Time Flies When You Are Having Fun!

Our little Nyla is 4 weeks old today! Time is flying by! My little sweet sweet (as I call her) is growing and has such a sweet personality. My heart just gets bigger and bigger each day! We have had a fun weekend and we actually ventured out of the house.

The Carter's

Nyla

Friday we had a girl's day out. My mom, Nyla, and I made a quick shopping trip for me and then to Wally-world for household stuff. The house was getting sprayed so we needed to be away from the house for a couple of hours. This was my first trip by myself (w/ my mom) but someone said when you go out with a baby you take everything but the kitchen sink...very true! I had everything! =) Daddy D made sure I could maneuver the stroller and carseat...I could when we practiced at home...as soon as I got out to the stores I could not get that stroller to let down for nothing LOL...I have to work on that some before I got out again with her by myself. We had a great time and Nyla did very good!



Us girls (3 generations)

Nyla hanging out

She has the cutest expressions

Saturday we ventured out to our new favorite store...Babies-r-us. Yes! if you have a baby you will most likely shop there once if not a million times (smile). We wish there was a store on our side of town, but we enjoyed the short trip across town. Nyla was awake during the ride back home and I just enjoyed entertaining her and reflecting on the joy of motherhood!

Today we went to dinner to have a last hoorah before Daddy D went back to work. Yes, we are sad but we are thankful for the month that he was able to take off. I am definitely going to miss him during the day because we helped each other out a lot with Nyla (he let me have a little extra sleep--such a sweetie!). and just having the other part of my team here =)..Nyla and I will definitely be looking out the window at 430 (Daddy's home!) I teased him and told him we would call every hour and we would definitely be using our iPhone face time feature =) My time for going back to work will be coming in Oct, so I will definitely try and make the most of my time with my girl!

Daddy w/ his girl

I love watching him w/ her

Nyla's First (Daddy and Mommy's First too!)

So AMAZING! That is what D said on yesterday in regards to our sweet girl Nyla. We are still in amazement that we have a child. I guess when you have waited for something for so long you sometimes just cannot believe it is real. =) It is real though (we have sleep deprivation, x amount of wet/poopy diapers, 2-3 hr feedings to prove it)...we are enjoying every minute of it though!
Nyla is 3 weeks today! Time is flying by! As I am typing this I am watching her rest so peacefully (it just melts my heart). Alot has happened in 3 weeks...Nyla (and her parents) have experienced many firsts. Some of the firsts are :

1. Her first car ride (actually she has had 3 rides)...She slept the whole ride home from the hospital...that moment was surreal b/c D had the car seat in the car for awhile and to actually have someone utilizing it was pretty cool!

Nyla's trip home

2. Nyla's parent's being away: D had to be in a wedding last weekend and I had to go to the doctor. That was very hard leaving her (I am not looking forward to going back to work--) The whole time you are thinking what am I missing?? I am sure she needs me)

Isn't this cute? (She is a daddy's girl)

3. First Drs. Appt: Nyla's first Dr appt went well. She had a good report. The dr. was pleased with her and complemented her parents too! (She said we did well!)

My sweet sweet at the doctor

4. Baby acne: Yes! I wasn't prepared for this until she was in Jr. High School. Right now my Nyla has red bumps all over her cheeks. Remedy: Do nothing about it but let time heal it. Apparently the glands for babies are underdeveloped or something so they have nothing to combat the acne right now. It bothers us more than it bothers them. Yes! it is driving me nuts...it looks like it itches, but I will be patient =)

Nyla and grandma

5. First real bath: The umbilical cord stump fell off so we were able to give Nyla her first real bath in her bath spa. Nyla was not a fan of those sponge baths but she LOVES her bath spa. (Yes her bath tub is high tech!) Didn't post pics b/c I didn't want to exploit my naked baby =)

Me and my sweet sweet

These 3 weeks have been great! I couldn't have asked for such a wonderful blessing in Nyla. D and I are thankful for her and look forward to many more wonderful times with her. This is actually D's last week at home with us before he goes back to work (I go back in October *sad face*), but we will definitely make the most of it. He has definitely been my right hand man and made sure that his girls have been taken care of =)

The Wait Is Finally Over...Nyla Elise Carter

For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of Him:

1 Samuel 1:27 (KJV)

Me and Nyla

The Carter household has added a new addition...the child that we asked God to give us, the child that we waited patiently for, and who is definitely a gift from God...this child is Nyla Elise Carter born July 31, 2011 at 1056 pm 7lbs 13 oz 20 in long. Born to Demetrius and Jazmin Carter.

