Ayla's Fifth Month

Ayla's fifth month passed by faster than ever. We wrapped up our trip to Arizona, flew home (Trent spent most of our flight throwing up, became dehydrated, passed out, and ended up getting carted around in a wheelchair) and Ayla hasn't slept worth a hill of beans ever since. Running off of little sleep most days, survival is our goal. And guess what? Ayla's five months old and we are all still alive!

While we were in Arizona Sabrina's family met Ayla for the
first time. Here we are all together after church on Father's Day.

Mason is such a sweetie pie. We are so excited to see him in
just a few days when he flies to Florida with Amanda and Kalil.

Ayla tried rice cereal for the first time this month. I think she
likes it, although it's hard to tell. She swallows it so I guess
that means she likes it? I love how she wraps her hands and
her feet around my arm when I feed her. 

I do love every expression she makes. 

If I put her on her tummy she usually rolls to her back and
plays with her little toes. Poor thing, she doesn't usually
 have a toy to play with, but she always has those toes!

In addition to rolling over, she is also working on sitting up!
She usually falls to the side or forward after a few seconds.

Tummy time with TJ. She sure loves her brother, despite his
rough play.

Trent took Ayla for a dip in the water at Jacksonville Beach.

Ella Grace and Ayla splashing together at the Longleaf pool.

TJ's 25th Month

The 25 month old TJ is not much different from the 24 month old TJ. Except he probably talks more now. And boy does he love to talk. He seems to verbalize every thought that happens to cross his mind. Sometimes it's interesting, other times it is completely monotonous. Kind of like this blog that has four posts now about our same trip to Arizona... 

One of the most interesting things about Fort Defiance

was all of the free roaming animals.

Lots of cows, dogs, and horses, but very few fences.

Trent's step-dad taught TJ a thing or two about fishing.

At first he was a bit timid, but after warming up to the idea,

 TJ became quite the fishing pole handler.

Of course he was most interested in the fishing bobbers.

These "hogans" were all over the place,

 so we decided to take a picture of TJ in front of one.

We spent a day exploring the "rez" with Grandma Doodle.
 Here we are at the Hubble Trading Post.

After spending a fun-filled week in Tucson with his cousins,
(Thank you so much Judy and Sabrina)

we reunited with our first born in Phoenix and celebrated
 his second year of life with a monster-themed birthday party.

 Here's all the little monsters that were in attendance:

The "big" kids sat outside to eat their pizza.

After pizza, we went to the pool to swim and eat cupcakes.
(Thank you Amanda for letting us use your awesome pool)

When we got home, TJ got his big birthday surprise-

 a spider man bicycle with training wheels.

He loves this bike. He won't get very far without a push,
but he has become a pro at climbing on and off of it.

Since we've been home we have tried to make up for lost
time and hang out with the Sirmans as much as possible.
Lost of outings to Moe's with their half off card, and here
is TJ at their pool.

TJ and Julian fighting over the ball. TJ has needed some extra

encouragement to share these days. Had this been a few

 months ago he would have gladly thrown the ball to Julian

and found another toy to play with. Not the case anymore.

TJ and Julia hanging out on the fence.

TJ loves to join Ayla in tummy time.

They also both love to watch Baby First TV.

TJ is learning how to do summersaults.

Showing some love on Julian's new trampoline.

When you ask TJ to give you a hug or a kiss he instead

 puts his cheek to your face, like he is doing to Julian here.

We went up to Jax Beach to visit Andy, Dana, and Stevie.

 The beach is fun, but Stevie's room is the best!  

Ayla's Fourth Month

Ayla has been changing and growing up so fast. I have it written down that her first laugh was on May 8th (3 months old), and just one month later, at four months old, she is a giggle machine. She is such a happy girl, and smiles when given even the slightest amount of attention. During her fourth month she was also a wonderful sleeper- sleeping on and off most of the day and allllll night long. Unfortunately, our trip to Arizona changed all that.

Ayla's fourth month began with a trip to Tallahassee for Meme's big birthday party. Here is the whole gang during the party.

The following day was Mother's Day. After church we packed up (while my Dad held Ayla in the Lazy-boy) and headed back to Gainesville.

The next weekend we went to Orlando to pick up Trent from a dental clinic. While Trent was working on teeth, the kids and I met up with a friend at Downtown Disney. I put Ayla in the front of the stroller thinking she would enjoy looking around, but instead she decided to sleep.

That night, we booked a hotel by the Orlando airport. We picked up dinner and took it back to our hotel and ate by the pool. Ayla woke up while we were eating and she was so happy.

Trent happened to match Ayla in his green and pink shirt.

The next day we headed to Cocoa Beach.

Ayla did some tummy time at the beach. Since she sleeps so much, Ayla's head is pretty flat on the back. When she is awake we try to keep her off her back as much as possible so that her head will hopefully round out. 

Ayla loved being held by Mikhael and Bronson when they came to visit. We sure miss having them as neighbors.

Kalil was so helpful during our stay in Phoenix. Here she is holding Ayla in the tub.

After our short weekend in Phoenix we went to the Navajo Indian Reservation five hours north. While there, we went on a beautiful hike in Chinle, AZ with Trent's mom and step dad. We were only able to get one picture on the hike before our camera died :( I also forgot to bring a hat for Ayla so the top of her head got sunburnt :(

We also went fishing with Trent's step dad.

After one week on the reservation I was kind of over it. We were staying in the older housing complex by the old hospital, and I didn't feel particularly safe. My cell phone had been stolen and I didn't have an old phone to activate. I also felt like I was camping due to limited supplies and no AC! Needless to say, I only lasted one week! Trent drove us half way to Tucson, where Trent's sister picked us up. Then Trent's mom took TJ down to Tucson with Trent's sister while I kept Ayla with my sister in Phoenix for the week. 

We were so happy to be back in Phoenix with Amanda (and air conditioning). While we were there we did lots and lots of shopping (scheduled around all of Mason's therapy appointments).

Mason was so sweet with Ayla. Here he is giving her a pacifier.

Ayla absolutely loved Kalil. Kalil knew just the trick to get her to giggle- pat-a-cake! It worked every time.

Ayla is quite irresistible. I love her chubby cheeks and big smiles. I also love looking at her when she is fast asleep. Ayla's fourth month was a good month.