New Year's Eve

I cannot believe that it is NYE 2010! This year truly did fly by. We don't have any big plans this year. Jesse is working and I'm just going to stay home, watch tv, and get caught up on my blog. :) 2010 was great to my family. I have a wonderful, happy, and healthy family and could not ask for anything more. However, I am the kind of person who always thinks about and looks forward to the future, so I welcome 2011 with open arms. Let's see what the new year brings!

Mama and Kyla on NYE 2010. Kyla is clean, smelling good, and ready for bed. I love to brush her hair back when she gets out of the shower. Jesse calls her "Slick" when I do and it makes me laugh every time.

I am forcing her to give me a NYE kiss in this picture. We were both laughing, but I was determined to get a kiss. :)

I got it...a sweet smooch from my baby!

The flash on the i phone camera is really bright and it makes Kyla squint her eyes, but I wanted to take a picture of her looking super cute so I did anyway. Here she is squinting away! I just love it!

And, I just thought that these pictures were too cute to leave off the 2010 blog year. Here is my Kyla gently putting the rocking horse ornament back onto the tree. She is in her pretty Christmas dress and sequin shoes. She looks so grown up to me....

20 months!

Miss Kyla Mae is 20 months old!! She is quite a character and cracks us up all the time!! She definitely has a mind of her own and is not afraid to let us know exactly what she wants.

Kyla started school in November and seems to be doing really well. She has her own cubby, desk with her name on it, and even has a lunch menu! Jesse spends the days with her when she does not go to her school, since I went back to work in October. I must add that Jesse is a wonderful daddy and he has been doing such a great job with Kyla! He and Kyla have become BEST buddies! Her entire face lights up when he walks into the room and when he leaves the room, she is devastated. I love that they have such a close bond, although I must admit, I do get a wee bit jealous at times. :) That being said, I wouldn't change anything at all. I love that Kyla loves her daddy and am so thankful to have a husband that takes such great care of his girls.

Another exciting bit of info about our little Kyla is that she has been pacifier free since December 14, 2010. I am amazed at how easy it was to take away the paci. Babies truly do adapt to change so well. I think it was harder on me to take away the paci than it was on Kyla. I just knew how much it comforted her so I hated to take it away. She didn't even cry for it though...ever! I was the only one who cried. Hahaha! I was just so sad because taking away the paci made me realize that my baby is growing up so fast! However, I am now officially over it and couldn't be more pleased that my little one is paci-free!

I absolutely LOVE each day that I get to spend with my munchkin. When she goes to bed at night, I cannot stop thinking about her. I think about everything we did together and everything she did that made me smile. I always look forward to waking up and spending another day with my Kyla. She is the greatest gift ever!

Eating dinner.

Watching Sesame Street with daddy.

Playing outside in her car.

Chasing mommy.

These next two pictures just crack me up! Kyla was having a no nap kind of day. So, I took her outside to play. She loves to pick dandelions. I showed her how to blow on them and she was intrigued. My little one took everything about our activity so seriously...you can tell by the look on her face in the two pics below. Haha!

Blowing on the dandelion. :)

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas 2010! Below is our 2010 Christmas card photo! One of my students looked at this picture and said, "Mrs. A. that is not how you usually look when you smile." I then explained to her that when you become a mom and have kids, you don't get to pick the picture that you look best in anymore. If the kids look good, then that is the picture that you choose! She just smiled, laughed, and gave me a hug. It was SO sweet! Anyway, this is the picture that went on our card. It was one of about eight. The other pictures are hilarious! Kyla is basically jumping out of Jesse's arms in most of them. Once things calm down and I have more time, I might post the other pictures that did not make the "card cut." They will definitely make you smile!



Here is Reese eating her favorite meal, soup, after a long day of preparing for Christmas with the family. Reese is always such a big help. If I need help cooking, cleaning, or decorating, she is right by my side. I love my little lady! She has a sweet spirit and kind heart. I always enjoy the time we spend toghether.

Little Kyla just loves the Christmas tree. She doesn't take the ornaments off like I thought she would. She just gently touches them and the lights.

I love this picture of Jesse and Kyla. She is "holding" her daddy. Jesse always looks at Kyla and says, "I want to hold you." As soon as he says it, he starts hugging her and giving her lots of love. Well, Kyla has now started saying it on her own and it is the cutest thing. She will just look at Jesse and put her arms around him and tell him she wants to hold him. I love it and am so proud of my husband for teaching our daughter such a sweet thing! :)

I thought it would be fun to post a flash back picture from last Christmas....here it is!

Mommy and her sweet Kyla. I just love this little girl so much!!!!! She fills my heart with happiness, love, joy, thankfulness, and peace. I absoultely love being a mom! I thank God everyday for blessing my life with Kyla. She is my little love and I am so excited to get to spend the rest of my life with her.

And, here is another flashback photo from last year (our white Christmas)! It's amazing to see how much Kyla has grown in just one year!

Family Fun

We went to visit Grandpa Dan the other day after he got home from work. He usually picks up a lot of extra hours during the holiday season, so we made it a point to visit him earlier this year. We had a great time. Kyla loves to play with the fake fruit he has sitting out. She immediately goes over to the apples and grapes. I spend most of my time chasing after her to make sure that she doesn't get too carried away. :)


Hanging out with Grandpa Dan

My Nonie's Birthday is Christmas Eve. Since everyone is usually getting ready for Christmas on Christmas Eve, we decided to meet and celebrate Nonie's birthday earlier in the week. It worked out PERFECT! Everyone just hung out and relaxed and ate lunch together. Here are some of the pictures that I took while we were at her house.

Reese is 10 years old!

Reese is 10! She is our little lady that runs around a mile a minute, staying very busy. She is sweet, loving, kind, smart, and beautiful. Her party was a huge success. We usually have a party for her at the house, but this year she asked to have it at the Main Event. Reese asked for a zebra cake and, like usual, Aunt Paula went above and beyond and found the perfect cake. The kids had a blast and stayed busy all afternoon! Happy Birthday Reese! We love you!

O Christmas Tree

Reese once again decorated the Christmas tree! She loves it and does a great job. She worked all afternoon to get everything done. She was really excited to show Kyla and Jocelyn the tree. Last year, they were both too young to have any interest in the tree so Reese was very excited to see their reaction. Reese ran into the kitchen when she was done to let us know that she was ready to unveil the tree. We took Kyla and Jocelyn into the front room and they LOVED the tree! They were both fascinated by it!! It really was the cutest thing to watch! I'm so happy that I was able to capture the moment!

Working hard!

It's time to unveil the 2010 Christmas tree!

Two cute little toddlers ready to see the tree!

Oh, wow...so pretty! Admiring the Christmas tree! Too cute! :)

It's Santa!

Well, this is what happened when I took Kyla to see Santa this year. Let's just say that she was definitely not a fan. Our poor baby hated every second that she spent on Santa's lap. Ha! We sure do get a good laugh out of the picture though. I mean come on...we can pretty much see her tonsils. :) I love comparing Kyls's two pictures with Santa. She has grown so much in just one year.

2010

2009