Ayla's 20th Month

There's no easy way to describe my almost two year old. Silly, sweet, cheek-pinchingly-cute, wild, free-spirited, and super defiant (but she's gonna grow out of that one, right?). She is getting fast on her feet (I have to run to catch her when she leaves my side), she is a monkey climber, half the time she is quiet and shy, the other half she is loud and friendly, at night she is snuggly, with babies she is gentle, but when she is playing with her brother she is rough and strong (she often muscles her way into getting what she wants). She get's excited about books, eating, and going on walks, and when she wants to do something she will say, "I do!" That's my 20 month old, all rolled into one.

Walks are fun, but with Anna they are even better.

The girl loves to splash in water.

She's always pushing buttons, trying to figure out how things work.

We took a walk down the street to see a family of geese. Ayla giggled the whole time.

Sitting in her special spot while TJ get's his picture taken.

This girl needs her 12 o'clock nap.

We went to Down Town Get Down and the kids had a blast bouncing.

Ayla got to play with some pom poms and meet the FSU cheer squad.

She also enjoyed playing corn hole with the boys.

Ayla had her first check-up and cleaning at the dentist.

We took another trip to Daddy's office, but this time she decided to be the dentist.

She figured out how to push the stool to the chair to climb up and over the bar onto the kitchen counter. 

Taking a nap on Daddy.

Enjoying some crushed ice with Kalil at the Robert's Fall Festival.

Giving kisses to Kalil at the pool. These two love each other.

Ayla's got her scary face on, she's ready for Halloween!

Ayla's 19th Month

Ayla Rose is 19 months. Oh how the time flies.

Her obsession with putting swimsuits on changed to an obsession with putting clothes on. She likes to try to get dressed all by her self. *skirt pulled half way up her legs and shirt hanging on her arm.

We visited Trent and met his staff for the first time during Ayla's 19th month.

For my birthday the kids got new matching carseats- thanks Kaeme!

I took the kids and Trent out to Maclay Gardens to show them where I spent every afternoon during high school.  No one was out rowing, but they did get to see the boats and the lake.

And the playground!

Trent pushed the kids while on a conference call. 

She loves to cheese it up for the camera especially while happily swinging.

They were very intrigued by the lake.

And the floating dock.

We like to spend hot afternoons outside with the water hose.

Or at the splash pad. The kids had a blast playing with Cheyenne and Berkeley over Labor Day weekend.

We love living close enough to Trent's work that we can walk over to say, "hi!" or in this case, get a spare key after locking mine in the car.

Ayla loves to play dress up with shoes, bows and tutus. Such a girly girl.

Here she is saying, "cheese!" again for the camera without prompt.

Ayla really enjoyed potty training! I, on the other hand, hate cleaning up pee all day so I usually keep a diaper strapped to her bum. Although, I must admit, she is pretty good at doing her business on the potty.

We took one outing with big girl panties, but unfortunately it didn't go over very well and we haven't tried it again since!

Ayla's 18th Month

The most anticipated month of all finally came. Ayla is officially a big girl at church and can go to nursery for the second and third hours. She is a very independent and social little girl, so leaving mom to play with other kids is right up her ally. She is getting bigger, especially when compared to her newest niece and nephew, but I still look at her and can't help but think she is so small, and I still call her my baby girl. TJ has picked up on this nickname and will often her her, "baby" as well.

Here she is on her first day without mom in nursery. She ran right in and grabbed a seat next to TJ. She played with legos without even noticing me taking pictures and singing songs of joy in the background.

Both TJ and Ayla are obsessed with washing their hands. Once they start pumping the soap it's hard to get them to stop.

TJ and Ayla like to sit on the little brick ledge on the front of our house. We told them to sit there once and now they always run straight to it and plop down as if it's their special seat made just for them.

We took the kids camping in Destin. Ayla loved to strut her ruffles on the beach.

And play in the sand.

And I love to take pictures of it all with my iphone. Evidently Trent likes to take pictures of me taking pictures.

When Ayla gets tired we just push her in the stroller till she falls asleep, then prop her back for a nice, shady nap.

Our campsite had a spigot that the kids loved playing in.

The walk to the beach from the campsite was a bit long and we only had one stroller. TJ came up with a quick fix for that problem.

Ayla loved the tinfoil dinners

The girl loves to eat.

And eat and eat and eat. Here she is eating a crepe.

And here she is eating a pineapple. Blessing it first of course. Folding her arms was her favorite trick of the month.

We took a trip to Jacksonville Beach, where Ayla found a chair just her size. She loves sitting in little chairs.

Trent texted me this picture when I was gone somewhere. I love my little sleeping piggy tailed baby.