You Are My Sunshine

I am so in love with my daughter.  I have sang this song to her every night since she was born.  I finally captured her singing it back to me on video.  Enjoy my precious girlie :)

Norah is potty trained and Bradley is 2 months old!!

My precious Norah is officially potty trained.  I can't believe my baby is such a big girl now.  She keeps asking me, "Mom are you proud of me?"  :)  She did it in 1 day basically.  The morning of the first day we had 2 accidents and then one more the next day (on our way to the potty) and then she had it!  It is funny she will randomly say, "Ah, I'm pooping!" and needless to say we run to the bathroom QUICK!  I love her so much.  She also recently had her first hair cut!  I am so glad that my sister Heather was able to be the one to do it.  She only cut her bangs, but it was a start.  Norah can't wait for her hair to grow long so Heather can cut it again.  :)

My little man in my life is now 2 whole months old.  He is finally starting to get the hang of sleeping at night.  We have had 2 nights of 4 hours of straight sleep, SO AMAZING for Bradley. He also has started smiling a lot and now is working on talking.  He gets so frustrated because he tried so hard to talk he gets the hiccups.  He had his 2 month check up today and weighs a whopping 11lbs 1oz and is 22"!!  I cannot believe how big he is getting - I was so shocked.  Norah was only 9lbs 9oz at 2 months!  :)  I love him more and more each day!  It is crazy I can love these kids so much already.

And then me and Seth.  We just celebrated 5 years ago when I said "are you serious" when he proposed to me!  :)  We went out alone and enjoyed a night to be just together alone.  This is a rare event these days.  It is so funny how we have so much fun now just going out and doing nothing.  I so enjoy the peace and quiet where I don't have a screaming baby, a toddler having an attitude or (recently) sitting in the bathroom almost all day.  I love my Husband and I am completely blessed to have such a handsome, smart and talented man of God as my Husband and Father of my kids.  LOVE, LOVE HIM!  :) 

Dancing Queen....

Sorry the quality is horrible, but you get the idea. :)

I am a blessed Mom!

I just tucked my sweet daughter in bed and she asked me to sing her song, "you are my sunshine".  As I started to sing her little face got the biggest smile and she seemed to be comforted by the familiar song.  I then prayed for her and she said, "I love you Momma, goodnight!".  This is all after a few hours of "Mommy and Norah time" while Daddy is off playing volleyball and Bradley is sleeping.  We made special green cookies with pink frosting and sprinkles and then her favorite dinner, pasta.  I made it even more special by setting up a picnic for us outside with music.  We talked during dinner - we actually carried on a normal conversation - so weird she is only 2 years old!  She kept telling me, "Mom this is a great day!  Mom this a perfect dinner".  Oh I love these moments when my sweet daughter and I can grow a deeper friendship and form that deep bond together.  I hope we will have many more nights cooking, eating, talking and dancing together.  I am so very blessed and I feel extremely grateful to God for giving me such a blessing as my Norah.  I love you my doodle bug.

Update on our life :)

The Lytle house is full of energy these days.  Here is what is going on....

Little Bradley is now 7 weeks old.  I can't believe how quickly time is passing.  He is so adorable and getting to be a little chunk.  I don't know how much he weighs, but he definitely has put on more weight quicker than Norah did.  He is finally starting to get out of his acid reflux funk and starting to act more like a normal baby.  He still gets up about 3 times at night and is up for the morning at 5am until about 9am.  5am seems early, but it is one of the most precious times of the day.  The house is quiet, everyone is sleeping and me and Bradley get to bond.  He is usually full of smiles, little noises and his eyes are as big as quarters as he takes in his surroundings.  Oh I love him more and more each day!!!

