Pigtails

Ayla's hair is starting to turn mullet-ish again...I've been debating whether or not to get it trimmed up a bit. In the meantime, I decided to try some lower pigtails to pull all that hair up. Turns out, they look adorable. I love them.
Today was my last day home with her. Boo. I'm going to miss her while I'm working tomorrow...we've had fun these past two weeks. I'm already looking forward to the next time I'll get to stay home with her again. My parents already have a trip planned to Taiwan and China the third week of May. They'll be gone for over three weeks.
This evening, Ayla and I went to the airport to pick up my parents with my brother, Haylee, and Bennett. They were nice enough to swing by our house to grab the two of us so we wouldn't have to drive by ourselves.

Once again, Ayla did not have a stroller. The freedom was too much for her to handle. She didn't know what to do first. With the guidance of her two older cousins, she figured it out pretty quickly. I think she may have ran an entire mile in the half an hour that we waited for my parents to arrive. When we finally saw them walking towards us, Ping let Haylee and Bennett go so they could run to them. It's the sweetest thing to see. They were both genuinely thrilled to see their grandparents and couldn't wait to go to them. I grabbed on to Ayla for an extra minute so she wouldn't get trampled. I didn't know how she would react and if she would even know what was going on. She was watching Haylee and Bennett and all of a sudden, I think she realized it was her Yeh-Yeh and Nai-Nai. It was the cutest thing--I heard her breathe in excitedly and she starting jumping so I let her go. She ran as fast as her little legs would carry her. She went straight for my dad and buried herself in his legs and hugged him. So. Amazingly. Sweet. I wish I would have gotten it on video. It nearly brought tears to my eyes.

It was a really great end to a really great day. Back to work tomorrow...

2.22.10--Weekend update

Friday night, we went out to dinner with Grandma and Grandpa...we went to Mama's Pizza. Always really good and they were jam-packed the entire time we were there. Plenty of people-watching to keep Ayla busy.

Ayla had slept through the night all week and decided to end the streak and wake up for a couple hours on Friday night. Dean and I ended up with only a few hours of sleep which was unfortunate because we knew we would be up late on Saturday night.

On Saturday, we had Dean's team from work over to our house (five people plus significant others and his boss...thirteen of us all together) to celebrate a successful 2009. We had pizza and a few drinks and an Excursion limo picked us up for a night on the town. We stopped at a couple of different bars and the casino. It was a really fun night...we were up until 3:45 in the morning. That part was no good. I was a freaking zombie the next day.

And speaking of the next day-Sunday-I was in a pretty rotten mood. Ayla was also way off. She refused to nap. She cried and cried and cried and ended up throwing up three or four times. Throwing up basically nothing because she ate next to nothing yesterday. I was at my wits end. I know you're all sick of me talking about her not eating...but seriously, I have gone completely nuts because of it. It's soooooo difficult to deal with and extremely frustrating. I sat on the internet last night and tried to find some helpful hints. Hints that didn't include the typical "she'll eat when she's hungry" line. Not my child. I found a few things and also a couple of books that I might get. I need to do something to make a change because I'm not kidding-I'm thisclose to going totally ape-shit crazy.

Sigh.

Anyways.

As we speak, my parents are beginning their trip home from Taiwan. They will be here tomorrow evening. I really can't believe my two weeks home are nearly over. I knew it would go fast. :( I suppose it'll be nice to get back into the real world and it'll be even more nice to quit spending so much money at SuperTarget (out of boredom).

My parents got these funky little shoes for her in Taiwan several months ago. Ever since she started walking, she loves slipping them on and clomping around the house. They're still big on her but they finally aren't falling off every couple of steps.

I'm in love...

...with my new purse.

I had just put Ayla down for her nap and sat down to eat lunch when the doorbell rang. I knew exactly who it was--the lovely mailman delivering my much anticipated package containing my Coach purse.

