Before and after

The decorating came out great and the house did look pretty "party ready". When everyone left Iylah totally sat and played with all her new toys for like 2 hours. We really had a great party for our girl!

1st Birthday Party

Iylah had such a great time at her first birthday party. We have such great friends and we are so glad that everyone could come celebrate Iylah's 1st year with us. Here are some pictures from the party. Please take notice of Broden (yellow shirt) guarding Iylah from the ever so gorgeous Tyler. Broden will not let any else get their hands on his best girl!

P.S. Thank you Mom for the food and your help and thank you Erika for the help with the decorating and cleaning up. You guys rock!

The 4th

We went over to our neighbors house for a 4th of July party. We had a great time. The kids had an egg and spoon race, water balloon toss, flag relay and they made 4th of July windmills. We really had fun. We watched the DIsney fireworks from our yard because they are right in front of our house, as you can see. I was remembering as I was putting Iylah bed that last 4th of July was much more stessfull with a 3 day old baby and a very active toddler.

Nya Bliss

Nya Bliss has been moving so fast this summer that I feel like I never have any pictures of her. I managed to find a few recent shots of her in between all her running around. OH, and by the way...HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

Best friends...

Seriously, how cute is Iylah with Oliver. She cannot get enough of him. She thinks it is hilarious whenever he comes into the room. I really like the picture where she is just babbling at him and he really looks like he is listening to her.

Happy Birthday Iylah Jade!

Today my Iylah is one! She has been such a great addition to our family. Today I really tried to put myself back into those moments when she first came home. I tried to remember the way her cry sounded (and there was a lot of it to remember). I tried to remember how we spent those first weeks trying to get into some kind of routine and flow together. I tried to picture how small she was and how she smelled. Every month she had turned more and more into her own little identity. I really hate the part about these kids getting so big, so fast. I can hardly remember all the amazing and hilarious things Nya used to say and do. Luckily, a lot of them are written down. I feel like Iylah has totally changed over the past few days. It is almost like she knew she was going to be one. She decided that she needed to show us that she has been paying attention to everything we say. She has started to say things more frequently. Right now she is saying:
-"what's that?"
-"baby"
-"dog"
-"Nya" and "Iylah"
-"Yes"
-"Hello"
I just want to be sure that I am soaking up every possible moment of their lives. Happy FIRST Birthday Iylah baby!

Could they be any cuter?

I think I am going to have some trouble with Nya, look at that stance. Please be sure that I did not prompt that position in ANY WAY, she does that stuff all on her own. Also take note that even with shampoo and water, Iylah's mohawk curled itself into a wave. As soon as she gets in the bath she finds that turtle and sucks on its head for the entire length of her bath. Iylah is also saying "What's that?" now and it is so cute but it sounds more like "WA DAT?"

few more from shoot

Iylah's 1 year-old pictures