She's Two Months Old!

     Another month has come and gone and our little lady has grown so much! Layla was just one day short of 10 weeks old at her last doctor's appointment and she weighed 12 lbs., 2 oz.! I can't believe how much she is growing. We are getting to know Layla better every day and I love what I'm learning! She has such a hilarious personality (like her Daddy) and quite the stubborn streak (which I'll admit is just like her Mama's).
     Layla has gotten so much more vocal in the past month! She is constantly "talking" nowadays and its so fun to play with her. For the past week or so, she's been playing this little game where she will start humming while she's nursing and then she'll stop and look at me and wait for me to hum back. Usually after I hum in return, she'll smile and then go back to eating. We usually do this three or four times and then she gets a very serious look and returns to nursing as though she's thinking, "Enough play time, Mom. Let's get back to work!" This girl definitely takes her eating seriously! Haha!
     Layla has become sooo smiley in the past month and she has the best smile I've ever seen! Lately, it's been pretty easy to get her to smile. Layla thinks I'm quite hilarious, actually! She likes it when I do lip trills and when I make loud, obnoxious kissy noises. She still likes having her feet played with, too. It's become part of our morning routine for me to pull her socks off and blow raspberries on the bottom of her feet. Really, she's extremely happy in the morning no matter what I do. It's definitely her favorite time of day. She loves watching the ceiling fan in our bedroom so we spend a good 15-20 minutes just hanging out in bed after we wake up each morning.

We love cuddling as a family on weekend mornings!

She knows she's cute!

 So far, though, we have not been able to get the little lady to laugh out loud for us. She has laughed out loud once in her sleep, but I'm excited for when she starts to laugh in response to her surroundings. Nate and I each want to be the first person to make her laugh but I guess only time will tell who will win this little competition. ;)

     There are lots of little things that Layla does that just melt my heart completely. I've even got a picture to share for one of them!

Itsy Bitsy Finger!

So here's the explanation: We put Layla in nightgowns with built-in mittens at night because otherwise she scratches her face as she's squirming around in her sleep. Every now and then when I get her out of bed in the morning, I'll find her little index finger poking out of her mitten. For some reason, it just cracks me up! Her little finger just looks so darn cute sticking out of her mitten. I love it!

     For the past few weeks, Layla has decided that she doesn't want to nap during the day. She sleeps for a total of 10-12 hours at night which is awesome, but she doesn't like to nap which makes for a pretty cranky baby by the end of the day. During the day, she'll only sleep while she's being held. The second I try to move her, she wakes up and won't go back to sleep. Therefore, this has become a pretty common occurrence around our house:

I've got to tell ya, Mama doesn't mind the excuse for a nap, either! :) Seriously, my heart gets mushier and mushier with every single nap. I can't even begin to describe how much I love snuggling my baby and watching her sleep. She is the sweetest baby I've ever known and I really do adore her.

     During the day while Nate is at work, I don't usually get much work done around the house, but Layla and I have plenty of playtime. She's usually pretty content to lay on the couch and entertain herself while I get ready and make/eat breakfast and then she's ready to play. For the past week, I've been getting some of her books out and we'll lay on the couch and have "storytime". She seems to really like it so far! She looks at the pages and smiles as I read the book to her. It's so much fun! I'm definitely hoping that she will develop a love for reading and that storytime will become a regular part of her childhood.

     So far, Layla loves her doctor. He's really great with her and we are so thankful for that. I hope she continues to like the doctor and that she won't end up being terrified later on. Here she is after her check-up (but before shots):

     

Layla was such a trooper for her shots! She cried for less than a minute after the shots, nursed for 10-15 minutes, and then was happy and smiley! We ended up taking pictures of her afterwards because she was being so cute!

 

     Another thing I've started to notice is that Layla is starting to recognize other people. She's been able to recognize her Daddy and Mama since she was really little, but I'm also pretty sure that she knows her Grandma and her Aunt Kristy now, too. I'm thinking this because whenever she's being held by someone that she doesn't really know, she won't take her eyes off of me. She will twist and turn in order to keep me in view if I move around while someone that she is unfamiliar with is holding her. But when my mom or sister hold her, she's more comfortable and I can move around without her trying to follow me. I absolutely love that she is starting to recognize other family members!

