New Friend

Hello Buddy:

It came in-just as expected, I love you Amazon! 

I have been playing around inside but due to this yucky weather-no outside time yet! I takes such great pictures on auto...I can't wait to figure out everything! YAY!

Thank you Clint! I LOVE IT!!!!

tomorrow tomorrow...

YOU'RE ONLY A DAY AWAY!!! My camera should arrive tomorrow! I am beside myself with excitement!!!

We have had a pretty good week here in the Lyle household, even with Clint working in Atlanta. Blakely is developing at such a rapid rate. Yesterday she pulled herself to standing position and was so proud of herself. I was so excited for her and as I cheered her on she said it-"mama!" She was looking right at me! Oh it just made me totally melt! Blakely-you are such a sweet little angel! This week you have been content playing with your toys by yourself. What an accomplishment. You are growing up way to fast! You also say dadadada often. My all time favorite was when Dad was leaving earlier this week, on his way out the door & you said 'bye bye'. Don't get too excited-this was an accidental thing-of this I am sure. We have not yet practiced bye bye at all so I am positive this was a happy accident! Today we got to get out and enjoy the beautiful day at the playground and publix. Not much to blog about but thought I would go ahead and document all the progressions with Blakely's development.

Spring Clothes

I am so excited about Blakely's Spring/Summer wardrobe. These few items have been made over the span of a year! Seriously, I made the green & pink dress last year this time! (before she was even born!) Luckily I guessed right on the size! I have enjoyed just taking my time on these!

My favorite

Pants are in the process of being made to go with this! 

Watch Me Grow-9 Months Old

Today started with TWO AND A HALF hours waiting at Blakely's doctor's office. We FINALLY got back there around the time she should have normally been waking up from her first nap and had bottle #2...with that said here is a picture to capture my morning...

yep, this is no joke! If I didn't LOVE her doctor, today would have made me seriously consider finding a new one. Poor baby doesn't understand why Mommy tortured her with boredom, starvation, and exhaustion. Anywho, when we finally made it home & she got fed and had a long nap we got some hilarious pictures. I couldn't have described her behavior these days any better than what these photos captured. I'm just gonna post all of the pictures that were taken & in the order of which they were taken. I'll just say this, she is crazy fast. When did this happen? I promise you this morning when she was playing she was totally creepy crawly & by this afternoon she was fast as lightening. 

Only real decent shot I got...

"Hey Momma! Whatcha got?"

"Look Mom I can pull up"

I see an escape!

I'm outta here!

Now for the stats:

1. Weight-20 pounds, 12 oz
2. Length- 28.5 Inches
3. Size 3 diapers
4. Size 12 Month clothes
5. 3 Naps a day (8, 11 & 3) all lasting around an hour
6. Eating table food now!!! SO excited about this. Today she had some of a graham cracker, cheese, squash & pears! Such a big girl!

LIKES:

• Reading
• Watching a little TV =)
• Anything sparkly or shiny
• BATHS*favorite time of day by far
• My phone, well eating my phone
• dogs... especially Zizi
• her jumper
• FOOD-any and everything it seams
• other kids & babies
• music
• being sung to (even with my completely terrible voice)
• Feeding Zizi and watching her beg. You just laugh and laugh in her high chair at Zizi!
• Being tickled on the neck
• Mom and Dad making that clicking sound with their mouths
• At bedtime: your paci, lovie, sleepie, and mobile- you have learned how to turn sleepie on by yourself. Oh and you woke me up at 4 this morning sitting up crying-I turned the lamp on & found your paci & you immediately went back on to sleep-guess it is hard to sleep without that guy! 
• Getting into EVERYTHING! Since you started crawling just weeks ago you have suddenly let your curiosity run away with you! I cannot even turn my back on you & I mean that! 

NOT LIKING:

• Carrots-never seen such a fit!
• Being forced to lay down while changing your diaper
• Putting your hands and arms through long sleeve shirts. yikes.
• Being woken from a nap before you are ready! 

