Spring Break Recap

**Unfortunately I am awful at taking pictures, but this is a lengthy post. Just be prepared. I don't blame you if you give up.**

Spring beak could not have come any sooner. It was so needed.Contest season was crazy and hectic and sucked the life out of me. It was so nice to wake up to my sweet girls' giggle's instead of an alarm. We had a restful but fun spring break.

Spring break for most people started on Friday,March 12th at 4:05pm. We had cheer tryouts so my spring break didn't start until 10:00PM. Andy was spending the weekend in Austin, so Lyla and I stayed in SA with my parents. Saturday we played out in the yard, soaked up some sun and just relaxed. I also had a girls night at the Melting Pot. I.LOVE.CHOCOLATE! Sunday Lyla and I dropped my parents off at the airport for their Vegas trip (in celebration for their 30th anniversary) and then headed home.

Monday
- We spent a lazy morning in our jammies before heading to La Cantera to replace my mac laptop charger. I foolishly left mine at the hotel in Galveston. Not how I wanted to spend $80, but it was a necessity. We walked the mall and enjoyed the weather. We then went to Babies R Us and got some of Lyla's Easter basket. For dinner we headed over to Andy's grandmother's house. His mom, sister, brother, were there as well as his Uncle Danny, Aunt Blanca and cousin Jacob, who were in from Corpus. We had a fabulous meal and the boys played catch in the yard. It's always so good to get together.

Tuesday
- Was cold a rainy. Only in Texas can it be 80 degrees one day and 50 degrees the next.Andy had a few lessons so Lyla and I went down the street to hang with my friend Laura and her boys Grant and Jake. Jake loves Lyla. I think he might be "the one". I know it's early, but I believe in arranged marriages. The rest of the evening was spent at home.


Wednesday
- I had a much needed hair appointment. Four months without a trim/cut is way too long. Then I met Lyla and Andy at the zoo. We purchased season passes. Lyla loves to be outside, so we figured it's a great investment. Apparently 17,000 other people had the same idea. It was crowded, but everyone was so nice. It was just hard to spend a long time at each animal. We pretty much kept Lyla in her stroller, but she did get to see a few animals. Have mentioned she loves to be outside. I think just strolling made her happy. Then we stopped at Breckenridge park for lunch. Again, everyone in SA had the same idea so Andy and I just ate on the tailgate while Lyla slept in the truck. Because of the crowds, we didn't take a lot of pictures.




Thursday
- Tax paperwork day. Ugh. This is the one day a year that we hate that Andy is self employed. It involves so much paperwork. I helped Andy for about 3 hours before Lyla finally started to driving me crazy trying to constantly grab papers off the desk. So that is when her and I moved outside. Have I mentioned yet how much she loves to be outside? We played on a blanket in the yard for about two hours. Don't worry, I was a good mommy and lathered her up with sunscreen. I strategically placed the blanket where Lyla had shade and I had sun. I too love being in the sun. Later that evening we met our friends Adam and Victoria at Mamacitas for dinner. We hadn't seen them in over a year. We are bad friends, I know. It was so nice to catch up. Not to mention the mangorita was fabulous! After dinner they followed us back to my parents house where we hung out until I had to pick up my parents from the airport. at 11:00PM I might add. We all ended up staying up until 2:00AM chatting and laughing. Needless to say Lyla, Andy and I crashed at my parents. Thankfully they have their own nursery, diapers, wipes, baby food, formula and jammies for Lyla. She stays there a lot.



Friday
- Andy had to meet with our CPA to drop off our taxes paperwork so Lyla and I stayed at my parents. We spent another 3 hours in the sun. I love getting a tan. Andy came back and we all headed to the park. We ate pizza and let Lyla play on the slide. She learned to lean forward to get herself going. Andy would set her at the top, she would lean forward to slide down, right into my arms. She laughed and smiled the whole way down. Then she enjoyed some swing time before we headed out. But instead of heading home we decided to detour to Toys R Us. Andy thought Toys R Us was just like Babies R Us. Boy was he surprised. We spent over an hour looking at the clothes and toys, getting ideas for Lyla's Easter basket and Birthday. Finally it was time to head home.




Saturday
- My friend Meredith was getting married. The wedding was in the afternoon and just beautiful, despite the 50 degree weather. It was not easy planning a spring outfit that could also keep me warm. Lyla was an absolute doll during the ceremony and reception.

Sunday
- We celebrated my dad's birthday at La Hacienda for lunch. It was delicious food. Andy then headed to Austin for a gig and Lyla and I went over to my parents to hang out with my sister who was in town for the weekend. Mom and I also made a run to Party City to pick up stuff for Lyla's birthday. I unfortunately left my wallet in the diaper bag. My sweet mom paid for everything and told me I didn't need to pay her back. I love her!

All in all it was a fun week with friends, family and time together. I'm already counting down to my 2 three day weekends in April. Thank you Easter weekend and Fiesta! Hopefully I'll be better at taking pictures.

