She went shopping with my mom to choose a birthday gift because she didn't know what she wanted. My mom said she tried on skates and rode them around the store and was pretty sure she wanted those until she spotted this digital video camera that doubles as a regular camera. I know she'll LOVE playing with it.Andy wasn't with us of course, but he wrote this poem on Facebook for his baby girl (Andy only writes poems for people he really really loves, so if you've ever gotten one, consider yourself honored ;). I cried when I read it to her.... she couldn't get the grin off her face.
"Third day, but I think my mind has one more trick
Today's birthday wish is the sickest of the sick
Cause I got a pretty little girl that we call LayLay
And seven years ago on this twenty-third of May
I was sittin' in a room when a flower came to bloom
My heart pounded BOOM BOOM BOOM
Tiny little hands, little feet, pretty face
She came down to me through God's good grace
Now I had next to me two beauties by my side
And yes, it's true, on that day this daddy cried
Seven years gone by, it passed me in a whirl
But for me, she'll be, daddy's first baby girl
So on this special day
Even though there's many miles in our way
Listen with your heart what your daddy has to say
I love you, I love you, Happy Birthday Lay."
(Oh, by the way-it says "third day" at the beginning because on the 21st and 22nd of May his two younger brothers have birthdays and he had done a poem for each of them-in case you were curious :)
Later that day we had her family party. It was CrAzY because my entire side of the family was there minus only a couple people and several people in Andy's family were there. I also let Laylah invite Kajia over because she wasn't having a friend party this year. She got lots of money from grandparents, aunts and uncles, games, clothes, pajamas, and treats.
Grandma Collette, Laylah and Great grandma Darlene
Grandma Claudia, Laylah and Great grandma Marge
My mom let Laylah choose her favorite dinner which was roasted chicken, potatoes and gravy, stuffing, carrots, spinach casserole, and rolls. It was yuuuummy. My mom is the best cook and it was so nice to let her cook for me for a week :) We had cupcakes and ice-cream afterwards. These cupcakes were very disappointing. Because of Jonah's accident, I didn't get to the store until almost midnight to pick-up Laylah a cake, and this was the only thing they had left. I guess it was okay because Laylah loved them.They stained everyone's mouth's and hands :)
Here is Laylah at 7:
She loves school. She is really smart, but she excels in reading, spelling, and English comp. She loves art and is very creative. She doesn't struggle in anything, but her least favorite subjects are math and science, even though she has really improved in her math this year. She loves her friends and wants to play with them all the time. She is shy at first, but becomes very outgoing once she feels comfortable. She is hilarious and everyone is always telling me the funny things she does or says (friends, mom's, teachers at church and school, etc). She is the BEST listener and helper and is my most obedient child. She is always asking me what she can do to help me. Once in awhile her little temper shows, but she gets it under control pretty quickly now. She loves her baby brother Bear and is like his 2nd mother. He runs to her first half of the time, over me. She loves to help me cook and clean. I need to let her help me more. She is very bossy and likes to be in charge. I know this has gotten her into trouble with her friends before. She likes to brag that boys at school like her and that she is so popular and everyone likes to be her friend (we often have chats about her giant "ego" and how she needs to be more humble-she is very confident.... I wonder where that came from?? haha ;) She loves to dance, perform, and sing. She will make us all sit-down and watch some performance or another that she has made-up (this kills me because I used to do the EXACT same thing when I was her age.... I think she and I are really twins seperated by 20 years because it's so weird HOW much alike we are-looks and personality). She likes to play outside, ride her bike, and is the best little swimmer. We were going to do swim team this year, but the schedule didn't work out for us, so we'll try it next year. She wants to start playing an instrument, so I'm going to look into that as well. She would love to start up dance again also (we quit when we found out we were moving) and just wants to be busy busy all the time. She is a terrific eater and likes anything I give to her. She is for sure NOT picky-she likes it all and especially likes to try new things. She still LOVES treats and has the biggest sweet tooth of anyone I know. She loves to shop, loves new clothes and shoes, and likes me to curl her long hair. She is also always asking to wear make-up (5 more years Laylah :) and can't wait to get baptized and get her ear's pierced for her 8th birthday. She is such a terrific girl and I love her to pieces and don't know what I would do without her.
