10 Month Summary for Layla

As we are at the last day of Layla being a 10 month old, I will give a quick summary of what this month has looked like for her.

Eating: Layla loves to eat! This has been a month of transitions for her. I am now nursing 3 times a day. At the beginning of the month I dropped her 4pm nursing. She now eats fruit or yogurt when she gets up from her afternoon nap. Layla refuses to nurse if we are in public. The nursing cover totally distracts her and all she wants to do is play peek a boo with it. So I have offered her cow's milk a couple of times in a sippy cup when we have been out. She is still not very interested in it but she will learn. I also have tried to start making less "babyfood" and just feeding her what we are eating at dinner. We did that all week and it has been great! She is eating things more chunky. Amazes me that she does so well because she still only has 2 bottom teeth. It takes a little more planning ahead on my part to make sure that we are eating things for dinner that she can have but we need to eat better anyway. We are also no longer doing the Gerber Baby Oatmeal but real plain instant oats in the morning. I am still mixing fruit with it and she loves it!

Playing: Everything is going good in this area. She is still crawling everywhere and I have even caught her a couple of times crawling back to her room to play with things in there. She still love books, and claps and dances along to music. We still do no movies or tv shows. She is totally not interested and that is fine with me. There is not much benefit to them anyway. Her favorite thing to play with is her little pink baby doll stroller. She uses it as a walking crutch to get from one place to the other and also loves pushing it fast out on the concrete. She also is still fascinated by animals, especially dogs.

Sleeping: Sleep is great. No issues here. She goes to bed between 7:30-8 and wakes up at 8am. She is still taking 2 naps a day. 10-12pm and 2pm-4pm. Sometimes they are longer than the 2 hours. I think all her moving is wearing her out.

Communication: Layla uses momma and dada very clearly now. I am still having a hard time getting her to sign back to me. I have been doing "all done" and "more" since about 7 months but still have not seen much results from that. She will get it one day. She waves to the dogs on a regular basis but not much to anyone else. I can also tell she is trying to repeat me sometimes, her words or tone is similar to the ones I just used.

Milestones Reached: Besides getting really fast at crawling, Layla has also perfected the cruising. She moves fast around the room from couch to couch and toy to toy. She stands for about 10 seconds independently and has gone from the sitting to standing position without holding on to anything once. She took a couple steps independently on accident from Lucas to me. In no time she will be walking! And I am not ready for that. Layla has also learned to crawl up stairs, so I have to keep a close eye on her. One more thing that she has discovered this month is opening and closing cabinets, drawers, and doors. She has also unofficially reached the 20 pound mark, according to my scale. :)

Happy Birthday to Lucas!

Actually yesterday was Lucas's 26th birthday. He doesn't much get onto birthdays so I don't make a huge deal out of his. The Train concert we attended a few weeks ago was his bday present from me. So no presents were exchanged from me yesterday. We are both on the downslope to 30 now as Lucas says but Lucas made a comment yesterday that made me so happy. He said that if he were to set any goals about where he wanted to be going into his 26th year that he is exactly where he wants to be. I'm so proud of him...he works so hard for our family and yet still has the energy to be the best husband and daddy anyone could hope for. I thank God for him everyday. I know that his 26th year is going to be his most exciting and challenging yet, but God has proved Himself faithful over and over in our lives and I know that this next year will be no different.

Yesterday was also the last scheduled meeting of my First Time Mom's (FTM) group. Wow, was this group one of the best things I have stumbled upon since being in Memphis. It is a group of about 20 moms, all with children just turning 1 or younger. We met every Wednesday morning from 9:30- 11:30 and have also done other things like go to the zoo, gardens, or park. It has been a great way for me to meet women that I can to talk about mom stuff. Now that the semester is over we have quit a busy schedule. Looking forward to our get togethers this summer :)

This has been a busy Thursday. Cleaning house, trip to Walmart, laundry, and taking care of Layla who is into everything. I actually caught her with her hands in the water of toilet bowl today. YUCK! Shame on Dada for leaving the toilet seat up. She has taken 2 great naps today and that is the only way I have gotten things done. I am really going to miss having her sleep two times a day here in a few months when she just goes to 1 nap. Hope everyone has had a great Thursday! Looking forward to the weekend!

New plans for our "First Born"

Well as you know we had planned on taking out dog Duke to the pound or to a rescue because we didn't want to give him to anyone. Well I was talking it over with my parents and they don't want him to go to the pound so we are going to be taking him out to their farm this weekend. They live on 55 acres in a small town just outside Murfreesboro. It will be interesting to see how Duke will do. They have a chocolate lab and a kitty who will keep him company out there. I am curious on whether he will stick around or run away but either way that beats the alternative. I think when it comes down to it, he will be really happy around there with room to run and it might help his aggression having a little freedom. So we will see how it will go!

