Lila's First Christmas

Lila had a great first Christmas. She was such a good girl even though we had to go to about a million different places.

She loves all of her presents. She has been laying on her play mat and actually grabbing at the things dangling down on her. She can even make it "sing" sometimes all by herself. She is getting so big it almost makes me cry sometimes!!!

We all had the most wonderful Christmas ever because Lila is the best present any of us could ever get!!!

New hat and gloves

Lila and Daddy in her new jams on Christmas night! She looks so chunky here!

Surprise! I love my new mat!

Christmas Eve

My "little" brother and me

We also had 3 WHOLE days of basketball at the Eldorado Holiday Tournament. Harrisburg took home the 1st Place trophy for the first time in 23 years. That "little" brother you see above is on the team. I am so proud of all the boys on the team. They have wanted this for so long. Great job boys! Lila was such a good little fan. If she wasn't sleeping, she was standing up looking around and watching the game! It's a good thing because she has no other choice by to love basketball.

Littlest Bulldog Fan

The Team

Capel and Tyler (they've been playing together since they were like 1 and winning this tourney has always been one of their goals!)

Capel and the "good luck charm"

Pictures

I so wish that Lila would cooperate and get her picture taken. Sure, she's fine when it's not an actual photoshoot or even when there's other people around, but when it's time for her to get her sweet little face in picture by herself, she just won't do it! I see all of these precious little baby pictures where the babies are sleeping on their bellies or all cuddled up in big cute blankets or something. She just won't do it.

Anyway, last weekend we went to get family pictures taken. A girl I went to school with and played with every Friday night after eating at the Elks when we were kids, is a VERY talented artist and has taken up photography in the past few years. Her work is AMAZING. Mikayla Henderson Photography. I'll share a few of the pictures that she took. At least we did get a couple goods ones of Lila even though we had to hold her to get them done. Either way, they turned out great and we are very pleased!

This my brother and sister

This is all of the kids with Dad

Thanks Mikayla! You did a great job!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays

In the words of N'Sync, "It's a wonderful feeling. Feel the love in the room from the floor to the ceiling. It's that time of year, Christmas time is here."

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Christmas. I love to see how much giving goes on during the holiday season. Whether it's monetary or not, people are just wonderful this time of year. This always stops to make me think, "why is it only during this time of year that people can be nice?".

As a child, you're always on your best behavior because Santa is on his way and if you want him to bring you something, you better watch out and you sure as hell better not cry. Or maybe the Belsnickel is watching you from the window reporting back on how you've been acting. Who wants to mess with that guy anyway? Not only do you have to worry about presents under the tree, but also you have to worry about your stockings...

Then you get a little older and although your thoughts may have changed a little, you still behave, knowing that this isn't the time to get in a huge argument with your parents. Then you get even older and if you didn't start realizing it in your teens, you surely have by now. All people don't have the same kind of Christmas that you and your family have. So you go out of your way to make it better for them. This really makes you feel good. But why is it only during Christmas that we do these good deeds? We can be "good deed doers" all year round. Those people that don't have anything at Christmas, have just the same in May or August.

Now I'm just as guilty as the next person, but this year I'm going to make a conscious effort to help those in need all throughout the year. Maybe I can help someone at the grocery store with something or maybe I can go to my grandma's and help her out around the house. It doesn't always have to involve money. A simple good deed can turn a person's day right around...it can turn yours around too. :)

On another note, this year is Lila's first Christmas and while she's still too young to know what's going on, we still want to make it special for her. We got her one present, basically because she doesn't need anything right now and we know that everyone else will probably go overboard. I really hope that no one got her anything that is BIG or MAKES NOISE! If you did, and you know who you are, those lovely presents will be staying at your house for when Lila comes to visit! So just start making room! :)

Last year, Neil and I had a huge Christmas. We really overdid it. We both surprised each other with stuff. I got him a PS3, which he had been saying he wanted since like October. He really thought he wasn't getting it. I did a pretty good job of faking it. He got me a Wii. I seriously couldn't believe it! So we did pretty good last year. This year we pretty much know that we're on a budget and we are focusing on our families. We have been so blessed with the greatest family and wanted to get them some small gifts showing them how much we appreciated everything they have done for us this year, especially since Lila was born.

