A World of Wonder

It seems these days that Ayla does something new each day, it may be her mannerisms, a new expression, a smile, a sound, or she finds something new to get in to. It really is a world of wonder at this age and stage, and I know that this is just the beginning for all the "new" things she'll be doing. I'm sure that I'll look back in a year from now and will realize how "naive" I was. :+}

She'll sit pretty still right now while someone turns the pages of a book and talks about it. It's cute the way she'll make certain expressions at the faces and things in the books. There's this monkey that a friend at church gave us, and when you give it a squeeze it sounds like a "mini" Darth Vader. When my dad and I first showed it to her she didn't like it and pushed it away. However, now she'll sit on the floor with it in front of her and talk to it. I'll place it in front of her and say "hello Ayla" in my best "monkey" voice and she'll coo at it with excitement, which reminds me that I need to get it on video. Now that it's getting a lot warmer, my mom has been putting her in the pool. I haven't seen it yet, but she says she really likes it. The other day when she was sitting on the floor at my mom's house my mom said, "splash splash, Ayla," and she did her hands like she was splashing in the pool. After being in the pool that one day she's become a lot more active in the bath tub. She's going to take swim lessons with Luke & Jackson this summer at the Farley's house, which should be lots of fun. Brett and I finished our walkway this evening when he got home. We placed flagstones down with gravel in between. It looks pretty good. I'll have to get a picture of our front and post it to the site. Little by little... we are getting things done around the house. Our next venture is to get a driveway poured in the next few weeks. Once that happens we'll tackle cleaning out the garage and bonus room so maybe it won't look like a band of Gypsies live in them any more. I've only got about a month or so more of school, and I'm looking forward to my 9 weeks off.
Last, but certainly not least important, our good friends Hollie and Stephen had their second son, Penn, on April 24th at exactly 8 PM. He weighed 9 lbs. 14.5 oz. We can't wait to meet him! They've posted pictures on their blog, and Stephen has yet again written a super sweet and emotional (unlike the way Stephen normally is) ;+) birth story that is worth reading whether you know them well or not. ;+] I've included two pictures of Hobs and Penn at the bottom of this post.
Okay, here are some of the pictures I've taken since getting back from Texas.

Ayla & Daddy in their Dallas Stars attire!

That big smile for mommy!

Here she is with a book in front of her. She gets pretty into those books!

Shortly after conquering crawling, she mastered pulling up.

Every now and again she'll get this look on her face that says, "Look what I did!"

Okay, I'm a little embarrassed to even post this picture, but obviously not enough to keep it off the blog. I won't be getting "Mom of the Year Award" for this one. In this picture I'm at the computer, actually working on the blog, and I'm allowing her to play with the blind cords to keep her busy. Yes, I know I am probably going to regret this in a few months. However, what I told myself is that if I didn't let her do it again she wouldn't remember that I actually allowed this to take place. :+] Oh, and another bad thing I started was allowing her to play with cords (that aren't in use). It's amazing how there can be 14 light up toys in the room, and she'll gravitate to the cords each and every time.

I thought the light coming through the window on this one was really pretty. By the way, in this one please note the missing blind cords. By this time I'd come to my senses and removed them from her reach! :+}

She's watching Brett and my dad in this one. They were out in the front cutting the path for our walk way.

This was taken last Sunday afternoon after church at my parent's house. Both kids like pounding away at the piano. One does it a bit harder than the other. Can you guess which one?? :+}

They really look like serious musicians!! :+}

Sweet babies! This was one evening after Justin, Sarah, and Jackson came over for dinner. We'd given the kids a bath after dinner, and I opened a new package of "unisex" onsies to put on the kids. They looked so cute and clean!!

Not that Ayla's isn't, but if that's not the sweetest look on Jackson's face... I don't know what is!

Sweet boy, who loves giving hugs and kisses, likes to laugh, enjoys running from you when you tell him to "come on," and finds ways to get into just about anything he wants. :+] He's our precious boy!

Ayla with another book!

I'm not sure what was up with that face, but I'm glad I got it! She makes me laugh!

Being silly with mommy. I really enjoy these moments.
She likes to crawl all over me, and I load her down with lots of kisses! :+]

Here she is playing hide and seek with me in the living room. I'd call her name from around the chair, and she'd crawl, then peek around to find me. I'd then say "boo" and she'd laugh or smile really big at me. This look is so adorable!

Those big, blue eyes!!

Last Saturday, I took her outside while I cleaned off the porch. I put this hat on her to keep the sun off her face, and I thought it looked so cute on her. She looks so much like I did when I was this age, especially with the hat on. While we were out there, my dad came and got her and took her to see my mom. While he was heading back I caught a glimpse of her from a distance and really noticed the resemblance. It was like I was looking at the pictures I'd grown up seeing of myself. :+}

Just playin' on the floor!

She's talking to me in this one, and it's a very good story! ;+]

Here's what I let her do when I'm trying to get something done in the kitchen. This night I was attempting to unload and load the dishwasher. She generally stays pretty content long enough to allow me time to get it done. I would let Jackson play with these when he was about Ayla's age, and now that he's older and stronger, these have become "weapons" and dangerous instruments in those little hands of his. He loves to bang things and make noise! :+}

Penn McCasland Baldridge

The Baldridge Boys, Hobson Neil & Penn McCasland!