Layla attends Gracie's birthday party!

Layla and I went to a Gracie's 7th birthday party this morning. Gracie's mom Tori, was one of the first people that I met when we moved into our neighborhood. Since meeting, Layla and I attended a weekly bible study at Tori's house. Without a doubt, God brought Tori and her family into our lives. We have had some great "spiritual" discusions as we studied through the book of James and I believe that we were all challenged in our faith. As you know, if you ever study James, that book will really mess you up :). I have to give a plug to David Platt and the Brookhills Church in Birmingham Alabama. If you are ever looking for good sermons to listen to online I would listen to these. David is a great teacher about Radical Christianity. This is where our study came from. We listened to a sermon each week and then followed his small group study guide for discussion.

Back to the birthday party...We had a great lunch and it is always so cute to see all the little girls having fun. All the girls were asked to where their "Sunday Best". Tori is SO creative and she had cute little flip flops made for all the girls. Layla wanted to get down and run around so bad but she did very well staying in her highchair. I was taking some pics for Tori, and Layla grab a hold of a plate with cake on it and got a handful of green icing. When I turned around it was all over her dress, face, and hands. Guess she liked it. As I am typing this I can hear her playing in her crib when she is suppose to be sleeping. Guess all that sugar is catching up with her. Wish she would take a nap because I would kind of like one too :)

Any ideas on easy healthy food and snacks?

Since Layla is growing and her tummy can tolerate pretty much any kind of food, I have been trying hard to find healthy snacks other than puffs or crackers. It is still somewhat a challenge because unlike most babies her age, she still only has two teeth. Lately I have introduced to her the YoBaby yogurt and she LOVES it. I found something at Kroger today that I thought would be easy. They are called Cuties. They are tiny mandarin oranges (fresh not canned) that are perfect for her to pick up and eat. I also cut them up with some strawberries and mixed them with cottage cheese today for snack. I didn't think she would eat the cheese but once she got used to the texture she seemed to like it. I bought the small curd cottage cheese so that probably helped.

I am trying to transition into preparing less "baby food" and working her up to being able to eat more "table food". So my question for all you mommies, that have WAY more experience than me in this area, are there any good resources that I should be checking into? Any blogs, books, or websites about this topic? I know when I started making her baby food the wholesomebabyfood.com website was extremely helpful and I know that these same people have wholesometoddlerfood.com.

My problem is being creative when it comes to meals. So please give me some suggestions!!

Great weekend with family!

We went to Murfreesboro this weekend to visit with family. The Kairdolfs ordered 80 pounds of crawfish from Louisiana and we boiled it on Saturday. This was Layla's first introduction to her cajun heritage this side of the womb. We had a great time Saturday eating some good food! Layla's cousin Abram was also there and they played hard all day. She loved walking around outside pushing her doll stroller. She even went into a standing position from a sitting position on her own for the first time. She is getting better at standing on her own for a few seconds at a time. I also think that her looks have really changed over the past couple of weeks. Seems to me like she has gotten taller and thinned out some. She doesn't look so much like a baby anymore but a "pre-toddler". Crazy how fast time goes by but we are loving every minute of it! It was a great but busy weekend and we are all looking forward to a night in our own beds! We are so thankful everyday for the many blessings of life and this gift of a beautiful daughter who reminds us everyday that life is about much more than ourselves.

Layla tries to make me laugh!

Layla's little personality is really starting to come out. She has discovered things that make me laugh and she does them to get a response from me. She will roll weird on the ground, or make a funny, noise, grab me real tight, dangle my earrings, pull on my hair, or play peak a boo over the shopping cart when I bend over. We have been having so much fun lately! Every month I say this but this has definitely been my favorite age yet :)

Speaking of shopping carts, today at Target she learned how to stand up in one. This was a nightmare! She almost dove out about 5 times. I thought for sure I was going to be on the Memphis news for child abuse or something! At this age I try not to over do the "Nos" because if I did I would probably be saying it all the time. Plus I want Layla to know that I mean business when I do say "NO". When it comes to things that are dangerous (like standing up in the shopping cart or bath tub) I have to use "NO". Needless to say, Layla had a little melt down in Target but recovered quickly :)

Shopping is so much different than it used to be. I am so happy to have Layla as my side kick but shopping is now WORK! No such thing as an enjoyable stroll through a store. I think it will be very interesting as our family grows and I have more than one to keep up with. Anyway, now Layla is catching her afternoon nap. We will be packing for a weekend to Murfreesboro. We will be devoting this time to Lucas's family. We are shipping up crawfish from Louisiana and will be boiling it on Saturday. Yummy! Can't wait!