I cracked....I always do. I'm a "present-getter". I just have to do it. Ever since I got my new phone, Neil has been saying that he liked mine better than he like his. He's been up for a contract renewal for a long time and just hasn't gotten a new phone. So I did it! I just couldn't help it! I knew he would love it! I feel like, "he's my husband and I SHOULD get him something". Maybe it was from watching my parents (my dad has always been really good about getting gifts for my mom and now step-mom), but I just feel like I should get him something. Back to the phone...I did good. He's obsessed with it! :) It's a Samsung Fascinate and it's truly the greatest phone ever!!! I got it at BestBuy, where they are on SUPER SALE. If you're up for a renewal, you seriously need to go there! Right now they are so much cheaper than Verizon!

I will try to post before Christmas, but I just wanted to make sure I said this at some point!

Merry Christmas to all of you! I wish you all the best!

The Things I've Learned Being A Mother

1. If Lila is crying, there's something wrong with her. All these women who are are mother's age or my grandmother's age had told me not to pick up the baby every time she cries. After reading LOTS of articles about developing babies and their needs, I had come to the conclusion that at this age, babies aren't able to manipulate their parents. Don't get me wrong, sometimes she will be screaming and I will pick her up and the instant that I do that, she's fine. I'll put her back down and she's screaming again. She obviously needs the comfort of my arms to make her feel better at that time because she doesn't do that ALL the time.

2. Never change a poopy diaper right away. If you do, you just may get another explosion at you, this time with the diaper off! Nuff said!

3. The whole "sleep when the baby sleeps" thing is just a bunch of CRAP!! Now people, I'm a sleeping. Just ask my husband or anyone in my family. I can sleep for 18 hours a day if someone would let me...that is, BB (Before Baby). Even those first few weeks when we were up ever couple of hours to eat, if it was during the day, I couldn't sleep. I could lay there, on my ass, all day, doing nothing, but I couldn't make myself fall asleep. Now I've finally learned that since she's set her bedtime around 8:00 every night, that she's also set my bedtime around 8:00 every night.

4. You can't plan anything. This has actually gotten better since she's gotten a little older and I'm not nursing her anymore. She was the SLOWEST eater on the face of the earth. If we needed to be somewhere and it was 30 min before she needed to eat, we just weren't making it on time. That pissed me off. I don't like to be late and I don't like to mosey around. Just sitting there, waiting on her to eat made me so antsy. This is another reason why I think I sucked at breastfeeding.

5. A larger number of women have problems with breastfeeding than those who just keep going with no a single care in the world. Lila was losing and losing and it was giving me a complex. I realized that my supplementing it would have a huge affect on my supply, but I had to do what was best for my baby. The poor thing was STARVING. She responded very well to the formula, actually she sucked it down faster than anything I'd ever seen! It made me so sad that I couldn't provide all she needed, but I know that in this day in age she will be fine on formula. 100 years ago we couldn't say the same thing.

6. It's ok to WANT to get away from your baby every once in a while. My mom told me everyday from the day I got pregnant, "you will wish you could stay home all the time" or "I hated going back to work after I had you kids. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do". At 4 weeks I was getting a little antsy for stuff to do. At 5 weeks I was just about to go stir crazy. At 6 weeks, I sent her across the street to my Aunt's and came to work part time as I could. It's been the best thing for me. If I was still at home we be in debt (even more than we are now) and I'd be divorced because Neil wouldn't be able to handle me and my spending!

7. Your family can't wait to see you, but for a different reason now. I haven't had an identity for a while. For the past 5 or so years, I've either been "Capel's Sister" or "Connor's Sister" and I've even been known (for my whole life) as "Coach Henshaw's Daughter". Let's just add another one to that..."Lila's Mom". This is fine. I don't mind it, but if I'm out somewhere and don't have her with me, people really start freaking out. "Where's Lila?" "Who has her?" Listen people she's not attached to me anymore. I can leave her different places and it's ok!