     Speaking of Grandma....Nathan and I left Layla with my mom last week and went on our very first baby-free date night since Layla was born! It was hard to leave her (harder than I expected it to be), but it was so nice to spend a couple of hours focused only on each other without having to look after someone else's needs. Layla also drank successfully from a bottle for the first time that night, too. We had tried to give her pumped milk a few weeks earlier, but she hated the bottle and refused to take it. Without me in the house, though, my mom was able to get her to take the bottle and once she latched on, the milk was gone in no time. Now, of course, I actually have to start pumping again (which is such a pain!), but it will be awesome to be able to go on monthly date nights with my man!

     Our lives have changed so much in the past two months and the changes are definitely for the better! We've traded sleep for snuggles, a purse for a diaper bag, free time for toothless grins, and it has all been worth it! Being a mom is AMAZING and so is my Layla Grace!

Layla Grace- Her 1st Month

     Meet Layla Grace Huffmier, born November 9, 2012 at 5:41 AM. She weighed 7 lbs., 9 oz., was 20 1/2 in. long, and was/is the most beautiful person I've ever seen!
    So obviously a lot has happened since the last time I posted here. On March 2nd, Nate and I found out that I was pregnant with our first baby. We were absolutely thrilled! We had decided in November 2011 that we wanted to have a baby and little Layla was such a sweet answer to many, many prayers. For the first 18 weeks, Nate and I were both convinced that we were having a little boy. Then during our first visit to Dr. Smith, we found out that we were actually having a baby girl! We were definitely shocked but also overjoyed. We were finally able to call our baby by name- Layla Grace. I had a wonderful pregnancy and I loved just about every second of it! Even the "morning" sickness (which lasted ALL day) couldn't dampen my spirits when I remembered that I had our little one growing inside me! I just couldn't get over the fact that God had entrusted me with such an important, amazing role! The pregnancy flew right by (up until the last 3 weeks, which felt more like 3 months....I mean, come on already! I just wanted to cuddle my baby girl!) and soon enough, we found ourselves at the hospital looking at the most adorable baby ever, just laying on my chest, scrunching up her eyes because of the all of the lights in her bright new world.
     I will probably type up more of Layla's birth story later, but what I really wanted to write about/remember right now is Layla's first month. She has changed so much already and I don't want to forget a single second of my time with her (not even the time that her diaper pretty much exploded in the car on a very long car ride to Orlando!).
So here are some of the changes I've noticed so far:
Physical

• Layla's hair has grown so much! I was completely shocked that she was born hair in the first place and now I can't believe how fast its growing! At first it was only growing longer/thicker in the back and I was starting to think she might end up with a baby mullet, but the top is also starting to grow now (woo hoo!). Plus, its getting redder and redder every day! YAY! It was a pretty dark brown at first but it keeps getting lighter and when the sunlight hits it, its nice and red (just like mine!)!
• Layla's eyelashes are about 3X as long as they were when she was born. She just barely had eyelashes at first and they were blonde so you could barely see them, but now they're nice and long and even a little bit darker. She looks so pretty and girly! :)
• Her eyebrows are getting darker, too. They were very blonde and hardly noticeable when she was born.
• Her eyes are getting lighter and are such a pretty shade of blue! Layla's eyes were super dark at first, but we're pretty sure that they're going to stay blue (again, just like her Mama's!). Her eyes might have my color, but she definitely has her Daddy's eyes. They are big and gorgeous and I love it when she stares at me.
• Her cheeks, her belly, and her thighs have all gotten much bigger in her first month! Nate joked that she would start filling in at her cheeks and end at her toes and that has been so true! Haha! Her cheeks filled in first, then belly, and now her thighs. She is just so darn cute!
• She has her Mama's feet, although they are big like her Daddy's. Let's just hope she grows into them! Haha! ;) She has the cutest tiny little blonde hairs on her toes and fingers, which she also gets from me (poor kid!). 
• She now has an innie belly button- YAY!
• Layla has the cutest little lips. She often puckers them up into the tiniest little lips you've ever seen and makes such funny faces!
• Her nails grow sooo fast! I have to cut them every 2-3 days because they are razor-sharp and they grow back so fast. She tends to scratch her face when she's upset so we have to keep little mittens on her anytime we're not holding her so that she can't scratch herself if she gets fussy.

