12 Months

Well...... this is it. The last of my monthly updates. My little girl is not so little anymore. She is constantly surprising me with geniusness. She is learning everyday, and blesses my life in so many ways.

Some of her favorite things to do is:

~ Play ball. She will bring a ball to you and roll it, indicating that she wants to play. She also loves to roll chapstick back and forth across the coffee table.

~ Sit on the couch. She thinks she is such a big girl when she sits on the couch with mom. 

~ Play drums with pots and wooden spoons.

~ Doing obstacle courses with mom. She follows me as I crawl under tables and threw chairs. 

~ Pushing around her shopping cart.

~ Play in mom's closet. She loves playing with shoes - especially if they have laces.

~ Absolutely loves looking at books and turning the pages. 

~ She loves to just be outside. 

I'm excited to see what the next year will bring us!

This is the last of her monthly pictures. She officially made it the whole year wearing the same onesie.

Aug 24th: 4lbs 15oz (birth)

Sept 10th: 6lbs 1oz (2wk)

Sept 24th: 7lbs 4oz (1mth)

Nov 1st: 9lbs 3oz (2mth)

Nov 21st: 9lbs 12oz (3mth)

Dec 27th: 11lbs 3oz (4mth)

Mar 5th: 13lbs 5oz (6mth)

Mar 25th: 14lbs 3oz (7mth)

April 25th: 14lbs 13oz (8mth)

May 19th: 15lbs 4oz (9mths)

Jun 24th: 16lbs 4oz (10mths)

Jul 25th: 17lbs 3oz (11mths)

Aug 26th: 18lbs 2oz (12mths) 

Lyla's 1st Birthday

For Lyla's first birthday, we took her to the water park. She loves being in the water. It takes her a second to get used to it, but then it's hard to leave. Even though she is only 1, and will never remember her 1st birthday, we really wanted to make it about her, by doing the things she loves. 

This is her favorite spot..... the splash pad. She loves watching the water squirt up and try to catch it.

Daddy took her out a little deeper, and she was so happy.

I made chocolate cupcakes with blueberry whipped cream frosting. They were really good. Number 1 for 1st birthday!

Her very own cupcake.

She didn't eat it all. She is just a little delicate girl. So I HAD to help her finish it.

12 birthday balloons for our 12 month old girl.

Opening her present from us.

She loves her shopping cart.

Her favorite Uncle, Uncle Chris (and I can say that because he's my brother) called at 6:45 am to wish her a Happy Birthday, so that was fun. It was a very special day, and I spent a lot of time reflecting on the day that Lyla joined our family. I just feel so blessed that she is with us.

For the longest time, I thought she was going to be taken away from us. Not for any particular reason, but I was just used to things NOT working out for us. When I was pregnant, I was convinced I wasn't going to ever meet her. Then when she arrived, I was so filled with joy, but again convinced that this wasn't going to last. We had tried for so long to have her, that I just couldn't accept that this was real. I prayed every night that she would stay with us. It wasn't until she was about 8 months, that I started to relax a little. And now she has made it a whole year. She blesses my life every day, and I am forever grateful to have her as part of our family.

Happy Birthday Lyla Anne!

We Are Daughters of Our Heavenly Father.

This morning Lyla and I watched this talk given by Sister Elaine S. Dalton during the April 2013 General Conference Saturday Morning Session.

Some mornings while we are eating breakfast, I put on a talk from General Conference. This morning, I watched this talk twice. As a mother, to a daughter, I felt like it spoke to me. Knowing that my examples is going to shape how my daughter turns out is scary. It makes me want to be a better person for her. 

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the talk:

"As daughters of God we are each unique and different in our circumstances and experiences. And yet our part matters—because we matter. Our daily contributions of nurturing, teaching, and caring for others may seem mundane, diminished, difficult, and demeaning at times, and yet as we remember that first line in the Young Women theme—“We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us”—it will make all the difference in our relationships and our responses."

"Young women need mothers and mentors who exemplify virtuous womanhood. Mothers, your relationship with your daughter is of paramount importance, and so is your example. How you love and honor her father, his priesthood, and his divine role will be reflected and perhaps amplified in your daughter’s attitudes and behavior."

Standing

Last week, Lyla started standing. Not for very long....... just a few seconds at a time. She gets nervous though and then just sits down. She's always so proud of herself when she stands up, but then looses confidence in herself. She'll figure it out eventually!

We Love Bath Time

Lyla has always LOVED taking baths (thank goodness). Sometimes it's the only thing that will calm her down. 

Daniel said that it was time again to take some cute bath pics...... so here we go!

I made these pajamas when I was still at BYU-I, 6 years ago. I took an infant clothing sewing class, and these were just one of the things I made. Totally impressed with myself, and so awesome so have my daughter wearing them.

Visiting Mckay

We recently had the chance to visit Daniel's oldest brother and family. They live 5 hours away, which is really nice. We haven't had the chance to visit them in their home for years, so it was really nice.

This is Lyla's oldest cousin, Sam. He is so good to her and so gentle. He loves to hold her and make her happy. They are really sweet together.

There are 5 people in this picture. Can you spot them all??

Lyla loves big stuffed animals.

While we were there, we went to Lacamas Creek Trail. It was really cool. We hiked along this path surrounded by a gazillion trees to this cool waterfall. It was really pretty and had so many paths to explore. And Lyla loved being outside with new things to see.

Mckay with his 4 boys, Sam, Colter, Ethan and Logan

Me and Lyla

Sam, Ethan, Logan and Colter.

Curious Logan 

Lyla and the big tree. 

 Since we were in Memphis for 4 years, we missed so much. So we had the chance to get to know the 2 older boys (who used to be little boys when we left for Memphis), and got to know the younger 2 who we really didn't know very well. It was a really great trip, and we are so excited that we live close enough that we can visit them often.