Rolling Over!

Lyla FINALLY rolled over. Today was the day. She went from belly to back. She hates tummy time and normally cries until we sit her up. She finally rolled over today, and she hasn't stopped since. Yay for Lyla! Dan and I got a little excited sorry for the screams. :)

Lyla's 6 month pictures

Lyla Kate : 6 Months

Thanks Shea!

Halloween 2009

Here are some pictures of the cutest little flower and pumpkin you have ever seen!

Going to the woods

Lyla wearing Daddy's hunting light.  I have a feeling I'm going to have a daddy's girl who likes to hunt.

Giggle Box

Lyla Kate is learning how to be a volleyball player and loving every minute of it.  She is so funny! Check it out.

Finally an update!

Wow...I am finally writing an update on here.  It's been forever!  Life has been pretty busy since school started back.  I just wanted to put a quick update on here of Lyla's new accomplishments.  She is now sitting up!  She's not a pro at it yet, but she is definitely doing it on her own.  She still hasn't rolled over so that is our next goal.  It's coming soon.  She has such a cute little personality.  She has figured out that she can cry if she drops her toy and we will give it back to her.  She has figured out how to get her way :)  We love spending time with her on the weekends so I am going to go play with my baby girl instead of typing more.  I promise I'll post pictures soon!

3 month photo shoot

Lyla Kate's 3 month slide show is done! Check it out.  She is too precious.

http://byshea.com/lylathreemonths/

Granny

We were so glad that Dan's Granny was able to come up and visit the other day.  It was so good to see her and some other family members as well.  Aunt Ginger and her family came up and brought Granny with them.  Ginnon had to take a test at APSU so we got to spend the afternoon with them.  They live in Hohenwald, TN so it's not that often we get to see them.  For those West Creek Coyotes reading this that is the hometown of the Elephant Sanctuary we raise money for! We hope to see them again sometime soon. 

Morgan came in town so the girls had a get together to watch So You Think You Can Dance.  We had so much fun catching up. Lyla fit right in!

July 2009

Here is a little video of Lyla during the month of July.  She has learned a lot this month.  My favorite is her splashing in the tub. Enjoy!

Hitting Quackers

This is one of the first days Lyla discovered she could use her hands to play. She is 11 weeks old in this video.  She is hitting her duck named Quackers!  

3 months old!

Lyla Kate had her 3 month birthday on Wednesday.  She has changed so much these past few weeks.  She is talking (cooing) a lot more.  My favorite thing is when she sings along with me.  She tries to sing louder than me.  It's pretty funny.  She also found her hands and will not stop starring at them.  She has rubbed her pointer finger raw from sucking on it so much.  It is kinda nice not having to depend on the pacifier as much, but I'm worried she will make a habit out of sucking her fingers.  We can take the paci away, but can't take her fingers away. Watching her play with her toys on her play mat is also a highlight of the day.  She has so much more of a personality now.  It's a new adventure everyday.  I love watching her grow and discover new things.  Who knows what will be next.  Here are some pictures from this past month.

13 weeks old! (She can't hold it by herself completely...we still help,

don't worry!)

Play time :)

Donnie and Nicole's wedding

11 weeks old

Lyla and Jackson just hanging out

9 hours!

Lyla Kate officially slept 8 and 9 hours this week.  It has been amazing.  My body didn't know how to handle that many consecutive hours of sleeping.  :) She has been growing so much recently.  I really noticed it today when I was brushing her hair.  It is starting to get so long.  Well, I guess I shouldn't say long...more like strands that are 3/4 to an inch long.  We are in Flora, IL now for one of Dan's good friend's wedding. Hopefully she will sleep as long in her pack in play.  I'm sure we will have plenty of good pics from the weekend.  I'll post them soon!  

Friends and good times!