Developmental

• Layla was pretty alert right from the very start, but now she is really alert. She is much better at focusing her eyes on people/objects. She still really likes to stare at light, whether its the lights in the house or the sunlight streaming in through the living room windows. She also makes eye contact for much longer periods of time now. I love just looking in her eyes while she cuddling with me! :)
• Layla has already learned her Mama and Daddy's voices!!! I just love it! She recognized Nate's voice shortly after birth (probably because he read lots and lots of bedtime stories to her while I was pregnant with her) and kept flicking her eyes in his direction while he was talking behind her a few hours after she was born. In the past week or so, we've noticed her turning her head to find my voice when she hears me talking as other people are holding her. It's so sweet and it pretty much melts my heart!
• She is soooo good at holding her head up! The day that we got home from the hospital, Layla lifted her head up from Nate's chest, held it up for a few seconds, and then turned it to the other side! She keeps getting better and better at it every day! She can now lift her head and hold it up for over a minute when she is laying on our chests. She can also lift her head and turn it while napping on her belly (no scolding, please! She only sleeps on her belly during the day when she is being supervised). 
• Layla is so strong already. Its pretty much pointless to try to open her hands if she has them all curled up in fists. She can kick pretty hard, too. When she is fussy and we try to lay her on our chests, she will use her little legs to climb right up our chests if she doesn't want to lay that way.
• Layla is staring to smile more and more every day! At first, she only smiled when she was sleeping- mostly in the moments as she drifted off to sleep and as she started to slowly wake up from sleeping. Now she is starting to smile more throughout the day while she is awake. There have been two times when she has smiled in response to her Daddy playing with her feet! :)
• Layla's longest night so far has been 7 straight hours and it awesome! As long as we're home and we get her ready for bed before she falls asleep for the night, she usually has one 4-6 hour stretch and then a couple of 2-3 hour naps. She sleeps pretty good at night so far (definitely better than I expected for a newborn)!

Personality

• Layla is the most expressive baby ever! She makes such funny faces. She definitely keeps us laughing!
• Layla took to nursing right away and is already a pro at it! In fact, its pretty much her favorite thing to do. During the end of her 3rd week and now throughout her 4th week, nursing is just about the only way she can be comforted when she is upset. I've read that the constant desire to nurse is a pretty common phase for this time of life, so I guess its probably normal. Sometimes its tiring for me, but for the most part, I'm just thankful for the extra cuddle time with my baby.
• Our little girl absolutely loves to be cuddled! We've already spoiled her (or so it would seem), so she does not like being put in her swing or bouncy chair at this point. She would much rather be held and cuddled all day long. I know we have to let her have some tummy time and some time learning to be content on her own, but I really love cuddling, too! Some of my most favorite moments so far have been in the mornings when I bring her into our bed and we all cuddle together as a family. Layla is just so sweet and calm as she is waking up in the morning. She does the cutest little stretching routine ever, too! Her desire to be cuddled has also led to her hatred of laying or sleeping on her back. At this point, she sleeps in her carseat and I think she likes it better because its snug and makes her feel more secure. It also keeps her slightly inclined so she breathes better (she is usually somewhat congested, despite our efforts to use nose drops and the sucky-thingy on a daily basis).
• Layla loves music! She favorite way to go to sleep is to be rocked in the rocking chair and sung to. Nate's guitar music is also very soothing for her when she is upset.

I don't expect many people to read all the way to the bottom of this post. It's probably not very interesting if it's not your own kid/grandkid, but like I said, I wanted to record all of these things so that I wouldn't forget. Our little Layla is growing so fast and it kinda makes me sad. I love watching her grow and I'm excited for when she's a little older and we can have a little more fun together, but I have really loved her newborn stage, too. I expect that I will always feel that time is flying by way too fast and that I don't have enough time with her. She is too cute and we love her so much! I'm thankful for the time I've had with Layla so far and I'm looking forward to a lifetime of learning more about her. She is wonderful and is the most perfect addition to our family. I couldn't have imagined anything better. I love being Layla's Mama!

