Layla Grace

I came across this family blog about 2 weeks ago. After reading the family's story I can't stop thinking about this precious little girl. I find myself constantly checking their websites for updates. I even joined twitter so I can follow them there as well. Please keep the family in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. To read their story visit laylagrace.org

Winter Wonderland

Yesterday, we had snow in Austin! And lots of it (by Texas standards). This was Taylor's first experience with snow so of course I had to snap some photos. She was not in the snow for long which is why she's not dressed warmer. She really doesn't have any "warm" clothes.
These are taken in the backyard






Front of house




Neighborhood entrance



My attempt at a snowman


Taylor keeping warm inside

Bikini Time!

Mommy may not be in bikini shape, but babies always are! I bought this bathing suit at babies r us today (I've been eyeing it for awhile). Got home, tried it on her and it barely fits! It's 6-9 months and she is currently wearing 3-6 month clothes. Baby swimwear must run small because my friend had to buy 12 month suits for her 6 month old. I'd take it back and get a bigger size, but it was the last one :( I know there will be new suits that come out as summer gets closer so I'll just wait for now so I make sure I get the correct size. I snapped some photos of her in it first of course!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope everyone had as great of a valentine's day as we did! Paul brought me home some beautiful flower's on Friday which totally surprised me (I wasn't expecting anything). Sunday morning I gave Taylor her first Valentine's card. She also received one from grandma & grandpa, and Aunt Jamie & Uncle Jason. I gave Paul a card as well. I've never been one to go out and do extravagent gifts for Valentine's day. The only thing you need are flowers and chocolate. Sunday afternoon we went over to our friends Jordan & Whitney's house for a bbq. They have 2 kids, Reiser (4) and Porter (18 mo). Another couple who live in the neighborhood came as well with their little girl. I didn't take any pictures even though I took my camera :( I did capture some pictures of Taylor in her Valentine's outfit earlier in the day. She looks so good in red! Can't wait until next Valentine's day with Taylor!

Happy 2 months Taylor... and other things

Well yesterday Taylor turned 2 months. And how did we celebrate??? With shots. :( She was very brave. I stood over her and just kept my face very close, held her hands and just comforted her. She started crying as soon as they stuck her with the first needle. Poor baby. I felt so bad. She was fine after about 5 minutes and even shot me a smile when I put her clothes back on. She was a little off the rest of the afternoon. She kept crying and wouldn't really eat at her last 3 feedings. Paul and I thought maybe she had a fever (the doc said that happens after shots) but she didn't. Since she didn't eat that much I was for sure she would wake me up in the middle of the night... but she didn't. Such a good girl. I bet my next baby won't sleep at all! I took some more pictures of her in her crib so we can see how much bigger she is compared to last month. Her are her stats from her doctors appointment.
Weight: 13 lbs 11 oz, 97th percentile for weight
Height: 24 in, 90th percentile for height
The doctor said she has a good proportion of weight to height, so I guess that is good!









So this week Paul had to travel to New York for a work conference. I hate staying by myself so I went to Houston to be with my family. We were also celebrating my dad's 70th birthday (happy birthday daddy!) and my nephew Joshua's 11th birthday (happy birthday Joshua!). We all went to pappasitos and had a great time. I came back to Austin on Wednesday and Paul got home that night at about midnight. Before he left New York he stopped at FAO Schwarz for a gift for Taylor. He got her some books and a little bunny blanket. I told Paul every time he goes out of town for work he has to bring her home a present now! I'm sure he won't mind! Here are alot, and I mean alot of pictures. First of Paul, Taylor, & her presents, and then from our lunch at Pappasitos.

Sleeping Beauty

Taylor is turning out to be a great sleeper (knock on wood)! Last night she slept for 11 hours, and 10 hours the night before! I hope this will become permanent, but only time will tell. If it does I want to start putting her to sleep earlier. Right now I try to keep her up until 10pm, but I would like to try 9pm because she really starts to get tired around that time. I snapped some pictures of her sleeping in her crib this morning before she woke up. I know you aren't supposed to have anything in the crib, but I swaddle her at night and she usually kicks it off at some point.




So I mentioned previously that I have been trying to get a photo of Taylor smiling. I haven't gotten one yet, but you can tell she was smiling in this photo right before she stuck her tongue out. She has recently discovered it and is always sticking it out. It's so cute!


Taylor and daddy watching TV


Tummy Time!



Cute hat Jamie bought on Etsy

RUN RUN as fast as you can

Today I made my first solo trip to town lake. As I mentioned previously I've been several times with the baby, but because she is still so young I can only walk. My in-laws are in town and my mother in-law loves holding Taylor, so I took advantage of the situation and went by myself. Jamie and I are doing the Houston Rodeo 5k fun run at the end of September so I need to prepare myself. I ran the first stretch from the mopac bridge to the pedestrian bridge, walked across, and walked a little ways on the next stretch. I was running into the wind on the last stretch so that made it much more difficult. Here a few of my likes and dislikes from my walk/run today.
LIKES:
the beautiful clear sky
the guy riding his bike singing at the top of his lungs
running in the direction of the wind
the dogs that were so happy to be at the lake
feeling myself getting thinner :)
DIS-LIKES:
having to pee as soon as I got to the lake
running into the wind
men in biker shorts showing their whole package
being doubled lapped (they were seasoned runners)
groups walking side by side with multiple strollers (wait until the week day when it's not so crowded)
getting dust blown in my face