Potty Happenings

Alayah tried pulling her pull-up off tonight and then pointed to the bathroom. I asked her if she needed to go potty and she shook her head yes. We went into the bathroom and she sat down on her potty, but she got right back up and ran out of the bathroom. I went to go get her some pajamas to put on and she ran back into the bathroom and sat down and immediately went potty. She stood up and clapped and I cheered for her. This is the first time that she has initiated going to the bathroom and actually gone. I am so excited for her. She is really starting to understand the concept and now she is realizing when she gets the urge to pee. Woohoo!

Sesame Street Live

Floor seats for "Elmo's Green Thumb

$27.00 each

One stuffed Elmo doll
$25.00

One Elmo ballon(out of camera's view but she was laughing at it)

$8.00

Snacks and Drinks

$10.00

Seeing your daughters face light up when she sees her beloved "Eh-mo"

PRICELESS

Alayah did so great at the show. She was a little overwhelmed at first as we were very close to the stage and the characters came right out to stand by us, but she didn't cry. She danced in my lap and continually pointed to Elmo. She even gave the count a high five. She really enjoyed it and I really enjoyed spending the time with her. I wish she was old enough to remember it, but I will always and can tell her about it when she is older. Afterwards, I took her to McDonalds and let her play which I haven't done before and she really enjoyed that to. All in all an awesome day.

18 month wrap up

New words this month are boo and "peeze"- please, and "dat"-that

You are starting to combine words like in the morning if we see birds outside you will say "mommy dat". You are starting to understand that mouths are for eating and you feed your babies and your bears and mommy's statues. Everything needs to eat. Dancing is still your favorite thing to do and you are starting to listen to the words and understand if the song says to do something like put your hands up. You are still doing very good with potty training at daycare and you only go through one pull up a day which is awesome. Your hair is starting to grow out in the back finally and you got another tooth this month. We've officially made it 18 whole months baby girl! :)

Mommy and Me day

I took Alayah to the park today and let her play while I took pictures. She was happy to oblige. It was nice to have a day solely based on her and what she wants to do. She is napping now and tonight I am taking her to see the movie "UP". I hope she enjoys it. I wish I could have more days off during the week to spend with her. It seems so unfair that life is spent working. I want to spend all my time with my girl.

Punky Girl

Attitude. That is the only word to describe my girl lately. It is her way or the highway and Patience is not a virtue of hers. She wants to do things herself and when she can't she gets super frustrated. I bought this shirt last year when she was just a little baby with images of a punky photo session dancing in my head. I thought it would be perfect for her 18 month pictures.


The pictures turned out so good even though she wasn't a very willing participant.
My girls is growing so much lately and it's like I'm being introduced to a different person as the months go by. I love you baby girl!



Now I need to figure out how to use my photoshop to add some cool effects to this pictures.

4th of July

Alayah and Mommy

We had a great day together. I took Alayah downtown to take some pictures in her red, white, and blue. She wasn't very cooperative but I got some cute ones. We went to our local football game and then found a spot to watch the fireworks. She wasn't very awake when they finally started, but she wasn't scared of them which was good.

Peace and Love

If only she had been smiling..

So happy

Alayah and her buddy Elyjaah

Finger Painting

I thought I'd let the kids finger paint today. They were not too sure about it. They ended up decorating themselves more than the paper. Oh well, it was only interesting to them for about 5 minutes and then it was time to go inside and take a bath

18 months

You are officially 18 months old today! I feel like this milestone is like your 6 months milestone. Your have way between two important ages. You are no longer a baby to me. You seem so grown. I do know that the last 18 months have been the greatest of my life and I am so excited to see what happens in the future. I see manicures, movies, and wonderful conversations. I can't wait. I love you with all my heart.

