Layla Turns 7 and a HALF!!!

My little baby girl, my darling, my first baby love...

Last night we went to dinner at Chick Fil A with two of our most favorite families - The Bellanos and Carreros - and while we were there, I watched you you play with your best girlfriends while stuffing french fries in your mouth and I couldn't believe how BIG you looked - just tall and gorgeous and mature. Sometimes it feels like your whole face has changed literally overnight. 

How you look... In my eyes, you are perfect. So tall and so thin - with fair skin, gorgeous long light brown hair and big blue eyes. You seem to grow everyday. Every time we run into someone we haven't seen in a while, they comment on how tall you are. Your teeth are so cute - they are slowly falling out and the new ones are so much bigger then your baby teeth - I just love your 2nd grade smile. 

Your Schedule....You are a busy bee but, maybe more then anyone, love to just CHILL. Give you a comfy sofa, a blanket and your Ipad and you could relax for hours. You wake up around 7 AM everyday (although if I can somehow split up you & Benny for the night - you'll sleep until 7:30 / 8:00 AM). You are almost always a joy in the morning - you don't care what you wear, you brush your teeth, get your own breakfast and promptly sit down to start your day. You enjoy school - you have a great teacher and sweet friends. This is the first year you're doing aftercare and you LOVE IT - right now you go twice a week but if it was up to you, you'd go everyday. You also do Yoga once a week (which you only enjoy sometimes) and art once a week (which you love). I asked the next after school club you wanted to join and you chose MAD SCIENCE which makes you the coolest. You also started gymnastics on Saturdays this past weekend and you loved it!! Otherwise, bedtime is between 7:30 - 8:30 PM. 

Your Likes....You loved your second year of camp this past summer - you LOVE swimming, dancing and singing the most. You love reading and writing and math. You love board games. You love Karaoke and doing make up with friends. You love wrestling Benny. You love your cousins and grandparents and aunts and uncles. You love NYC and trips to Florida. You love playing with your dolls / Barbies alone. You love Nutella, going to the movies, seeing your besties and laying with your mama <3 

Your Dislikes: You dislike sleeping alone, trying new foods, going to the basement alone, when Dada & I go on a date, when your friends are mean to you at school, when people lie to you. You HATE wearing socks and too tight underwear. You hate wedgies the most. 

Your Food: STILL SO PICKY. Favorites: Bean & Cheese Nachos (Las Margaritas), Cream Cheese bagels (from camp only), Kashi Cinnamon Harvest cereal, nutella, chicken nuggets, french fries, many fruits, zero veggies.

Your Thoughts: You are really discovering and absorbing the world around you. I love talking with you for hours - you'll vent to me about small things and big things and our relationship is really beautiful. It's maybe my favorite part of life. You are a joy to be around. 

The past 6 months have been a blast - camp, starting 2nd grade, meeting new friends, discovering new things (like Adventure Guides with Dada!), playing with friends in the neighborhood - the list never ends. You're still so little and I love this age. You are pure delight my dear and I'm lucky to call you mine. 

Mama

(Here are a few pictures from the past 6 months...)

17 weeks.

HAPPY HANNUKAH!!!
Here we are week, week 17.
The baby is the size of an onion or pomegranate depending on who you ask.
It's cold and the holiday season is in full effect. I love this time of year - it's happy and exciting and filled with good vibes. 
We are almost officially set on a baby name which is exciting (we will share once he is born). 
We are naming after my Mom-Mom Millie, Mom-Mom Rose and Josh's Grandpa Sanford. 
Layla started gymnastics tomorrow and Benny's basketball league kicks off tomorrow and I realize this little buddy will be going to every single event next year and it makes me giddy with joy. Happy 17 weeks, little man. 

How far along? 17 weeks today. 

Total weight gain/loss: I gained 0.4 pounds this week which is greaaaaaaaat. I'm up 8.6.

Maternity clothes? I bought one more maternity sweater from Target that I've worn twice. StitchFix (the best ever...!) sent me a pair of awesome maternity pants that I'll probably wear 5 days a week. 

Stretch marks? Bio Oil is working it's magic so far.

Sleep: I'm waking up most nights multiple times but mostly able to fall back asleep.

Best moment this week: Hannukah started this week and I've loved celebrating this year. I can't believe next year at this time, we'll have a 7 month old!! 

Have you told family and friends: Yup! 

Movement: Not yet. I'm so waiting for the sweet kicks. 

Food cravings:  I mean, nothing cool. Yesterday it was peanut butter. haha

Anything making you queasy or sick: I'm still dealing with nausea but I DO think it's a bit better...but randomly, it's pretty bad - especially at night. Blah. 

Gender prediction: It's a boy! We have an ultrasound at the end of the month to confirm. 

Labor Signs: No.

Belly Button in or out? In! 

Wedding rings on or off? On!

Happy or Moody most of the time: This week, mostly happy minus Benny's behavior. We are going through a rough patch with him but overall, good. 

Weekly Wisdom: Hormones are insane. A few days back, I cried for well over 30 minutes (HARD) over basically nothing. I'm trying to remember that this is normal but you sure feel insane bawling like a newborn.

Milestones: I think my belly officially "popped" this week. :)