Norah is Norah and has her own little personality for sure.  She just had her first hair cut yesterday with Heather.  It was so cute as she acted just like her Daddy and telling Heather the best way to cut her hair - yeah, a little two year old telling Heather how to do it!  She talks so much it is crazy.  At her 2 year appt they told me she had the vocabulary and understanding of a 5 year old!  She sure keeps us on our toes all the time.  Her newest funniest sayings - Norah: "Quick Mom grab the rope and I'll save you!"  Mom: "save me, from what?" Norah: "Quick sand and booby traps!".... She also just had her first ear infection and pink eye last week.  Poor little girl was so sick.  She did great with not touching her eye and if she did she would yell "Quick I touched my eye - wash my hands!" :)

Seth and Tracy: We are doing great!  We just had a church wide marriage retreat a few weekends back.  It was so nice to get away from life and focus on each other and our relationship.  We also had our first real date night last night with NO kids.  We left Bradley and Norah with my parents and went out for 3 1/2 hours to sushi and walking around Lake Eola.  Oh it was so much fun eating and walking around together - we totally loved it and can't wait to do it again SOON!!!  Seth is super busy on adding on to our house.  We are adding on roughly 200 square feet and I can't wait.  I am surprised more everyday how talented my Husband is with his carpentry.  

Check this out!

Norah at birth:      18.5" and 6lbs 1oz

Bradley at birth:    20.5" and 6lbs 9oz

Norah at 2 weeks: 20" and 6lbs 11oz

Bradley at 2 weeks: 20.75" and 7lbs 4oz

Our Little Miracle

**Warning this is a very LONG post!**  

I wanted to write it all down somewhere so I didn't forget the details!  Can you blame me :)

So it has been forever since I posted.  Life has been crazy busy, but I wanted to take a few minutes to write my story out of Bradley's pregnancy.  Enjoy reading of God's faithfulness!!

I had a very eventful pregnancy this time around.  There were several occasions for me to fully rely on God by giving up my agenda and learning to trust His perfect Will.  The first trimester I was horribly sick.  I had to resort to taking medication every 4 hours just so I could pull myself off the couch and be a Wife, Mom and Teacher.  Once that ended in my second trimester I had about 2 weeks of feeling "normal" and then I was put on complete bedrest because I was having too many contractions.  More medication was prescribed and I was on the couch for 2 1/2 weeks.  I had help all day, people coming and cleaning, cooking and caring for me and Norah.  That was a very humbling time for sure, but I am so grateful for the friends and family who sacrificed so much.  I was taken off complete bedrest and had to be very careful I also couldn't do anything that made me have to concentrate or think - that was fun!  I was put back on bedrest 2 more times during the remainder of my pregnancy.  Many stories of God's faithfulness in those times, but I won't get into that.

The other fun thing I had to learn to give totally to God was Bradley's breech presentation.  He was butt first my entire pregnancy.  We tried so many crazy things to try and get him to flip.  I was doing everything from swimming, handstands in the water, inverting my body on the floor, crawling, moxabustion (burning my toes), webster technique (chiropractor) and anything and everything they said "worked".  None of these things worked and for reasons we will never know Bradley never flipped on his own.  I had to go see Dr. Edwards - who isn't exactly the friendliest person, but he is a good Doctor.   It came down to being scheduled for a c-section and right before the procedure the Dr. tried one last resort.  An old technique that is not even taught anymore called external cephalic version.  

So we had this ECV scheduled for July 24th at 7:30am.  If it didn't work I would have a c-section right away - if it worked we would wait for the meds to wear off and I would leave the hospital and induce naturally and deliver in a birthing center.  It was so weird going around for 2 weeks knowing that I would be meeting my baby boy on July 24th.  Seth and I arrived at the hospital at 5:30am and proceeded to the labor and delivery floor.  It was weird being there again (the last time was when I had Norah) and it was weird being there knowing I wasn't in labor but potentially having a baby there that day.  They took us to the pre-op room and started hooking me up to all sorts of things, poking me with all kinds of needles.  This was totally opposite of what I wanted for a labor!  We were hoping to deliver with a midwife in a birthing center.  We didn't want hospitals, needles, medication and all the fuss.  This is what God had in store for me - he was again teaching me that I need to trust him and that our ways are not our own.  I wasn't in control, I couldn't be in control.  I had to fully trust God that my baby boy would arrive when and how God designed and no other way.  I am actually surprised to say that I was totally at peace with the idea of a c-section and I was ready and excited to meet Bradley no matter how he decided to come into the world.  