Posting Comments...

Has anyone posted any comments that they have not seen show up? I had one person mention it and now I am curious. I am still new to this whole blogging thing and I know that I still have issues when trying navigate other peoples blogs. Maybe there is something in my settings that I need to adjust? Any helpful tips from you "more experienced" bloggers are appreciated :)

Not so Wise Baby today

From the second Layla was born, I have followed the BabyWise series on scheduling with a sleep, eat, wake cycle. This has been wonderful for Layla and she caught right on with the nighttime, sleeping though the night at 7 weeks. Then naps became very easy around 5 months. Sometimes as with every baby I am sure, Layla has what I like to call her not so "Wise" days. Today was definitely one of those. Everyday Layla goes down at 10am and gets up at 12pm and then goes back down at 2pm and gets up at 4pm. This usually happens like clock work and I can always plan my day with consistency. Of course there are times when she does not get both naps but I try to be home on those days so she gets at least one long nap.

Today, the weather was beautiful and I wanted to go shop at The Avenue in Collierville. So like usual, I put Layla down about 9:45 and wanted her to get a good nap because her second nap would be back and forth in the car. Guess what...10:30 she wakes up and refuses to go back to sleep. Well, I didn't want to stay in all day so we went to the mall anyway and it was just about miserable. Layla was fussy but I refused to get her out of the stroller knowing once I got her out she would never go back. The problem being is that she CANNOT sleep in her stroller. She wants to watch way too much stuff! So we only stayed about an hour and a half. When we left, she was asleep before we got out of the parking lot. Hopefully tomorrow will be more like our routine day and we can both be a little happier :)

I am blaming this whole fussy day on teething. She should be getting her top two teeth anytime now. She has had the bottom 2 for about a month so I expect the others very shortly. If day time sleep is all we are having issues with...I for sure have no reason to complain!

Getting rid of our first "child"

Lucas and I made a decision today to get rid of our first born.... Our beagle Duke. We actually should have got rid of him a long time ago for many reasons, but he was my baby for awhile. But 2 dogs have just become too much, plus Duke is a trouble maker. And most importantly I cannot trust him around Layla so that is reason enough. We also have another beagle, Lilly. She is pretty much the sweetest dog ever and she has to sacrifice a lot because of Duke. So once he is gone we will be able to enjoy Lilly again. Layla just loves her. It was a hard decision but I know once he is gone I will feel a lot of relief and probably not miss him a second.

MONDAYS: The day I get my life back together :)

I love Mondays! They are always very busy but probably my most productive day of the week. The weekends are usually chaotic so Mondays are spent putting the pieces back together. Plus I try to get as much done on Monday so Layla and I can just play the rest of the week!

We had a great weekend. After Friday at the pool, we were playing with Layla at home and she took her first two steps. They were totally accidental on her part, but they were 2 unassisted steps. I would say that she will be walking by a year. Saturday we spent the day vegging out and then had dinner plans with some friends at Bonefish that night. It was one of Lucas's coworkers and his family. We had a great time. They are so sweet. We have really been blessed with the people that God has connected us with since moving to Memphis. I don't care what people say about Memphis, this is a great city with some great people :) We did not get Layla in bed until 10pm but she never fussed about it. She sat in her highchair throughout the whole meal and never made a peep. She is a sweet baby. Sunday we went and bought some mulch and flowers and did some yard work. Amazing what some fresh mulch and flowers can do for a place. I went with the purple and yellow color scheme and plan on getting some pics up soon. After a day of work we ate dinner at our favorite place- J Alexanders. We were worn out and went to bed pretty early!

Today was a normal Monday for us. Laundry, making baby food, trip to Walmart, pay bills, and I also try to be home so Layla can get her 2 full naps. She is usually pretty worn out from the weekends. I am also trying to catch up on some scrapbooking. I am doing one for Layla's first year of life with a break down of every month. My goal is to have it complete for her first birthday party so that family can look back through it and remember how much she has changed. Her personality is really coming out and she is doing more and more everyday to intentionally make me laugh. She brings me so much joy and I thank God for choosing me to be her mother. Every night when Lucas gets home she crawls as fast as she can to meet him. I know this just makes his day too. God truly gave me more than I could of hoped or imagined when he gave me Layla as a daughter. She is such a gift to our family. Maybe one day we will have another :)

Our Little Monkey!