I placed the box at my feet and just stared at it while I ate my lunch. I didn't tear into it right away...I couldn't let my food get cold. Girl likes to eat. I opted to save it for dessert. I'm pretty sure I heard angels sing as I pulled it out of the box. It's even more gorgeous in person. I checked out every zipper and pocket and had my very own fashion show in the mirror. It looks good. :)

I love it.

And on to Ayla...

We had a really good day today. In fact, the past few days have been great. Whenever my parents go out of town, it takes us a couple of days to kind of figure eachother out again since we're not used to being together all day every day. It seems like once we get a good routine going, it's time for me to go back to work. We have been having so much fun. When she gets restless and grabs her shoes and jacket, we leave the house and shop or run errands. We even made a trip to Daddy's office today to say hi. She's so awesome...I keep finding myself just staring at her with a smile on my face. I keep picking her up to snuggle and smooch on those fantastic cheeks while she squeals in protest...I can't get enough of her. Maybe someday she'll want to snuggle back. :)

St. John!

Back while we were on our trip to Denver, Dean surprised me with the news that we would be going back to St. John (U.S. Virgin Islands) for my 30th birthday gift. We are also celebrating our 5th anniversary this spring. What better way to celebrate than going back to our honeymoon destination.We finally booked our tickets and found a villa for the week. Our friends, Ryan and Nicole, will be joining us on this trip. It's not until the third week of June, so we have a few months to go, but we're so excited...it's my absolute favorite place to be. It'll be the longest we've been away from Ayla so I need to prepare myself (8 nights!).

Like I said, we went for our honeymoon and we also went back a couple of years ago with Dean's family. A few months after that, we were on a cruise with my entire extended family (reunion) and one of the stops was St. Thomas, so we hopped over to St. John for the day. If you ever get a chance to visit this island, do it. You will not be disappointed. It's very low-key and not a major tourist-y type of place. It's amazing to be on a gorgeous beach with absolutely no one else around. It's paradise. I can't wait to sink my toes into the sand...

2.16.10

Here are a couple pictures from Valentine's Day...she had just woken up from her nap so her hair is all over the place.

Checking out her new Elmo books.

She also got bubbles. She is obsessed with them. She asks for them constantly but they only keep her occupied for a couple of minutes. After that, I'm left blowing bubbles for my own entertainment.

And today, she had a blast hanging out in the laundry basket with Elmo (who is completely buried) and all of the throw pillows from the couches. Great fun...who knew?

Whoops.

So the other night, I was bored and decided to surf the net. I landed on Coach purses and did some major "window-shopping." I LOVE LOVE LOVE purses and have lots of them but I don't spend any more than 40 or 50 bucks per purse. Not necessary.

Dean asked what I was looking at so I showed him and he said if I really wanted one, to get one. I think it may have been the martinis talking. I did some more browsing and found one on eBay...it's a design that's a couple years old, I think, so it's difficult to find. The signature brown fabric with teal trim. It's beautiful. It's the one purse that actually makes me drool every time I see it.I bid on it.

I didn't think there was a chance I was going to win it since I put the lowest possible bid on it.

I received an e-mail the next morning that congratulated me on being the winner.

Whoops.

I always swore I would never spend that much money on a purse...but I suppose there's a first time for everything. Happy early birthday to me.

Inkblot Paper Designs

One of my best friends, Megan Gilligan, just launched her new website and blog for her company, Inkblot Paper Designs. She designs wedding invitations, save-the-dates, baby announcements, etc...you name it. And she does it beautifully.

Check her out at:

http://www.inkblotpaper.com/

and

http://www.inkblotpaperdesigns.blogspot.com/

Here you go, Mom!

As I mentioned, my parents are in Taiwan. My mom requested some new pictures of Ayla, so here you go, Mom! :)

Last night, Ayla stayed with Grandma and Grandpa so Dean and I could go out to dinner (Cheesecake Factory...YUM) and see a movie (Valentine's Day...it has anyone and everyone in it). It was a really nice night out...it's been ages since we've been to a movie. Thank you, Lee and Barb for offering to take Ayla so we could go out!

