Gummy Bear song

Ayla really loved this video. :)



Please play it for her....be warned: it will get on your nerves. lol

Two beautiful days at the beach

Hi Ayla! I had a great time hanging out with you guys while I was there for Christmas! Here are some of the pictures I took.


I'm sorry I put that last one up there. lol. I couldn't help it...

A good afternoon

I was so excited to hear that Sabrina and Ayla would be going to Virginia. As soon as Sabrina told me, I made plans to take the 3 hour drive to visit them. It was a short afternoon but well worth the drive. I brought along with me, Layla and Matthew. I took some video of Ayla and Layla playing and will definitely post some of it once I edit it. Below is the only photo taken of us.

I wanted to add a few more pic's to the blog of Ayla's birthday for us to remember and enjoy.

Also, I must take a moment to mention the first try with the scissors and the remorse that followed.

Ayla was learning to use little scissors. She had it down pretty good, cutting out ghosts for Halloween. Somehow, after I left the room, the scissors went from the ghost to the hair. She came to me and said sheepishly, "Momaw, I just cut my hair!" I won't go into all that followed, but the end result is her mom cutting it all short. She cried and fumed and did not like it. ( mommaw too.) But now we both think she is the cutest little gal ever. Yes, she's vain! Just the same, her new haircut suits her to a T.

What happened to the pictures?

Click on the pictures tosee Ayla bigger.

Happy Birthday to Ayla!

Can you believe Ayla has turned 5 today? I guess as I look back at photos with all the stages of her life I guess it's possible. I know that she is a beautiful, thoughtful and smart little girl.

Her birthday so far has been spent going to her prekindergarten class coming home at lunch and having a grilled cheese sandwich, dill pickles and cottage cheese. She played in her room for awhile. She is now playing games on the computer and is totally in-control! When I was trying to download the games she said, "mommaw, I think you'd better call mom, because I don't think you know what you are doing." Well, I was having trouble with one little part, but that's beside the point. Anyway, I think she takes after her mama and her pop-pop when it comes to computers.

Tonight she is having dinner at the restaurant of her choice. Well, almost. She wanted The Cheesecake Factory but her mom was like "within reason" so I think she will choose her 2nd favorite place, Sweet Tomatoes.

She is having her birthday party this weekend. She has about twenty kids coming and I am a bit scared about that. But she will have fun and have good memories of her 5th birthday.

Perhaps her mom will post about the party after it is done.

Enjoy the pics.

A little Poem for Ayla :)

Birdy, Birdy in the sky

You dropped something in my eye

That's Okay, I won't cry

I'm just glad that cows don't fly!

PopPop

My visit to home sweet home

So I came home to Jax recently and got to spend some time with the family and even squeezed in a little time to work. :) I have not posted anything on Aylas awesome blog to date so I just wanted to add some of the photos I took while I was there. She is growing up so fast if I procrastinate any longer, the pics will be long outdated. Enjoy..

One morning Ayla requested we go to Starbucks to get some coffee and chocolate milk. On the way there, Ayla cooled herself off with a cute little (nearly practical) handheld princess fan. She began to scream and when I turned to look at her, I saw that the fan had grabbed ahold of her hair and would not release itself! I had to rip her hair a little bit to get the fan out, but at least she didn't have to go into starbucks with a toy hanging from her head. There was no warning of this on the packaging!! I left the (dreadlock) knot until we got home where mommaw did the remarkable task of untangling her hair without any tears.
Ayla even got to drive a race car! Me, Sabrina and Ayla thought it would be fun to go to Adventure Landing and play some games and drive the cars around. Jeez....can you tell these two are related??

One day, Ayla, me and mommaw decided it was so gorgeous outside that we just had to take a trip down to the beach. It was so relaxing and all three of us had such a great time together.
After such a long, eventful day at the ocean, Ayla passed out.... and then did 180 degrees in the bed. I really love this picture.

Here are a few pictures of Ayla and Layla. As previously mentioned by Mommaw, they both had a blast playing together. The last picture was taken in the pool at Layla's "Nana's" house the last night that Layla was in town.

Scared, sad, then happy again.

Ayla had a busy day yesterday. She had a doctor's appointment to get her check up and shots for school. Mommaw went along with mom and both were anxious when we found out that Ayla had to have four shots, two in each arm. She was scared but tried to be brave. Each shot brought a little louder scream, with the last one a scream that hit new highs on the scream scale. She cried a bit after and then when we were ready to go she cheered up because it was time to check out her school and enroll.

The school that she is enrolled in is The Learning Tree. It is a beautiful school and the people there seem very nice. She started to play with the children right away when we checked out the playground.



