that Lyla can sit-up, I wanted to get some professional photos taken of her. While Portrait Innovation does a fine job, I wanted something original and captivating that would really "get" Lyla being Lyla. We were recommend Tate Tullier and he was AMAZING! He was so great with Lyla and very patient. He and his wife have a beautiful home, full of a great mix of antiques, art and modern elements. I loved it!
She was completely intrigued with his camera. Even though I take her picture ALL of the time, my old camera was pretty quiet. Every time he clicked she got her serious, studious face on and wanted to check out what he was doing. But by the end, she was her normal smiley self. We had so much fun and he got some great shots! I can't wait to see his finished edits. I would totally use him every time and if you live in the area or are just looking for an original photographer, get on the Tate train! He is so gifted and has an incredible eye for capturing "the" shot. Please visit his site or his blog to see what I mean!

Finger Foods

Lyla started feeding herself on Tuesday! She picked it up in one afternoon. I tried to show her at lunch how to pick up the cereal and bring it to her mouth but she'd rather play with it. But by dinner time she was scooping them off her tray and heading straight for her mouth! She likes to pick each one off the tray until they are all gone, hold them all in her hands and then start eating. Her favorite food has been the mum mums. For those not into the infant culinary arts, these are rice crackers. I would break them in half and she would hold one in each hand and alternate bites. She has not figured out how to move the cracker up to get the last bite and when TJ tried to help her she yelled at him and hid the cracker behind her back. My girl loves her food! We tried bananas today and it was messy! I am really working on letting my aversion to mess go, since I know it will only get worse!

North Shore Weekend

TJ took a class this past week in Mandeville so Lyla and I went up to join him. We had never spent any time on the North Shore so we decided to make a long weekend of it. A guy TJ works with was kind enough to offer us his camper for the weekend. We walked around Mandeville near Lake Pontchartrain, visited Abita Springs and Lyla and I helped out with a Crawfish Boil. Here are a few pictures of Lyla and her daddy playing at the park in Abita Springs. It was one of the neatest parks I have seen around here.

Backwards swinging

Daddy barely fits!

Feeling the sand between her toes

Although I have eaten Crawfish lots of times, I had not seen the process from start to finish. Our friends, Bo and Christi, took Lyla and I to the seafood market and showed us how it's done. We had a big table full of crawfish, corn, sausage and potatoes by the time TJ got home from class.

Going in ALIVE
We only made a small dent! It was so good and so much fun. Where ever we go next, we will have to bring this Louisiana tradition with us. Along with King Cakes, Gumbo, Jambalaya & Bread Pudding. Hmmm...So that is why I am having a hard time with the baby weight! Ha ha!

Sick

I have been so nervous about her getting sick but we both survived! We had our first real sickness last week. 7 months was not a bad run! I have been blessed with a healthy little girl and a wonderful husband who allows me to stay home with her. On Mother's Day Lyla started to run a fever. She had no other symptoms so I thought maybe it was teething related. But when her temp got up to 103 I called the doctor. There was a fever virus going around and we caught it. She ran fever for three days and then got a terrible rash once the fever broke. Poor thing! She was a trooper though. We were too busy snuggling to get a picture. Lyla can get clingy when she doesn't feel her best. I try to enjoy those times because I know there will come a day when that is no longer the case.

Mother's Day & May Flowers

For Mother's Day this year TJ did a great job! He and Lyla fixed me breakfast and even cleaned up the kitchen. And if that was not enough, they bought me the greatest gifts! I got a beautiful bouquet of flowers, a gift card to Barnes & Noble, a bottle of our favorite wine and a NEW Camera! I got a Nikon D60 and it is great. But my favorite gifts were my two cards. TJ said Lyla whispered her's to him. So sweet!

I am still trying to figure out the new camera, but here are a few I took of her for our May card. We had a lot of fun and she loved playing with the flowers.

LSU Rural Life Museum

On Saturday we decided to check out the LSU Rural Life Museum. It is right off the interstate, in the heart of Baton Rouge, but you would never know it once you get inside. It is over 25 acres and full of Louisiana history! The Barn museum is loaded with interesting artifacts from the 19th century, although it is being expanded so some of the exhibits were jumbled together. I was really interested in the outdoor buildings. They had an entire complex of Plantation buildings and a wide array of rural architecture. The kitchen was my favorite building with its outdoor garden. But the school house and post office were neat too.The Kitchen

The School House

The Windrush Gardens are adjacent to the museum and were a welcome respite from the hot sun. It was nice to wander around them. I am obsessed with Spanish Moss and there was plenty for me to see.
We also came across a family of Canandian geese. Did you know they hiss like cats when you get too close to their babies? We didn't and it was pretty funny to hear.

This gives a visual to the saying "The Old Ball and Chain"