And... that's all for now!

Our Spring Break Trip to Texas

Over my Spring Break the three of us made a trip to Texas. While there, we were able to see both family and friends. I even got to see Peggy and Debby, two friends of mine I hadn't seen in a long time who will be moving to Florida very soon. They also got to meet Ayla! We hadn't made a long trip since we went for Thanksgiving, and on that trip Ayla slept just about the entire way there and back, so I was a bit anxious to see how this one would go. Since we left mid-day, in between playing with toys, she took an afternoon nap, and got a bit fussy once it got dark, but she watched about 20 minutes of Praise Baby DVDs and fell asleep to them. She was out until we pulled up to Brett's parent's house a little after 11 PM. Since we left earlier in the day to go back, although not terrible, the ride back wasn't quite as smooth.

Brett's parent's hadn't seen Ayla (in person) since Thanksgiving, and now that she's a little more aware of her surroundings, it was interesting to see her "look them over" before warming up. The following day Jaycee and Pam came over, and us girls went and had lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. Jaycee was so good with Ayla, and Ayla was also "taken" by Jaycee and her vivid expressions. :+]

We got to see and stay with Stephen, Hollie, and Hobson for a night, and that is always enjoyable for us. Hollie was 8+ months pregnant and looked great! Hobson looks and acts very much like the big brother he's about to be. We hope we get to see picture of Penn very soon, and it shouldn't be much longer. ;+]

Before leaving for Texas, Ayla was well on her way to learning how to crawl. She practiced while we were there, and a few days after we got back she took her first actually crawl. One thing she did do while there in Texas was say and wave "bye bye" for the first time...it was the evening of April 2nd, after eating dinner at El Fenix, and she was saying/waving goodbye to her Aunt Kim. :+)

Since Brett's mom had to work each day, Ayla stayed up pretty late every night until either Ayla was worn out or until Oma was. Each night Ayla's Oma gave her a bath, and Ayla really enjoyed herself while also helping Oma get a head start on mopping her kitchen floor. ;+]

Updates: Ayla is now crawling and getting around quite well, and her first tooth barely poked through just yesterday (4-22-08). She's been a bit fussy during the night, and I'd wondered if that might be the reason. I just had to pause and go rock her for a moment, and although I don't get the sleep I once got, those are sweet moments for me! I've recently started changing up her "going to bed" routine. I've been rocking her and she's handled the transition quite well. She says a few words pretty well, and although I know she knows who I am, I haven't heard "ma ma" yet. I'm patiently waiting.
Okay, it's almost 2 AM, and I need to head to bed! Enjoy the pictures and captions!

The evening before we were leaving, Ayla curiously inspected the bags of "stuff" I was packing.

Ayla and her cousin Jaycee the first day we were there.

I love both this picture... and this "thing" Ayla was doing at that point (she's no longer doing it as much). :+( I just happened to catch Jaycee imitating Ayla and told her to look my way.

This is a sweet picture. Ayla happened to look at me, and I caught the moment!

Brett's sister Pam, Jaycee holding Ayla, and Brett's mom, attempting to hide behind the foliage!
While we were waiting to be seating for lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. BTW: The 5 of us (yes, Ayla included) shared an enormous piece of chocolate, caramel cheesecake that Jaycee picked out.

Brett, outside his parent's house, before heading over to Hollie and Stephen's.

Ayla loves other kids. She gets so excited when she sees them and especially loves touching their faces. I caught her excitement the morning after we were there.

Hobson, lovin' on Ayla! :+}

Hobson was so good with her. Here he is helping her with her drink. :+]

Hobson, winking at me! :+}

Cute picture of Ayla's 2nd counsins, Madison and Liam. Both are about to turn 5 and will be going off to kindergarten in the fall.

Being a Dallas STARS fan sure is tiring!!

Dinner at El Fenix, and Ayla is trying a lemon. I love the look on her face. I'm not sure she can decide whether she likes it or not. This was our last evening in Texas.

Ayla and Garrett. :+} BTW: The toys in the background are NOT toys for Ayla. Those happen to be George's toys, Oma's 5th and most favorite child.

Garrett, Ayla, and Jaycee, in the excersaucer Ayla's Oma bought for her to use while we were there. Everyone came over to see us one last time before we left.

Ayla, Stephanie, and Jaycee.

Here Ayla is taking a bath our last night there. Boy, did she get to splashin'! :+} I also got video of this, which turned out pretty cute.

Here we are heading back, and Ayla is enjoying a very small chocolate chip cookie. However, you can't tell that by the mess on her face. I'm certainly not that mom who "sticks to the rule book" when it comes to what you are and are not supposed to do. ;+} I want Ayla to have rules, but I also want her to enjoy life!

It was worth every single drip of chocolate on her cute little face (not to mention on her bib, hands, in her hair, and on her car seat)! ;+]

Here she is watching Praise Baby. It was cute the way she'd curl her toes and twist her ankles as she watched. At this point she was on the verge of getting a bit more figity.

Past figity... and the melt down begins!

It's in full force here. She is not a happy passenger! She's sleepy, tired of being in that silly car seat, and wants to be held by her mommy!
This was the last picture I took of her before we got home.

This sweet picture was taken a day or so after we got back. It was a humid day, and her curls were really "blooming." :+}