      Really that is all I can think of that you don't like. You are such a calm and happy baby most of the time! Your dad & I are so very lucky!!! We love you so much! I can't Believe you are 9 months old!

Spring Fever

I am so excited for pleasant weather and beautiful flowers! I love the south for so many reasons-one primary one being the drastic season changes. Every 3 months we experience a time of transition that seems to come at the perfect moment! Spring seems to slip in right there after I feel as though I can't possibly deal with that bitter cold wind and bulky sweaters anymore! We have lots of stuff going on right now: spring cleaning, backyard makeover, sewing projects getting us ready for this beloved weather, working on fondant skills, & planning a super fun 1 year old 'ladybug' birthday party (yes 3 months early) =) So far I have been taking the spring cleaning one cabinet or drawer at a time and by 'at a time' I mean one small tiny drawer a day. I expect to have the house cleaner by next year this time. It absolutely amazes me how much junk we have accumulated over the 2 years of living here. So-craigslist and Hannah Home here we come! As for the backyard-these photos as embarrassing as they are tell it all!

Yeah...yuck, yuck and more yuck!

So our project will consist of painting the gross concrete, killing all of our lovely weeds, covering the main area with pea gravel or something like it, adding a couple of flowers & plants in pots and planters,  

a few pavers, and maybe even a water fixture. I'll make sure I update when this is finished! We are aiming for something like this:

As for the sewing creations, I'll post pictures tomorrow of Blakely's spring & summer wardrobe. She is going to be far better dressed than her momma. I do have some pictures of two birthday outfits that I made. One is for her ladybug party & the other is for her actual birthday.

Ooooooooh & the thing I am most excited about lately is getting this:

My awesome sister just smocked this ADORABLE Easter dress!!! I have decided to learn how to smock. She claims it isn't that hard-but I mean come on when you look at stuff this beautiful it is hard to not be intimidated! I will be sure to post many many more pictures of our Blakely in this.

AND FOR SOME REALLY REALLY REALLY FUN NEWS..... DRUM ROLL PLEASE.....

We did it. I pressed the pre-order button last night. I officially will be the proud owner of a Canon Rebel T3i. WhoooHoooo!!!! Now I just have to be patient-something we all know I am terrible at. 

Tomorrow our little Blakely will be 9 months. WHATTT? crazy, right? yep, 9 months & it so happens that our 9 month check up is tomorrow as well so I'll be posting watch me grow pictures along with accurate stats. 

Christmas in February!!!

SOOOO I would like to give a HUGE shout of thanks to the lovely government for giving us back every penny we gave you this year! Due to our lack of income, deductions & our sweet Blakely we got lots of mol-ah back from the fed & state!!! With this unexpected income I surprised Clint with one of these...

I can't remember the last time I have seen such excitement from him. He has done so much for our family this past year, it sure does feel good to see him so happy! Thank you so much for all of the strength, support and love you have given us all! I LOVE YOU!

We have decided to save half and maybe take a trip later this year?!? AND...possibly get a nice Canon Rebel with the remainder!!! As you can see from all the pictures on the blog-I'm slightly obsessed with capturing memories SO this would be amazing! I went over to Alli's house on Monday to play with her camera & it made me practically drool! I might just have to order it today-I'll let you know!

So yeah-Merry Christmas to me (maybe), Clint & our little nest egg!!!

The Birthday Party

What a perfect, beautiful day! Zizi had it all today-can we say spoiled?!? She had delicious homemade peanut butter cupcakes topped with peanut butter icing and sprinkled with carrots. Clint took a bite & admitted they were pretty good (I wasn't that brave!)

 

Zizi had her buddies Audrey and Sadie come over and spend the day with her. The pups all got these frisbees as party favors (which lasted approximately 20 minutes each). The hats were quite the bust. Zizi was the only one who would put up with it-probably because I torture her often for photo shoots with props-poor puppy. =)

Here is what Zizi got for her birthday:

A brand new doggy bed!

Pics from the party:

Audrey

Cupcake Time

"Happy Birthday Zizi"