Tumbling Week 23

Her face cracks me up

hanging from the bars

doing her headstands

walking the balance beam by herself

Alayah did much better this week. She at least attempted all the things she was supposed to do. She is doing so well at all her skills. I wish they would teach something new because I think she is bored with what they have been doing the last 6 months.

This is the only outfit from last summer that she still fits in...:(

She likes to help her Nana water the flowers

Nana decided she needed to water the lawn, so Alayah decided to take advantage

She loves playing in the water. I hope it makes her tired so she goes to bed early lol

Moment in time Monday

Doing her Elmo's hair

I will miss this

Notice the stickers......

Notice the shoes on the wrong feet....

Notice her pillow at her feet and her purse.....

This is how she fell asleep...and I will miss the days when she no longer does this. I still don't get the shoe thing. She puts them on the wrong feet and wears them to bed.

Fun Day

I <3 this dress

Today we went down to our local art museum where they were having their anual artists gig. They have a bunch of tents and booths outside where different artists can display their work. They have everything from fine art and jewelry to scrapbooking and cakes. They had lots of activities for the kids to do too.

she cracks me up

We met up with some friends when we got there and since it was lunch time we headed over to a local restaurant to feed the kids. Alayah devoured her meal in like five minutes flat. She was really hungry I guess. She even went poop in the potty while we were there which is big since lately, she has refused to use the potty at all.

After lunch we headed back over to some of the activities. Alayha loved the bounce house and giant slide. She climbed all the way to the top and came down at least five times in about five minutes lol.

She thought this glue activity was great fun. She also painted a magnet for the fridge.

We waited in line to get a painting done. She picked a giraffe to match her dress and chose to have it on her arm. I thought it turned out pretty cute.

I love how the rainbow is in this picture

She fell asleep after we got in the car and slept until it was time to head up to our sports arena for a football game. We got there a little early so I tried to snap a few pictures of her in her hello kitty outfit.

practicing her hopping

I will miss our mountain when we move to Nevada. I've grown up here and had this as a backdrop everyday.

The football game was fun and Alayah enjoyed hanging with her friends. Today was a great day.

Got Bling?

I love how she gets out every single piece of jewelry she owns lol

I love this girl

I love how her whole face lights up when she smiles

Can you see the mischief in her eyes?

Thankful Thursday

I am Thankful for this blessing. She is the greatest thing that ever happened to me. I find myself in awe when I think of her. I still can't believe God would choose me...me to be her mommy.  I don't know about you, but our little gifts are amazing to me.

Tumbling Week 22

I told her there was a bug on my camera

Putting together her Mr. Potato head is serious business around here lol.

Tumbling went really well tonight. She did everything she was supposed to and didn't have any tantrums even though she didn't want to do some of the things she was supposed to do. I love when she does what she is supposed to be at tumbling to do. I even got to kind of stand at the side instead of having to help her do all the tricks myself. It was kind of nice.

"Woody"

Nana took us out for pizza and then bought Alayah a "Woody" doll. Alayah loves him. She has wanted him out of the box the minute we got in the car. She was not happy about me messing with him to get a picture. She loves all the Toy Story movies and says "I watch Wuh-nee"....

I love watching her fall in love with characters and its so fun too see what she likes and doesn't like.

Moment in Time Monday

say "cheese" mama

A girl after my own heart

Father's Day

Today was a fun day. Alayah and I stayed home all day today and just played. I bought her a little wading pool for the backyard and she was so happy and excited about it. She played in it for over an hour. We played with her babies and I re-arranged her room and cleaned it. She was in bed asleep by 7, but I think that is only because I didn't give her a nap. She was in such a good mood I felt she didn't need one.

Toy Story 3

I got Alayah dressed up today and took her down by the river to take some pictures. Our river has a scenic walk way that you can walk down, but it is flooded in parts from all the rain we got a week ago. The flooded area wasn't very deep and Alayah had a blast playing in it. After her nap we went to see the new Toy Story movie. Alayah really likes her "Woody" movies. She liked the movie, but was scared of the clapping monkey lol. All in all a great day with my girl.

Wawa mama wawa

fine mama....I will give you one good smile but that's it

splashing water is sooo much fun mama

look at me mama...(our river swelled and covered the pathway)

how she felt about her fun day :)

Shrek

Silly girls...J'Honestee, Alayah, and Teyha

I picked up my goddaughter and her step-sister after work and took the girls to Mcdonalds and then to see the latest Shrek movie for my goddaughters birthday. She just turned five. I used to have her every weekend up until Alayah was born. I really miss spending so much time with her, but her family moved away so I don't get to see her too often. The girls had a great time and Alayah really enjoys playing with older kids. She always says "come on guys" to try to get them to do stuff with her.

Thankful Thursday and UPDATE

I am thankful that a simple balloon(not in pic) can make her smile like this

 I found a new link on the issue with her uncle here

Alayah's other uncle and her dad are interviewed. Her dad is the one in the black shirt chewing the gum nervously.

