"Before you were conceived I wanted you. Before you were born I loved you. Before you were here one hour I would die for you."

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June 22, 2009

Happy Father's Day!


Happy Father's Day to my amazing husband and the best Daddy in the world!!!

You are an awesome Daddy to our little girl. Seeing you interact with Laila and the way she lights up when you enter the room, makes me so happy inside! I am so thankful for you and all you do for us. Your love for the Lord and the way you love both of us, fills my heart with so much joy! We are super blessed to have you! I love you more than you know and I'm so glad we are on this journey together! Can't wait to see what else the Lord has in store for us! xoxo






Here a few pics from Father's Day 2009! We had a pretty relaxing day around the house while getting settled back in from being at the beach. We took Daddy out to eat at one of our favorite restaurants Seito Sushi. We also got him a child carrier to put on his bicycle, so now he can take Laila on bike rides with him! Pictures of that coming soon!




Cocoa Beach!!!

This past week we had a much needed vacation to Cocoa Beach! We had an awesome time....we got to hang out with some family and friends, the weather was amazing, and we were able to relax and enjoy God's beautiful creation! We did miss having Grandpa and Grammy Lail there though. They are usually there with us, but this year they were on their own vacation seeing the Grand Canyon and exploring the West!






Laila's first ride in her new car seat on the way to the beach!



Aunt Susie and Aunt Bekah came for a visit for the day!






We had fun playing in the sand together!





Sound asleep with her lovey!




Daddy and Aunt Bekah playing a game of Rummikub!




Grandpa Schuck came over to visit for a bit too!




We ate dinner with the Schuck's at Shuckleberry Fin's!






Posing for a picture after dinner with Aunt Susie, Papa, Nonna, and Aunt Bekah!





We threw this surfer girl outfit together for Laila after her skin started getting irritated from the sand. It was a little big on her, but she still looked cute to us!





Building sandcastles with Daddy






The Moss Family came to hang out too!






Playing in the sand with Isaac!




Unlike her Mama, Laila usually wakes up so happy in the mornings! :)










Enjoying the view from our room!








Eating bananas for breakfast!




Loving her new stroller from Papa & Nonna!




Looking at herself in the mirror!







Aunt Holly!






Sisters!





Daddy and Mommy!







Just chillin!






The Shuttle launch got cancelled, but we did get to see a rocket go off while we were there!




Our little love bug!








Trying on Daddy's shoes!






Helping Daddy build a little pool!





Picture of the sisters again!




Our little family!








Back to Shuckleberry's on our last night!





Us on our last day of vacation!




Laila loves sitting in the beach chair! I think we need to get her one her own size so she'll stop stealing ours!






Mommy and Laila!






Daddy and Laila!





Such a little cutie pie!





I found her playing in the suitcase when we packing up to go home!


June 21, 2009

Happy 1st Birthday to Laila!

Our baby girl isn't a baby any more!!! Laila turned 1 year old on June 2nd! On her actual birthday, the three of us had a fun day at the beach. The weather was perfect and Laila seemed to have a blast splashing in the water, playing with the seashells, and getting all dirty in the sand! It was wonderful to see her smiling so much and so happy! Her smile cracks us up with her two little bottom teeth and the way she scrunches her nose and eyes, but at the same time, it melts our hearts and brings us so much joy!

On Saturday, June 6th, we had a little birthday party with the rest of the family to celebrate Laila's first year of life. Uncle Matt volunteered to host the party at his house this year since we are between homes right now. It turned out perfect! Laila did so good, despite missing her second nap that day. We really appreciate everyone that was able to come out and help us celebrate our daughter's first year of life. So many fun memories made for us that day!