Here are a few pics from this week. They start with out trip to the pool today at GiGi & Pop's house. That is my aunt and uncle that live in Bartlett. We visited their house this afternoon and had lunch and then took a dip in the pool. They have a heater on it so it felt great. This was Layla's first time in the pool since last summer when she was a tiny baby. She LOVED it just as I thought that she would. She was actually kicking her legs under the float and she loved for Lucas and I to go under water and pop up at her. She also liked watching Lucas jump off the diving board. I had to get a full view of her bathing suit because it is just adorable. Her Aunt Natalie bought this for her so we had to get a pic of her in it. The other pics are just around the house of her doing her new favorite thing, which is to push around her baby doll stroller. I also had to get a picture of her and these monkey pajamas because they were also given to her by her Aunt Natalie. We always call Layla "little monkey" so Natalie thought these pajamas would be cute and they definitely are!

We are looking forward to a relaxing weekend at home since we have been gone the other two weekends of April. No big plans other than just enjoying each other! Hope you all have a great weekend as well!

Great quote

This is a quote that Beth Moore mentioned in her last session of my bible study. I think it is a great quote that can be applied in many areas of our life.

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” Theodore Roosevelt

Is it summer already??

Man has it been warm here lately?? I can't imagine what summer is gonna feel like if it is already this warm. We have had a busy past couple of days. Yesterday morning we went to the zoo with some friends. We have a membership for the year so it is a nice thing to do when the weather is nice. When we got home I cleaned while Layla took a 3 hour nap. She missed her morning nap so she was playing catch up. Did I mention how nice it is to have a child that naps. Makes for a much happier baby, therefore a happier momma too! I was exhausted when bedtime came last night!

This morning I went to the last meeting of my Beth Moore study Breaking Free at my church. I know I have mentioned this before but this study has truly been life changing. I am so thankful that God led me to this study at the time in my life that I needed it the most. After that, Layla and I had lunch at McCalister's (Love their Tea) then we went and bought her some new shoes. These are like "real" shoes. The shoes that are good for babies learning how to walk. I will have a pic of them up soon. There is a store in Collierville called Jackson's Shoes where they fit them and everything. After that Layla got to test out her new shoes when we met GiGi (my aunt Lynn) at the nursery to pick out some flowers for her backyard. She was giving me tips on what would be pretty where in my yard. But that is definitely something I will have to do while Lucas is at home on the weekend so I have a little extra help. Layla is now down for a nap and I am hoping she is not too sunburnt when she wakes up! All these activities remind how thankful I am for a faithful God to be our Provider and a great husband that works so hard so that I can spend everyday at home with Layla. What a blessing it is and I will cherish these moments for a very long time!

Update on recent bloodwork

Just wanted to give everyone an update on how the recheck of my calcium level went. I got the results today and it was 8.9. The first go around it was 10.4. Normal perimeters are 8.7-10.2. So I am thankful for the better results. Either it was a hiccup the first go around or God healed me of whatever it was that was causing the high levels. Either way I know God had his hand on this the whole time. I kept claiming the verse in Jeremiah. God knows the plans He has for us. Plans to prosper us and not harm us. Plans to give us hope and a future. God is always faithful!

On a lighter note, today was another beautiful day in Memphis! Layla and I spent the afternoon outside. We went for a walk and tried to feed the ducks at the pond in our neighborhood some bread, but they would not eat it!! I have never seen ducks that would not eat bread?! So we decided to throw it to the fish and they chowed down. I think Layla enjoyed watching them. We have plans to spend the morning at the zoo with one of my friends and her kids. SO thankful for all the blessings of everyday life!

Bought Layla a blow up pool for the backyard today. She enjoyed inside before her nap and then enjoyed outside after her nap! It was such a beautiful day. Wish it could stay like this year round!

Monumental Day

Just have to make note that for the first time since having Layla, the scale finally reads less than it did before I was pregnant. YAY! Took me 10 1/2 months but hey later is better than never :)

Busy Weekend!

We decided to take a last minute trip back to Murfreesboro this weekend. Lucas wanted to go to one of his friends birthday parties so we ventured back. The way I see it, I am I am going to pack for the weekend I might as well stay for 2 weeks!! Man babies require a lot of stuff!

Friday night we went out with out group of best friends to Old Chicago Pizza. It was so good! Then Saturday Lucas got up at 6:15am to play golf so Layla, Grammy, and I ventured to Opry Mills. I have learned that any productive shopping definitely requires a 3rd person these days. Saturday night we went and cooked out at some other friends house and enjoyed a relaxing night laughing, listening to the guys tell stories of the past. Then Sunday morning we went to Christian Life Church (Lucas's dad's church). We always enjoy going back to CLC but at the same time it is nice to just be a visitor. After that we met with Lucas's family for a quick lunch and then Layla and I sat outside and watched him play flag football with a bunch off guys. The weather sure has been beautiful lately! After a quick dinner we started back to Memphis about 6:30. It was so good to sleep in our own beds.

