Compare these pictures...

I realize that at first sight my daughter bears a striking resemblance to her daddy. Fair skin, white hair, dark eyes. Brett said to me the other day "I hope this doesn't offend you but the chubbier she gets the more she looks like you" . Thanks honey none taken...With that round face, nose and mouth she is starting to resemble her mommy, yay!

I like to scroll through pictures for her to look at and came upon some pictures of me as a baby with my dad. I found some pictures and the resemblance is uncanny. Especially the resemblence to Ayla in "real life" - even Brett was shocked. Fun!

SAVE WWU Football...

This is easy - go to http://www.savewwufootball.com/ and click join group and be proactive! Especially since most of you that frequent this blog are alumni. My husband is VERY distraught about WWU's recent decision to cut their football program due to budget cuts. Brett has a deep love for this sport and a deep love for his fellow former teammates from WWU. There is many a young man out there who one day desires to play college football and we need long standing programs around to fullfill those dreams...

Besides I would not have even looked twice at him if he wasn't a football stud all those years ago!

Ayla's first Christmas - WOW!

We were definitely on the go this holiday season. Fitting in time with family and making sure Ayla got lots of quality time with her Aunty and Uncle, then finishing it all off with wonderful a Hawaiian vacation! Our 4 month old little girl handled it like a champ however and we are now all three peacefully at home watching bowl games :)

Ayla got to spend time with her aunty the doctor and uncle the lawyer - the great thing is Ayla could care less - she just loves to smile and giggle with them. She is really starting to get to know them and recognize who they are.

At Grandma's house

So many wonderful Christmas morning memories - my dad would be up bright and early, then Scoobs and I would come down; the three of us opened our stockings, lots of giggles while we rummaged through our candy, gift cards and oh yes - scratch tickets! My dad always told us to wait awhile to go wake up mom so she could get a little extra sleep. So I wanted to make sure Ayla's first stocking opening experience at Grandma was just as special - my mom made her a mini stocking...

At Aunty Cindy's:

Kyla 12 months, Grant 7, Ayla 4 months

Game Night

Brett and Scott v. Mom, sis, and I - we didn't stand a chance against the Thompson twosome. Cranium Turbo: I was hopeful but quickly became depressed as I saw our inevitable defeat. Scattegories: we did much better, especially mom - my sister and I knew we couldn't have gotten all our competitive urges from our dad and low and behold there was some competitive fire in her, it just took a little Scattegories to bring it out

Christmas morning with Grandpa

We also spent time with Grandma Daryl and her family and I will soon post those pictures as well.

Kauai

Waipouli Beach

Mommy and Daddy's 5 year Anniversary - grandma and aunty babysat!

Bright and early ready to play:

Our water baby - she loved it!!

At the luau - she loved it !!

Playing with mommy and daddy - she loved it !!

Until...

Mommy, I am SO over all these kisses!

Brett, Scoobs and I also had quite the adventure kayaking down the Wailua River. I took those pics with a waterproof disposable camera - you know 35 mm and you actually have to wait to get them developed, ugh! So I will be sure to post some of those pics soon.

I am getting Teeth!

Well, its official - Ayla has two front tiny little toofers sprouting on her bottom gums. She has been showing signs of teething - lots of drool and gnawing on her hands, a little fussy. Yesterday her aunty Scoobs noticed a little white sprout on her gums when I was changing her.



Getting big SO fast, cuter and chubbier everyday!!!

Sitting up on my own...

1.

2.

3.

OOPS!!! Mom was too busy taking pictures...

Uncle Scott's in town. We have been having TONS of fun together

Airport Adventure

I wanted to publicly express how blessed I am to have Brett. He is an amazing husband and father. I could blog daily about what kind of man he is, but that is bragging - but I couldn't help myself with this one :)
My husband just left to pick up my mom and then take her with him to pick up my sister at the airport (9:30 pm) who flies in at 11:20 pm. My mom is deathly afraid of driving in the snow and ice and lives up the twistiest, steepest hill known to man (well, ok maybe the twistiest, steepest in Auburn, but I need some dramatic effect). There is a back way that is a little less treacherous, thankfully. Not to mention, we live atop a large hill as well, again there is a back way.
We have been stewing all day long about "the plan" to pick her up. After many variations we decided I would stay here with Ayla who is sleeping safely and soundly and Brett would brave the roads packed with snow and ice, go pick up my mom-then my sister at the airport. The thing is, there was never even a question in Brett's mind as to whether he will do this - he said it will be an adventure and is happy to do it. Even when my sister's friend called and said he would pick up my sister, Brett still wanted to.
Thank your husbands right now if you know they would do the same for you or thank the person in your life that would do something like this for you. Brett is a constant support to my family, which is so clearly his family too.
I know my dad is looking down right now feeling the relief that his family was left in the hands of a man that does not hesitate to do what is needed to keep us safe and happy.
My next blog will be describing this "great adventure".

Sidebar:
My sister says it is supposed to snow in Boston tomorrow, 12 - 13 inches, this is after daily ice storms. The news there does a small snippet warning people they should leave a little early for work tomorrow! You gotta love Western Washington news and their amazing way to overreact to our weather. I am sucker for it too, because I haven't left my house all day for a reason. I didn't even get to watch Ellen today because they had to report over and over from the same three places about how much snow there is!

Snow Day !!!

First, a sleep update. She is napping about 3 times a day, one to two hours each nap. She cries for maybe 5 minutes if at all when we lay her down drowsy. Tonight she fell asleep on her own with NO crying at all. She litterally improves each time she goes to sleep. Praise God!!! How long before parents can say "my baby sleeps through the night? " It has been one week. I think I will wait another week and then start assumming when I go to bed that I won't need to wake up at 12 and 4 am - even though my body still does on its own, at which point I go in to check on Ayla sleeping soundly in her crib.

Now to the real purpose of this blog post:
Well, I must admit that as teachers we wish for a snow day to cancel school WAY more than we ever did as students, especially now that we have the wittle one to entertain us. Any teachers out there I am sure will agree with me!

So last night when school was already cancelled for Tahoma, I began skipping around the house knowing that the three of us would get to spend a cozy day at home together. Which actually turned into a much needed trip to Southcenter and the Supermall for some Christmas shopping, but hey we made the most of Brett's day off :) Along with some extra play time with Ayla...

Uh Oh, were did Dad's face go????During our long weekend we have discovered Ayla's new favorite toy. A little blond haired doll we have named LuLu - she is fascinated by it:

Notice the pattern. See LuLu, grab for LuLu, put LuLu's pigtails in my mouth!

Since we are on this topic I would now like to quote a conversation between Brett and I from Sunday:

I shall set the scene:

Ayla has now taken to pooping about once a day - therefore her diapers containg HUGE loads when she decides to have her poop of the day. Brett was the lucky one who got to change this one and I hear him gasping from Ayla's room and asking Ayla to quit squirming as poop gets on her leg and feet. A few minutes later we are in the living room and...

Mom says to Dad who is holding Ayla: "Is that poop on her face?"

Dad: "No way, oh my gosh, oh no, I think it is"

Mom rolling over with laughter as I do the classic mom move that we all swore we would NEVER do. I lick my finger and wipe off the tiny speck of Ayla's poop off her chin! Don't worry I then wash her face and my hands.

The point of this story is to let you all know that Ayla is doing excellent at reaching, grasping, and then going directly to her mouth. We are hoping since it wasn't a smear it was just the little bit on her chin. To quote Laura Bosik "tee hee hee"

And because I love them so much I could eat them, Ayla's feet...