Picture Day!

I have to give our photographer, Jaimee major props for taking pictures of our family. We can have playdates with her and Laila is all smiles, but come the time we set up a photoshoot, all hell breaks loose.
We started at the train tracks but couldn't even put Laila down she started screaming so badly. So we decided to try a little ice cream. She seemed to like that but from all of her crying she was a hot mess. It may have calmed her down for a good 5 minutes, but it wasn't the end of her tantrum. We decided to try the tracks again. Not much luck.
We scratched that idea and headed for the next spot...a water fountain. What kid doesn't love seeing a water fountain? Mine apparently. I put her down to walk around and have a grand ol' time, instead she wanted "uppy" and chased me around the fountain screaming, with her giant tears flowing down her face.
We sucked it up a little while longer in order to get some fun shots of us. Typical family portraits of us. Laila putting her hand in someones face, and screams to let her roam loose. I guess thats what you get from us.
We decided to go into starbucks and cool down a bit. The Florida humidity was killing us! Minutes passed and smiles came across Laila's face. Of course she would love a coffee joint...her mother is addicted. And maybe she felt Jaimee was too! :) So we hung out and got the most smiles there.
It's always a fun new adventure with The Geraci fam. Laila keeps our hands full and keeps us laughing. We enjoy our picture days.

Rest in Peace Grandpa.

Grandpa on his 75th birthday dinner!

57 years of marriage!

Laila and Pop on Grandpa's 77th birthday!

Today, another angel was brought to heaven. After a long fight of Parkinson's disease, my Grandpa had his calling from God. He is finally at peace and feels no more pain. My Grandpa fulfilled a life full of happy memories. I look back to all the times I shared with him and I smile. I am so greatful he got the chance to share the first 16 months of Laila's life. His world was brighter when she was around. I will remind Laila of what a wonderful "pop pop" she had and how much he adored her. My Grandpa was one of the greatest, most talented, bravest men I have ever known. He is going to be missed every minute of every day. Your always in my heart Grandpa.

After Glow

I'd like the memory of me,
To be a happy one,
I'd like to leave an afterglow
Of smiles when life is done.
I'd like to leave an echo
Whispering softly down the ways,
Of happy times and laughing times
& bright and sunny days.
I'd like the tears of those who grieve,
To dry before the sun
Of happy memories that I leave
When life is done.

Happy 4 years!

it's amazing how fast time flies and how much life can change in 4 years...one of the best days of my life! Wish I could do it all over again.

Sweet 16...months.

Another month has passed by and our little bean continues to grow like a weed! Saying harder words, making us laugh with something new, and just being Laila. It can be the worst day and our sunshine brightens everything. What a comedian she has become. She is copying everything you do, and laughs at just about anything...best sound in the world...her giggle. Laila has such an indescribable personality that attracts people to her. I loose count of all the compliments I get of her in one day. Cheer-ios to 16 months Miss Laila Bean! (fyi: after the 2 year mark...no more counting by months.)

::standing on the couch and knowing she is about to get in trouble::

::Booty in the Bilibo::

::Outdoorsy::

::Getting sleepy::

::Your our brown eyed girl::

::No, No, No!...she knows not to go by mommy's work station::

Whaaaa!

Waiting for Dr. A. (not too happy)

Laila's 15 month check up was today. She is now 25 pounds and 33 inches long. She is in the 80th percentile in weight and off the charts in height, yet again! Getting bigger and bigger everyday, but has lost lots of her chunky fat from walking off tons of calories everyday. Still had the baby gut she sticks out though.

She was all happy and running around the office until Dr. Alvarez came walking in. She didn't want to be examined. She screamed the entire time and by the time we were done and waiting for her shots she was ready to pass out from crying so hard. She was grabbing onto me for dear life while getting her 3 shots! Oh how I hate hearing that cry. It was all forgotten once we got in the car, she fell asleep, then woke up from her nap.

Once again it was a successful appointment. I dread going! That hour wears me out. But thank God for Laila being healthy.

My 2nd Mother's Day!

