The Weather Is Amazing!

And because it's so amazing, Lyla and I have been playing outside almost every single day. She just loves it out there. She loves playing in the dirt, running in the grass, and petting the dogs. It just melts my heart to see her running around like such a big girl.

My parents just recently bought her a little present for her to play with outside. They got her a little shovel, pale, and rake so she can help "garden" with them. Haha! It is sooo cute to see her play with them!

Lyla: Part Girly-Girl, Part Tomboy, & Part Handy Man

Lyla is a versitile little thing. She changes rolls faster than a Hollywood startlet! Just today she went through three different phases.

First, we painted her toe nails...



Then, she helped me mop the kitchen...



Finally, she played outside in the dirt with her T-shirt and ballcap on...



See what I mean? She sure changes fast! How am I ever going to keep up with her? LOL!

Growing & Changing

This past week my little girl turned 18 months. That means she is already a year and a half! I can hardly bring myself to believe that this rambunctious toddler was once a 6 pound 10 ounce baby girl. It just absolutely blows my mind!

During the few months that I was away, Lyla changed so much. She started walking, talking, and popping in teeth. Not to mention she developed quite the attitude. LOL! I figured since you all didn't get to experience that change with me, I thought I would show you some of my favorite pictures I have taken of my sweet girl over the last few months so you could see how much she has changed. I hope you enjoy!

I'm BAAAAAAAAACK!

And this time, I plan to stay!

Man, I can't even tell you all how much I missed blogging. It was like my only form of release from my crazy life! LOL! I guess you all are probably wondering where in the heck I was for almost 4 months? Well, I won't bore you with the WHOLE story, but I will tell you this: I had a few personal issues that I needed to work out with my family. I also needed to find a way to straiten out my priorities. It was rocky these past 4 months, but once again I have grown.

I started Beauty School on December 7th, and I am loving it! That is probably the biggest change that has happened since I was gone. I really needed to get out and DO something, and since a job was obviously NOT going to happen, I decided to check out the Cosmetology industry. So far everything is going awesome! I have made a few really good friends, and I am learning so many new things.

Lyla has also been growing and changing. She will be a year and a half on Thursday. Can you all believe it!?! When I started this blog, she was only about 1 month old! =O She is now not only walking, but running as well. She is starting to talk too. She can say things like "Hi" "bye-bye" "all done" "wow" "Hi Jeff" [our dog] "thank you" "bless you" and so on and so forth. I really can't believe how much she is growing!

So I realize that this post was kinda scatter-brained, but I was trying to think of everything I wanted to say, but I guess I will just have to update you all along the way. I hope all my readers will come on back to my blog every now and again to catch up. And I promise that you are stuck with me. I am not going ANYWHERE!

Sweet dreams, and God bless!

STATIC

Static can be a total nuisance. I know it drives me batty once the cold weather gets here and it makes my hair stand up on end! However, static can be quite fun if you just know how to control it.
As you can see, Lyla and I decided to make the best out of the electrical currents. LOL! Our hair was so crazy! It was literally standing on end! It was also quite tricky to get these pictures, as I had to hold the camera and the pillow over Lyla's head. So be grateful! LOL!

I'M A BLOGGING SLACKER

Yes friends, I know I have been slacking in the blogging department. Life has been hectic lately. Not really anything in particular, just lots of little things. I do have some cute pictures to post of Lyla and whatnot, but alas, I am too lazy to do that at the moment.

Instead, how about a quick update? Yes? Okay. :)

• Lyla is now cutting 7 teeth! Two top ones have already popped in.
• She is also starting to take steps in between the furniture! She is getting so brave, and I suspect she will be walking soon.
• I still haven't taken my GED yet, but I will be soon. I have to go down and register on one day, and then take the test on another, which would be fine if I didn't live a freaking HOUR away from the school!
• I have another photo shoot this weekend! I am so excited!
• My hair is getting hecka long, and I can't decide if I want to cut it again, or let it grow out some more. Any thoughts?
• My sister is FINALLY done with volleyball!!
• Its been so cold here! Yes, Arizona can be cold. It was 55° here for the HIGH! But, by Sunday its supposed to be back to 85! Will you just make up your mind already weather!?!
• We got our dog a shock collar. Muhahahaha!

