Ayla's 3rd Month

Most girls love to play dress up with their dolls. I wasn't what one would describe as "girly" growing up (tomboy through and through) and even I loved playing dress up with my dolls. The only thing that would have made it more fun was if my baby dolls were real. Fast-forward twenty years, and that's where Ayla comes into play. Getting her dressed just might be my very favorite part of the day. 

And the good thing about Ayla is that she doesn't seem to mind this dress up game at all. The outfit changes don't seem to bother her, and the headbands don't seem to phase her.

My friend from Gainesville who moved to Arizona, Claudia, handpicked this lovely headband for Ayla off etsy and mailed it to us. And the cute (size 9 month!) skinny jeans, those are from my good friend, Katie Garcia. My little 3 month old is already busting out of her 6-9 month wardrobe.

Ayla tagged along to Sophia's birthday party with TJ. There were lots of parents and grandparents at the party that seemed delighted to take turns holding Ayla. I, of course, was the most delighted of all.

Speaking of grandparents helping, here's Papa holding Ayla while lounging by the pool at the Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando. Priceline hooked us up with the hotel, and my parents hooked us up with watching the kiddos.

When we don't have a grandparent to help hold Ayla, we rely heavily on the swing.

The picture woke her up but she was all smiles. She is a pretty happy little girl...

Except when big brother sits on her. Even so, she handles the torture quite well. TJ is making her into one tough little girl.

This month was a special one for Ayla because her dad gave her a blessing at church.

My mom made the blessing gown for me when I was a baby. The tatting along the collar was made by my Great Grandmother Foote. Same dress (minus the bib- couldn't find it), same blanket, quite different looking babies.

Here she is with her own blanket (rather than mine) and her cute rosette headband from Kim. Ayla loves to suck on her fists and has recently wanted nothing to do with her pacifier.

We went to the pool the other day and Ayla wore her little bikini that I bought my niece, Kalil, when she was one year old. That's right, my just barely 3 month old is wearing size 12 month swimsuits. And since TJ isn't wearing a diaper anymore, he still fits in his size 12 month swimsuits too. That makes the already small gap in their ages seem even smaller.

Ayla was a sleeping champ for almost the entire month. But the past few days have been a completly different story, so naturally I don't have too many sweet things to say about her right now. I can tell you one thing, she is cute. At least that's what I tell myself when she is up in the middle of the night and is wide-eyed and smiley- "It's a good thing you're cute, little girl, it's a good thing you're cute!"

TJ's 23rd Month

TJ is 23 months old! Just one month shy of the dreaded terrible twos. More like- one missed nap shy of the terrible twos. Or one wake-up-before-the-sun morning shy of the terrible twos. TJ is a really good kid. He's sweet and listens well and just goes with the flow. But when he misses his nap, or when he wakes up too early in the morning- forgetaboutit. This kid will be making messes, doing the opposite of what you tell him, hitting his sister, and throwing roll-on-the-floor-kicking-and-screaming tantrums. Over nothing. Combine that madness with the fact that I have zero patience when I don't get my sleep, and you get one super happy savage household. Thankfully, most days he gets plenty of sleep.

TJ started off his 23rd month with some Easter fun- waking up and searching for the hidden Easter basket from the Easter Bunny. Looks like the Easter Bunny hid his basket behind the curtains this year.

He tore open the basket and played with the stickers and toys and candy before heading to the park for his egg hunt.

Trent's friend from dental school has a daughter, Sophia, who is just one month older than TJ. They had a blast finding eggs together and devouring the contents. TJ especially liked finding the football, basketball, and soccer ball eggs from Grandma Doodle. In fact, he would pick up an egg, inspect it, and throw it back down if it wasn't a ball. Picky-picky.

Sophia is the sweetest little girl- she gave TJ a hug when it was time to leave and said, "I love you, TJ"

After church TJ enjoyed an Easter treat- chocolate bird nests. I remember my mom making these growing up, so when I saw them pop up on pinterest I knew I had to carry on the tradition. Except, I should have asked my mom for her recipe, these weren't quite the same.

Speaking of pinterest flops, here are the remains of our "moon sand" mishap. My bricks are still spotted with flour from this two-seconds-of-fun pinterest idea.

For playgroup, some friends and I took the kids to a farm to pick strawberries. Forget the bucket, TJ preferred to pop those strawberries directly in his mouth.

Here he is with Julia and Nicolas. TJ loved sharing with Julia, he would go between putting the strawberries in his mouth and then hers. Silly boy.

 TJ even offered one to Ayla. She wanted nothing to do with the strawberries.

TJ loves going on rides to the library. Here he is just before his very first preschool story time. That lasted about 10 minutes before having to head out because he wanted to wander around the library rather than sit and listen in the circle.

Before bed one night I told TJ we were going to go to the park with Christian and Damon in the morning. When he woke up the next day he kept asking for "Chicken." It wasn't until later, when he said, "Chicken and Damon" that I figured out what he had been asking for.

TJ's favorite thing to do outside is push this wheel barrow. His wheel barrow pushing skills came in handy when we laid sod in the back yard.

TJ and Julian were so good about standing against the wall while we were waiting for our table at Texas Roadhouse. It's a good thing TJ was behaving well that night because Ayla was not.

TJ had a blast at Sophia's Sesame Street themed birthday party. There was Sesame Street stuff everywhere for all the kids to play with and Sophia even let her friends help open her presents! Everyone kept commenting about how well TJ and Sophia played together. They are both so sweet.

TJ is full of smiles all day long, but when I pull out the camera he turns his back and/or frowns. Here he is sporting his jacket from Kaeme.

TJ loved helping me hose off the trash can. One second he's spraying himself in the face...

 and the next he's laying down drinking water from the ground. What a goof ball.

He was in heaven riding in the wheel barrow with all his balls.

Trent kept the kids for two nights all by himself while I enjoyed a weekend at the beach with friends. They had nonstop fun while I was gone- here they are at the golf course.

TJ even got to drive the golf cart. Despite the weird angle of this picture, TJ did not loose an ear while I was gone.

TJ is my self proclaimed "goof ball." He loves to learn new things. He climbs on top of things he shouldn't. He says "yeah" instead of "yes" with a silly Russian accent. He likes to delay nap time and bed time with all sorts of trickery. He has a sweet voice and a really loud screaming voice and he likes to use both. Lately he has been sad when we leave him at kids club at the gym, but always ends up having a blast while he is there. He gets excited over little things. He is full of energy and loves life. He loves his friends and family and we love him.