8. Working out isn't quite what it used to be. :( Wom wom wom :(

Now matter how much I want my belly to go back to the rock solid abs (quit your laughing) that I had before my baby, it's just not so easy to get my butt up there and burn calories anymore! I'm just doing what I can and hopefully, one day soon I'll be able to get back up there. I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to do the half-marathon in Nashville again this spring. I so hope it can happen!

One more GREAT piece of advice that was given to me from a new mom and good friend of mine, Miss Laura Minor Zurliene: The best advice is to ignore most of the advice given to you. You know what's best for your baby. After all, we are mothers for a reason!

That's all I can think of at this point, but it's a pretty good start. Happy naked baby!!!

Basketball Season

It's finally here. The time we've been waiting for since last march! My little brother, or maybe I should say, my YOUNGER brother, because he's not very little anymore is finally back at it. The season started on Monday with a tournament all week. So far they're 3-0. Great way to start the season if you ask me. So far, Lila LOVES the games. She just adores the bright lights and the squeaky sounds of the shoes on the floor. She doesn't even mind the buzzer, with the exception of the first few times she heard it.

I'm so happy that it's basketball season because now we have something to do on the weekends. Although it's going to be quite the adventure getting Lila to all the ballgames...every weekend...on time, it's going to be great!!

I woke up this morning after Lila and I cuddled for about 4 hours and she ate and sat in her seat watching The Flintstones and I looked at her and she looked like a completely different baby. She's growing so much, but today I could really tell! She was sitting in her boppy yesterday like such a big girl!!! We'll be celebrating her first birthday before know it. :(

Now she's trying to get fussy, so I'll end this post and go get her ready for another ballgame tonight.

GO DOGS!!!!

"Our Song"...

We like the Peter, Paul, and Mary version best!

FOR BABY (FOR BOBBIE)
John Denver- Cherry Lane Music Co., Inc. -ASCAP

I'll walk in the rain by your side,
I'll cling to the warmth of your tiny hand.
I'll do anything to help you understand,
I'll love you more than anybody can.

And the wind will whisper your name to me,
Little birds will sing along in time,
The leaves will bow down when you walk by,
And morning bells will chime.

I'll be there when you're feeling down,
To kiss away the tears if you cry.
I'll share with you all the happiness I've found,
A reflection of the love in your eyes.

And I'll sing you the songs of the rainbow,
Whisper all the joy that is mine.
The leaves will bow down when you walk by,
And morning bells will chime.

{repeat verse 1}

The leaves will bow down when you walk by,
And morning bells will chime.

And she even likes when I sing it to her. She's probably thinking, YIKES!!

End of the Month

So the last week has been hard to keep up on my days. I'm gonna do a quick post to finish up my days of loving my husband and then I'll try to get on here more and update everyone on how life with Lila's going!

Day 23: I love N because while he sometimes changes his goals somewhat (everyone has to at some point) he never gives up on those goals!

Day 24: I love N because he like my cooking...no comment Mom, if you're reading, because I DO COOK!

Day 25: I love N because even when he's stressed to the max, he USUALLY doesn't take it out on me! :)

Day 26: I love N because he is appreciative of everything in life. Things happen for a reason and we both know that. It takes a great man (woman too) to admit it, even when the bad things are happening.

Day 27: I love N because he is thankful for everything we have and even the things we don't have. (this one should've been on day 25 :) )

Day 28: I love N because he admits when he's wrong...sometimes. Most guys never admit when their wife is right. And this happens to him a lot because I'm always right! hee hee

Day 29: I love N because he is smart....that is that!

Day 30: FINALLY...I love N because he works hard at everything he does! ALL THE TIME!

Babe if you're reading this, you know how much I love you! And if you do this same thing ever, you'll find that as much as you love me (and I know it's a lot) it's a lot harder than you think to break it down this way. I love everything about you...you are the best husband and daddy a girl could ever want and have! XOXOXO

Everyone try it out and see how many different ways you love your spouse! It's harder than you think!