Okie doke, there you have it. Some random updates. I apologize that my life if uber borning at the moment. I hope you can all bare with me until something interesting happens! Haha! So, how have ya'll been?

VINCENT VAN LYLA

Lyla and I tried something new the other day! I sat her little butt down at the kitchen table, got out a piece of blank paper and a couple of colored pencils, and let her have at it! This was her very first time coloring! Haha! It was so cute! She got REALLY excited, but didn't know what to do! Of course she tried to put them all in her mouth, but I nipped that in the bud before she really got into it. :P

We probably "colored" for about a half an hour! She never once drew anything, but she gave it her best try! I help coloring swirls and stuff to try to get her to copy me, but no such luck. She did have fun though. :) We are going to try again soon. Once she finally does color something, I will post it on here. Yay! In the meantime, here is her at her first coloring session. :)

AN ORANGEY TEETHING REMEDY

Okay, so Lyla is getting about 7 teeth AT THE SAME TIME, and she is in a lot of pain and discomfort. I have tried pretty much everything I could think of to help her out. I have given her Tylenol, teething buscuits, teething ring, frozen washcloth, everything! Them my mom had an amazing idea!

CARROTS!!

No joke! I gave Lyla a carrot right out of the fridge {yes I washed it first! What kinda of a mother do you think I am!?! LOL!} Anyways, the cold hard carrot really worked! She was gnawing on that thing for like an hour! She drug it all along the house with her, chewing on it! Bah! It was so stinkin' cute! And because it was so cute, I just HAD to snap some pictures right? LOL!

Well, there you have it. A non-so-common way to relieve teething pain. Maybe you can try it with your kiddos. If anything, it will give them better eye-sight. LOL!

A GIRL'S BEST FRIEND

And I am not talking about diamonds here folks. No, I am talking about the love my Lyla has for our psychotic Bichon Frise, Jeffery. She freaking loves that dog. I, on the other hand, cannot stand him, but Lyla sure does get a kick out of him. Today she was sitting next to him, giving him hugs, playing with his ears, all kinds of cute things. So me, being the shutterbug that I am, just had to snap some pictures.

Aren't they just cute as a bug's ear?? :)

LYLA IS THIRTEEN MONTHS OLD!!!

Yes, I am still continuing my mothing pictures of Lyla. You guys thought you were off the hook huh? Bahaha! Not a chance. However, I just realized that I forgot to weigh and measure her! :O I'll just have to do it tomorrow. Until then, take in this picture of my beautiful, thirteen month old toddler. :)

LYLA'S 1ST "REAL" JAMMIES

Good evening my bloggy friends! :D I am so sorry I have been on a hiatus lately. Lots going on ya know. :P Anyways, I am going to have a post overload for ya! I know, I should just put all of the things I want to talk about into the same post, but my OCD prevents me from doing that. LOL! So be ready for about 4 posts after this one.

Last Monday Lyla got her first real set of PJ's!! Sure she's had little sleepers when she was a newborn, but I finally bought her a real set of pajamas. I got them at Target, where I used the gift card I got for Lyla's birthday {thanks Grandma and Grandpa!} I also got her some VERY cute little outfits, but I wanted to show you all her adorable little PJ's.

Pretty darn cute huh? They keep her sooooooo warm at night, which is a good thing since it has been getting SUPER cold here at night! Finally! LOL!

FEELING A LITTLE BLUE

Just feeling a little down lately. I can't tell if it is because of the job situation, or if it is because of this visitor that has been here ALL week. Perhaps it is both. At any rate, there is one thing, and one thing only that I like to do when I am feeling blue: Look at Lyla's beautiful face. And since she isn't awake at the moment, I am going to post some pictures of our favorite, and most fun daily activity:

BATHTIME!!!