Sometimes I still can't believe that I am a mother. I look at Laila everyday and thank God for the blessing he has given me and our family. Days, months, and years are flying by. I remember mother's telling me enjoy every moment because it flies by, and it is so true. I tell new mom's the same thing now. Gosh it makes me feel old.
I had a nice Mother's Day. We started the day at church. Am I the only one that get's emotional in church? It seems like every week something just hits me and I tear up. This week they had the church girls youth come out in tutu's and sing and dance. The song was beautiful and I kept picturing Laila up there a couple years from now. I had to pull out the tissues! Jason said if that lasted 10 more seconds he would of started balling his eyes out. It was a nice sermon. To top off the mooshyness, as I went to get Laila from her class, I saw her playing with the other kids through the window. She was so good this week. As I opened the door to get her, she see's me and comes running up and says "Mommy!" It was the sweetest thing. And she even drew me a picture for Mother's Day. As Jason and I got in the car we looked at eachother and said we are ready for baby #2! Well, in his words he said "Laila's ready for a brother." ha! And I say she is always ready for a sister. Soon, we will see...maybe next Mother's Day we will have another on the way.
We spent lunch with Jason's family, then went to my families for dinner. The holiday's are always busy, but we are just lucky to have a ton of family that loves us. Last year, Laila was just a little bean, and now I spent my day chasing her around. We definantly have a strong willed baby. Phew! This mommy gets warn out but being a mother is the best gift ever.

Mini Road Trip.

Jason, Laila, Gramma, Papou, and I took a short little overnight trip down to Mike and Jana's Banana Bay motel in Punta Gorda. We went out on the pontoon on Saturday, docked the boat and ate lunch at Nav-i-gators and enjoyed a couple cocktails. The humidity wasn't so bad on the water. There was a nice breeze. Later on we came back to the motel and got ready for Papou's birthday dinner at Portifino's which is about a block down from the motel. The next day the heat was unbearable! We went to the bird sanctuary and hung around the hotel the rest of the day until it was time to drive back home. The trip was short and sweet...here are some pics of us from the weekend.

Laila with her lifevest on. It lasted a good 5 minutes until she was so hot and uncomfortable.

Hubs and I enjoying our happy hour.

I love her boat hair!

Attached to mommy!

Resting up after dinner.

Hanging out in the room waiting to leave.

15 months.

snackin' & shoppin' with mommy!

"yea...I still got my bink...whatcha gonna do about it?"

Our big girl has seemed to slow down her growing a tad bit. Thank goodness! I think if she got any taller she will be taller then her daddy and me. We go for her 15 month check next week to see how many more pounds she has packed on. I'm sure not much. Laila has thinned out a lot (and so have I) since she has started walking, or I should say running. I was starting to buy her some 2T clothes because it seemed as though the 18-24 mo. was getting too tight from some stores and plus with me shrinking most everything in the wash. Now it seems as if everything is big on her. Even some 18-24 mo. is too big on her. So now all her 2T's that I bought are just sitting in the closet for next summer. I am obsessed with shopping for the little moosh. She dresses better then I do! Probably has more clothes too.

She is talking so much more. Her new thing is "uh-oh". Still saying the normal first baby words and starting to repeat what others say and reactions. I sit with her and we read and go through her flashcards and practice big words. She is so smart and understands so many things. She knows her body parts. She shows me her belly button, and knows her eyes, mouth, nose, and teeth. I can tell her to go get me something (example: remote control) and she will go get it and bring it back to me. And the good part is she is getting better at listening to us. I might have to tell her a few times to stop and smack her little hand before she does, but she gives that sad look walks away and gets over it. She knows when mama means business.

Laila climbs on everything now. She is getting better with going up and down steps and stairs. I'm teaching her the proper way to climb off the couch and chairs. She is a wild child for sure. Not scared of anything...well maybe just the lawn guy when he is mowing the lawn right by her bedroom window. She freaks out if she is napping and hears the mower by the window. It's kinda cute how terrified she gets. She loves when daddy and I scare her. Her laugh is so infectious, and she does so much of it. She shakes her head no constantly, but is starting to go up and down to say yes. So talkative and dances all over the house. She pushes her booty out and bounces up and down. And she raises her hands up like she is a ballerina. I can't get enough of it.

I'm thinking of doing the first haircut thing. I am terrified. But Laila's hair is so long in the back and her bangs are starting to go past her eyes. It can be a crazy mess now if I don't do anything to it. I just want a millimeter trim to even it all out and give it a healthier look. She's got a little curl at the ends now. But of course now that she has hair she pulls on it and barely keeps anything in it.

hmm...I think that's about it with the updates...

Happy 15 months baby girl!

Yay for a beach day!

Beach days are back! Wow what a differance a year makes with lugging Laila to the beach. Last time I went she just sat and played with the sand and tried eating it. This year I had to chase her all over the place, except for the couple of minutes she sat in her princess chair to eat her rice cake. She wasn't too thrilled with the sand at first. She fell and looked at her sandy hands in disgust. It was harder for her to walk in, but then she got used to it and went down the beach. I get my workouts everyday! I lost weight just by chasing her around all the time. No complaints though...my pants are a little bigger on me now. Laila was such a little diva in her Little Maven suit her Auntie got her. I just love her in it. (gotta ad that when she bought it for her, Laila tried it on in the store and modeled it for everyone...toooo cute!) Swimsuit season it so much fun! Bubs already has twice as many bathing suits I do for this season. I'm starting to think she dresses better then I do. Aw well...I look forward to this time of year!