Alayah 18 months 7/3/2009

Alayah 6 months 7/3/2008

17 month Wrap Up

not feelin so good on her last day of being 17months

Your language skills have exploded this month. You say so much now like
"lyjaah"-Elyjaah
"I no no"- I don't know
"Oh no no"- Oh no
You also say Nana, Bye, Yes, No, Mommy, Daddy, Papa, owie, mine, and Hi.....
You love dancing and any time music comes on you are the first to get jiggy with it. You have started wearing pull ups at daycare and using the potty with the bigger kids. I am so proud of you baby girl. You are still very independent and insist on doing things yourself. You are starting to try to put your clothes on by yourself and you can almost get your sandals on. You are really starting to enjoy dancing and learning moves. It is so cute. Mommy is kind of sad that you are going to be 18 months old tomorrow and you will officially be closer to two then one. I miss my baby, but I am excited to see what the future holds and I love getting glimpses into who you may become. I love you baby girl!

Sunday

Twirly girl

We had an awesome day together today. We went to church and hung out with friends. It was so cute when I went to get Alayah from the nursery....she saw we and yelled "hi" and then the lady asked her if she wanted to go out the door and Alayah said "yes". It was so cool to see her able to understand a question and use the right word. I ran by the park after church and shot a couple of really cute shots of her. I tried to go yesterday, but she was too afraid...I think of the wind...I'm not quite sure what she was scared of, but she wouldn't let me put her down so it didn't go so well. Today was such a "normal" day and I really enjoyed it.

If I had to choose two pictures to describe my daughter it would be these two. Her onry fiesty side and her happy fun-loving side. These moments are what gives me glimpses into who she will become.

Not here by Chance

Your daughter is here not by chance, but by God’s choosing. His hand formed her and made her the person she is. He compares her to one else – she is one of a kind. She will lack nothing that His grace can’t give her. He has allowed her to be here at this time in history to fulfill His special purpose for this generation.
-Roy Lessin-

All things Red

Alayah seems to like all things red. Her new found love is nectarines. She has always loved tomatoes and tomato sauce. A girl after my own heart. :) She even eats red bell peppers and salsa and she also likes strawberries and watermelon. She loves the salsa at on the border. The other night she insisted upon eating the salsa with a spoon. It was too hot for her and she kept gagging, but would scream if i tried to take it away. No pain no gain I guess. She seems to be very picky about other things, but she is wide open when it comes to red food.

Language

Ever since our New Mexico trip, Alayah seems to be exploding with language. Her words aren't clear, but they certainly sound like real words. For example, she definitely has figured out the word "NO" always said with emphasis or in a high pitched scream. She also says "Oh No" often said after she purposefully drops something or throws something. If I ask her where something is she will say a blurb of sounds that sounds like "I don't know", but the words are all mushed together so I'm not totally sure of what she is saying. She defintiely is saying Mommy more in reference to me so that is awesome. I can't wait to have a conversation with her...I can't wait to see what is going on in her little mind.

First popsicle of the summer

I gave Alayah a popsicle today to see what she thought. Nothing like a cold popsicle on a hot day. She seemed to enjoy it, but it melted before she could eat it all.

Last day in New Mexico

We woke up this morning and headed to church. I have never been to a Catholic Church and I felt quite out of place. There were to many things specific to that church that I didn't know what they were doing half the time or if I should participate. We stopped by this restaurant Frontier and got some breakfast then headed back to the house to finish packing. I took some more video of the girls together and then we headed up to the airport. I made sure to grab snacks this time so that Alayah wouldn't scream the whole way back to Denver. The airport wasn't too crowded when we got there and we were able to get through security pretty quickly. It was sad though when I had to put all of our stuff on the conveyor thing Alayah wouldn't put her blanket on it so I figured we could just carry it through with us. Wrong. They made me put it on there and Alayah started screaming and the TSA people were telling her they were sorry and they were hurring trying to get it scanned so she could have it back. I waited to be the last person on the plane hoping to avoid another scene like before. Let me say that Alayah was looking out the window as we left the gate and I was pointing things out to her. By the time the plane was starting down the runway she was asleep. She slept the entire way back. Ahh...such peace. The only bad thing was the flight was so turbulent I thought I was going to be sick. It kept dropping and shaking so bad my drink was spilling. Luckily we made it back safely. I am so glad that Alayah was able to meet her brother and sister. I hope this can be a yearly trip.