Yesterday we went to visit Kinsley Marie. She is so tiny and precious. I truly can't remember Lyla being that small. They weighed 1 oz apart and Kinsley just seemed so small. We were so glad we got to see them and that they were doing so well. Sara looks like such a proud mama. Can't wait to have more play dates with them in the future. Tonight we went to the West Creek Summer Picnic. It was so great seeing everyone again. All the West Creek babies were too precious. I swear it seemed like there were babies everywhere. My friend Tearza is pregnant, and she looks awesome. She is going to be such a cute pregnant teacher. Can't wait for play dates with Nolan/Emery (We'll know soon...yay!) Kathryn's little boy, Jackson, is such a cutie. I am so jealous of his head full of hair. I could seriously have some cute hair-dos on Lyla if she had as much hair as him. I always look forward to our get togethers. They are too cute sitting next to each other. I'm so glad I have so many friends with babies and soon to be little ones.

It won't be like this for long

It's hard to believe she is already 2 months old.  It's like the song says, it won't be like this for long.  I swear I can't listen to that song without tearing up.  These days are precious.  Look how much she has grown.

 

2 month check up

Little Lyla Kate is officially 12 pounds and 23 inches long.  She is growing strong.  The doctors appointment went well except for the heartbreaking cry when she got her shots.  It truly hurt me when she cried like she did.  She didn't cry for very long, but when she did it was louder than I have ever heard her cry.  Dan was with me thank goodness to help console her.  She calmed down quickly, but I still felt like she was thinking why did you do this to me.  We found out that bathing her in Johnsons baby soap was actually causing her dry skin to be even worse. Who would have thought?  Now we have to use Dove and put Eurcerin lotion on twice a day.  She definitely got her Daddy's skin.  It is so interesting to hear the doctor talk about how all the baby stuff now days is just a way to make money. You would have thought that the baby lotion and soap would be the best for your little lovebug, but it turns out you can just use everyday normal stuff.  I'll post pictures of her growth soon.  Stay tuned! 

Swimming!

Lyla went swimming today for the first time.  Look how cute she is in her itsy bitsy bikini :)  She loves the water!                                        

We also went to lunch with Kathryn and Jackson the other day.  Here is a pic of our sleepy heads.  They were perfect little angles the whole time.  It's so nice to have friends with babies :)

It's a bird, It's a plane, No...It's Lyla!

Church with Granddaddy

Today we went to church with Granddaddy.  Lyla was an absolute angel the entire time.  Granddaddy held her and kept her entertained the entire service.  Here are some of the pictures from today.

First Smile :)

Lyla smiled today!!!!  It was too precious :)  It was hard to capture the smile on camera, but here are a few pics.

6 hours

Lyla actually slept 6 hours straight the night before last.  It was amazing! I didn't know how to act getting sleep longer than 3 hours.  She went to sleep at 10 and then woke up at 4.  Normally there is a feeding in there around 1, so it was really a great night.  Last night was not as exciting.  She definitely woke up at 12:30.  Hopefully we will have more long nights to come.  Life at the Stephens house has been great!  Stop by anytime to see us :)

I'm already dancing!

Uncle Bryan making me dance!

Where does the time go?

Lyla Kate is already 5 weeks old! Below are some pictures throughout the past few weeks. Enjoy!

The sign says it all.

It's hard being 1 month old! I had such a long day.

I'm trying to smile :)

Cousin Tyler's graduation

Mommy loves me!

Wearing Daddy's college baseball team and number!

Sitting up like a big girl!

I know I'm too cute :)

Hanging out on the Boppy!

Look what happens when Daddy dresses me :(

First bottle

It's been a while

It's been a while since I've been able to update. Life has been pretty hectic with school ending and trying to take care of a one month old. Crazy that she is already a month old. Where does the time go? Finishing up end of the year stuff for school has been hard not being there. I still have tons of stuff to do in my classroom to get it ready for the summer. Packing up things and cleaning the room up so the janitors can give it a good cleaning this summer. I hated having to take down everything just to have to put it back up next year. Hopefully Lyla will be a trouper on Tuesday while I try to finish everything up. We went to school on Thursday to say bye to my kids and so they could meet Lyla. It was bittersweet to say bye. They were my first class ever. I will always remember them. It is amazing how much they have grown this year. Looking at pictures from the first day of school and now is such a huge change. I have learned so much from them all. Lyla is doing great these days. She is starting to eat a little more and it seems like she has an internal alarm clock that goes off almost exactly every 3 hours. She wants her food! She truly has amazed Dan and me everyday. It's seems like she is all we talk about. I don't know what we talked about before her. I guess we are just proud parents. :)

