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!

It's About Perspective

What a weekend! The past six days have been completely crazy.
Our plan was to drive to Jacksonville after work on Wednesday to pick up Ron (my father-in-law) and Andrew (my brother-in-law) from the airport and then spend the night at Aunt Sue's house before heading home. We were going to make a quick stop in Gainseville on Thursday to visit some friends to pick up a car that some friends were going to let Ron borrow. Unfortunately, on our way home late Thursday night, our car died in the middle lane of the intersection. We pulled over, realized that it was completely dead, and left it there for the night. We all piled in the car that Ron was using to head back to the Fairfield's house in Gainseville to spend the night there until we could tow our car in the morning. At that point, the car we were borrowing started to act up. Ron managed to get it working and we got to the Fairfield's. By now, I felt so overwhelmed. I was sick of dealing with car troubles. I knew that we would get home okay, but I didn't know how we would continue to get to work after that. It wasn't just the stress of the car problems that overwhelmed me. The kindness of our family and friends was so much more than I could have asked for. My dad and brother volunteered to drive up to Gainseville to tow our car back early the next morning. My dad assured me that we would figure something out and that we could borrow his car. The Fairfield's daughter gave up her room so that we would have a bed for the night. Mrs. Fairfield asked if she could wash my clothes for me and that was when I lost it. I just cried. I am continually surprised by how amazingly generous our families and friends are. I was thankful and just felt so undeserving. I was very stressed and on edge by the time we got home late Friday evening.
Here's the thing: while I was dealing with car problems, which seemed huge at the time, some friends of our family were dealing with much harder problems. My dad's friend, Achrol, was in a motorcycle accident on Wednesday. He was immediately bayflighted to a hospital in Tampa and remained in ICU all weekend. His sons, Jared and Austin, are my age and have families and responsibilities of their own. All of a sudden they were being faced with an actual life-or-death decision. I went to see Achrol on Sunday and the worst part was seeing the hopelessness in his boys' eyes. They wanted to be positive but were afraid to get their hopes up. Achrol went back and forth between getting better and getting worse. We were (and are) praying constantly. As of now, it seems that Achrol has no chance of improving. I have been told that he will be taken off of life support tonight.
Our car problems don't even compare to what this family is facing. I am thankful for the wake-up call and the reminder that life is fragile, but I wish it wouldn't have come this way. I pray that I will live my life with a Biblical perspective and will keep my faith in God alone. I will let the Word determine my attitude and perspective, not my circumstances.
Please join me in praying for Achrol, Jared, and Austin, as well as their families. They are going to need a lot of prayer, love and support in the times to come.