Laughter is the best medicine!

Especially when it comes from you sweet baby girl!

Lyla is smiling and laughing a lot more these days and I absolutely love it! 

This is one where she was playing with the doggies! She loves to try and grab them.

Trip Home (June 14th - June 26th) :

Our trip to Georgia was really great, we enjoyed seeing the family and friends while we were there and flying ended up not being as bad as I thought it would be! 

When we flew out we were able to ask if there was an extra seat available to take the car seat on and we got so lucky because there was! One thing we won't do again is fly at night with a baby, that is the one big mistake because it messed up Lyla's sleep pretty badly. Also: ALWAYS have food ready! 

Sleeping on the way to LAX

Then... after having our flight delayed 3 hours... 

FINALLY on the plane!!! 

Yum!

Sleeping the next morning at Oma and Opa's house! 

Fun time outside with Nana! 

and we even went on Papa Conley's boat! 

We had a great time with everyone while we were home and we can't wait to go back! Flying back to CA was good as well, no delays and plenty of food! 

When we got back from vacation Lyla turned 4 months old on July 6th and has already changed so much, she now LOVES her exersacuser and even whines to be put in it: 

Here are some videos of her laughing (her newest thing) and just having fun with mommy and daddy! **They were taken on out iPhones, so not great quality**

And now ROLLING: She learned this while on vacation! 

We go Thursday for her 4 month appointment! 

I am going to *try* to update more often! It is always the last thing on my long "to-do" list! 

Until next time...

The First Shots...

Well Lyla had her first "2 month" shots on Monday, I say it that way because she is almost 3 months... took forever to get into the doctor, but at least I know for next time! She took it all in like a little trooper and only cried until they quit sticking her, which was less than a minute, then she promptly slept the rest of the day!

Beau was checking out the "site"

Pretty sure she enjoyed the Sponge bob Band-aids...

We also had a little photo shoot one day because....well mommy was bored and we still have not had and professional pictures taken:

She is very good at holding her head up now and really enjoys playing on her play mat. Finally getting in a nap routine...kind of... and she loves playing silly peek-a-boo games with us!

So, here are just some favorites from this past week... 

"Eating" her toys, she has finally started grabbing them and really "playing"

Almost a smile for mommy! 

She LOVES when daddy is home to play!

Your just jealous 'cause...

We're young and in love! (Lyrics courtesy of Brand New)

I was just thinking today that Austin and I have been together for over 6 years! It's very rare at our age, and I have to just sit and be so thankful that I found "the one", my soul mate, and my best friend at a young age so we can spend every moment together. It is unbelievable how crazy our lives can be even though I feel like most days are the mundane same routine but we have been through high school proms, college separation, joining the Army, deployment, getting married, having a baby, and SO many more adventures through out the years. No matter how crazy things get and how worried I am about the next move, he is always there to keep me grounded and calm me down.

And now we have this AMAZING little person who learns so much everyday. I feel like everyday is the same over and over but then when I stop to think, our little baby girl can already hold her head up and smile and "ooo" and "ahhh" at us. 

Life is OH SO good!

First Smiles: The second month!

The first on camera SMILE! 

 

I can't believe our baby is already (a little over) 2 months old! I feel like it was just yesterday that I saw her for the first time but also feel like I have known her for forever. She weighed 9 lbs 1 oz at 8 weeks old, so she is still our little peanut!

We are so blessed with a very happy baby who SLEEPS for anywhere from 6-9 hours at night! Which I realize for most moms is unheard of! I feel very lucky and can't imagine if we were still up 2-3 times a night.... because last night was like that for the first time in about 3 weeks and I am exhausted today! We even managed to wake daddy up which is an almost impossible thing to do. So... here's to hoping that tonight she goes back to her "normal" sleep pattern!!! 

She has started smiling (first real big one May 4th!), not loves to play on her play mat which just started this week, before then she wasn't interested in her toys at all... now she will sit for 15-20 minutes just batting them around and kicking her little feet! She also is starting to like her swing a lot and will even let it rock her to sleep instead of mommy or daddy, which is a nice break when I need to do other duties, such as laundry and cleaning!

This month has been very eventful from visits from Oma, Opa, Uncle Mike, Mimi and Papa Conley, to first trips out to Victorville! (The 1 1/2 hour trip away from home.)

Also, after thinking she had reflux we experimented with bottle feeding (mainly pumped "mommy milk") and she is just such a happier baby. She was crying after every feeding and we just knew something wasn't right and turns out she just wasn't getting quite full enough! 

Here are some pictures from this past month up until Mother's day weekend when she turned 9 weeks old.

