January: Layla and I had a blast staying at home, crafting, and finding fun things to do. I enjoy every second with my baby girl!
February: It's fair season! It had been years since I had gone to the Date Festival and Layla had never been before. We went a couple of times, once with my Mom and once with my best friend, Jessica and her daughter Ana. Great food and great fun!
March: Daddy's home from Afghanistan! And got to help plan and partake in Layla's BIG 4th carnival birthday bash. I am still amazed by her party and how it turned out, it was amazing and one that none of us will ever forget. She had a petting zoo, a pony, a bounce house, a clown, popcorn machine, sweet bar, hot dog stand, etc. I planned for months for her big day and it couldn't have turned out more perfect. 
April: Before Ed left back to Germany we were able to go to Magic Mountain. We had such a good time, it was just what we needed!
I also got to go to Stage Coach with my best friend, Desirae, for her birthday. All I can say is MEMORIES! 
May: Layla and I went on a Mother's Day trip with my best friend, Desirae and her son Logan to San Diego for a couple of days. We got to enjoy the beach, the food, went to Sea World, and even took a horse carriage ride right on the beach. We had a blast, it was a great way to spend Mother's day with the people I love. 
June: Layla graduated from preschool! She is getting so big, smart, and beautiful. It amazes me what a little lady she is turning into.
And... Layla and I also got to spend a week at the beach. It was our final beach trip with Jessica and Ana, as well as my family. A couple days with Jessica and Ana at one hotel and a few days at another hotel with my mom, brother, and his two kids. Such a fun week!
July: My brother and I were able to take one last trip to Las Vegas before I moved to Colorado. We had an amazing suite with a handwritten note, champagne, and chocolate covered strawberries waiting for us when we arrived. We had an amazing time and even got to see Rihanna and Kei$ha in concert. Such a great trip!
August: Daddy is officially home with us after finishing up in Germany! We got to go to the beach and have fun in California before moving in September. This was my favorite month! Ed is home with us for good!
September: We have a new home in Colorado! We made the 17 hour drive and made it safe and sound to our new home. We LOVE it here! I can't say enough great things about it. We took our first Colorado trip too. We went to Fort Collins so Ed could check out the New Belgium Brewing Company. We had a great day trip... this was just the beginning.
October: This was a super busy, fun month. We went to the zoo which we absolutely loved! Who knew feeding giraffes would be so much fun?
We had to drive to Dallas, Texas to pick up our car so we drove down a little further to Austin to visit with my Uncle Rick and his two awesome kids. They were amazing tour guides and showed us around Austin. We had a blast and it was so nice to see them after so long.
We took a trip to Garden of the Gods. Breathtaking! It is just gorgeous there. The pictures don't do it justice.
And of course Halloween! Finally a Halloween with Ed again. Layla was a beautiful kitty cat and had a blast going door to door collecting candy.
November: Layla started gymnastics. She's such a STAR! She amazes me at what she accomplishes so quickly.
December: We took a trip to Denver with our great friends, Margaux and Bryan and their kids. We had a blast, checking out the capitol building and ice skating. We couldn't have had a better trip!
CHRISTMAS! What more can I say about that one? It was a relaxing day, just the 3 of us and I couldn't have asked for more.
Today's the day, it's Christmas!!! I think I get even more excited than Layla, I just love Christmas so much, it's definitely my favorite holiday. Before bed last night Ed and Layla got cookies and milk ready for Santa and Ed even helped her write a note to him. He wrote while Layla talked: "Dear Santa, hope you like my Christmas tree. Hope you smell the cookies. Thank you for my gifts. Hope you like your milk. Hope you like Christmas. Hope you like our elf Steve. Hope you like the name with two s's. And hope you like our house. Hope you miss me for Christmas time and I love you. Love, Layla." 
It took Santa quite awhile to unload all his presents for Layla. She must have been a VERY god girl this year! 
We even got a rare glimpse of Santa Clause, he was stealing from our pantry while dropping off Layla's presents! 