Aquarium and Zoo

Today we took the girls to the zoo and to the Aquarium. Alayah loves the aquarium. She enjoys looking at all the fish and standing next to the glass. We finally got Imani to give Alayah a hug too. It was so cute.


Checking out the Stingrays





The girls first hug

After the aquarium we headed over to the zoo to get some lunch before we started checking out the animals.


Posing by the Polar Bears


Chillin' by the seals


By the time we left the girls were exhausted. I picked up some cute shirts for Alayah from both places so she can keep them. Today was definitely a fun day. :)

Konked out after a hard day

Day 2

Cuddles


Watching Cashmere tie his shoes


Today we took the kids to get their pictures taken together. Alayah wasn't really in the mood and didn't really want anything to do with sitting next to her siblings. We got some good shots though. The girls looked cute in their matching outfits. We took Cashmere home and then we were going to take the girls to see the movie "UP". Unfortunately, right after we bought our tickets and got our snacks...someone pulled the fire alarm and they made us all leave. I was a little disappointed but what can you do. We took the girls home for a nap and watched a movie at home. Tomorrow is a full day as we are going to the zoo and the aquarium. Alayah will love it. I am so glad the kids finally got to be together all three.

Albuquerque

We were supposed to get up at 5:30 this morning so that we could be to the airport in enough time to catch our 8:15 am flight. Well, I somehow turned my alarm off instead of hitting snooze and we didn't wake up until 6:00am. I through clothes on us ran down to the front desk and checked out as fast as humanly possible. I only wish that I had stopped and grabbed something for Alayah to eat while we were at the hotel instead of thinking I would get some at the airport. We got to the airport and I rushed to find a parking spot. I got us on the shuttle and made it to the check in desk, through security(which held us up because I forgot to tell them about the sippy cup with milk, so we had to have the milk tested before they would let us through)
The Denver Airport is huge and our gate was number 96 which is all the way on the other end of the terminal...I ran as fast as I could as it was already after 8. I wanted to stop and get Alayah something to eat, but the lines were all too long. By the time we got to our gate we were the last people to board. I stupidly thought they would give out pretzels or something....I thought wrong. I would like to personally apologize to everyone on the United flight as my daughter usually does not scream her head off and throw herself on the floor for 45 minutes straight. I do apologize for any ear drums that were possibly damaged during the flight. I was so embarrassed by her behavior, but it was all my fault as I did not feed the poor girl. I felt horrible!! Please believe I will never ever do that to her again...ever!

Heading to Denver

Today Alayah and I are headed to Denver so that tomorrow morning I can take her to Albuquerque New Mexico to meet her half brother and half sister. I've been wanting to take her for a long time, but finances were just not allowing it to happen. Her half brother and half sister have different moms, so I am sure it will be slightly awkward for the three of us to get together knowing that we all were with the same man and all had children by him. I am excited for the kids to finally mee. Her brother is 5 and he has asked to see his sisters for a long time. Alayah's sister is 2 so her and Alayah may not remember much of this visit later on. Our flight leaves at 8:15 am tomorrow morning and I am truly hoping that Alayah behaves on the plane ride. Pray for us to have a safe flight and for my sanity if Alayah decides not to behave lol

First Words...Maybe

Alayah could say uh-oh and bye-bye a long time ago, but then she stopped. She is almost 17 months now and the only words she says if she is asked is Papa and sometimes Mama and Nana. She has yet to call me mommy or mama when she wants me or is referring to me. I really hope she will soon. Tonight though I swear she said "all gone" and "owie mommy". She definitely starting saying "owie" today and she points to her "owies" when she says it so I know that she understands the meaning and isn't just immitating. Oh, I can't wait for her to call me mommy.

I tried to put barrettes in Alayah's hair today. Her hair has been too short to put any in before now. It turned out pretty cute, but the hair in the back that I am trying so hard to get to grow is still too short for any. There is a patch of hair in the back that she is laying and rubbing all the time, so it is extremely dry and coarse. The rest of her hair is healthy and grows super fast, but that back patch just will not grow. Oh well....

Before the Barrettes

The back ones were too short for barrettes

She looks so much older with the barrettes in.

oh and look who can go down the stairs without help now