The Nurse Anethesist came in right at 7:30am and started my epidural.  I was surprised at how it wasn't painful at all and especially surprised at how much I enjoyed the feeling of feeling nothing.  All the nurses kept telling me that I was crazy because we told them that if the ECV worked we wanted the epidural taken out and we wanted to leave and go deliver at a birthing center.  :) They tried to talk me out of it so many times!  The Dr. came in and did a quick ultrasound to check his position and then started the procedure.  All I can say is it was extremely uncomfortable and pretty painful - even with a good dose of epidural.  I closed my eyes to try and relax as he dug his hands all deep into my skin and started to move Bradley.  Seth said it was amazing to watch and the Dr. used all his strength - and it sure felt like it.  He had him turned within 90 seconds!  

It seemed that labor started naturally right away.  I had to stay laying down until the epidural faded and by the time I could get up to walk I had already dilated 2 cm (making me 3cm) and was 85% effaced.  Labor definitely seemed to come on hard and strong and I was starting to wonder why I didn't keep the epidural in :)  I had doubts of leaving the hospital. The Dr. told me he would break my water and get things moving - all the nurses were trying to get us to stay.  I was worried of him flipping again if I left and wondered if this was a good thing to be leaving.  I had to call my midwife (Diane) an she told us to pray about it and we talked about what I really wanted (doing it naturally) and shortly after I felt at peace about leaving.  After some more comments from the nurses about being crazy for leaving seeing that I was in labor - we walked out of the hospital at 12:00pm.  My contractions were every 5 minutes at this point so we headed over to see my midwife.  She did some "fun stuff" to move things on faster and sent me to go have lunch and take a shower.  I was exhausted because I hadn't eaten or had anything to drink since 11:45pm the night before.  We didn't want to drive all the way home because things seemed to be moving quickly so we decided to go to my parents house.  We agreed to meet Diane at the birthing center in 2 hours.

The drive to my parents house was the WORST drive in my entire life.  I think Seth was driving 10 miles an hour and I was still yelling at him that he was driving too fast.  We got there and my contractions quickly jumped to 1 - 2 minutes apart.  So we called Diane and just as soon as I walked into my parents house I had to get back into the car.  Oh brother, let me tell you the birthing center is in Winter Park and they have the worst brick roads in the world!  It was a horrible place to put a birthing center.  :)  We got there a little after 1pm and I wasn't feeling so hot.  

I had back labor the entire time - that wasn't fun.  The only thing  that made it feel better was a bath, but that slowed my contractions.  I wanted to get Bradley out quick so Seth, my Mom, Noelle and Emily were all there helping me by massaging or pushing on my back.  Nothing took it away, but it helped some.  Thanks guys :)

To make a long story somewhat shorter, my contractions were weird.  They would pick up and be at 1-2 minutes for awhile and then they would slow back down to every 5-7 minutes.  I don't think they ever really were consistent.  Around 9pm, I think, I was so so so tired and didn't think I would even be able to push.  Diane checked me and I was 9cm. YAY!  My water still had not broken so she broke it at this point.  I had this unusually peaceful moment of sleep right after she broke my water - which was much needed.  I kept thinking to myself, great my labor stopped and now he isn't going to come anymore :)  And then I woke up, probably 5 minutes later, and was ready to push.  I still wasn't fully dilated so she "helped" me dilated while I pushed it out to 10.  YIKES!  That hurt.  It seemed like an eternity of pushing, I don't know how long it really was - probably only a few minutes.

After I was fully dilated I pushed for 3 minutes and he was out.  Seth was able to be right there to help catch him.  It was so awesome!!  I was so aware of my surroundings - with Norah I was in another world - even though this time it felt so much more painful because I wasn't "in the zone" I can now look back and remember so many details and I love it.  We sat around and took tons of pictures, I ate a chicken sandwich and a full Chinese meal (I was super hungry!), took a shower and then we left to come home exactly 4 hours after he was born.  Now that is awesome!  