Last year I had sent Ed a recordable book, The Night Before Christmas, had him read it and then send it back to Layla so he could read to her on Christmas Eve. Last night before bed she picked it out to read. It was so nice to have all 3 of us in bed listening to it this year. We tucked Layla into bed and then went down stairs to watch a movie. I went to check on Layla a bit later and I found her standing up at the foot of her bed. When I asked her what she was doing, she was so sweet. "I heard Santa's sleigh bells on the roof! He's here!" I couldn't help but laugh, it was adorable. She had been waiting up, listening for bells so she could run to the window and look outside.
I don't think I got much sleep last night, I was so excited for Layla to come into our room and wake us up. She slept until her usual time, around 7:15am and she came in and said "Mom, it's Christmas, Santa was here!" So we all ran down stairs and Layla started ripping through her presents. It took her about an hour and a half to open them all! 
I think Layla's favorite present was her Go Go Dog, she was so excited to see that Santa had brought it. 
The aftermath! Tons of wrapping paper, tons of toys... where do we begin?
Layla played the entire day with all her new toys. They were scattered every where on the living room floor. Tons and tons of little pieces being stepped on all day, but it was all worth it, she was so happy! 
We had a great day! Thank you Santa, Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Glen, Great Grandma, Nina Jeannette, Grandma and Grandpa, Achee family, Auntie, Lori, Patty, Uncle Johnny, and Uncle Bobby for making our day extra special with presents for Layla.
February: It's fair season! It had been years since I had gone to the Date Festival and Layla had never been before. We went a couple of times, once with my Mom and once with my best friend, Jessica and her daughter Ana. Great food and great fun!
March: Daddy's home from Afghanistan! And got to help plan and partake in Layla's BIG 4th carnival birthday bash. I am still amazed by her party and how it turned out, it was amazing and one that none of us will ever forget. She had a petting zoo, a pony, a bounce house, a clown, popcorn machine, sweet bar, hot dog stand, etc. I planned for months for her big day and it couldn't have turned out more perfect. 
April: Before Ed left back to Germany we were able to go to Magic Mountain. We had such a good time, it was just what we needed!
I also got to go to Stage Coach with my best friend, Desirae, for her birthday. All I can say is MEMORIES! 
May: Layla and I went on a Mother's Day trip with my best friend, Desirae and her son Logan to San Diego for a couple of days. We got to enjoy the beach, the food, went to Sea World, and even took a horse carriage ride right on the beach. We had a blast, it was a great way to spend Mother's day with the people I love. 
June: Layla graduated from preschool! She is getting so big, smart, and beautiful. It amazes me what a little lady she is turning into.
And... Layla and I also got to spend a week at the beach. It was our final beach trip with Jessica and Ana, as well as my family. A couple days with Jessica and Ana at one hotel and a few days at another hotel with my mom, brother, and his two kids. Such a fun week!
July: My brother and I were able to take one last trip to Las Vegas before I moved to Colorado. We had an amazing suite with a handwritten note, champagne, and chocolate covered strawberries waiting for us when we arrived. We had an amazing time and even got to see Rihanna and Kei$ha in concert. Such a great trip!
August: Daddy is officially home with us after finishing up in Germany! We got to go to the beach and have fun in California before moving in September. This was my favorite month! Ed is home with us for good!
September: We have a new home in Colorado! We made the 17 hour drive and made it safe and sound to our new home. We LOVE it here! I can't say enough great things about it. We took our first Colorado trip too. We went to Fort Collins so Ed could check out the New Belgium Brewing Company. We had a great day trip... this was just the beginning.
October: This was a super busy, fun month. We went to the zoo which we absolutely loved! Who knew feeding giraffes would be so much fun?
We had to drive to Dallas, Texas to pick up our car so we drove down a little further to Austin to visit with my Uncle Rick and his two awesome kids. They were amazing tour guides and showed us around Austin. We had a blast and it was so nice to see them after so long.
We took a trip to Garden of the Gods. Breathtaking! It is just gorgeous there. The pictures don't do it justice.
And of course Halloween! Finally a Halloween with Ed again. Layla was a beautiful kitty cat and had a blast going door to door collecting candy.
November: Layla started gymnastics. She's such a STAR! She amazes me at what she accomplishes so quickly.
December: We took a trip to Denver with our great friends, Margaux and Bryan and their kids. We had a blast, checking out the capitol building and ice skating. We couldn't have had a better trip!
CHRISTMAS! What more can I say about that one? It was a relaxing day, just the 3 of us and I couldn't have asked for more.