It truly is so hard to believe she is a year old already. It's so crazy to think about how much she's grown in every way these past 12 months. Last year at this time we were holding our sweet little 7 lb 5 oz, 20 inch baby girl. Now she is around 20 lbs and 28 1/2 inches! We are so thankful for a healthy and happy daughter! She is getting stronger and learning more and more every day. The past few weeks she has been standing a lot by herself. She has taken a few steps here and there, but she is still pretty cautious. It seems like she will be walking soon to us, but I guess we'll see when she's ready! She is starting to climb or attempt to climb everything as well. She can also get her self off of the couch or bed without help. It is so exciting to see her learning new things and understanding so much more of what we are saying. It's cute to be able to understand more of what she is saying too. Her favorite things to say are Daddy, hi, uh-oh, Scooter, and Papa. She can also do baby sign language for more, all done, and water. Those are pretty much the only ones we've taught her so far. Another new thing she has been doing this past week or so is clicking her tongue of the top of her mouth, which she thinks is so cool! Laila still only has two bottom teeth, but we are hoping the others will come through soon. She has been trying more foods lately, but I've been hesitant to give her some things until she gets a few top teeth. She is still nursing, but most of her nutrients are coming from solid foods now. This past week she has been acting like a picky eater and pushing things away. We hope this doesn't continue! Some of Laila's favorite things right now are being tickled by Daddy, her family, Scooter (when she is upset, usually I just have to say Scooter's name and she's okay again!), giving kisses (it's the best feeling in the world when she leans over to give us a kiss when we don't even ask for one!), playing peek-a-boo (it's so cute how she covers up half of her face or one eye and thinks she's hiding from us!), the song Head and Shoulders, brushing her own hair (or trying to at least!), cell phones and remotes (still her favorite toys), eating cheerios or puffs, playing her new mini piano (thanks Moss family), looking at books, pretending to talk on the phone, swinging, taking everything off of shelves or out of the cabinets, and holding up her hands to show big she is or how much God loves her (that's a new one we taught her)! Laila is also in a new car seat now. The pediatrician said she was big enough to be front facing, and even though I was still planning on waiting a little bit before turning her around, we decided to go ahead and do it now. She looks like such a big girl in her new car seat, and it's nice to be able turn around and see her face and see her checking everything out!

There are LOTS of pictures on this post! Hope you enjoy!!!








The Birthday Girl!!!







Celebrating Laila's actual birthday at Cocoa Beach!





Standing all by herself!






Taking a few steps!






Playing in the sand




Finding seashells!







Our footprints in the sand...Daddy, Mommy, Laila!



How big is Laila? SO BIG!



Giving Daddy a kiss! So sweet!





Oooh...it's cold!



Our little monkey trying to climb up the chair!





Mommy and Laila!




And the temper tantrums have begun!!!



All better now! What a fun day at the beach!




After the beach, Aunt Holly stopped by to say Happy Birthday!




Playing on my new play set from Grandpa and Grammy Lail!




The Birthday Day girl getting ready for her party!






Nate & Laila with John & Isaac



Laila's 2nd cousin Melissa




Laila with her Great Grandpa & Great Grandma Phelps




Laila posing with her beautiful antique chair that belonged to her Great Great Great Great Grandmother! Thanks again Great Grandpa & Grandma Phelps...we'll treasure it always!





Scooter even got to come to my party!



Isaac and Laila (guess she likes his shirt)!




Oma and Laila!




The Schuck girls!




The cute little Moss Family (baby #2 will be here in November!)





Laila's 2nd cousin, Ian!



Us posing with Aunt Bekah and Aunt Susie!




Aunt Bekah, Aunt Susie, and Oma




Laila with her Great Grandma Lail (G.G.)




Beautiful Grandmothers!





Melissa and Aunt Holly





Laila's Grandpa and Great Uncle Mike Lail



Nonna and Papa Schuck





Cake time!!!
Grammy Lail made Laila her very own banana cake and it turned out yummy!



The hat only lasted a few seconds!






Singing Happy Birthday to Laila!




Instead of blowing out the candle, Laila put it out with her finger!







I'm not quite sure about this yet!













Testing it out!






Mmmm...yummy!
(signing more please)







Look what Daddy did to my face!







Attempting to stuff a big piece in my mouth!



Sharing with Daddy!






Daddy liked it too!








Laila and Papa Schuck







Hey, what's on my head?!







Taking a break to play peek-a-boo!




Isaac is enjoying watching Laila destroy her cake!




Daddy and Grandpa Schuck helped make me a mess!





This is fun!!!








Daddy's turn to get messy!




Bless this mess!





Time for a bath!






Opening a card from Oma after getting all cleaned up!





Laila trying on her new cross necklace that Oma gave her. It was given to Laila's Great Grandma by her Great Grandpa, who are both in heaven now. We will treasure this necklace forever...thank you Oma for passing it on to Laila!






Gift time!








Giving her new giraffe a kiss!



How old is Laila? ONE!!!





Aunt Holly and Scooter!






Grandpa Schuck and Grandpa Lail



It's been a long day! Time to go home now!






Other pictures from this past month.....





Now that is a mohawk!



Laila loves to play under the table at Grammy's house!


Signing all done!



Keep Grammy Lail away from the scissors! She cut my bangs way too short without Mommy's permission!



Trying out the slide after Daddy and Grandpa put it together!




Our little Pebbles!


Video of Laila playing peek-a-boo!