As I look back over the past 9 months I am amazed at God's faithfulness in his plan for Bradley's arrival.  If Bradley had not been breech I most likely would have gone into labor very early and would have potentially had a pre-mature baby.  He taught me so much during this time.  Yes, I hated it at times.  Yes, I questioned God's goodness.  Yes, I had several bad attitudes.  But in the end, His plan was perfect and I would do it all again.  I became closer to God and Seth during this time.  I learned that I cannot do it on my own, I need help.  I absolutely loved Diane and the staff at All Bright Beginnings.  I am so grateful I switched to them instead of my Doctor.   They were so good I am excited to get pregnant again so I can go back :)  But not any time too soon....

Dear God...

I thought this was too cute.  About 2 months ago now I watched a show on the discovery channel on alligator wrestling.  Norah was in the room playing with her toys, but I had no idea what she was catching.  Ever since that show she has been scared that there are alligators on the floor and they are coming to get her.  I tried telling her that there weren't any, but her little imagination gets the best of her.  She usually starts shaking with fear and won't move.  My Mom taught her the word for being "brave" and I encourage her to be brave and go stomp on them.  That worked for awhile but now she says she "can't get rid of them".  So then we started praying and asking God to take away the alligators.  That also has worked for awhile.  And now she started waking up early, early in the morning crying that the alligators were biting her.  A few days ago I had to put a band-aide on her knee to comfort her and because of her "alligator bite".  But, thankfully 2 days ago I heard her crying at like 5am and I just stayed in bed and prayed for her (I knew why she was crying) and a few minutes later she stopped crying.  She slept in until 8:45 - which is very unusual for her!  This is what she said when I went in her room, "Mommy, I love you.  I said to God, 'dear God please take alligators away, amen' and I be brave.  I sleeping so long!"  Oh it melts my heart!  Thank you God for protecting Norah and teaching her your comfort at such a young age!!   And yes, I cried after that.  =)

Family Vacation 2009

We had such a blast on our very first family vacation! We went to Baltimore, Maryland to visit old friends and see where Seth was born and grew up. Then we headed to New Jersey to visit family, who we haven't seen since Norah was 5 months old! And Seth took me away for 1 night into New York City for our 4 year anniversary. That was so much fun to be able to get away for a night just the two of us. Vacations are not the same when you are the parents!! It was a ton of work! =) But we created some wonderful memories and Norah loved every minute. Her favorite part was going to the farm in New Jersey and riding the horse - which if you ask her about it she will tell you, "It was berry berry bumpy, hold tight!" She also loved going to the horse races on Memorial Day. When she talks about it she starts running around in circles and saying, "The horsies were berry fast, and run around and around like this!". =)

Seth decided while we were up there that he wants to give Bradley the middle name Vincenzo after his Grandfather who we call "Papa Enzo". Seth was able to tell him at dinner the last night and share with him how much he means to him and how he has taught him good work ethic and how to love your wife unconditionally.  Seth said he hopes he can be like him to me and our family and instill this same passion into his son Bradley for his future wife and family.  Papa Enzo and Nonna Maria were touched and I think very honored. So little Bradley has a middle name! Bradley Vincenzo Lytle.  We were able to get a 3D ultrasound while up there and we were finally able to see our little man's face.  He is adorable and looks just like Seth.  I think more than Norah.  =)  He is breach right now so please pray that he turns!  I am wanting to do a natural birth in a birthing center.   Currently he weighs 3lbs 2oz.  He will definitely be bigger than Norah who was 6lbs 1oz.   I will be 31 weeks on Tuesday - that's crazy!!  I need to get some pictures of my belly bump....

We were able to do so much while up there and I can't believe it is over and now on to the next thing....Willow and Bradley's baby showers, Norah and Bristol's birthday parties and then meeting Willow!  The time is FLYING and we will have a son before I know it.   Eek!

Enjoy the pictures from our vacation. If you click on the pictures you can see all of them bigger.


Bradley Vincenzo Lytle

Norah making pizza

It's a BOY!!!

I know, I keep saying that to myself over and over. But there is no mistaking this picture. =) We are both super excited and cannot wait to have a little boy in our family. His name will be Bradley Lytle. We don't have a middle name yet, I'm leaving that up to Seth. He didn't want to find out what we were having and I finally convinced him at the last second. We are glad we found out - there is so much to prepare for a little boy. I am already thinking about how to decorate his room. =) I still haven't gone out to buy any boy clothes, I guess I am a little nervous.