Tumbling Week 21

I <3 her flip flops

Today did not go well. Nana came and Alayah didn't want to do anything but sit in her Nana's lap. *sigh* Afterward, we went to eat at Olive Garden and she was actually pretty good there.

Is it Friday yet?

Alayah was combing her Nana's hair

I had to leave work early yesterday because I was falling asleep at my desk. I felt like crud. I cam home and slept for four hours before going to pick Alayah up from daycare. It helped out a lot. Alayah didn't fall asleep until like 1am. She was not wanting to get up this morning. I don't know what her deal is. I am trying to get her to sleep in her own room in the least traumatizing way I can. Right now that consists of letting her watch tv until she falls asleep. Some days it works well and others not so much. I don't like letting her cry it out as it just seems too traumatizing to me. As a mom you can tell the difference between your child's cries and for some reason when she cries in her own bed its not a tantrum cry or a whiny cry. It's something different so I am not sure what her deal is. Let's hope she falls asleep earlier tonight.

I wanted to note a funny saying from Alayah. We were at a friends house and they are fostering a little boy. They were downstairs in the playroom and he was playing drums and Alayah was playing with dolls. She comes running up the stairs saying "mom...I don't wanna hear dat!" she didn't like his drum playing I guess lol

Moment in Time Monday

I am thankful that a simple piece of watermelon can make this girls heart happy

This girl loves her "attermelon" :)

Sick Momma

I wanted to go to church today, but my cold really hit me today. I barely got out of bed. I was really glad that Alayah entertained herself for the most part. I really don't want to go to work tomorrow. It really sucks being a single mom when you're sick because there is no one to help you out so that you can recoup.

Why do things happen in 3's?

I got a text this morning from one of Alayah's cousins on her dad's side. I have never talked to this girl before, but I did meet her once at Alayah's great grandpa's funeral before I was pregnant with her. She text me to tell me she needed to get in touch with Alayah's dad because something happened to his brother and he wasn't expected to live. Alayah's dad is really weird about his extended family. Sometimes he says they are his family and other times he says they are not. It depends on his mood. I called him to let him know his family was trying to reach him.

His cousin told me that his brother had been tased several times and had was dying as a result. I will say that this particular brother has always had trouble with the law and with drugs. It didn't surprise me that he was tased, but she told me that the doctor said he was tased four times. That seemed a little extreme to me. He passed away today around 1:20pm. I am sad that Alayah never got to meet him. I am also irritated because we were just in Albuquerque last week and I was trying to arrange a meeting with him, but no one would give me any information on how to get in touch with him. I am sad that she missed out on the opportunity of getting to know him. I don't even know what he looks like.

I found a news article on the incident here. I don't know what to believe as this article tells a different story about his death. Either way he is gone and Alayah will never get to know him.

Rainy day

It has literally rained all day long non-stop. It made for an early evening. Alayah's dad actually asked to see her tonight. I was quite surprised. I dropped her off around five and picked her up at nine. I really miss her when she is gone, but she asked to go with him. I really didn't want her to leave me though. I entertained myself at Target and then went to our Hollywood Video to see what kind of movies I could get before they go out of business. I stocked up on some Tyler Perry movies and grabbed a couple for Alayah too. Alayah was asleep before we made it home, so I put her in her own bed. She really needs to start sleeping in there full time, but its such a battle with her. Maybe it's just laziness on my part I don't know.

Good-bye Old friend

Hannah and Alayah Best Buddies

I came home from work today to find out that my dog passed away. I am pretty bummed. She was my all time favorite dog. I knew she would die eventually as she was getting up there in age, but I didn't expect it to be just out of the blue like this. She hasn't even been sick or acting like the end was coming. I think the hardest part for me is that her and Alayah were pretty close. Alayah was always playing with her and wanting to sit by her. I don't know how to tell her in a way that she will understand. I think I will be honest and say that she died, but I don't know how to tell Alayah what death means. I hope Alayah doesn't miss her too much. I can't get another dog anytime soon either. It's hard to get an apartment with pets and since we are moving in a few months it just isn't a good time.

this is how you would usually find them...cuddle up

I included this one because it was from today....she picked me some flowers

Tumbling Week 20

Alayah went to sleep with her shoes on last night

Trying to figure out the flashlight

Alayah didn't have any tantrums tonight at tumbling which is awsome. She was having a hard time listening and sitting, but at least there were no tears and screaming. I will take what I can get. She got really good at landing on her feet after several of her tumbling moves like her headstand and her cartwheels. She usually flops to her knees, but tonight we worked on landing on her feet. She caught on really quick and she can do her little backflips off the mat and land on her feet too. We were home about 10 minutes when the power went out. It was out for over an hour, so it was a good thing that my laptop was fully charged so she could watch a movie on it. Otherwise it could have made for a long hour in the dark.