Fun Pics of the Little One:)

We haven't been up to anything too exciting, but truthfully everyday life is more than exciting while you are watching a little one grow and develop!:) So I just thought I would share a couple updated pics of our growing girl!

LJ has decided she is a big girl now and is not so happy to be laying down, but LOVES to be sitting up with us! As you can see, she is pretty proud of herself that she can sit up:)

She also loves to play flying games on mommy's legs:)

LJ decided that waiting for mom to be ready for church can be pretty exhausting!

She has also decided that going for walks in her stroller is so much fun! She is not content though to be in her car seat that fits in the stroller, but wants to be strapped in the big girl seat so she can see out. But to give you perspective on how little she still is for it here is the broader view...thank goodness for the blankets to prop her up!

Easter Trip to Baltimore

Well we had another wonderful trip to Baltimore to visit Uncle Scott for Easter. I wish I had more pictures but unfortunately our camera battery died and we didn't have the charger, so I will add what we were able to take the first day. It was a wonderful weekend full of lots of good food, laughs and of course the awesome Guitar Hero! We all had a blast trading off on the different instruments and challenging each other to get better scores. It was so much fun to see how much Baron loved his little cousin LJ! Every time she would make any noise he would run over to make sure she was ok and lick her face...so cute! Anyways, thanks Uncle Scott for another great visit!

Baron and LJ

What a talented family!:)

Grandpa's little girl...

Grandma's little ballerina!

For LJ's Grandma Bird

So this post is for Grandma Bird because she has been wanting to see a picture of the adorable smile we keep talking about, but it has been hard to capture because I either don't have my camera, or when I go to take the picture she just blankly stares at the camera like, what is that thing mom? But she ALWAYS gives daddy big smiles when he comes home so I tried to capture a couple then. Even then though the camera would go off one split second too late so you get the end of the smile, but non the less, here is a glimpse.:)

This last one is here because I had to show off her cute outfit. Let me just say that I LOVE the store Once Upon a Child! I got these jeans for like 3 bucks and they are just adorable! I had them on her for 3 days strait, today made 4, but lets just say the blow out she managed to do this morning was definite cause for a good washing for them! This is also the blank face of wonder I talked about when she sees the camera:)

Just a fun update!

I just thought I would give a little update on what has been goin on around these parts. Nothing too exciting, but we are truly enjoying life as we settle in to this new family. I absolutely LOVE being a stay at home mom and count my blessings every day that I have a wonderful husband who works so hard to allow me to do that. LJ is growing and learning so much every day and I am so glad I don't have to miss any of it! So in no particular order here are some pictures of what we have been up to in the last few weeks.

We were really excited that Michigan made it to the NCAA tournament so this is the outfit we wore to watch them play! Too bad they didn't make it as far as we would have liked, but there is always next year! Oh and we also cheered BYU on too, they definitely should have made it out of the first round:(

This is LJ visiting her new friend Jackson. Jackson is the son of a friend of ours down the street. He was born St Patty's day so LJ and him are 6 weeks apart. Jackson here is a pound bigger than LJ was when she was born, but look at her now! It is a lot of fun to have a stoller buddy to hang out with, especially for mommy!

LJ has decided that she really likes sitting up like a big girl in her bumbo!

She has also decided that Baby Einstien is REALLY cool!

She also thinks this star thing above her on the mat is very exciting to stare at, especially since it lights up and plays music!

Mommy and I read books every day and I LOVE to look at the pictures!

She is very fond of bathtime, but I took this picture to show that her eyebrows and new hair that is growing in is still very dark, looks like she might have hair like mommy! Oh and how bout that double chin she's working on!:)

This was today during our playtime together. She was having fun kicking and talking to mommy!

So sorry if this post was boring, but this is our life now...and we couldn't be more happy and blessed!

Visit from the Incredible Erika

Family is so wonderful! About a week after the rest of my family left, Erika, my wonderful cousin came to spend about 5 days with us. Let me tell you though, 5 days was far too short. Although it is a little more difficult planning out activities since it now revolves around if there is a place I can feed the baby, Erika was very patient with us and we tried to do as much fun stuff as we could. Truthfully some of best times were just talking, laughing and just enjoying each other and the baby. Erika was such a good help too. I was able to enjoy a nice long shower every day as she took care of the little one any time I needed. We truly had such a great time, thank you so much for coming Erika and we look forward to the next time!

LJ loves her Auntie Erika!

We had some very yummy food! I was able to eat with no trouble thanks to the new amazing baby k'tan carrier! I love it! Thanks Lynette for introducing it to me!

Erika and I spent an afternoon wondering around downtown Ann Arbor and had to get a little treat when we came to the Schakolad store!

Erika and Ryan being crazy on our car adventure. It was raining all day Saturday so we decided it was a good day to drive around and show her the sites of Detroit. Truthfully most places are not safe enough to even get out of the car so it worked perfectly! This picture was taken as we were stopped in front of the Temple so I could take 20 minutes to feed the baby. I think the 2 in the front were a little bored:) Thanks again for such a good time Erika!