And now, with the tradition of this year-here is Laylah's birth story:
I had a pretty uneventful, easy pregnancy with the exception of a couple weeks that I was on bedrest. Right after my 20 week ultrasound (where we found out we were expecting a GIRL and were so happy, but surprised-I was sure she was a boy :) I started spotting and went in at about 21 weeks for another ultrasound where they found that my placenta had a few small tears in it. I was on bedrest for 2 weeks, went in for another ultrasound and it had healed, so I went back to work until I was 38 weeks. My doctor was allowing me to be induced even though that isn't common on a first baby, but I was very favorable and we needed to do it for insurance reasons. We chose the 23rd of May (I was due the 28th-my sister Kaylie's birthday) because Andy's 2 brother's, David and Ryan, had birthday's the 21st and 22nd, and his grandpa's is the 24th. We wanted her to have her own day. I spent the week before getting ready- washing/folding teeny, tiny baby clothes, cleaning our apartment, doing last minute hair appts, going to baby showers, and enjoying my freedom of no work and impending new full-time job of motherhood. I remember feeling so full of energy even though I had gained a whopping 50 pounds with this pregnancy (never again-I was SO careful with the rest of my pregnancy's :) and I would go for walks every day and I never got swollen or retained water (I am so blessed with my easy pregnancy's) and then the day before, Andy and I went out to lunch and just spent the day together. I wanted a jamba juice for dinner, so that's what we had around 9 PM. I couldn't eat past midnight. We went home, got all packed and ready to go and then watched a movie. We went to bed and got up bright and early at 6 AM. The hospital called telling me they were ready for me to come in. We got there around 7. I was kind of nervous, not knowing what to expect with this whole new experience-but I was very excited. They checked us in, got my pitocin started and then my doctor came in and broke my water. I had read that first time labors average between 12-18 hours, so I knew we would be here awhile. Everyone in our families were very excited and kept calling to see how we were progressing. My oldest brother Doug worked at the hospital at the time and he came and checked up on me a couple times. After a couple hours I was dilated to a 4 and getting very uncomfortable, so I asked for my epidural. I was nervous for this, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. It was around noon and I got very sleepy from the epidural, so Doug came in and took Andy out to lunch with him. While he was gone I fell asleep and was awakened with someone rubbing my head. It was my dad coming to check on me. We talked for a minute and then the nurse came in and said she was ready to check me so my dad left and right then Andy came back. It was about 1:45 and she checked me and said "Oh my goodness, you're at a ten! Why don't you try pushing with this next contraction?" So I did and she immediately said "Okay, stop! I need to call the doctor in, this baby is here!" My doctor came right in and I pushed 4 times through my next 2 contractions and out came Laylah. Easy peasy. 6 hour labor, 5 minutes of pushing, and a 2nd degree episiotimy. My doctor told me I was the queen of having babies. Laylah was a beautiful, tons of BLACK hair baby with olive skin. She was a healthy 9 pounds 8 ounces and 22 inches long. Big girl. My doctor told me I was a rockstar. I decided this labor and delivery thing wasn't so hard at all :)
Laylah was an angel baby. She had jaundice and had to be in a bilibed for 4 days straight. She never cried unless she was hungry. She slept through the night at a few weeks old. She was a champion nurser/eater. She was content 100% of the time. She was a happy, smiley, lovey baby. Everyone loved her and she was spoiled with loves, hugs, kisses, and smothered with attention constantly.
Everyone loved her then and everyone loves her now. She is an amazing girl. Happy Birthday Laylah. We love you.
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