We are definitely elated!! We feel truly blessed and glad that God chose us to be her parents. So MANY people have been on this journey with us...praying for us and showing genuine concern as we waited for this child. I shared with my mom today that Nyla is known across the U.S...for we have friends and family across the U.S. who have been anticipating her arrival as well.

D and I (I must have been drugged up to let him take this pic)

So many people have asked how did we choose the name Nyla. Actually D chose the name before we were married. A little girl on program at the church he attended in D.C. had this name. He texted me saying that he thought Nyla was a cute girl's name if we ever had a daughter. I thought it was pretty as well (I had never heard it before) I was definitely hoping that it wouldn't all of a sudden become popular because it was definitely at the top of my list and it was different. The middle name Elise was chosen by me. I actually just came up with it one day after work. I don't know anyone name Elise and it just seems really feminine...so it stuck. Now we originally had another middle name picked out and up until about 2-3 months ago her middle name was going to be Jaymes, but my name won! (Ha!) I then was asked "what does her name mean?" Good question =) As you can see we definitely didn't pick out names for meaning but then I said we need to find out because I didn't want her to have a name that meant the devil or something, but actually her name has good meaning. Nyla means "champion" or "winner" and Elise means "consecrated" or "God's Oath"

There She Is

Labor was interesting...my epidural didn't work the first time...so I had to get it done again. This is not something a pregnant women with contractions 2 minutes apart wants to hear (smile). I told the nurse anesthetist in the nicest way a pregnant woman could tell him that I did not want that to happen , but D told me to let him re-do it would be worth it... My sweet little girl arrived...mommy was very TIRED, but EVERYTHING was well worth it once I saw her face and heard her cry (that is when I started to cry---that was music to my ears!) I remember D telling me during labor as he was coaching me (along with my mom and Aunt Sarah) "Babe you are doing good...just keep going and when it is over you can have as much Dr. Pepper as you want."--For those that do not know I LOVE Dr. Pepper and I haven't had one since I found out I was pregnant in November--- He did get me Dr. Pepper when we arrived home but I actually have had a cup =)

Home sweet Home

Being home with Nyla has been sooooo surreal. She is a week old today! One day D and I just sat in the living room and just stared at her. We spoke no words to one another, but just stared at this sweet little girl who just a week ago was moving around in my tummy. At that moment of quietness between the two of us I knew that we were thinking the same thing...Pure Amazement! Things of course have been pleasantly chaotic... diaper changes, 2-3 hr feedings, 2-3 hr naps in between feedings (if we can get them), and remembering to take care of our own selves (one day it was 1230...my mom came over and we realized we hadn't showered and D hadn't eaten at all)...We heard it before, but it definitely is true...Your life is not your own anymore...it revolves around the little one...VERY TRUE! We have definitely relished the moments where we do get to get in bed (if only for 2 hrs b/c we both get up at feedings...it is a team effort) and lay our head on one another shoulder and just say "I love you" followed by zzzzz's (smile)

Nyla is already changing before our eyes

I have said it before, but I will I say it again...we are very thankful for this experience... I do want to take this time in the blog to tip my hat off to my husband Demetrius. He has taken on this parenting role with so much grace. He said that he is very appreciative of the work that I put in on last Sunday (getting our baby girl into this world). He has actually turned into "Mr Mom" (smile)...diaper changes (he has done most of them), feedings, bath time...whatever needed to be done so that my body could physically heal. I am so thankful for my help mate. He is such a wonderful father to Nyla and good husband to me! (Ok I am done, but I believe in giving credit where credit is due!)


It is our prayer that we will do what we are supposed to do as parents for Nyla...guide her and be a model for her. God has gifted her to us and we definitely want to take care of this precious bundle of joy! We will keep you updated as little Nyla continues to grow. Thank you for sharing in this journey!

Sweet baby girl