Wet 'n wild

I thought I was being really cool by letting Ayla play with a big bowl of water outside...she was getting the edges of her dress pretty wet, but I figured it wasn't a big deal since it was so warm out. Little did I know, Daddy would show me up when he got home from work.




We went from that bowl of water...to this:

I'm not sure I've ever seen her have so much fun in her nearly 19-months of life. It was so cute. She kept wanting to stick her face in the water which is so strange because when we rinse her hair in the bath and she gets one drop of water on her face, she screams like a banshee.
I can't wait until it's even warmer out and we can turn the sprinklers on and let her run wild. I may just have to join her. :)

Morning drive

This morning, on the way to my mom and dad's house, Ayla was chattering away as usual. She was quiet for a moment and she said:

"Mama...I wanna hold you."

Not to second-guess her because she does know how to say a lot of things, but her jibber-jabber is usually...well...gibberish. So I asked her, "You want to hold me?"

And she said, "Yeah! Hug!"

I had a full-body warm fuzzy. How could it get any better than that?

4.28.10

This is from last weekend...totally blurry, but the look on Ayla's face is priceless. She was lovin' it. And my legs were burning after just a few short runs. Looks like Mama needs to work out...

And these pictures are from yesterday...love love love her dress. It's perfectly poofy. :)

I told her to go smell the (real) flowers--she said "ok" and tried to stick her nose into this quickly spinning windmill flower.

I'm 30!

I turned 30 yesterday. Thirty. It's so strange to say that. Dean asked me if there was anything I wish I would have done by this age that I didn't get to do. I said no. For as long as I can remember, I've said that by 30, I want to be married with at least one child. Well, there you go. I have a wonderful husband and an amazing daughter...and an incredible group of friends and family. What more could I ask for? I am so blessed.

Friday afternoon, I left Ayla with my parents and did some shopping all by myself. My parents gave me a gift card to TJ Maxx. Score! Love that store. Anyways, I went to a couple places...it's rare that I am by myself during the day. I almost felt a little lost but it was nice to be able to look through clothes and not have to hang shirts back up after Ayla pulls them off of hangers and I didn't have to worry about her trying to escape from the dressing room while I tried things on. :)

Dean planned a party for me on Friday night. (Thank you, Dean! He knows that I don't like to plan things for myself...especially birthdays...being the center of attention makes me a little uncomfortable. So, he did all the work and I just got to show up.) We went downtown to Sake Bombers (the upper level of Blue Sushi). It was so fun to see everyone! Thanks so much to all of you who came by to help me celebrate. It really means a lot to me. Before the party, Dean and I went to dinner at Spaghetti Works and on the way there, I said that I was really happy about the people who would be at the party later on...except that my best friend, Jamie, wouldn't be able to make it in from Des Moines. She had been telling me for quite a while that she wouldn't be able to come...even texted me that afternoon to apologize for it.

Well.

Dean and I were just sitting there, finishing up our drinks when I happened to look up and see Jamie walking towards our table. It was one of those things where you know you know that person, but since you're not expecting to see them, it doesn't quite click in your mind who it is at first. I was so confused. I jumped up and gave her a hug and actually got tears in my eyes because I was so excited to see her. She made my day. :) She had planned on coming all along...sneaky, sneaky, Jamie (and Dean). The crazy girl ended up driving home at midnight through strong winds, rain, and hail. No one ever said she wasn't stubborn. ;)

Ayla spent the night with my parents that night and on Saturday morning, Dean's parents went to go pick her up so she could spend the day (and night) with them since Dean and I had a wedding to attend. We went over there to spend a little bit of time with her before having to get ready for the wedding. She says, "happy day!" for "happy birthday!" Love it.
The following pictures are at the wedding reception:

One of the girls came up with the brilliant idea to pick me up and hold me across all of them for a picture since it was my birthday. I wasn't too keen on that idea, but I don't think I had a choice. Their faces in the next picture crack me up...they all look like trouble.
With the beautiful bride, Jaime!

We went to Dean's parents' house for dinner tonight--Barb made a baked ravioli casserole. It was awesome and then for dessert, we had ice cream sundaes. She knows me all too well. Pasta, cheese, and ice cream. What more could you need in life? I'm still so full right now, I can hardly move. Ayla had a few bites of my sundae and I think those few tiny bites somehow managed to give her a bit of a sugar-high. She was so goofy and giggly on the way home and once we got here, she went crazy with my birthday balloons. She loves them.Thank you again to all of my friends and family for making this a great 30th birthday weekend!

Ah-choo!

Anyone else getting completely destroyed by allergies right now? Man. They. Are. Awful.

I went to Walgreens and asked the pharmacist what I could take in order for my nose to no longer feel like it had bugs crawling in it.

He looked at me all funny.

My friends, Claritin-D and Alavert-D have provided me with a bit of relief, but I can already tell that their effectiveness is quickly wearing off. My body seems to get used to allergy meds to the point where they no longer do anything for me.

Ayla listens to me sneeze all day long...a few weeks ago, she started saying "BLOSS!" after I sneezed, but it has since turned into an actual "Bless you!" How cute. :) She says it after each sneeze, but I'm sure she'll soon learn (just like everyone else) to wait until I'm completely done. I'm a serial sneezer, you see. Four or five sneezes in a row is the norm.

I'm really really hoping, with fingers crossed, that this doesn't last for too much longer. Blah. Until it ends, I will continue on as a stuffed up, snotty, mouth-breather with eyes that look like they have been punched. Pretty.

Weekend run-down

On Friday night, Megan and I went to Jamie's 30th birthday party in Des Moines. That girl knows how to throw a party! Lots of people, food, decorations, and even a D.J. I know this will be hard to believe, but I did not have my camera. :( I will have to snag a few of Jamie's pictures when she posts them. Just a week shy of turning the big 3-0 myself, I shotgunned my first beer. It wasn't exactly what you would call successful. I got three-fourths of it down and thought I was going to explode...exactly why I was always too chicken to try it during the glory days of college. Dean's cousin can down one in three seconds. Impressive. And a side-note--I actually met a few people who follow this blog. Very nice people, in fact. It kind of, sort of baffles my mind that people who are (were) complete strangers would find my random ramblings entertaining enough to read on a regular basis. I just knew my degree in journalism would come in handy someday. Ha.

Dean's Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Sandy were in town from Ohio for a few days so we were able to spend lots of time with them over the weekend. It is always wonderful to see them! We did another shrimp boil while they were here. I think this is one of my favorite meals. So fun. And so good. I posted about this last year--you boil corn, onions, shrimp, sausage, potatoes, and spices in a huge pot and just dump it all on a paper-covered table and eat it without utensils. How fun is that?

Try really hard to ignore Dean's slippers...

Aunt Sandy and Grandma covering our table with paper.Ayla, say "cheese!"
Adding more ingredients to the pot.Dean getting pointers from Grandma.
Capturing a rare moment...if you get a hug from Ayla, it's your lucky day.