what's been going on and Laila's FIRST birthday party!

I've been MIA for some time now and I figured it's time I share what's been going on. Err, that just sounded like I was giving bad news. Hmm, nope no bad news here...except that I just got over the flu and it came out of nowhere! All the sudden I woke up at 2:38 a.m. went to the bathroom and puked, went back to bed, woke up in the morning and sat, and sat oh and sat SOME MORE on the toilet (tmi?) and then went to work. Puked at work, looked like death, was sent home after being there an hour, puked and sat more more on the toilet. Ugh, my body was weak. I could barely walk, pick things up, I was not functioning. Oh and blood showed up. And a fever. Some shivering. Some sweats. Horrible horrible horrible!

Anywho, Laila had her one year appointment December 2 - the day before her birthday party! She's 20 pounds, um can't remember her height and apparently here head shrunk? It'll get remeasured at her next appointment, she just was not too interested in having something wrapped around her noggin' and I don't blame her! Which resulted in a screaming, wiggling back and forth baby while I frankly try and hold tight to make sure she doesn't fall out of my arms. Are one year olds really that strong?!

Shots - oh the dreadful shots. I for sure thought I was going to start crying. This was the worst ever, she's learned that when there are two nurses getting stuff ready that it's time for shots. It was horrible. 2 shots in on her right leg went quickly but the 1 shot on her left leg didn't go so well, she couldn't keep Laila's leg held down too well to get the shot and ended up pricking her and having to redo it. Of course it was a shot that had to sting and she shrieked. eeekkkk. It was horrible. I swooped her up as sooooonnnn as I could. :[ The whole thing just felt so unfair for Laila :[

The next day came so fast and I was rushing to get things done. Good thing Laila napped and hour and a half before her party started. I had to wake her up when all the people started showing up! Everything was a blast and I took in every moment I could, trying not to stress over the little things. Here are some photos from the party.

This is on November 30th - the day she turned 1. Justin put some ice cream on her plate with her cupcake. Too cold ice cream resulted in this face but isn't it still the best face ever!??!! I giggle every time I see this :]

December 3rd - opening birthday presents in front of our Christmas Tree (which she won't stop touching now) 

Pointing at her cake but being such a good girl waiting patiently.

Smearing it all over her face, which took her a while to do. She was gently touching her cake when we first brought it out to her. 

"What is this stuff all over my hands?"

The birthday girl had a blast and actually had to go down for a nap maybe 15 minutes after her cake and people were still gettin' their party on, haha. She received a boat load of toys and they're currently overtaking our formal dining room which has been her playroom ever since we moved in.. I still can't believe I have a one year old. How is that? Can someone turn back time so I can re-live all those precious newborn moments? Nope? I didn't think so. But, I sure will enjoy all these precious moments of my one year old. Love you my dear Laila.

xoxo

cool fact: Laila's name means "dark haired beauty" which I find beautiful. Here's to hoping she has dark hair like myself (she already has my curly hair...on the back of her head)

Laila's Birthday Party

I was a complete mess the day of Laila's birthday party. I couldn't stop worrying about anything and everything. I kind of felt like I wanted to pull my hair out and fast forward to the end of the day.

I was worried where people would park and if they'd complain because we live on a busier street. I was worried about food and if there would be enough. I was worried about having 20+ people in our home, since this is the first time all of our family has been in our house at once. I was afraid it wouldn't be clean enough or as "put together" since we have nothing on the walls, paint swatches in various rooms but really, no one seemed to mine.

And I stressed over no reason. We had plenty of food! Yes, there were some issues with parking but it didn't ruin our day. The only thing I was hoping for, was some sunshine. Instead, we got rain. Bleh.

Laila received so many nice toys. Clothes, puzzles, Violet, a phone, a laptop, a popper, magnets, bath stickys and many many more toys. She didn't really open her gifts as much as I thought she would. Probably because she was distracted by the new toys that were already opened? Didn't matter though, she was all smiles. And when it came time for her cake, at first she wasn't too interested. She'd stick her fingers in it, look at them and wonder what all the stuff was. "hmm, this tastes good, i'll just stick my whole hand in there now and shove it in my face" that's pretty much how it went. Not too bad!

Shortly after her cake, she was ready for a nap and her party wasn't even over, there was still maybe 20 minutes left. But, Justin cleaned her off and layed her down. I didn't want to force her to stay awake. She was beat and ended up sleeping till 5:30 after going down around 2:40ish. No bigger, gave me time to completely open all her toys and clean up.

I have yet to edit all of the pictures taken from her birthday and her party. I promise I'll get around to it, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!!

Happy Birthday!!!

This post will be short and sweet, just how I like it :]

Today, my baby turned ONE! I stayed home with her, slept in, made her pancakes, finished decorating the house with all types of Christmas decor, cleaned, went to Hobby Lobby with my mother and Laila, went out to lunch with mom, Laila and my aunt, did a ton more cleaning, played and played with my one year old. She was SO pooped out, and is already in bed and has been since 6:45. I think it was the cupcake and Red Velvet Ice Cream and not only did she get it ALL over her, she smothered my face in it while we were trying to take pictures. She seriously is THE best ever.

Lately, Laila has been showing me how smart she is. She is starting to repeat everything  you do. She wipes her mouth after eating, puts toys away, she even repeated "you did it" just like the show she was watching. I tip-toed into her room last night to find her awake and playing, so I brought her into bed to get some snuggle time in and attempt to read a book. Instead, we just lied there and guess what she did?? She continuously rubbed my forehead and hair back, just like I do to her.  I am so amazed at how much she has grown in the last year.

I look back at the times she was just born, holding her for the first time, kissing her, smelling her and telling her how much I love her and how happy I was she was finally here. I remember everything. the labor and delivery, the overflow of emotions that took over my body. I remember leaving the hospital and bringing her home for the first time and all the sudden I was stressed. Not because I just had a baby, but because I had to put too much stuff away that was taken and received at the hospital. No matter how tired, stressed or wondering "why am I crying about this stupid crock pot I can't put away" (yes, I did cry over a crock pot) I was still overly grateful to have a healthy, happy baby-family.  Everything is still so fresh in my mind and I love remembering it all but I look forward to all the other milestones, her 2nd birthday, 3rd, 4th, the day she learns to tie her shoes, ride a bike,the day she gets married, has kids, everything.

I'm so proud to be her mama and I'm so in love with her. Happy 1st Birthday, Laila. Mama loves you, to the moon and back and back again.

(how's that for short and sweet, :P)