 Sleeping with daddy after he did his "Spur Ride" and earned his spurs for the Calvary! This was a 2 day long hard process and he really did earn them!

 Tummy Time! 

Rockin her cloth diapers! 

 She LOVES the LoveyDuds wrap! (www.loveyduds.com)

Ok, so not every day is all happiness and smiles! 

Its the truth, HE was showing off! ;-)

After Bath time!! 

Coolest baby on the block! 

Her new found pleasure.

Motherhood

Well it has been over a month, but Lyla is here, as most everyone knows, and healthy and (unless she is hungry) happy! 

Birth Story: 

After falling in the drive way (again...apparently you get VERY clumsy when pregnant!) we headed into the hospital on Friday March 5th, 2010. They started up the monitors at about 10:30 am, to check and make sure baby and mommy were ok and although we were just fine, I was having contractions every once in a while. *Falling can cause placental abruption which is where the placenta separated from the uterus which can cause major problems, even death, for baby and mommy.* So because of the possibility of the placenta being detached the doctor gave me two options since I was already contracting some.... 1. Be monitored for 24 hours then go home - leaving a chance that IF the PA happened then baby could be in danger as well as me or 2. Go ahead and be induced to be on the safe side... more risks for me but less for our baby girl so that is what we decided to do! 

After having a Foley bulb placed (to force dilation to 3-4 cm) I was given pitocin at about midnight, and shortly after my water broke. All was well and dandy but they kept upping the dose then lowering it back down because my contractions were very forceful and also very painful... leaving to an epidural at about 2:30 am. (NOT in my original plan...) Because of something called Group B strep, which is a bacteria that you are tested for while pregnant, I had only 18-24 hours to get her out after my water broke. 

At 5:PM on March 6th I was checked and had stoped dilating and was swelling back "shut" so the decision was made for a c-section to be done and then we were prepped for surgery and Little Baby Lyla was born at 6:02 PM - 6 LBS 9 OZS - 18.9 IN long. 

Here are some hospital pictures: 

Best moment of my life! 

 Our BEAUTIFUL family!

Time to go HOME!!

6 days

Whew.... 6 days until Little Lyla is due to be here! 

This may be the last pregnancy picture I take! 

(Tuesday Feb.23, 2010 )

I absolutely LOVE the new doctor I am seeing on post. She is wonderful and we are on the same page about delivery. 

I had my 39 week appointment yesterday and Little miss Lyla seems very comfortable! I haven't made any progress according to the doctor, but I have been contracting since about 4:30 Monday evening. We are hoping and *PRAYING* to not make it to my next appointment on March 12th (40 weeks, 3 days).

All we need is for these contractions to get consistent and stronger and we will be good to go! This doctor doesn't believe in inducing unless the baby is getting stressed, so IF I have to be induced it wouldn't be until between 41-42 weeks. I 100% agree with this philosophy and can't believe how many women get induced for convenience!

Austin is very anxious as are all of family and friends! 

We absolutely can't wait to meet our little girl and give her lots of kisses! I am ready to see my little "monster" (lovingly nicknamed) who is kicking me in the ribs all the time.... maybe next time I update we will have a BABY! 

Here are some recent pictures of nursery painting and some Puppy Lovin! 

 

  

  

There is also a wall that says "Butterfly Kisses and Ladybug Hugs"

And the Puppy Lovin 

  

 

The time is creeping up on us!

27 days left until my due date! It seem like some days the time flys and other days it is taking forever for her to get here! Austin is more than ready and wouldn't be happier than if she decided to come a little early, and with the daily contractions that I now have, I couldn't agree with him more! 

We were headed out to the gym, so excise the no makeup and bad hair!
Nursery Pictures:

 

(Pack-n-Play is now in our room, see below pictures)

 

  

  

In other baby news, the base here had to send everyone due in Feb and March off post to a new doctor because they do not have enough staff to accommodate all of us pregnant ladies! So far I like my new doctor much better because he actually takes the time to ask questions and he seems to genuinely care. The only thing I don't like is the Barstow Community Hospital. It is much older and not quite as nice as the hospital here on base, but depending on how labor goes, I could be delivering at either place. They had told me that if I am having very close contractions to just go to the base hospital instead of driving almost an hour to Barstow.

As for a general update on us, Austin is working a lot this month because they are doing their own Bradley training... not sure what exactly that is but Bradleys are a type of military vehicle and they are out at the ranges doing practice shooting with them.

 

There is a picture for you to know what it even looks like.  

And I for the most part just hang out at home and continue to get things ready for Baby Lyla!