I. Can't. Wait.

The first Husker game is FIVE days away! It's ridiculous how excited I am. Seriously. There's nothing like a Saturday in Nebraska during football season. Love it. It's my favorite time of year. At this time last year, I was a month away from having Ayla so I spent just about every game vegged out on our couch. I'm looking forward to getting out and grabbing a few drinks with friends this year. Go big red!

Weekend...

The weather has been so mild lately...on Friday evening, we sat out in the front yard to enjoy it. Nothing cheers her up quicker than to go outside when she's wearing her fussy-pants.
Saturday was Daddy-Ayla day. I had an eye appointment in the morning and a baby shower in the afternoon. After just a few hours with Daddy, she didn't even want me to hold her. :( That evening, we went to a wedding. It was Ayla's first time at a wedding and it wasn't exactly a success. We made it through the ceremony (kind of) and at the reception, we sat down but had to leave before dinner. It was getting way too close to her bedtime so we decided to call it a night. On Sunday, we went to church and she did really well...we always sit in the very back in case we need to make a quick exit. :) Afterwards, we went to Baby Blue for sushi...she wore the same dress as she did to the wedding...shhh, don't tell anyone.

Pamida ad

We finally got our hands on a copy of the Pamida ad that Ayla's in! Thanks Marla!!! (Her feet are big...but not that big. They put her in a pair of shoes that were three sizes too big!)

My little tornado...

Ayla doesn't seem to sit still for more than a few seconds at a time...she's always on the go. I've given up on picking up after her throughout the afternoon...the toys that are all over the place make me a little crazy, but I think it's a losing battle. I just wait until after she's in bed which at that point, it looks like an F3 tornado has gone through the house. I received some great advice from a customer today...she said that her grown children have told her that a distinctive memory they have from growing up was seeing her being too busy picking up after them to stop and play with them; so "just forget the mess for now and enjoy spending time with her while you can." I will remember that. I guess I will have to live with my house looking like this during the hours before 8:00pm.

Trying oh-so-hard to get to that remote

Toothy grin

"Pie-pie-so!"

Patting her baby so it can go "night-night"

In the middle of a baby drama queen episode

I'm in love with this picture...how cute are they? This is Kody's favorite spot...Ayla's quickly butting her way in.

Bath time!

She loves splashing around, but always winds up getting water in her eyes.

Snapping pictures...

I took some engagement pictures for a friend/co-worker, Josh and his fiancee, Shana. It was a GORGEOUS morning...it's hard to believe it's the end of August in Nebraska. The weather has been so out of the ordinary this summer. Anyways...here are a few of my favorite shots:I've been wanting a new lens for my camera so last night, I sat down and did some research on the Internet. I found exactly what I was looking for and excitedly clicked on over to Ebay where to my dismay, I learned that the lens I had my eye on (no pun intended) came with a hefty price tag...a whopping $1800! There went that idea.

My dad is into photograpy as well and has a collection of camera accessories, including several different lenses. I was hoping that he had the lens I was looking at or something comparable. He did! And even better, the one he has is only a fraction of the cost of the one I wanted, but it still has the feature I'm looking for. He's been kind enough to let me borrow it to see if I actually like it...if so, back to Ebay I go. So far, I think it's pretty awesome.

This next one was taken with the regular lens, but I wanted to include it. She LOVES the refrigerator. I try to open it when she's clear across the room because as soon as she sees that door swing open, she crawls towards it as fast as her little hands and knees will carry her. It was a race to put away groceries today...I pretty much just threw everything in as fast as I could. As you can probably see, there is no organization in the Peterson fridge.

[Shudder]

So after I put Ayla to bed, I grabbed my nightly glass of red yumminess (also known as cabernet sauvignon) and my plate of cheese and crackers AND a bowl full of cherries. I had just nestled myself into a comfy spot on the couch and let out my "I'm-super-duper-totally-thrilled-to-be-sitting-down-because-my-back-aches" sigh when Kody sprinted from his window seat to the patio door to go out. Figures. I peeled myself off the couch to let him out. He thinks he's a rabbit hunter so he watches for them from the window and when he spots one, he wants to be let out immediately so he can catch it. Or so he thinks. In the almost five years that we've had him, he's never caught one in the backyard.

I always humor him, so I yanked the door open as quickly as I could because he's famous for getting overly exciting and banging his poor noggin as he exits. I watched him race down the steps to make sure he didn't end up taking a tumble...he's not the most graceful dog, you see. Fits in quite well with this family.

As usual, the rabbit sees him coming and takes off toward the fence to make an escape.

Only this time, it somehow wasn't able to squeeze through the fence posts. Stupid rabbit=lucky dog. Kody chased it around the yard as I watched all wide-eyed and surprised that it hadn't gotten away yet. It went back toward the fence and again, wasn't able to get out so it ran behind the generator straight into Kody who was waiting on the other side of it. Oh crap, I thought when it didn't come sprinting out. I saw Kody back up and much to my horror, the rabbit was lying limp in his mouth. Sick.

I screamed at Kody to drop it and he must have known that I meant business because he came running up the stairs, rabbit-less of course, and into the house where he hunkered down and wouldn't look me in the eye.