Glad to have a week at home without many plans. Need to do some of the requirements (laundry, clean house, grocery shop, make baby food). The weather is going to stay beautiful so we definitely plan to spend some time outside as well. Hope all of you had a great weekend as well. We are so thankful for all the blessings the Lord has given us! Happy Monday!

Layla got her bottom two teeth in during her 9th month. So we bought her first toothbrush and toothpaste and made brushing them part of her bedtime routine! She LOVES to play with the toothbrush when I am done. The toothpaste is bubble gum flavor so no doubt she loves that too!

Beth Moore Study

Since moving to Memphis we have found a church that we love. Through this church (Highpoint) I have been doing a Beth Moore study that meets every Thursday Morning from 9-11:30. I was hesitant at first because that is a long time for Layla to be in the nursery but she has done GREAT! She even naps when she is in there. The study we are doing is Breaking Free and and is a revised version from the original that she wrote about 10 years ago. It has been life changing for sure. If you have never done a Beth Moore study I encourage you to pick one and do it. It you have never done a study about getting rid of the bondage and strongholds in your life I would highly recommend this one. Why live a life holding on to things when God has made a way for us to live a full life of Freedom?? Anyway just a thought :)

I also had to go back to the dr this morning for a follow up blood draw. I went in for a yearly check up about a month ago and my calcium in my blood came back a little high. Normal is 10.2 and mine was 10.4. So anyway I had to have that redrawn this morning. Should hear something early next week. I am believing that it is nothing so you can believe that with me :)

Now we are back home from an exhausting morning... Layla is taking her afternoon nap and I am SO tempted to join her. Instead I guess I am going to tackle some of this laundry! Hope everyone is having a great Thursday!

Layla's first Easter!

We had a great Easter weekend. Layla and I went up the Monday before Easter and spent the week in Murfreesboro. We got to visit with her great-granddad on Monday. Tuesday we spent time with Papa and Granna and had dinner with some of my best girlfriends that night. Wednesday we went to visit our friends Jessica and Abby with their new babies Carter and Easton. Friday night Layla stayed with her Grammy and Lucas and I went to see the band Train at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. It was a great show. Any show there is going to be good. It is just an awesome atmosphere. Saturday we spent the morning with Aunt Natalie and Uncle Chris who were in from Atlanta and then we spent Saturday afternoon and evening with Granna, Papa, Uncle Noah, aunt Ashly, cousin Abram, Aunt Abbey, and Uncle Grant. Sunday we went to Christian Life Church. And then had lunch with grammy and granddaddy, Uncle Jason, Aunt Robin, Reese, Gavin and Uncle Chris and Aunt Natalie. For Easter Layla wore a special dress that was handmade by Nancy Burton and given to me at one of my baby showers. It fit Layla perfect and the color looked very cute on her.

I have loaded a couple of pics of our weekend. What a wonderful week/weekend. This Easter held a whole new meaning after having my own child. What an amazing sacrifice that our Heavenly Father made when He sent His only Child to die and then be raised from the dead just for us. That is crazy LOVE!!

I'm back! Layla 10 Months

I was at my First Time Mom's group (FTM) that meets every Wednesday and we were talking about blogging. I really felt the need to come home and try to be more consistent on mine. Mainly because I cannot not remember what happened yesterday! When I began my blog we did not have internet yet in my new house so I will use that as the excuse as to why I did not stay consistent.

Layla is 10 months and is everywhere! Getting ready while she is awake and Lucas is not home is pretty much a joke. I know because I tried this morning. She is obsessed with the toilet. WHY the TOILET?? Gross . She also is pulling up on the tub while I am in the shower trying to press the whirlpool button. Our biggest battle is the bookshelf in the living room. She wants to pull everything off and that is one thing I refuse to give into. For the simple fact that I get tired of picking the books back up! Ten months began the weaning process so she is only nursing 3 times a day now. She doesn't seem to mind dropping that feeding especially since she is getting a sippy cup with a little juice instead. :) At 9 Month check up she weighed 18 pounds and was 27 1/2 inches long. She is in the 50th% for both.

As for Lucas and I...His job is going well. We have been seeking God about our next step as a family and are excited about the future. My groups that I have been attending this semester are coming to an end in a couple of weeks. They have been great because I have been able to meet some amazing women. Not sure of many plans this summer other than vacation the second week of May. Did I mention my baby will be a 1 year old in a couple of months! WOW.