The Many Faces of Miss Laila.

Laila's 2nd Easter.

What a busy Easter holiday weekend we had. On Saturday, we woke up pretty early so hubbie can get his iPad. Success! So we headed home for a little while hoping to get Laila down for a quick nap before we had to head to our church Easter egg hunt. In the afternoon, Laila really fights taking a nap. But if she doesn't she is so ornery. Well...she wasn't closing those eyes, so I just took her out to play in bed with us. She fell off the bed and blood was everywhere. We freaked out! It ended up being a bad cut inside on the inside of her lip. Never have I been so scared (well not counting the day Laila was born). I was worried about her teeth and if she hit her head and got a concussion. She was so tired already so she barely could keep her eyes open at this point. Her screaming and crying wore her out. Her lip got a little swollen, but we gave her some ice cream before heading out to the egg hunt, so the swelling went down pretty fast. We still got to enjoy the egg hunt at the church with Gramma and Papou. But I was still so shooken up from everything that happened. I know there were be many more days like this...we still have to teach her to ride a bike! I'll let daddy handle that one. I will be a nervous wreck ha!



The night before Easter we dyed Easter eggs. Laila drew on her own egg! Scribbled all over it then dunked it in the yellow dye. I helped her a little, but she grabbed the crayon away from me and started doing it herself.


We spent Easter day with family. Laila woke up and saw her basket from the bunny. She mostly loved playing with the eggs that he left behind. We got ready for church and afterwards went to see Gramma Et and Papa Guy at there house. We hung out and had lunch with Gramma and Papou. Late afternoon we went to The Little's to celebrate Easter and Landon's birthday with my family. Egg hunts, baskets, good food, and family makes for a good holiday.

Busy Bodies!

Since Laila has turned 14 months I feel like life has been non stop. Laila has been walking a little over a month now and it is exhausting! She is super fast I can barely catch up to her or get a good "walking" photo. You put her down and she takes off. It's serious...like she is on a mission. She is all about climbing up chairs and anything she can prop herself up to. Most of the time, Laila is extremely independant, and already has a little attitude on her. I thought this didn't happen until she was at least into her teens. She is the funniest person I know. She says "no, no, no" to the dogs and shakes her finger while doing it. She acts like she is in control. This age is tough. I am a firm believer of disciplining your children. Otherwise they turn into the spoiled monsters that I have no tolerance for. But right now, it's hard to put Laila in time out when she does something wrong. She will hop up and run across the house. No way does she like to sit still. When she does something wrong, she knows it. She looks at us with those big hazel eyes and gives that precious little dimpled smirk. Oh as much as a trouble maker she can be, it's the sweet moments that melt my heart. This morning I was sitting on the floor in her room cleaning out some things and she pats me on the back and lays her head on my back. I turned around and asked her for a hug and she wrapped her arms around me and put her head on my shoulder. awww...the sweetest thing ever.


I have been spending lots of time outside. The Florida sunshine is back. I always look forward to this time of year. Beach, parks, and pools! Outdoors is were Laila loves to be. We met up with The Keller girls, Cara and Zoey, at Fred Howard a couple weeks ago. It was the first time we got to wear sleeveless shirts and capris in a long time. Laila doesn't want anything on her head or face anymore. This is the stage of her pulling off her sunglasses and hats. This time last year she let me put anything on her head. ha! She even pulls out her bows...so I have to use hair ties to keep her hair stylin'. Hopefully she grows out of this soon. She's my dolly face and I love to dress her up. It was a good time and look forward to more outings with the girls. We gotta keep busy during the day while Daddy is at work supporting his girls. :)

Loving her time with Daddy.

Laila did her second MS walk at the Zoo. Any chance we get to do something for a good cause we do it. This year she was actually able to walk instead of stroll along in her stroller.

Lifelong Friends.

It's Spring Break! It's so good to know you have true friends that will last a lifetime. Now that the weather is getting nicer we have enjoyed it. Becca came to town for the week. She came over and spent the night Sunday night. The next day I met up with the Kushner girls at Pop Stansel park. The weather was so windy, but the kids enjoyed running around and enjoyed their playdate. On Wednesday, we decided to meet at Ozona Blue for lunch. We ate outside and soaked up the sun (maybe a little too much...my back is on fire!) It was good to have all of us together. Life gets so busy you don't realize how much time goes by before you see everyone. I enjoy these days so much, and wish I could have more of them. I feel so fortunate that we really do live in paradise. Looking forward to the rest of Spring!