Mod Podge Love

Before

After

Kayla : )

Our Friday

WHAT A DAY!

Emmalyn was put on Zantac this morning due to reflux issues - paired with diarrhea and a bit of dehydration, it is not a good combination for normally happy baby and tired momma.  The medicine seems to be working and I"m so thankful!  We had big plans today but due to the unexpected circumstances we are hanging out a home trying to get some rest.

Also, Emmalyn's birth announcements came in from Sugarlump Stationary and I'm loving them.  I'll share the announcement once most of them are sent out.

Kayla : )

FEATURED!!!

Emmalyn's nursery was featured on the Spearmint Baby blog.  

This blog has great ideas for kids' rooms and nurseries.  

...And, because a blog post is better with some visual interest, I'm adding a pic.

Kayla : )

So, who's ready for...

Cooler temperatures

College football (Particularly SEC football)

One last beach hoorah 

Deer season (for the boys... ah, I mean men : )

County/state fairs

sweaters and boots

Kayla : )

Emmalyn

I don't have much going on lately so there is not much to report so I thought I'd post recent pictures.  

There was a dinner for all the women's wing workers and I took Emmalyn.  Dr. Pollard stole her for a while, but I guess since he was the doc to deliver her he can do so!

My niece, Anna, was eating powdered donuts while everyone else moved the family into their new home.

Sleepy head!

Kayla : )

1000 Gifts

101. Seeing my daughter smile

102. sleeping in my own bed after sleeping on someone else's floor for 2 nights.

103. clean teeth - I love how my teeth feel after I brush them

104. swimming - It is so relaxing

105. laughing with a friend so hard that you both start crying

106. a new hair color

107. getting coupons in the mail

108. the smell of clean baby clothes

109. a home pedicure

110. Moe's Southwest Grill - enough said

Kayla : )

When I was...

So I was up early this morning feeding Emmalyn and getting a lunch ready for Caleb as he headed into work.  As I sat down to munch on some breakfast I started flipping through the tv channels.  However, with it being 5 am there was not too much to choose from.  I stumbled across a show on MTV called, When I Was 17 where artists, actors, and athletes share stories from, you guessed it, when they were 17.  So, I decided in my attempt to fight boredom until the next feeding I would adopt a blog segment based on this idea.

When I was 17...

I drove a 1995 Chevrolet Beretta - red, 5 speed and I actually LOVED this car, until the engine literally blew up on me

I was senior class president - My dad helped me print stickers to get me elected and all of my friends colored and handed them out in the mornings before classes started.

I taught a few ballet classes and choreographed my first dance with about 12 dancers - I've never been the best dancer but love it for exercise.  However, choreographing was a challenge that I loved.  Finding the right music and moves and planning stage symmetry and then seeing it all come together on stage was exhilarating!

I was planning my first year of college with my best friend, Sarah.  We roomed together in the dorms our freshman year and had a blast meeting new people and being independent.  I remember having so much fun the first week decorating our room with fabric and pictures, late nights writing papers and trying to understand chemistry, long talks with our hall friends and marshmallow fluff.

I was a photographer and writer for our school yearbook.  Us "yearbookers" thought we ruled the school on the day that the annuals were distributed.  It was always excited to see people rummaging through the 400+ pages of pictures and memories that had been top secret all year!

So there you have it...8 years ago today I turned 17 and what a great year it was!

Kayla : )

3's for Monday

I had a comment on one of my posts from Paige at mommy2charli.blogspot.com so started reading her blog and I love it!  It is very versatile which is different.  Her current post is this survey - 3s so I decided to take part.

3 NAMES I GO BY:

1. Mommy - just for the past month!
2. Kayla

3. La La

3 PLACES I HAVE BEEN:
1. New York
2. Mexico 
3. Disney World


3 FAVORITE DRINKS:
1. Cherry Coke Zero
2. Water
3. Milk

3 JOBS I HAVE HAD:
1. Gun Club Puller
2. Dance Teacher

3. NICU Nurse

3 TV SHOWS I WATCH:
1. America's Funniest Home Videos
2. Life

3. The Bachelor(ette) - I know, I know

3 PLACES I WOULD LIKE TO VISIT:
1. Hawaii
2. New York - this time with my Husband
3. Charlotte's closet from Sex and the City

3 FAVE RETRO TV SHOWS:
1. Full House

2. Saved By The Bell

3. Fresh Price

3 FAVORITE DISHES:
1. My grandmother's homemade mac and cheese
2. Homemade pancakes
3. My Husband's Enchiladas

3 THINGS I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO:
1. seeing Emmalyn grow up

2. owning a home

3. dinner

3 PEOPLE I'M TAGGING
1. Ashley
2. Aimee
3. Cara

Kayla : )

Life Lately

Life with Emmalyn so far has a main goal of getting through the day.  When a person is running on four 1.5hr naps a day the days start to go by very slowly and not much gets done.  I'm trying everyday to be a little more efficient than the day before but I'm also not too worried about it because never again will I be able to spend this much time with Emmalyn and give this much of my attention.  However, to help the time go by a little faster and to get my mind off of the pile of clothes I'm stuck folding while my daughter naps I've been watching the Lost series.  Okay, I realize I'm a little behind the times, but Caleb and I love watching TV shows from dvd because we bypass the commercials.  I'm loving the show so far, although we are only 4 episodes into season 2.