Newborn Pictures

Welcome to the world Lyla Kate Stephens! Check out her precious newborn pictures :) Shea you are awesome!
Click on the link under the title newborn pictures on the left, or copy and paste the url address below.

http://www.byshea.com/lylakate

 

Lyla Collage

 

Fun times with a new picture program! Thanks Betsy :)

2 week check up

Lyla had her two week check up today with Dr. Moore. She is now 8lbs 1 oz and 20 inches long. Dr. Moore said she is doing wonderful...yay! He told us we can start letting her sleep at night until she wakes us up. We no longer have to wake her up every 3 hours. Cross your fingers that she sleeps a little bit. He also commented on how well she calms herself down after being startled. The down side to the visit was she had to have another PKU test. Her blood sample from the hospital did not work so they had to redo it today. It was awful watching the nurse try to get 5 big blood drops from her foot. She kept squeezing her little leg to try to get the blood to pool. It was terrible. Dan said next time if they have to do it again he will have to leave the room. We just felt so sorry for her. After a good crying fit she calmed down and acted like nothing happened. I think I would have cried for at least an hour if they did that to me! Overall it was a successful trip to the doctors.

Newborn Pics

Lyla did absolutely amazing during her newborn pictures today. I cannot wait to see them. Shea did such an excellent job. She is so creative. Lyla looked precious! She didn't even fuss until the very end. It will be about a week before we get the pictures back. Shea will set up an online slideshow for friends and family to view. Once I get the address for it I will post it for all to see. Maybe I am a little bias, but Lyla's pictures are going to be absolutely adorable.

As for Dan and I, adjusting to having a baby in the house has been easy. She is starting to stay awake more often, and it seems like she is following us with her eyes. She watched Dan's hand move across her face, and she turned her head and eyes to follow. The things we get excited about are so little, but it is so much fun when she does something new.

I want to say thanks to all of our family and friends that have given us support this past week. All the food and visits have been awesome. It's been so helpful and the company has been great. Thanks again!

More pictures of our little lovebug

Lyla Kate

She's Here!

Finally!!!! April 22, 2009 was the greatest day of our lives. It was definitely worth all the wait. Lyla was born 7 lbs 7 oz and 19 1/2 inches long. She is absolutely perfect. We are such proud parents. When we left the hospital she weighed 7lbs and then we went to the doctor today and she was back to 7lbs 4 oz. Doctor said everything looked great! It was such a relief to know that she is doing well. It has been so easy adjusting to being parents. It is definitely exhausting, but totally worth it when she looks at you with her big beautiful eyes. It's still hard to believe she is here. We look forward to all the precious memories we will make during her life.

So I have to talk about our first adventure out of the house. This morning we had her very first doctors appointment. It was at 8:30 and we left the house at 8. We had plenty of time to get there. We drove off and I realized neither of us had our cell phones, so we turned around and went back to the house. No big deal. To our surprise though, we had forgotten to put the house key back on the key ring after giving it to his dad to feed the dogs while in the hospital. So now here we are at about 8:10 with no cell phones and locked out of our house. Awesome. We decide we will worry about it later and call someone once we're at the doctor's office. We start down Riverside Drive and of course there is a powerline in the street so we get detoured around. You would think they would detour us to where we would come out far enough down Riverside, but they just made us do a big U-turn that took an extra 5 minutes. We decide to go the interstate now and of all things the gas light comes on. We probably could have made it, but we stop to fill up anyway to be safe. In the meantime during all of this we called On-Star and they helped us out. They connected us to Dan's Dad so he could get into our house for us. Thank the Lord for On-Star. It made us feel better knowing we could get in our house now. Finally, we get to Premier 15 minutes late...what a first trip out as new parents. It was all okay when we heard she was doing great. :) I'm sure we will look back on this day someday and laugh at ourselves.