Norah is sick and crying. It is so sad, she comes up to me and tells me her neck hurts. Which means her throat hurts. =( Please pray she gets better. I don't like to see her hurting.

What's Happening

The Lytle house is loud and busy these days. Norah is growing up so fast Seth and I cannot believe it! We just look at her sometimes and wonder how she got so big - it seems like just yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital. Now in a few short months we will be bringing home another little Lytle. Yikes!

Norah is one of those kids who could go on the show "Kids Say The Darnest Things" and be a star. She is constantly making us laugh with the things she comes up with. A few of my favorites lately:

• She wanted to do something she wasn't supposed to be doing and I walked in the room. She looked at me holding her hand out and said, "Mommy go talk to Daddy, just go". 
• If you are talking to someone and she wants your attention (which is all the time) she will grab your face with both hands and turn your head towards her and say, "Mommy look at me, look in my eyes". Or she will say, "No more talky Daddy, all done".
• She lately has been calling me Tracy or Trace if I don't respond to Mommy the first time. Or she will start hitting her leg or clapping her hands saying, "Come here, Trace come here". It sounds just like the way I call Bauer.
• She is getting close to potty training. Any time she poops or pees she will come to me with a diaper and wipes and say, "Mommy change the diaper please". So that is nice. The only bad thing is we go through so many more diapers b/c she hates staying in it if it is wet.
• Yesterday she officially named her baby doll "Baby Brynn" after George and Noelle's little girl. She has been feeding, changing diapers and rocking her all day yesterday and has been doing it again today. It is so cute =)

She is full of words and you never know what will come out of her mouth. She listens intently to your conversations and will pick up on things. We have to be very careful what we say now. You never know when she is listening and when she will repeat what you said. =)

Seth and I are doing good. He is still very busy with work and working late most nights. I guess I can't complain b/c he does have a job!

I am just over here eating and growing. I definitely look pregnant now. I am feeling this little baby move like crazy.  I am almost half way through my pregnancy!  This baby will be here before we know it and I am so ready to meet him/her!!

Oh the names we are considering for the baby:  Bradley or Savannah.  

A cute picture

I have so many pictures to post for you. We've been busy enjoying this amazing weather! Lots of outdoor playing: Norah's tried sidewalk chalk, bubbles, digging in the dirt, swimming and today strawberry picking! I'll try to get them up soon. For now enjoy these cute pictures my Mom took of Norah.

Update...

Well things have been crazy and busy around here as usual. I am now 16 weeks pregnant and still can't believe it. I have been feeling the baby move more and my belly is starting to show a bit. I finally got over my week long sickness with the flu and now my "morning sickness" has come back. It's so weird. I think it is only because I don't get enough rest. I still can't look at or handle raw meat - so we don't eat much meat around here (poor Seth). I also have this weird rash (don't get grossed out) it's on my face and it is a spot, big spot, of very dry skin that itches. It has been spreading over the past couple months and now it is on my lip and my whole bottom lip is numb. I finally went to the Dr. for the first time today and she said, "Hmm, I have no idea what that is..." Go figure! Now I am working on finding yet another Dr. to see if he can get my feeling back in my lip! Great, you will all be staring at me now next time you see me! =)

Seth is working like a mad-man. He has been staying late a lot recently and things have been stressful for him. He is also playing basketball at the church this season. I've only been to one game, but I think he is doing awesome.

Norah is adorable. I need to start writing down some of the comments she has started saying. The latest cute one was, "Mommy, I pick your nose?" And she started coming at me with her finger ready. There are so many things she says on a daily basis that make me laugh. She brings such joy to this house. But, on the other hand she can really test me. She has a very strong headed personality along with a temper. So when she has "her days" it can be a very, very long and hard. We are getting ready to transition her to her new room with a big girl bed. It is so hard to believe that she will be 2 in just four months. She is growing up so fast and we are loving every minute of watching her grow, learn and start to become her own little person.

Jesus Loves Me

Pictures from the beach and our Disney trip coming soon...
For now enjoy this adorable video of our ham.