Lunch Date

For the first two months that Nate and I were married, I was a tutor. I only worked 10 hours a week, between 4pm and 7-8pm, depending on the night. This meant that I was able to sleep in every morning, meet Nate for lunch every day, and have a house that was always clean because I had nothing better to do while Nate was at work during the afternoons. I LOVED being able to meet Nate for lunch everyday. It was so wonderful! The only downside to that schedule was that we didn't get to have much time together in the evenings. However, the job was only temporary so I had to find a new job as soon as it ended. 

Starting a full-time job for the first time in my life had its challenges (I was completely exhausted for the first two months and couldn't understand why), but what I hated the most was packing lunch! Ugh, I still hate packing lunch and I dread doing it every night before I can go to bed. 

Side note: The week after Halloween when I was in fifth grade, two of my classmates (they were twin sisters) came to lunch with lunchboxes full of candy because their mom let them pack their own lunch. I remember going home and begging my mom to let me start packing my own lunch. It only took me about a week to realize that I still wasn't going to be allowed to take candy for lunch and that I hated packing my own lunch. What was I thinking??!

Anyways, Wednesday night, I had fallen asleep on the couch while watching a movie and when I woke up, I just wanted to go to bed, but unfortunately I still had to make my stinkin lunch! We had leftovers for dinner, which meant I didn't have leftovers to pack for lunch the next day. We also did not have bread which was fine with me because I had sandwiches for lunch for the past two weeks and I was sick of them. I decided to ask Nate if he would bring me lunch the next day because I only have a half hour for lunch which isn't enough time to go get something. He was hesitant to agree because he didn't want to use the gas in his work van to bring me lunch. I just assumed that we would put gas in the van and it would be fine. I pitched a little fit and went to bed mad. He came in and offered to bring me lunch, but my bratty response was, "No, Nate, you should do it out love, not out of obligation!". Basically, there are two morals to this story and the first is this: Once I fall asleep, I should probably stay asleep because otherwise, I get a little crazy. 

So Thursday afternoon rolls around and Nate texted to say he was bringing me lunch. I had already texted him to tell him it was not necessary and to apologize but he came anyways. Then he volunteered to stay and eat lunch with me! It was so nice! I have missed having lunch with Nate and it was such a nice break in the middle of a crazy work day. So in conclustion, the second moral of the story is that husbands and wives should always get to have lunch together. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Valentine's Day

Well, I've pretty much given up on trying to do the February Photo-A-Day challenge, but I am trying to be more consistent in taking pictures of our day-to-day life together. Yesterday was Valentine's Day and Nate made it so wonderful for me! We have always made a big deal of our anniversary and of birthdays, but never really made a big deal out of Valentine's so we were not planning much. We had just planned on trying a new recipe at home and that was it. However, when I got home, Nate opened the door just a crack and said, "You're early!" (which I wasn't), and I knew right then that he was up to something. I walked in to find that the house had been cleaned, the table was set and a dozen roses in a vase. He even made the bed and left some chocolates there. It was so romantic!

Definitely my best Valentine's Day so far! I love my husband! :)

Day 11: Makes Me Happy

The theme for Day 11 is "Makes Me Happy". This has three things that make me happy: 1. My most favoritest ever, Nathan, 2. Nate's hoodie, which means its cold outside (YAY!), and 3. Nate's lipring...let's face it: he's way sexy! I love this man so much!

A Non-Day 4 Picture

The Day 4 picture for the February Photo-A-Day Challenge was supposed to be of a stranger, but I didn't really think that was the best way to photograph my everyday life, plus I felt like a creeper trying to take a discreet picture of a stranger. Instead, I decided to finally post a picture of our tattoos. Nate and I got our "wedding tattoos" a little over a month ago, on the day before our two-year anniversary. We had been talking about them for a while and I finally got brave enough to go through with it. 

We went with two interlocking hearts because Nate used to draw two little interlocking hearts at the bottom of all of his love notes to me. It was the same symbol that he used to mark passages about love and marriage in his Bible. As it turns out, our tattoos represent our marriage even more than we though they would. As much as  we each love our own tattoo, what we love best is how they look together. In the same sense, we are better because of the time that we have spent together and the experiences we have shared. We are better together. Our little hearts are meaningful to us and we love our tattoos!