First Steps

Lyla took her first steps yesterday!!! I was beyond proud. I came home from work and Lyla (as always) was super happy to see mommy. Andy came into the living room and said, "let's show mommy." He got her to her feet (never an easy task. My child HATES to stand...weird, I know), held onto her little hands and got her going. Then he let go and she took 2, I repeat 2 big girl steps, crying the whole time, before she grabbed on to me. I'm pretty sure I was so proud that I almost started crying myself. Andy told me she had taken 3 steps earlier in the day. We went to dinner at a friend's house and she took 3 steps on two other occasions. She doesn't like doing it, but she did it anyway.

It just cracks me up that she will cry the whole time. She will cruise around the furniture, push her walk-behind toys with no problem, but you take her by the hand and try to get her to take a few steps and she has a total break down. She will totally be my cautious child. Sorry Andy, it's just another way where she is just like her mommy. We cheer her on and give her big hugs, but she doesn't get the "I'm so proud of myself smile." I don't mind that she is taking her time on walking, but it would be nice is she was upright in time for her play ground birthday party.

In the mean time, I am beyond excited. I never imagined watching my daughter take a few steps would fill me with such pride. I haven't been this excited since she learned to clap. There is just something about watching your baby girl take those first cautious steps. Once she up and gone she won't be my baby anymore. She be my big girl and it will be no time until she dating and leaving for college. Okay, I just totally depressed myself. I'll take it "one step at a time".

11 months

Lyla turned 11 months old this week. I am floored. I am in total denial that she will be one year old soon. All of the books I've been reading have started calling her a toddler instead of a baby. What? No, she is still my baby. Lyla's 11th month has been a busy one for all of us. I had contest which meant I had less time with Lyla. Luckily I've been able to spend all of spring break with my sweet girl.

Things to remember:
- Lyla loves balls. In fact that is the only word she says. "Bah". Anything that looks like a ball catches her eye and it's all she wants. Okay well she also says "duhhhckt" (duck) in the bath tub.
- Lyla has back tracked a little on her speech. She no longer says dada or mama. I'm a little concerned about this, but trying to not let it bother me. She does babble all of the time. She sings and blows raspberries and jabbers to herself while playing.
- Lyla still isn't walking on her own, but she is cruising and pushing her walk behind toys. I really thought she would be walking by now, but that's okay. She is just too scared to stand on her own.
- Lyla has started playing with some baby dolls. She will mimic anything. We hug and kiss the baby and help the baby suck it's thumb.
- Lyla has started to get into a little make-believe. She will lay her head down and I'll say, "night, night Lyla" and then she'll pop her head up and smile and I'll say "good morning". She'll do this over and over.
- She has learned to shake her head "no" when I tell her "no-no". Usually she still does what I've told her not to, but she is learning that she isn't suppose to. Her little head shake just makes me laugh.
- Lyla is a bowl of energy. She is laughing and playing all the time. It is so much fun to watch her personality grow. She loves to flirt with men (watch out).
- Lyla loves to swing and play on the slide. She also just learned to lean forward to get herself going on the slide.
- Lyla is a bit of a mama's girl. I am not sure if it's because we don't get a lot of time together during the week, but whenever I am home she wants me in her sight. If I walk away to go to the kitchen or bathroom she will either start crying or cry and follow me. Although it is sweet that she loves me that much, it can get a little frustrating when I'm trying to get stuff done, like dinner.

Patience?

I have come to realize that my husband is amazing. Okay, let me rephrase, I've always known he is amazing, I'm just learning new ways in which he is amazing.

Lyla is very clingy to me when I am home. I think it's because I am not a stay at home mom, so she wants me for every second when I am home. This week I am on spring break and have looked forward to this family time for weeks. However, it has been a little stressful. Today Lyla was extremely fussy. I couldn't walk 5 steps with out her having a total meltdown. I kept feeling my blood pressure rise. I am not a patient person. I believe Lyla is God's way of teaching me patience. Throughout the day I found myself thankful that I am a working mom. Sometimes my job is less stressful than being a mom. I can control so much more at work.

So as I went through the day with these little melt downs I found myself wondering, how does Andy do this everyday. Now maybe it's because she isn't like this, but maybe it's because he handles it so much better. He is able to walk away and let her cry it out. He is also able to not let it get under his skin like I do. That is why he is amazing. He amazes me at how well he handles staying at home with Lyla. How he can take over when I am get overwhelmed and not complain that he "does this every day". He lets me take a deep breath, regain my composure, and then come back to being with our girl.

I may give him a hard time that he thinks he is an easy going guy (because there are times when he is not) but he is more easy going that I will ever be. That is why he is my balance; my counterpart. So even though I don't say it enough, thank you sweet husband for all you do.

P.S. At the end of the evening as I was putting Lyla's jammies on her, she pulled herself up to standing, wrapped her arms around me and laid her head down on my shoulder (something she NEVER does anymore). It only lasted a few seconds, but it was the sweetest thing. It was like her way of saying, "sorry I gave you hard time today Mommy, I love you." And that sweet moment made up for the whole day.