This wouldn't have been all that bad except that Dean is out of town. Oh, and that I'm a total girl and there's no way in hell I was going to go out there and get rid of it. When I called Dean, I was prepared for the fact that he probably wasn't going to agree to driving two and a half hours home to help me, but I was not prepared for his suggestion for me to go out there with a shovel to dispose of it. The thought of it made me misty-eyed. I'm that much of a weanie. I actually opened the front door to see if there were any passers-by who would be willing to help out a crazy woman with a shovel and a dead rabbit. No luck. There weren't even any takers on Facebook after I posted the situation. I was desperate.

Dean ended up calling his parents to come over to save me. Yes, I'm ridiculous...I know this. They were nice enough to put up with my wussiness and drive all the way over here at 9:00 pm. Barb and Lee: THANK YOU! Seriously, thank you so much.

And to top it all off, while I was waiting for my knights in shining armor, I looked out the patio door and saw a freaking monster of a spider building a web from our umbrella to a chair. Great. I was already feeling puke-y from the darn rabbit and now I was all twitchy and itchy from staring at the spider. I have a no-go policy on spiders. Just typing the word makes me shudder. However, in an attempt to save-face just a little bit, I decided to get rid of the 8-legged creeper on my own.

I dug around in the garage and came up with wasp and hornet spray. Good enough. So with the spray in one hand and a 12-inch flashlight in the other (what in the world I was going to do with a flashlight, I have no idea...it gave me a sense of security, I suppose...or maybe if the spray didn't work, I could just scream and chuck the flashlight at the spider), I just stood and stared at it until I mustered up enough courage to slide the door open. I sprayed it as I jumped up and down and chanted "ohmigodohmigodohmigod!" This is completely an involuntary reaction whenever I try to kill bugs. I slammed the door shut and watched. It was still moving. Dammit. I held my breath and did it again. Success!

As I finished that little project, Lee and Barb arrived. They went down into the yard (after Barb took down the spider's web handiwork with her bare fingers) and scooped up the rabbit and tossed it while I stood on the deck chanting "ohmigodohmigodohmigod" as I clutched my trusty 'ol flashlight.

Dean asked me what I would do without him. I said I would curl up in a ball and wither away...clutching my flashlight and chanting "ohmigodohmigodohmigod."

Party animal

Believe it or not, this girl left the house both nights this past weekend. Holy craziness, I know. On Friday night, Dean and I joined the rest of the world and finally went to see "The Hangover" while Grandma and Grandpa baby-sat Ayla. We haven't seen a movie together since before Ayla was born.

On Saturday, Yeh-Yeh and Nai-Nai took Ayla in the afternoon...almost as soon as they pulled out of the driveway, I felt lost and had no idea how to spend these completely free hours. Dean was gone too. After a few minutes of sitting on the couch while my ears started to ring from the silence, I decided to go to the mall...something else I haven't done in a really long time. I had big plans to reinvent my entire wardrobe, which is oh-so-depressing at this point in time, but after two hours of shopping, I came home with only one shirt which I can't even wear until I find the perfect cami to go under it and some jewelry. Darn.

That evening, I put my heels on and went out for dinner and drinks with Megan and Lisa...again, something I haven't done in far too long. After dinner, we headed to our friend Chrissy's 30th birthday get-together. It was so great to see everyone! I need to get out more. I was so thrilled at the idea of being able to sleep in the next morning since Ayla would be at my parents' house, but how does it always work out that even though I went to bed FOUR hours later than my usual bedtime, I woke up even earlier than normal and proceeded to feel like a total zombie for the rest of the day. What a totally twisted world it is...sigh.

The birthday girl!

Learning

I feel like all of a sudden, Ayla is learning so many new things! It's so fun! We don't spend very much time with her in the basement so she hasn't had a chance to try and climb stairs, but I decided to let her give it a shot while we were at my parents' house...within a few minutes, she was a pro. Oh boy, what did I do?

I like to sit on the ground while she plays and watch her roam around the living room and do her thing...lately, she'll play for quite a while and then she'll come over and crawl all over me and onto my lap and hang out for a couple minutes before she heads off again. I love it. Sometimes she'll stand in front of me, just inches from my face and play with my necklace. It's like she's checking in with me and it's the closest I'll get to her snuggling with me on her own accord.

More than a handful of times now, she has seen me and said "mama"...soooo do I get to say that she really knows it?! She also says something that resembles "dada" when she sees Dean. Tonight, Dean noticed that her words for "dad" and "dog" are strangely similar. Hmm.

When she hears a phone ring or picks up her toy phone, she holds it up to her ear and says "hi!" She sounds like a little southern girl. She says "bye" in the same tone. It's so cute. She really loves Elmo; right now his name is "Ah-me." Close enough. :) She understands more words than she can say. If we ask her where a certain thing is, she'll look for it and point at it. It's fascinating how babies' minds work...it amazes me that they learn so quickly. And a head-scratcher--when she picks up the tv remote, she turns around and points it at the tv. What? She rarely sees the tv on, let alone seeing us actually turn it on...how does she know?

Busy baby...

Ayla has been so busy exploring every little nook and cranny in the house. She loves to stand so she's constantly pulling herself up on everything. A few times, she has let go and been able to stay standing for a couple seconds all by herself.

She likes to look out the patio door. Here, she's pointing at Kody sitting on the deck.
Giving the door a kiss. :)

I love the way her cute little toes look when she kneels.

Playing with the blinds...

...and getting stuck.

Checking out her new phone