Recently...

Ayla and I recently had the opportunity to go to Washington state to visit family for 2 whole weeks!  This was definitely a long, much needed vacation!  It was the longest Ayla had been away from Joseph and I know if was rough for her to be away from daddy for so long!  It seemed like as soon as we got home from St. Louis we were off to Washington!  Getting a break from the heat in St. Louis and Utah was wonderful for Ayla and for myself!  We actually needed to wear jackets at times and I loved it!  I miss the Pacific Northwest a lot.  If I could move there tomorrow I would!

Here are some pictures from our trip:

Ayla and I on the airplane.

Ayla in front of grandma's house.

Ayla and Grandpa John.

Ayla enjoying the greenery!

Eating lunch at Grandma's!

.Petting some donkeys.

Watching Sesame Street with Grandma.

Ayla hanging out with Emory.

Eating ice cream with grandma.

The last fun thing we did was visit Pike Place Market in Seattle!

We also had some studio pictures taken of Ayla.  She didn't really like to cooperate, but we still got some good ones!

Ayla, my mom, and I made the 15 hour drive from WA to UT and Ayla did so well!  We drove over night which really helped a lot.  :)  Every time I make that drive I think to myself, I WILL NEVER DO IT AGAIN!  Flying is so much easier.

We're now back to our regular routine.  We're living in Eagle Mountain and Joseph is working away.  I'm in the process of applying for some jobs.  As much as I love being with Ayla I miss the social interaction and the second income.  I'm hoping to find an evening job so that Joseph and I can trade off with Ayla and we won't need to put her in daycare.  Wish me luck!

Here are some pictures of a recent day spent with our friends Kaitlin and Nina!

AYLA YEAR ONE

Click here to view this photo book larger

Click here to view this photo book larger

I cannot believe that my baby girl is going to be a year old in two and a half months!  Time really does fly.  It seems like just yesterday I was hearing her screaming for the first time at the hospital.  She's grown so much and we have done so many great things as a family!  This book will be for her (and us!) to look back at for the rest of her life and see what went on her very first year!

Babies Don’t Keep

by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,

Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,

Hang out the washing, make up the bed,

Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,

Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due

Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew

And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo

But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo

Look! Aren’t his eyes the most wonderful hue?

Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow

But children grow up as I’ve learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!

I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

 

IT'S SO GOOD TO BE HOME!

We have finally made it back to Utah and we couldn't be happier!  St. Louis was an experience that we're glad we had but that we don't want again!  I never thought I would be so happy to a place that I have hated for so long.  (UTAH.)

We're technically still homeless, but staying with some family friends and enjoying their company!  Joseph is back on the phones at Pinnacle Security and I am with Ayla all day.

Ayla and I are making a trip to Washington to visit family and we will get to be there for at least 2 weeks!  We're so excited to go home!  I can't wait to be with my family and be away from this heat.  Sadly Joseph isn't coming.  He has to keep working and get an apartment set up for us.  I will miss him a lot.  And Ayla has become SUCH a daddy's girl.  I feel terrible taking her from him for so long.  :(  It's so cute to watch her light up when he comes in the room and have her say: "HAAA DAAAA!"  Which means "hi dad!".  We'll have to Skype a lot and make lots of phone calls to dadaaddaadaaa.  :)

Some other exciting news:  Joseph's brother and sister-in-law had their baby!  His name is Benjamin Joseph Salazar and he's perfect!  Such a sweet little guy!  I'm glad that we got to come home early and see him when he was just a week old!

Here are a couple pictures from our ride home from St. Louis:

At a rest area in Nebraska!

The Proud Uncles

Cute cousins :)

Let's See How Far We've Come...

We have been in St. Louis, MO for 2 months and 12 days.  I cannot believe how much Ayla has grown and all the big girl things that she has learned!

Since moving here these are the milestones that Ayla has reached (and with flying colors!).

-Outgrowing her 0-3 month old clothes.

Her first big girl clothes. (6 month size)

-Learned how to sit up on her own,  no help from her momma!

Sitting up during our slumber party in the living room while daddy was away.

-She has become my little ducky, loving up the water!

Floating in the swimming pool!

-She learned to scoot around on her tummy using her arms to drag her (slowly) where she wanted to go.