On Tuesday, Emmalyn took her first bottle.  I had heard and read to not let her get too old before introducing her to a bottle because some babies won't take any nipple but their mom's.  However you are also not supposed to introduce bottles too early to breastfed babies because it can cause nipple confusion so I toyed with the idea of when was best.  I love being the only person who can feed my daughter, but it would be nice to have a date with my husband or see a movie sometime without worrying about when she would need me for her next feast.  I was really nervous but Emmalyn did so well.  However, a friend fed her the other day and she donned a look of confusion because she was drinking, yet she was not looking at my face on the other end of the source.  Rather funny.  

Below are a few pictures from a little photo shoot I put her through.  I love those eyes!

Playing around

Finally got tired.

Kayla : )

1000 Gifts

91. yogurt and granola

92. Lost - the tv series on Netflix

93. a sleeping Emmalyn

94. pools

95. discovering new blogs

96. budgeting... it may not sound very appealing, but "debt free" is what we are striving for.

97. a blank canvas (whatever your canvas may be)

98. taking pictures of Emmalyn

99. Birthdays - Emmalyn will be a month old tomorrow and I will be 25 in a week!

100. Knowing that no matter what happens, good or bad, Jesus has my back.  It is so very freeing!

Kayla : )

Life with a newborn, an unexpected gift, and Independence Day

I have to say that I'm pretty sure I have the best friends ever!  Okay, I might be a little biased.  However, since having Emmalyn it has gotten so much harder to keep up with everyone - I must say that this one little precious child really does exhaust me.  I wouldn't trade my time with her for anything but caring for her takes time and energy so responding to text messages, e-mails, thank you notes, thank yous in general and phone calls definitely takes the back burner to Emmalyn.  

But even with as bad as I have gotten with follow-ups we have friends that understand and don't take it against us.  I love you guys for being so supportive and for caring for us and Emmalyn so much!  

With that said, we have a couple that we met through our church bible study that have been an amazing to us since the day we met them.  They are so understanding about having a newborn but also don't leave us out of the fun young couples events just because of Emmalyn, which is very important for those of you who have not experienced life with a three week old.  I hate saying no, but am getting better at it because I have to think about my child but it is nice to know that our friends don't think we are cursed because we have a child.  

Well, for the past few weeks I have been looking for a swing for Emmalyn.  One that was not full price. I've looked on craigslist, ebay, thrift stores, and garage sales but found nothing that was at a reasonable price and not about to fall apart.  After spending almost 4 hours looking for a swing on Saturday with no luck the Willeys show up at our door with a big surprise... A brand new infant swing!!!  I could not have picked out a better one for Emmalyn and they even stayed and helped put it together.  Emmalyn LOVES it!  She doesn't really like lying down on her while she is awake but the elevated swing allows her to look around and see everything.  She is even eye level with the dogs and seems really interested in what they are doing.  I can almost see the gears turning in her head as she explores her surroundings and it makes me so happy and so thankful for our amazing friends.  

This was her first time in the swing.  As you can see, it worked magic!  We were also dog sitting Ruger for the weekend and he was very interested in the new contraption taking over the living room floor.  

Later that day we took a trip to the Freedom Fest at Fort Rucker.  We had so much fun last year but didn't know that this year we would be lugging a stroller and diaper bag with us.  How life changes so quickly and unexpectedly.  Of course I had to dress Emmalyn up in a patriotic outfit and show her off.  She slept most of the time we were there but once the fireworks started she was wide awake and enjoying all of the colors in the night sky.  Don't worry, we were far enough away that the booms were not loud and I don't know how well she could see them, but she sure was looking hard!  

Here is a family picture of us with Daddy's big bird... the APACHE!!!

Kayla : )

A stray, cousins, and a graduation

The past week has been rather packed with so much going on.  On Monday Caleb, Emmalyn, and I were headed to see a friend and run some errands when Caleb spotted a stray kitten in a puddle in the middle of the road.  We took her home and fed her but since Caleb is allergic to cats she had to stay in the garage until we figured out what to do with her.  Luckily, our friends, The Waldos, found her a home with some friends of theirs, but I think I might miss her just a little bit.

On Wednesday, Caleb and I ventured out on our first long distance trip since having Emmalyn.  We drove to Fort Benning to meet me rest of the Wilkes family for Caleb's brother's graduation from basic training.  Dan, Caleb's brother, was the platoon leader for most of the 10 weeks and is now off to Officer Candidate School for further training.  In the picture below he is the one holding the flag.

Once graduation was over and we all had food in our bellies, the whole family sat around asking Dan questions and listening to his BCT experiences, all while his two very proud children sat as close as they could to their daddy the soldier.  Too sweet!

While in Georgia we stayed in cabins that the base rents out.  All of the cousins were there and they all loved Emmalyn (aka Poco).  They wanted to rock her, hold her, listen to her cry, and I got asked a ton of questions about things like, when she would be able talk and what she eats.  It was so sweet to see all five of the older cousins pay such close attention to her.  At one point they were all crowed around her and started singing "You Are My Sunshine" to her over and over again.  It was one of the sweetest sounds and awesome pictures that I've experience in a long time.

Here is Micah holding Emmalyn.  I love how she is looking at him talk to her.

Laurel and Emmalyn sat together for such a lone time.  Our Lolly has such a kind soul.

And the oldest in our clan, Lynsey, looked like a pro holding Emmalyn.  

I just thought this face was funny.

One of the coolest things about the cabin park were the deer.  They almost seemed domestic.  They were everywhere and didn't mind you getting close.  The picture is not the best because it was getting dark and I was riding in the car, but trust me, it was pretty awesome.  

I'll post pictures from the 4th of July soon.

Kayla : )