We were there about 25 minutes checking it out. Ayla can't wait to get started. She will begin with a half a day schedule and maybe later go into all day. She will begin on the 18th of this month of August.



We had a nice lunch at the Golden Corral. Ayla's little arms are hot and sore but she is coping well. The ice cream that she had helped a lot.



She is really starting to enjoy painting. She paints on her easel often and is turning out some nice ones. She took one of her prettiest to Dr. Ahboudan and the doctor made quite a fuss over it. She said that she will get it framed, so maybe the next time Ayla goes she will see her framed art on the wall.



Ayla is growing smarter every day. She has a huge vocabulary and uses it. She walks around practicing words like congratulations and electricity. She uses phrases that adults use, usually with her hands moving for emphasis. She wanted to be an astronaut but now she says rock star.

I have a feeling I know what she will want to be next since the Olympics are coming.



Her favorite things to a do are; Painting, sounding out words. wearing dresses, picking out her own clothes, playing with other kids, looking forward to Netflix movies. She also will make little princesses out of anything (salt and pepper shakers) and play with them for hours. Never mind that she has tons of the real princess dolls in her room (but she plays with them too.) She loves music and dancing and is pretty good at both. She always hums as she is playing if she's not talking. She went through a period where she had a little attitude. But overall she is still the sweet girl that she has always been.

She sends hugs and kisses to all.

Ayla's good weekend.

On Thursday Marisa came back to stay for a few weeks and brought a little visitor, Matthew's daughter Layla. She and Ayla played until past midnight, (since Layla didn't arrived until about 11:00pm.) Then they went to bed. But when the morning sun came up, both were ready to play.
Layla is a little bigger than Ayla and a little less quite. She is a beauty of a little girl reminding me of a little blond pixie. She is very smart and loves Princesses. Ayla loves Princesses too but I mean Layla really loves princesses. So the girls played together and had a great time with their guess what, princesses. It was so amusing listening to them, Layla in her princess voice and Ayla joining in as well. Ayla had some ideas of her own and mostly were excepted but sometimes not. The girls were great about working out the differences themselves coming only a few times to complain about each other. It's hard not to interfere with helping them work it out but it is best to let them learn to compromise.

Layla went to her grandmothers on Friday morning and returned to play with Ayla on Saturday and once again they played Princesses and watched movies and had fun. They had lunch and then took a long, much needed nap. Layla got to spend the night, sleeping in the twin bed with Ayla. Sunday afternoon it was back to Layla's grandma's for dinner. Marisa came back with Ayla and Ayla missed her little friend very much.

How bout a little trip down memory lane?

It wasn't that long ago, only 4 and a half short years. After waddling around for months with a ginormous belly and swollen ankles, I finally got to meet Ayla!


She came out weighing only 4 and a half pounds, but was just as strong and healthy as the rest. She had a little personality from day one, and we all knew we were in for it.


I thought I would add a few pictures from when Ayla was still a newbie to this world. Enjoy!








She was a little leary of cameras at first, but soon learned that they would become a part of her daily life...





I don't know if it gets much sweeter than this right here!





I find this one to be quite reminiscent of Dr. Evil. "One hundred million dollars..."





She was all girl from the beginning. She was happier in frills and lace.





Beautiful.

Thank you PopPop and MeMe for the great memories. I still dream of Disneyland and our vacation. I can't wait to see more. I Love you , Ayla

P.S. Make sure you look at the bottom of the page each time for pics from the past.

A little Princess visits California in 2008.

Yes! We're going to Disneyland.

Hey! I'm tall enough for this ride. Click on the pictures, I get bigger. I think the girl behind me has got a problem! Why is she looking at me that way?

Let go of me Goofy Dude...I just wanted to have my picture taken with you. No need to squeeze me to death!

Coming back to the Hotel in the afternoon. -----"I love you too Matt"

Hey, why is Mini Mouse going away? I was next in line!

That's the look of an upset little girl.

Hold on Ayla...we're pushing our way in this time.

MeMe, aren't we close enough... I'm terrified. Can someone slap that little boy on the bottom left?

These are some pictures of Ayla during her visit to California in 2008. She spent some time with PopPop and MeMe. She's a little princess so there wasn't a better place to bring her than the Princesses' Land. I have so many, that I will post about the same number of pictures every other day or so.

Hi Ayla. We love you and miss you,

PopPop and MeMe.

Yay, mom's back!

Ayla was upset that her mother was going on vacation not because she couldn't go but because she would miss her. So when mom came back yesterday Ayla was very happy. Mom brought a big bag of new clothes and Ayla tried them on right then and there.
When Alya came in this morning she was sleepy and went to sleep in my bed. But she didn't sleep long before she was crying hard and calling me. She had a bad dream but she couldn't remember what it was. I comforted her for a few minutes and she forgot about it and got up to start her day. We didn't do a lot today. Actually she was bored. I had things to do in the house and at one point she just threw up her hands and said "Momaw, I don't have anything to do." I think everything she thought of bored her. So I stopped what I was doing, took a deck of cards and played match game. She loved it and won both games!

