First Hair Cut

Before we left for Disney and the Beach, both momma and Lyla were in desperate need of a hair cut!! Lyla, I have to admit, had never had a hair cut. Not one. Not even that one that you do around their first birthday. So this was a big moment. All that baby hair would be cut off!

She was so excited about her haircut. At first I was going to take her to one of those kid hair cut places, but since I need a cut too, I just asked my hairdresser if she minded cutting Lyla's hair. So much easier that way! One stop, Lyla felt so proud sitting still getting her hair cut like momma's and it was $10. So great!

Lyla sat completely still, like did not move a single muscle to entire time Tracey was cutting her hair. Of course I had to save that first cut of hair.

Ready to get started. So serious! 

My baby went to grown up in the matter of like three minutes. The hair cut turned our precious and Lyla loved it.

I mean seriously, grown up.

My mom came and got her while I got my hair done and when I went to pick her up, Lyla loved the fact that now she looked just like me with her hair. She said 'mimi, momma, wywa hair!!' (my mom has short hair as well and when I chopped mine off, the first thing Lyla did was compare it to my mom's hair). So she loved that she was now in the short hair club!

First Day of Preschool

So before we could head to Disney World, Lyla started PRESCHOOL. What??! How is she even old enough? I had mixed emotions about the whole thing. I felt like this was the beginning and the end. The beginning of my sweet girl growing up and getting to experience a whole world outside our home. A chance to make friends on her own. A chance to be away from mommy and daddy and make her own choices (both good and bad). A chance to learn new things. It was an end to her being a baby. Yes, she will always be my baby, but not in the same way. This was the end of her always being home with me. Being my constant buddy. Doing EVERYTHING with me. This was the beginning of her "school years". Never again would she be home full time. I was both excited for her, but my heart hurt at the same time.

We decided to start her in a two day a week program at a school right around the corner from our house. It is great. Literally three minutes from driveway to driveway. I love that it is more than just a daycare or mother's morning out. It is structured like school and she will actually learn things. Of course at this age I understand it is more about having fun and learning to interact with kids your own age without your parent's hovering over your every move. 

Her first day was just a meet and greet time with the kids, parents and teachers on Tuesday August 20th. Parents got to stay the whole time and the kids got to meet the teachers, the other kids and check out the room. The parents had gone to Parent's night the night before where we got the run down and met the teachers. Lyla's teachers are Ms Cathy and Ms Karen. Two sweet ladies. Ms Karen has actually since been switched to another class, so Ms Lindsey joined their class, who moved at Christmas and now she has Ms Dawn. It was a big adjustment for her to go through so many teacher so quickly, especially losing Ms Karin. Lyla really bonded with her and was so sad for her to not be in her class anymore. We are so blessed to have had them all as teachers. There are some sweet families in her class. A couple of families I actually recognized, one from church and one dad is the brother of a friend of mine from elementary school. Talk about small world. I am excited for Lyla to make new friends and I am excited to get to know the other parents.

On Thursday that week, August 22nd, they started gradual entry for the two year old classes. So half of Lyla's class came for the first hour and fourty-five minutes and the other half came the second half of the morning. Lyla was in the group that went in for the second half. She had NO problem. Which did not surprise me one bit. She has never had an issue being dropped off at church nursery or making friends. She went in without hesitation and had an awesome time. They did the gradual entry process the next week as well, so she went on Tuesday late morning again, but then missed Thursday due to Disney World. Once we got back from our trip, after Labor Day, they went for the full four hours. Which, did you know how fast four hours goes by when you are by yourself getting things done?? Like a blink of an eye!!

Proud of her bag and excited about the first day of school!

When did she grow up?

So excited for 'cool'!

I couldn't get a good picture of her walking in to class. She was too excited and could not wait to go in!

First art creation at school. Those little hands.

I signed up to be the room mom this year, so we will see how that goes. I am all about being involved in my children's school experience. My mom was totally involved and I loved having her around. I am excited to see what this year holds and I am so excited for Lyla to experience it!

August 2013

So August looked very similar to our July. Our next trip was not until the end of the month, but the anticipation of it was building <DISNEY>!!!

August was filled with the Zoo, friends, a few visits from people we love, a first Stone Mountain experience, Chick-fil-A corporate, and lounging by the pool.

A fun day at the zoo with Molly and Tripp. I love how these sweet babies are growing up together!

Ummm....melt my heart!

It is fun seeing their own unique personalities come out as they get older. They are too funny together.

We had a quick visit from Uncle David (Adam's brother). It was so nice to have him. It was the first time he was able to come and stay at our new house. We love having him around! He drove up on Thursday and Lyla and I spent the day with him on Friday. We took him to Northpoint Mall for lunch and he took Lyla for a ride on the carousel. 

Friday night, we went over to Stone Mountain for the laser show. We packed a picnic dinner and had fun enjoying the beautiful night. This was Lyla's first experience at the Laser Show and she loved it. Especially the fireworks! 

I have gotta say, stocking up in the dollar section at Target when they have all these glow things out is the best!! We are able to make tons of necklaces and bracelets out of on package. They also have light up wands and rings! Lyla loves it and I love the fact that it is inexpensive and she never asks for us to buy her the super expensive stuff they sell at these things. I am definitely stocking up for Disney!

Loves her Uncle David. Come back soon!

Enjoying a sweet treat.

We also had a visit from a super special family, the Harmans. They hold a special place in my heart because I had the honor of taking care of their sweet sweet girl who entered the world just a little too early. My sweet Emma, who is now running and laughing and playing with my daughter, just fills my heart with JOY! I can never express how much I love this girl and her family. She is such a delight and I so treasure being able to be a part of her growing up years! We met up with the Harman family, which now includes another spunky girl who is too cute for words, as well as our friend Kellie, who also took care of Emma, and her two sweet girls. Oh.My.Goodness. I wish we had had hours for the big girls to play. They LOVED eachother and were so sad to leave. They had so much fun running around outside. Thanks for making the time to see us during your visit to Atlanta!

We love you guys and are so thankful to not only be a part of your story but to be your friends as well!

Anybody who knows us knows our deep love for Chick-fil-A. And we love the fact that Aunt Allison just happens to work for corporate. It is SUCH a special treat to go visit her at the office and have lunch. We love spending time with her and seeing her in her workplace. She is so loved and valued. We may also being going for the ice cream....

We always love looking around while we are there. So much to see and do. It is such a neat place to visit. If you have never had the opportunity to visit CFA corporate, let me know! You need to visit! Mr Cathy loves having guests. You can even go and walk around his office! He keeps part of his car collection in the main lobby, which is always a hit with Lyla.

We love our Aunt Allison!

Lyla is just entering the imagination stage! I think going to school will help this stage explode! We love having tea parties...especially on those rainy days. It is so fun to see her mind grow and change each day.

Of course we are still using our pool. Lunch and snack time is a must by the pool, even when it is too cold to get in. You can see here, ballet attire was required this day. This girl LOVES her some dress up. Not sure why I even buy her regular clothes. She would love to only live in dress-up clothes every day.

As soon as she gets up in the morning, she wants to get dressed in some sort of dress up outfit. We definitely have a girly-girl, for sure!

She is too cute!

And last but not least, we started getting pumped up about our first visit to DISNEY WORLD!! I am not sure who was more excited. I am not sure Lyla knew exactly what to expect, but she was PUMPED!! I just knew it would be a magical time and it was for SURE.