What do you think?

I just got this new bedspread and want to know what you think?

Norah Singing

Beach Day and Papa/Nonna visit

We had a full week this past week! We made a trip to the beach with Ashley, Bristol and Megan. It was so much fun and such a beautiful, hot day. Then, Papa and Nonna came down for a quick trip to see Norah! She was so happy that Papa brought his cake-cake pan. He taught Norah how to make them! She ate 8 cake-cakes one morning!

I had an appt. with my midwife yesterday and we were finally able to hear the heart beat! The little guy was moving all around and the heart beat was a strong 150-160ish. Hmm, I wonder if it will be a boy or girl. For those of you who don't know yet we are NOT finding out what the gender of this baby is until it's born! So we will have to wait until August 6th (hopefully a few weeks earlier) to find out.

Okay, got to clean. Enjoy the pictures.z

Happy Birthday Seth!

What a FULL week we had celebrating Seth's birthday. It was so much fun and now I am exhausted, but it was worth every minute. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful, caring Husband. I respect and cherish you so much more every year. I never would have imagined when I met you 5 years ago that you would one day exceed my extensive list of "what I want in a Husband"! Norah loves her Daddy and how you gives her kisses, play with her and take her out on special dates. Seth, thank you for being my best friend! I love you so much and look forward to celebrating many more birthday's with you.

We just spent the weekend with Jessie, Mike, James and Gabe. We squeezed into our humble home, but I think we all had a good time. There was speed scrabble, (Mike... I WILL beat you next time. Start practicing!) Tennis matches, cooking, laughing, a bonfire and yes, video games. I am thankful they were able to come and that we could spend some much needed time together as siblings. Norah had a blast getting to know her Aunt and Uncles more. When we came home today from school she ran inside to the couch and said, "James, where'd you go?" She was looking under the sheets calling his name. It was so cute, but sad at the same time. It's hard knowing all Seth's side of the family lives out of state and when they leave you don't know when they will see Norah again.

Okay, enjoy the pictures from Seth's birthday week. Oh yeah, last week we went out with my parents to Texas de Brazil. What an amazing restaurant. I didn't want to eat meat for a week afterwards, but it was definitely one of the best places we've been in Orlando.

Central Florida Zoo!

One of our family gifts from my parents was a year pass to Leu Gardens and the Central Florida Zoo. The zoo happens to be only 10 minutes from our house so on Seth's lunch break we decided to venture up there and meet some animals. We had a blast and Norah is now in love with "Elphanants". Thankfully we had a stuffed Horton from Nonna so now she has her very own Elphanant to carry around the house. Enjoy the pictures and video of Norah ordering the elephants around (only Norah would do this!).

I need to post...

I know, it has been forever since I posted. Life has been super busy with finding out I am pregnant again, being sick all day, having a very active 18 month old, going to Georgia for just about 2 weeks, parties, weddings, oh my! The list goes on and on it seems. So since so much has happened Pictures will come when I find my camera. =)

*Norah had a blast enjoying her 2nd Christmas with her Georgia family. She loved opening everyones "presidents" and pretty much thought she was the queen for a day (or 2 weeks really). She does miss Papa's famous "cake-cakes", I hear it every morning.

*I have been super sick. Thankfully, I think, I haven't thrown up yet I am just extremely nauseous everyday all day. I had medication but unfortunately that doesn't work anymore. We also had our first ultrasound last week and our little baby is doing awesome, heartbeat was a strong 173. I should be around 10 weeks pregnant - my due date is a bit in question so I am confused. My best guess is the first week of August. =)

*I started teaching back today. It was so tiring, but I was glad to see all my students again.

*I am preparing for lots of visitors next week. Seth's sister and fiance plus his two brothers and our good friend Brad. And yes, they are all staying here in our humble house. It will be a tight fit, but hey, we're all family! =)

*Oh, and I left my Doctor's office. I am currently seeking a new doctor or midwife. At this point I don't care between the two I just want to find one that my insurance accepts and that actually cares about people! Any advice? Please, don't recommend Advanced Women's Health - if you've ever been there I'm sure you won't...