Lyla Caroline ....

I can not believe Lyla is over 1 month old already!!  The past month as been a blur! We are so in love with our little girl and we often look at each other and say "we made this beautiful baby!"  It is amazing how life changes.  I now feel like I've had a productive day if I have showered and done a load of laundry. Days and nights seem to merge together, feedings, diapers, feedings, diapers and then Lyla smiles and I feel like time stops.  She is changing so much already.  She hates tummy time, she loves car rides, she can dirty 5 diapers in minutes, she loves to have her hair washed, and she has just about out grown newborn diapes. :(  She also has her Daddy wrapped around her finger.  Fran, who never changed a diaper before Lyla arrived, has jumped right in.  He still doesn't like changing her clothes unless they are easy to get over her head but he is becoming a pro.  He took over 200 pictures of her before we left the hospital (not kidding).  He grabs the camera every moment he can.  Lyla and I are so lucky to have him. 

So I know I didn't do the best job keeping this blog updated during pregnancy and now I'm sure it will be much more difficult but I promise to try my best so our long distance family and friends can keep up to date on Miss Lyla.

Thumbs up for playing on my mat as long as I'm not on my tummy!

A little lesson....

If you are talking to a pregnant girl weeks before she is ready to give birth there are just certain things you should not say (actually some of it you should never to say to her no matter what month she is in).  Things like....
*Are you sure you are not having twins?
*I think you stomach is bigger than when I saw you yesterday.
*You look like you are ready to give birth now!
*(Completely allowed only because Stanley Hook said it as he saw me) ...." That is the most amazing thing I have ever seen!  WOW!" - haha Love Stanley!

Listen people I am fully aware that I have a HUGE stomach! I've allowed all of these comments up until this last week so I am giving you all fair warning if you are going to be making comments this last week I am not sure what reaction you will get from me!

So from behind you might not be prepared for the side profile....

In case you don't believe just how "amazing" it is....

In all honesty though it doesn't matter anymore because in 3 days we will get to meet our little girl!!! I can't believe I will be holding her this week!!  



Back to school...

I really planned on us updating the blog more often then we have but as this baby gets closer our to do list seems to get longer.  I think we are as ready as we can be....we have attended 3 different types of class to educate ourselves, we have every thing under the sun (swing, play mat, bouncer, etc.) put together and have installed about 25 batteries to them all to make everything rock, vibrate, and play music, we installed our car seat and took it a car seat inspection this weekend to make sure it is the safest it can be for our little girl, EVERY article of clothing, bibs, burp clotsh, sheets, socks, etc. have been washed, freezer meals have been made for when we come home, and I've even started packing my hospital bag.  If I forgot to mention anything, I'm sure I've done it already! haha We can not wait for Lyla to arrive and as of last week she still remains breech so she may be arriving in 2 weeks instead of 3; either way it is CRAZY that in  2 or 3 WEEKS we will get to meet our daughter! 

Tomorrow preplanning begins at school and the kids arrive Thursday.  Hopefully I can make it through a couple weeks to get to know the students before my maternity leave begins. 

Only 6 more weeks....

I can't believe we are down to 6 weeks!  The weeks are flying by and we are trying to make sure we have everything we need!  We spent this past weekend buying more things to get prepared! Looking in her closet you would have thought we had everything but the list seems to never end! 

The nursery furniture also arrived!! Thank goodness because this forced me to clean up the clothes I had all over her room.

Now we are ready to decorate her room....

Fran and I also took one last vacation where we didn't need to pack baby things!  We spent a week in Florida and although it wasn't my normal vacation (limited time in the sun, no drinks, etc.) it was great to relax and eat lots of great food! 

Busy, busy....

Last weekend was my Atlanta baby shower.  My wonderful friends Kathy, Melanie, and Stacy could not have planned a better party!  It was so much fun to see everyone and it was great to get so many more things we need for Lyla.  It is pretty crazy how much stuff one little person needs.    Now if her furniture would just arrive we could really get her nursery all set.  Right now her room is filled with clothes and Fran jokes she needs to clean her room already! :)

This past weekend we flew to Boston to watch my best friend Marcy become Mrs. Marcy Oberle.  She was a stunning bride and we had a wonderful weekend celebrating with her and Jason.  Lyla continued to grow but  luckily still managed to  fit into the bridesmaid dress (barely).  Beautiful black satin mermaid dresses were not made for a 71/2 month pregnant chick. haha 

As of today we are down to less than 10 weeks before our little Lyla arrives!  I think she is starting to run out of room so hopefully she can stay (and keep me) comfy for a few more weeks!  

Week 27 - Battle of the Bulge

Week 27 came and went....crazy how fast it's going.  So the week started off with some baby education as Ashley and I attended an 8 hour (yes, 8 hours....) birthing class.  Going in I'm thinking "...8 hours....why do I need doctors and nurses if I'm spending an entire Saturday learning about the whole event.......I could deliver little Lyla myself".  A couple graphic videos later I was wondering if I'd even be able to be in the delivery room......
Joking aside though, the class was very worthwhile.  Birth is an amazing thing..definitely a little gross, but very, very amazing.
So I'm sure you're wondering about the title to this post.  In week 27 we got to see Lyla make her Mommy's stomach move around (so cool!).   However, she really likes to hang out on Ashley's right side and makes a very noticeable bulge.  Ashley isn't too fond of it....I like to think of it as Momma's first disagreement with her daughter and is thus the "Battle of the Bulge" ;-)

Other than that, another week closer to meeting my little lady....can't wait!!

Week 26

First, sorry for not clarifying Little Miss Magic....in case you did not know it is a Jimmy Buffett song that is one of the songs Fran has found for Lyla. (He has found some good ones!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x37PT-nUXGg

This weekend we spent 6 hours and traveled to 5 stores but we finally decided on nursery furniture!  We definetly had "first time parents" written all over us!   As we were about to purchase an entire set in one store the sales woman was writing up the order and she luckily opened one of the drawers to the dresser.  We heard and saw how cheaply made it was!  Um why didn't we think to open the drawers?! haha  Needless to say we canceled that order and moved on to the next store.  Glider has also been ordered too! HOORAY!! Hopefully it will be as comfy as I have been imagining it will be for those middle of the night feedings. 

The pregnancy hormones have also been in full effect!  Tears come at any time so poor Fran never knows when to be prepared.  There is never a good reason to have tears in Panera or BuyBuy Baby but somehow I managed tears in both places this week. 

Only 3 days left of school! Lyla and I are very excited.  Normally I would be looking forward to sleeping in but that doesn't happen any more but we are excited to be able to relax and stay in the air conditioned house!