Ayla's 13th Month

Ayla is our independent, curious, silly, expressionate, and happy little girl. I say "little," but she is quite the opposite- she looks like a monster when she plays with our friend's babies who are about the same age, give or take a few months. I feel bad when she is completely unaware of how big she is and just plows over her little-er playmates. 

With the amount of food she consumes it's no wonder she is so big, the girl loves to eat! When she sees me open, or hears the word, "bread" "banana" "milk" or "apple" she starts squealing and flapping her arms with excitement, those are her favorite foods. 

She makes all sorts of noises, in addition to the hungry squeals, and seems to try to say some words, but "Mama" and "Dada" are probably the only words she can currently say. She does makes the "B" sound when she sees a bottle/sippy cup, bread, TJ (brother?), and book. She seems to have invented her own sign language and has specific signs she uses to get what she wants. I always tell her, "say ___" instead, but only sometimes will she even try. 

TJ sharing blueberries with Ayla in the back yard.

Ayla boarded her first cruise with Kaeme, Papa, Mom, Dad, and TJ.

We took a smaller boat to get to Cococay, which Ayla enjoyed.

Once on the island, Ayla enjoyed playing in the sand.

And in the water with Kaeme.

Diaper change at the "Look Out Point"

And nap time in her stroller (shaded by a beach chair).

Ayla got all ruffled up for formal night.

In Nassau, Ayla made a friend.

And some sweet little lady made her a purse from scratch.

Here she is with the finished purse, and TJ's matching hat.

Ayla loved playing in the kids play area,

and on the jet ski, during our day-at-sea.

After four days of cruising, Kaeme packed Ayla up so that we could go home.

TJ and Ayla played at Ormond Beach after Trent interviewed in Palm Coast. And you'd think we'd get sick of the beach.

Side note- although we really liked Palm Coast, as well as Orlando, in the end Trent decided to accept an offer to work in Tallahassee at Family Dentistry at Southwood. We are sooo excited to have that hard decision behind us, and look forward to moving to the capital city this summer! 

TJ's 33rd Month

I am almost two weeks behind in posting, so I better keep this brief. I'll add captions to the pictures and may come back later to add more... 

TJ is my assistant Ayla feeder. Problem is, he is messier than she is.

O2B Kids foam pit. Such a blast.

 O2B Kids

O2B Kids

Backyard- typical, "Look at me, Mommy! I'm doing a trick!"  And please do notice the awesome shirt-tucked-into-underwear look TJ is rocking. 

Oh yes, and the underwear-while-rollerblading look. Very stylish.

 Daddy taught TJ everything he knows about roller blading.

Someone snuck into the ovaltine jar. He doesn't look guilty at all.

TJ dug some holes with the neighbor kids. Long-lasting entertainment if dirt is involved.

We stayed at a little condo with my parents in Orlando before leaving on our cruise. It was cold but Trent and TJ bundled up to enjoy some pirate putt-putt.

On the pirate course

So scared?

On Monday TJ stepped aboard the Monarch of the Seas for his first cruising experience with Ayla, Mom, Dad, Kaeme, and Papa. 

While in Coco Cay, we walked out a long ways in shallow water and found this huge starfish and the baby star fish that TJ is holding.

There were hammocks strung from trees all throughout the island.

TJ and Kaeme on a hammock.

There was a race car track for kids to ride around as much as they wanted.

TJ took full advantage and rode at least 50 laps.

We took a nature hike.

When I hear something I keep walking, perhaps at a faster pace. When TJ hears something he takes a closer look.

I spy... an Iguana

At the end of the trail there was a secluded beach.

During kids bingo TJ won a free tattoo. He chose the soccer ball tattoo,  and daddy got a matching one too!

TJ was treated like royalty by all the kind, kid-loving staff.  He needed a serious detox after five days of getting bowed down to, adored, and every wish granted at the drop of a hat. 

Summer 2012

This was sooo long ago, I can barely remember the details... but Summer 2012 did exist and we did do lots of fun trips. In fact, I haven't posted this sooner because there are pictures from two of our trips to Savannah and Hilton Head that I never was able to transfer from my sister and mom's camera... but in order to record life (and check that off the list for our Feel Great in 8 competition), here is a recap of most of last year's summer travels!

We took a trip with Alex's family to St. George Island.

We found a dinosaur in the sand!

We rented a paddle board and we all had a great time playing on it.

Warner's big dive!

Rylee's big jump!

Rexy!

TJ!

And Ayla! I think she wanted to take a quick taste of my salty thumb.

Family photo!

Alex trying out the paddle board.

TJ's swimsuit was itching him, so, underwear it was.

The whole family.

4th of July! Pool party at my parent's house.

And fireworks at night!  When we were talking about fireworks the other day TJ remembered this 4th of July, specifically that he shared his favorite green floral blanket with his cousins to sit on while we watched the fireworks in the Costco parking lot, and that Uncle Alex carried him (I actually don't even remember that part! The only thing I remember is TJ having an accident on my lap! I was soaked.) 

My mom and I took a trip to see Meme in Georgia. On our way up we stopped by my mom's friend's house and the adorable town of Senoia where we toured the Southern Living design house.

TJ tried to take a group photo for us.

That's better!

Oh man! Tubing in Helen, GA with just the kids and my mom- what an adventure!

I bundled my tiny baby in the smallest life jacket they had and prayed the entire 45 minutes down that I wouldn't lose her in the rapids.

It had just rained so the water was higher and faster than usual but there was an occasional peaceful moment here and there. My mom and I were pretty scared the whole time but the kids evidently felt safe enough to take periodic naps!

We swam in the pool at the timeshare. It's crazy how this pool shrinks every time I visit. I remember it being a pretty good sized pool when I was a kid!

We walked to a BBQ joint on the corner with Meme and Lee. The food was delicious!

My mom stayed with Meme and Lee and their bulldog, and I stayed with my friend, Stacey, and her girls! It worked out perfect because her husband happened to be out of town, and all of us girls (plus TJ) had a blast! 

TJ was spoiled with the Bennum's awesome indoor pool to bathe in.

We packed a picnic lunch and enjoyed the free and fabulous Bear Hollow Zoo. 

Looking at the bears. We ended our visit with a trip to the ER for TJ's arm. It was a fun trip that we will always remember.

In August we took a trip to Melbourne beach.

The waves were too big for the kids, but they enjoyed playing in the sand.

And eating it!

After Melbourne we stopped at Fort Christmas, just outside of Orlando.