Today, we were out and about for much of the day...the mall, Village Pointe, the grocery store...Ayla did really well. She loves just walking around stores. AND I found some great deals...five things at Charlotte Russe for 3o bucks and a pair of cute heels at DSW for $17 (originally $60!) It was a good day. :)

We're all three starting to get over our colds...thank goodness. Hopefully we can stay sniffle-free for a while.

Break time!

My parents left for Taiwan early this morning which means I am off of work and at home with Ayla until the 24th. I labeled this post "Break time" but I'm not sure that being at home with a toddler all day long for two weeks equals a "break." :) I do always enjoy these times though. As much work as it can be, it's nice to have so much time with Ayla.
We are not a healthy bunch right now. We all have stuffy, gunky, runny noses. Yuck. I have been so unhealthy this winter. It seems like once I get over something, I am sick again within a week or two. Total bummer. However, Marla introduced me to Emergen-C...it's a packet of fizzy super powers that you pour into a few ounces of water. It works. I've been swearing by it for the past several weeks. Ever since that sinus infection from hell that I had around Thanksgiving, I've been doing everything in my power to not get to that point again. I've gotten sick a few times since then but taking this Emergen-C a few times a day, knocks down the severity of my symptoms immensely. Whenever I get sick, I have a couple days where I cannot climb out of bed, but the past few times, because of Emergen-C, the symptoms are tolerable so that I can still function (for the most part).

I just wish I could do something for Ayla to make her feel better. We've been cranking the humidifier in her room and she has a Vick's plug-in as well. Her stuffy nose causes her to sleep poorly...or maybe that's the excuse I've come up with for this week. (She's still waking up in the middle of the night. Sigh.)

Despite not feeling her best, she is still a little fireball. She is busy-busy all the time and is in to absolutely everything. She's also learning so many new words lately. We don't know how she knows some of the words that come out of her mouth. It's fascinating. She has always loved Elmo, but just in the past couple of days, she has been pointing out other characters...during the intro to Sesame Street, she excitedly screams out their names--Ernie! Abby! Bird! Oscar! Telly! Grover!

A few weeks ago, she looked at me and said, "Hungry," and pulled me to the fridge. I was sooo excited that she was telling me that she wanted to eat. This actually worked for a couple of weeks, but I have since realized that she was pulling a fast one on me. She knows I'll open the fridge if she says she's hungry...the catch is, she's not really hungry. She wants to play in the fridge. Lil stinker.
She went into the "laundry room" and emerged with her dad's goofy hat. Now that she can easily open any door in the house, it's difficult to keep her from digging for goodies.


I hope these next two weeks go well for us and that we don't go stir-crazy. It's so cold out that I'm reluctant to take her out. I'll have to get creative and come up with new things to do inside the house.

2.3.10

Good day

It was a really good Ayla-day today. Every day is great, but today was extra great. :)

She ate so well for all three meals...an extremely rare occurrence these days. Her belly full of food=a happy mommy. You have all heard me freaking out about her not eating, so when she actually does eat, I'm thrilled. Ecstatic. Jumping for joy. Seriously. It makes my day.

After I got off of work, we (Nai-Nai, too) ventured over to my brother's house for a couple hours to hang out with Haylee and Bennett. Ayla loves her cousins...when we got there, she ran straight for Haylee to give her a big hug and Bennett received a high-five. :)

We made a quick stop at Carter's on the way home and I found two sweaters and a long-sleeved onesie. All for 11 bucks. Score! Ayla got a kick out of being able to run around the store sans shopping cart or stroller. This does not happen very often, so when it does, she takes advantage. Little madwoman, she is.