Day 3: Hands

I love the theme for Day 3 of the February Photo-A-Day Challenge. Here's my photo:

Obviously, I chose to photograph myself holding hands with Nate, as its one of my favorite things to do! (Although, I did think about taking a picture of my finger because I burned it last weekend and now it has these really weird/annoying leathery-feeling patch on it, but it probably wouldn't show up in pictures...lucky you!). See, Nate and I spent a year of the year-and-a-half that we dated at the Word of Life Bible Institute, where there is a "No PC (personal contact)" rule for guys and girls. I'm not going to lie, it was extremely difficult to date him and spend so much time with him without being able to hug him, kiss him, or even hold his hand. I think that time made us appreciate every bit of the freedom that we have in marriage even more. Now, it just feels weird to be next to him and not hold his hand.
We have "Move Along" by the All-American Rejects on one of our mix CDs and one of my all-time favorite lines is "Your hands are mine to hold". I think that is the best possible caption for this picture and perfectly explains why I enjoyed today's theme so much!

Marriage Blessings

I just want to say that I am thankful for a great marriage and a great husband. I am so, so thankful that "working" at our marriage has never felt like working but just like loving each other insanely and deeply. Nate makes it so easy to love him and be thankful for him. I hope that I make it as easy for him to love me. Nate's friendship and love is a constant reminder of how I blessed I am and how much God loves me. Nate has truly loved me like Christ loves the church and he is everything a husband should/could possibly be. I couldn't think of a better way for God to teach us about Him than to bless us with marriage.

You Sneaky Wife!!

My latest song obsession is "You" by Chris Young. Nate laughs at me and shakes his head every time it comes on because I immediately turn the radio up, sing along, and dance in my seat (and believe me, I'm no dancer!). I finally bought it last night and downloaded it to the computer after we heard it on our way home from Wal-Mart because I kept telling Nate that I was going to make him dance with me in the living room. Tonight on our way home from Wal-Mart (yeah, we go there a lot...whatcha gonna do about it?!), it came on again and I was SO excited. Once we got to the apartment, Nate opened Zune on the computer so he could rip a CD and asked, "Who's Chris Young?" when he saw the album cover in his collection. Being the sneaky wife that I am, I said, "Um, I don't know. Play it and we'll see what it is." The second it started, Nate looked up at me and I laughed my most evil laugh. I made him get up and dance all around the living room with me and we both laughed hysterically as we tripped over each other. I learned two important things tonight. One: we are both horrible dancers, and Two: that doesn't matter at all when you're dancing around the living room with your husband. I had SO much fun and I think I love Nate even more, if thats at all possible.

Quote of the Week

I thought I would die laughing when Nate turned and looked at me this week and exclaimed, "Wah! I've raised a bratty wife!". Hahaha! We were both in very dorky moods and I was picking on him about something. I'm so glad I married such a dork even if that means that I've become a "bratty wife"! Ha!

Date Night

Tonight, Nate and I had a date night. We went out to eat at Chili's (and were "Awwwww"ed at by the waitress when we sat on the same side of the booth), got coffee (HOT coffee instead of iced coffee for the first time in forever!), and then went home. We decided that we were going to stay up all night and watch movies and just have fun since we don't have to get up for work in the morning. As soon as we got home I changed into my pajama pants and crawled up into bed. Nate was already lounging on the bed, playing music and singing. I just laid here for a few minutes listening to him sing and watching him before he asked me what I wanted to do. I didn't have think twice before answering, "Just this". He smiled and we just hung out for a little while longer. Seriously, carefree, relaxed nights with my husband are my absolute favorite. It isn't even possible to have enough time to spend with him because there is too much of him to love. This life we lead together is wonderful, indeed!