Coming Home from the Hospital

On February 7th LJ was ready to come home from the hospital. Here is the outfit we chose for her. As much as there are 2 choices in schools, both dad and I agree that BYU is the best place for her!:) Dad says his boys are welcome to go to Michigan like him, but Provo is definitely the place for his girls!

I'm all ready to go!

Yeah we are home!!

It was a long couple of days at the hospital and it seemed it didn't take to long to settle in at home.

She's Finally Here!

I know this is a little late in posting, but finally here is our announcement of our beautiful baby girl. Lorilyn Julene Stoianowski joined our family at 12:42AM on February 5th, 2009. She weighed in at 6lb 2oz and was 19 3/4". All together the delivery went very smooth. We spent 3 days in the hospital, then came home to a wonderful house with my parents here ready to help the adjustment to life with the babe. Overall, the exerience was absolutely incredible, and we feel so incredibly blessed to have our little LJ in our lives. We now can't imagine life without her with us:)

LJ holding daddy's finger. Let me tell you she had him wrapped around her little finger from the moment she entered this world. She actually looks a LOT like her daddy, which makes her extremely cute!

Daddy's little girl. Ryan was so amazing during delivery and will make an incredible dad.

This is about 1 hour after she was born on the transfer from the delivery room, which was in the new wing of the hospital so it was INCREDIBLE, to the recovery room. They played Brahms Lullaby over the loud speaker as we were tranfered announcing her birth to the hospital.

This was when she was about 20 minutes old. Because of her small size her body was having problems controling her temp so she had to be under the warming light with warm blankets for a while to warm her body temp up. She did great though:)

Me and my little girl right after she was born. The nurses made a bow out of gauze for her little cap. It was rather adorable! Everyone says she has my profile...poor girl!

LJ and mom about 10 minutes after her birth!

My Blessing Day

On February 22nd Lorilyn was blessed by her dad in church. It was an incredible experience, with so much support from a wonderful family. The dress she has on was made by Momma Jigs, and she just looked like an angel. Stephen and Kori and their family came into town for the event and we had a couple wonderful days with them. Lynette and Megan surprised me and came in town Saturday and stayed until Monday. We had almost all the family there, including Ryan's parents and grandparents. All together I couldn't have asked for anything more.

Me and LJ before her blessing. She couldn't fit in her car seat with the dress on so we went in the mother's lounge before church and got her ready.

Daddy and his little angel after the blessing. Ryan really did do an amazing job and gave her an incredible blessing. There was such a special spirit surrounding the event, it was just wonderful.

Me and Lynette. I was so happy that she was able to join us here and it was wonderful having her at the house for a few days. Thanks for all the great motherly advise! Both she and Kori are such incredible examples of mother's for me, I feel so grateful!

The whole clan who came to the blessing. Thank you everyone for the support! Thank you so much Steve and Kori for driving here and being here for us. We had such a wonderful weekend and can't wait till we get to spend more time together!

Baby Shower!

On January 10th, Momma Jigs and Papa Stoi, with the help of my visiting teachers and friends from the church threw us an amazing baby shower. With family and friends along with the relief society, we had a support group of over 45 people. I wish we would have taken a picture of the outside because it was a horrible blizzard of about 8 inches that day but that many people still ventured out in support. We feel so blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful people!

Me and Momma Jigs. She is the best mom-in-law ever!


The food table. We made chicken salad croissants and a few relief society ladies brought some delicious salads and desserts. Yummy!


We got so many wonderful gifts from so many wonderful people. This gift was the handmade blankets and burp cloths from Grandma Bird and Great Grandma Jex. We wished they could have been with us, but we are so grateful for all they did!


This is the BYU outfit I requested from Grandma Bird. Lorilyn has a Michigan blanket to be taken home from the hospital in, so she needed a BYU outfit to wear underneath!


Ryan got to join in the festivities and was a wonderful help!


He also enjoyed trying on the clothes and bibbs!

Family is so Wonderful!

Ryan and I were lucky enough to be able to spend January 1st-4th with our wonderful Bird family in Naperville, IL. We had such a wonderful time full of food, laughter and of course Wii! They got a Wii for Christmas so we spent hours playing everything from sports to Rock Band. Even after the kids went to bed the adults would spend at least an hour in the band, which we named "Birdski". Ryan would rock out on the guitar, me and Steve the drums and Kori was our amazing vocalist. Man we had a blast! Their children are all so wonderful. We truly had an amazing weekend!

Me and Ryan with the adorable kids! I like this picture because I actually look halfway normal! What you don't see is Braxton is almost falling off the couch because my belly is pushing against him!

Here we are rockin out as Birdski! You can see the top of Steve's head, he was our vocalist at the time.

Here is when Ryan and Emma decided to have a Wii boxing match. Emma was pretty amazing and got in some good punches, but unfortunately Uncle Ryan was mean and knocked her out! Can you believe he would hit a girl let alone a 3 year old! Very mean Uncle Ryan!

Ryan and his girls. He quickly won over their hearts and couldn't get enough hugs and kisses! He even spent an afternoon playing Barbies with Emma! He was a good Prince Charming though I have to say!

Me and little Lizzie. Can you get more adorable than those little pigtails?!