Scoot scoot!

-She learned to love playing independently!

Playing in her exerscauser with her favorite block.

-Ayla had her toenails painted for the first time!

Light pink toenails!

-She started saying "DA-DA-DA-DA!"  Because she loves her daddy!  (And it's easy to say!)

-She got two bottom teeth!

Teeth!

-She learned to CRAWL!  No more scooting!  She crawls like a crazy girl, so quick!

 -She can pull herself up on EVERYTHING!

SO BIG!

-She has enough hair to have a pony tail!

Tiny, but still a pony tail!

-And she has learned to feed herself baby cheetos!  (Gerber Graduates Lil' Crunchies)

She doesn't want me to put it in her mouth any more, she takes it and does it herself!

 YUM!

My baby girl has grown so much!  She is getting to be such a handful and so much fun.  I love every little thing about her.  Helping her discover and learn new things is amazing.  My perfect tiny girl.  :)

St. Louis, MO.- PART 1

It's hard to believe that one month ago we packed up our little family, left Utah, and headed to St. Louis, MO!

The ride was a long one, and it was hard for our girl, but she was a trooper!

I am so glad that we have the chance to live somewhere that we probably never would have even visited.  Joseph is selling home alarm systems door-to-door (ew, I know, I would hate it!) for Pinnacle Security.  As you probably know, St. Louis is not the safest of cities, which makes it a great market for security systems.  I cannot believe that Joseph hits the doors every day, rain or shine, for ten hours a day!  Luckily I get to stay home with our baby girl exploring this awesome place that we temporarily call home.

It is so beautiful here!  Everything is so green and lush.  I can't say that the weather has been great.  I'd say it's poured cats and dogs about 75% of the time so far, but I don't mind.  I actually enjoy the rain as long as it isn't touching me!  The other 25% of the time it has been HOT and STICKY.  I can't even imagine what it's going to be like in the summer months!

Pinnacle has put us up in the Edgewater Court Apartments.  I love them!  The complex is HUGE.  There's a play ground, a few swimming pools (indoor and out), an exercise facility, tennis courts, a jogging trail, a 2 acre lake, trees, flowers, and wildlife everywhere!

THE LAKE!

OUR LIVING ROOM.

DINING ROOM/KITCHEN.

6 Months!

Today my tiny baby girl is 6 months old.

I cannot believe that it's already been 6 months since we were in the hospital waiting for our girl to arrive!  She has changed our lives an incredible amount.  All for the better!

Ayla is the baby I always dreamed about.  She is the shining jewel in my crown!

Every day she gets a little bigger, a little sillier, and oh so much smarter!  She amazes me with her expressions and her giggles.  She knows how to push all my buttons already just by changing the tone of her crying.  :)

At 6 months old this is what our Tiny loves:

-Squealing a really long, drawn-out, high pitched squeal just because she can.

-Baby Bop. As well as everyone else on Barney.

-Mean Girls!  She will not look away from this movie!  She stops playing and stares intently at the TV.  I fully believe that she understands every word that is being said.

-Squash.  Ayla loves squash and devours the entire can and then squeaaaaaaaallllllllllsssssssssss at me when I don't have any more for her.

-She enjoys music in the car.  She will cry and cry, thrashing around in her seat unless I turn the music up.  When I do she sits contently staring out the window and enjoying the music.

 -She loves to be sang to.  And she loves when there is dancing going along with the singing.  She especially loves, "Ya'll gonna make me lose my mind up in here up in here!" (Dr. Dre)  She laughs hysterically while I act like a gangster.

-She still likes to be swaddled when she sleeps but always wants her left arm out of the swaddle.  Every morning I wake up to a tightly wound baby with her left arm over her head.  ( i sleep with an arm over my head too, funny eh?)

-She LOVES when daddy gets home.  No matter how grumpy she has been with me, how tired she is, how sick she is, she always has a big smile for daddy.

I have been so blessed to spend the past 6 months with my beautiful and perfect little girl.  I can't wait for all the fun that the future holds for our little family!

Waking up happy!

Eating her blanket :)

So happy!

Loving Baby Bop!

She looks so pretty :)

Sitting up like a big girl!

I love my big tiny girl!