And my favorite moment of the day...while I was cuddling with her before putting her to bed, I realized it had been over a week since I'd put her down. I've missed my snuggle-time with her. She was dozing off on my chest and woke up twice to give me eskimo kisses. It was so sweet. Love it. Love her.

Cancun

We were supposed to land in Omaha at 8pm Saturday night, but after sitting on our plane for two hours in Cancun before taking off due to a mechanical problem, we missed our connecting flight in Houston. Bah. They shipped us off to a Sheraton for the night and after yet another delayed flight, we finally landed in Omaha around 1pm Sunday. Sigh. I was so ready to see my baby. A bonus to sitting on that plane for two hours though? We somehow lucked into first class. When we stepped on the plane, we veered to the right just like every other time we've been on a plane but when we looked up at the row number, it said Row 8. We glanced down at our tickets and they said Row 3. Our eyes got wide and Dean said, "No way." Yep. First class. Probably the first and last time we'll ever get to sit up there. It was definitely the best case scenario for being stuck for that long. We had free drinks, real food, and roomy leather seats. It was greaaaat. I think it was the only thing that kept me sane...I surely would have gone crazy had we been sitting in regular seats. Totally spoiled.

Despite not having a single flight on time on the way home, we had a beautiful few days in Cancun. We only had one day of bad weather which we made the best of by doing some shopping. Can't beat that. I found a ring that I LOVE and a few little things for Ayla. Our days consisted of ordering room service for breakfast and listening to the waves in the background and then heading down to the pool and beach for the day and going out for amazing dinners in the evening. Endless amounts of food and drinks and SUN. It was perfect.

Welcome banquet on the first night

One of our excursions this year was horseback and ATV riding. I was soo excited about the horseback riding but as the guide was informing us of all the do's and don't's, I found myself becoming increasingly nervous. My feelings did not change as I heaved myself onto my horse whose name was Jose Cuervo...I think Jose had a little too much Cuervo. As soon as I got on, he decided not to listen to me and would do whatever he wanted. I. Was. Terrified. For the next hour, I was white-knuckled and completely freaked out. I basically prepared myself for the fact that I was going to get thrown off and left to get trampled on at some point. Good thing is, that didn't happen. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when we made it back. I had lost my new sunglasses somewhere along the way, but I was alive so all was well. Although, I still have a sore bum five days later. I need some more padding down there.After the horses, we hopped on the ATVs...I was able to ride with Dean, thank goodness. It was surprisingly fun. Nothing like going 35mph through dirt and jumps with a helmet that didn't really fit. Gotta love the lax safety regulations. For my other "excursion" I got an hour-long massage that was heavenly and Dean went golfing with the boys.

Crocodiles on the golf course...crazy.

It was a really great week...Dean's company really takes care of us (all 800 of us). It was an all-expense paid trip...not a single dime out of our pockets except for the shopping we did on our own. They truly spoiled us. I ate WAY too much while we were there...I need to detox my body. Fruits and veggies only for this week.

The Omaha crew

Dean with our towel swans :)

While we were there, we called home every day to check on Ayla. My second call to my mom broke my heart into a gazillion pieces. She said Ayla kept saying, "Mama?" and was looking for me. She's used to watching out the front window for me to drive up after work, so every car that drove by, she said, "Mama?" Then she went to the front door and wanted my mom to open it. Once it was open, she looked out there for me again. AND to top it all off, at bedtime, she would ask for me with tears swirling in her eyes. Oh my. I was a mess as I hung up the phone. Apparently, she would point at the phone and say, "Mama?" but when I called, she wouldn't talk to me. :( I finally got a few hi's and bye's on the last couple of days while she was at Grandma and Grandpa's.

When we went to go pick her up yesterday, she looked at me like she didn't know what in the heck was going on but she was thrilled to see Dean. I thought, "oh great...she's mad at me!" But it ended up only taking a few minutes for everything to be okay. I think she was really happy to have us back. :)

Great trip, great fun...but great to be home with our baby. Thank you so much to our parents for taking care of her all week!