A Pretty Little Christmas Princess

Winter Beauty

Winter can be SO beautiful-we're lovin it! :)

Snowflakes were falling slowly and glistening in the sunshine.

And here's the cutie in one of her new birthday outfits from Mark, Karn & Nelson :)

Happy December

Reading her morning paper :)

Helping Grandma & Grandpa decorate the tree

Grandpa's belly slide!

Two Amazing Years

By the grace of God alone, our sweet little miracle, Lyla Jane, turned two. We give God all the credit for the amazing things that are happening in Lyla's life. So many have prayed for her and continue to do so...those prayers are being heard, and that is why she is doing so incredibly well.

These are a few of the accomplishments she's made in her second year:

• She can crawl! She likes to rock on all fours best though. :)
• She is walking independently with her walker, as you will see in the videos.
• She can cruise along furniture (very slowly and tenuously) and even lets go with her hands occasionally-she's getting braver and experimenting new things.
• Her sweet personality is really developing-she is pretty interactive and loves to give big, toothy grins, and she loves being tickled (especially by Daddy's whiskers) and giggling.
• She can transition from four-point to sitting and vice versa.
• She is starting to feed herself different things like crackers, cheese sticks, cookies, etc.
• She had her 2-year check-up today and she weighed in at 22 lbs 11 oz, and she's 32.5 inches tall! Of course her doctor was impressed with her growth and development-she is just getting so much stronger. :)
• She loves looking at books and toys that flash and make noise.
• She knows how to press buttons and she's starting to figure out how to play peek-a-boo and starting to identify things on Mom's face, like nose, eyes, ears.
• As far as speech, she still just babbles and says mama and dada and several other consonant sounds mixed with vowels. She loves to make lots of silly sounds like Dad does-she can imitate him pretty well. :)
• We are going to be starting speech therapy, as well as continue with physical therapy and occupational therapy. Sounds like she'll be getting some ankle braces to help her walk pretty soon. I'm so excited about that!

She continues to be an over-all great kid who is sweet beyond belief and is just so easy-going. She is a blessing and a joy-she brings sunshine to our lives every day. Enjoy the pics & vids from her birthday...

Here's our big 2 year old!

walking all by herself :)

Lyla and her friend Nelson-he shared his semi-truck with her

Fun tissue paper

She loves the spinning light globe from Auntie Bryana and Uncle Faz-she's mesmerized

And a fun popping ball toy!

Homemade hat from Auntie Bryana's mom

Cake made by Auntie--too cute! (and yummy)

Nelson enjoyed the cake too :)

Playing with some of her new toys-such fun!

Princess buggy from Grandma & Papa

Lovin her new toys :)

"Therefore do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Thank you Lord for taking care of our hearts in every way imaginable, and for taking care of Lyla in ways that we aren't even aware of. We give You all the credit and praise for doing a miracle in her life.

A Grateful Heart

We have too much to be thankful for to even begin to write down . . . but here is a verse that has touched my heart in this season of thankfulness:

Philippians 4:11-13 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.

Though in my life I have never lacked for any physical need (for which I am so thankful), I have learned that without Jesus I have nothing, with Him I have everything. Thank you Lord.

Back in Minnesota

We made it back to Minnesota! Thank you for your prayers-the trip went well, saw no precipitation along the way, and Lyla was a trooper. Joel's parents traveled with us, which was a HUGE help! Now we are at their house (again) until we find a house to purchase here. We are on the hunt... I will miss my family a lot, but it is good to be back in the Midwest. We've learned that we just belong here. :)

Here are a few pics taken shortly before we left Arizona.

Our car full of 3 of my favorite girls in the whole wide world :)

She's ready for the Minnesota weather!

Being silly with my brother and sis-in-law

the "Blue Steel"

And just a few pics from the road...

napping in the backseat

Lyla eating marshmallows for the first time at Texas Roadhouse in Wichita, KS--yum!

cutie getting a little tired of her carseat

And this past weekend we got to have a visit with Grandma Nita before she goes to Arizona for the winter. :)

Splish Splash

Somebody's getting too big for the sink.... :)

And, yes, I am slightly obsessed with taking pictures of Lyla in the bath.

Oh, and the movers will start to load our stuff tomorrow (11/11)--MN here we come!

I'm a little slow...

Yeah, so I just figured out how to get pictures off my phone and onto my computer. So I couldn't help but post some of the ones I really like, even though they're kinda old!

Well, this one is pretty recent--I just LOVE her pouty face here.

This was about a month ago.

This is the doctor that did Lyla's big surgery--we are so thankful for him!

This was when Lyla and her friend Sandra got their ears pierced

(over a year ago now!)

Just plain cute :)

Halloween Fun 2010

Two cowgirls and a cowboy :)

My luchador "Hairball"--complete with sparkly chest hair and stretchy pants.

(inspired by lucha libre fighter Nacho Libre)

And our beautiful fairy princess :)

She liked Daddy's mask

Hairball and my bro the surfer dude

The awesome cake Abby made!

And two more beautiful princesses