DIY Freezer Paper Stencil Tutuorial

Well, the long-awaited tutorial is here. About a week ago, I found out that you can make stencils for t-shirts, bags, pillows, etc. out of freezer paper. It looked pretty simple and freezer paper is cheap so I decided to give it a go. Nathan and I decided to make t-shirts because the Harry Potter premiere is coming up and we wanted to have awesome shirts for such a momentous occasion.
Here's what you'll need:
a t-shirt
freezer paper (about $4 for 150 sq. feet at Wal-Mart)
a pen (or a printer-more on that in a moment)
an Exacto knife
tape
an iron
a paintbrush or sponge
paint (we used acryllic because that was what we had on hand, but fabric paint will work, too)

Let's get started! I don't have pictures for the first step because 1) I'm a slacker, and 2) I was too excited about making the shirts to stop and take pictures. Lame, I know. I will be better next time, I promise.
Ok, first, you will need to decide on a design and put it on the freezer paper. I put a lightning bolt on the back of my shirt and Nate just free-handed that for me so he drew it directly on the freezer paper. We put words on the front of the shirts and I wanted a specific font, so I printed out the phrases we wanted. Here is where the tape comes in handy. We simply taped the freezer paper on top of the computer paper so that it would stay still as we traced our design. Important Note: Your design needs to be traced on the papery side of the freezer paper, not the waxy side. (I have read that you can cut the freezer paper to the same size as normal computer paper and print your design directly on the paper. This would certainly save time, but as I don't have a personal printer and have not tried it, I cannot personally recommend it. I have heard that it works well with normal printers, but could cause problems in larger, industrial-type printers).
After you have traced your design onto the freezer paper, you need to cut it out. An Exacto knife makes this pretty easy. Make sure you save the little inside pieces (i.e the little circles that go inside a lowercase 'e' or 'o') of your letters or picture because you will  need them later on. Also, make sure you put a cutting board under the paper so you don't ruin a table or work surface (Thankfully, I'm not speaking from experience here!)

Once you have cut the inside out of the design, your stencil is ready to be ironed on! Simply put it waxy-side down on your t-shirt and iron it on. Make sure that all of the edges (both inside and out) are completely secured to the shirt so that the paint does not seep through. This is also the time when you will want to iron any of the little pieces on.

Now you simply need to paint inside the stencil. Nathan and I used paintbrushes for the front sides of our shirts and then I used a sponge for the back of my shirt. Both the paintbrush and the sponge worked equally well, so use whichever you are more comfortable with. We both needed to paint two coats on our shirts, but that may only be because we were painting light-ish colors on a black t-shirt.

Once the paint has dried, just carefully pull the freezer paper off and you're all set!

Seriously guys, this is so simple, not to mention, cheap! Nate already has plans for putting one of his own drawings on a t-shirt. As soon as I get to Hobby Lobby to buy some canvas bags, I plan on decorating a few of those as cute, but inexpensive, personalized gifts. There might just be a onesie project planned for the near future, too (Hi Sean!). :)

If you try this, let me know! I would love to see pictures!
Thanks for tuning in for my very first tutorial! I have more planned and will hopefully be posting a few within the next few weeks!
P.S. I will be posting the pictures of our finished shirts on Friday, the day of the movie premiere!

The Maintenance Man's Wife

On the way to work this morning, we passed a house that we drive by every day that I have never really paid any attention to. 

Nate commented, "Those guys are always selling something weird. Now they're selling bobcats." My eyebrows shot up and my jaw dropped just a little bit.

"Bobcats??! I want to see!", I exclaimed as I twisted around in my seat, trying to catch a glimpse of their fenced-in yard. And there they were, prancing around the yard...NOT! Much to my dismay, I saw two big ol' pieces of Bobcat machinery parked in their front yard. I spun around immediately to find Nate staring at me with a look of awe on his face. Then we both just started cracking up.

Nate rolled his eyes. "Seriously?" he asked.

"What?! I'm not a maintenance man. When I hear 'bobcat', I think of the animal, not the machine!", I exclaimed defensively.

We just laughed again.

As glad as I am that my husband is a maintenance man who is very handy around the house, I sure wish that just a little bit of his expertise in all things maintenance would rub off on me!! Haha!

Toothbrush Wars

A conversation between Nathan and I as we brushed our teeth the other night:

Nate: Your toothbrush is a lot louder than mine.

Julie: Because mine is way better than yours!

A little bit of competition is healthy in a marriage, right?? 

;)