JUST ASK ME. By Ayla.

Hi everybody,
I told momaw yesterday that I think I should write something. Since each of you hear about me by momaw, I would like it if you would want to ask me questions. I will get Momaw to help me with the answers. It will be fun. I might even type the words myself. I'm pretty good at that.
Okay, Love you, bye now,
Ayla
Momaw says, Just add them as a post.

Sunday June 22, 2008

Ayla is having a vacation herself away from me today. She is visiting her friend Kianna. Kianna's dad picked her up and took them to Sunday School. She was very excited and even though she was very sleepy she crawled out of bed and pulled her clothes on. Her carriage arrived and the Princess flew out the door with out so much as a wave. Of course the Princess's grandma flew out the door right behind her and took her goodbye kiss.

I haven't heard from them today so I am sure everything is fine and she is having fun.

Yesterday she went shopping with me and we kept going until we got our errands done. We really both just wanted to come home which she kept saying but I don't like going out and so try to get everything done when I am.
She wanted to eat some cookies in the grocery store and asked if we could. I told her we have to wait until we pay. "But, she said, you eat in the store sometimes." I said, "Not unless I'm passing out." To that she kept asking me, "Are you passing out yet?" She really hoped I felt like passing out so she could have her cookie fix!
We went to the mall and she drove me crazy wanting to go into the "beautiful" mall and see the fountain. I only wanted to do a quick in and out. But then it finally came out. She wanted to go to the food court. I did get her something there and then we went and bought what I came for. She is the one that got all the loot. Two pair of flip flops and a pair of slippers. All on sale. She was totally thrilled. I think she is going to be a shoe nerd.
Last night at bedtime she came screaming out of the room completely terrified. There was a bug on her pillow. She said "I covered it with my book." And that she did. She remained calm until the bug was safely covered then went hysterical down the hall to me where I heroically mashed the little flier. Actually I think she deserves the credit for being so brave covering the ugly thing.

June 20, 2008

Our day was quiet today. Momaw had a pulled muscle so not much was accomplished. Ayla entertained herself with puzzles and she and I made some beautiful aliens with play doh. I made a meal from a box and Ayla waited for 30 minutes to eat it and then we realized it was too spicy. ( It didn't mention that on the box!) So I made her a scrambled egg and she liked that. Right now she is watching one of her favorite shows. America's funniest home videos. Pretty soon it will be bedtime.

June 19th 2008

Ayla's mom has gone for a small trip and Ayla is getting to stay with me. We have had a good time so far. We like to stay home but sometimes of course it's necessary to leave the house and do errands. So to bribe Ayla I offered that we would get Chinese food. She liked that idea but she still got upset whenever we had to go. Crying and saying she didn't want to go. I dread those moments when she acts up like that. I think the forth year is difficult. Oh, not for the children, they are in their element, but for the grown-up caretakers. The personality and spirit of the 4 four year old young soul is unfolding. Always pushing the limits. Constantly throwing out her arms in wild abandonment. So wild and unexpectedly that most often the toes of one land upon feet of another or a slung arm knocks out the salad that grandma has just made. The dithering in the bathroom and the hesitation to move when told to makes grandma grind her teeth.
Right now Ayla has trouble getting her self to the bathroom in time. Actually she is just plain lazy and says so. She sees nothing wrong with just letting go. I hate to admit it since I am an experience mother and grandmother but I don't know how to deal with this. I know that you shouldn't make a big deal out of it. I know that it is probably a result of being without a few of her best people. I know there must be issues behind it. Her mother and I have talked about it over and over but nothing that we have decided on has worked. I really want to paddle her behind.
The closest I come to that is a hot pink ruler. I do slap her hands with it when she is demanding and whining. "Ayla, whining?" you say. Yes, although she is so good most of the time, sometimes*&&*%&@!!@and nothing works better than the little pink ruler.

She is so smart. She and I were watching a documentary on the migration of birds. It was such a beautiful film. But there were parts that were a little boring for a child. But she watched most of it and laughed and asked intelligent questions. She even told me things that surprised me that she even knew. She told me about the great wall of China when we saw it on the film and she recognized a geyser and said at one point that those birds were flying over Canada.( Because of the snow and ice.) Also that there was a desert in California because Pop-pop and Marisa were looking for bunnies there.!!??? She learned some things too. I know that she will keep these things that she learned in her head forever because she is like that. She doesn't forget.

She knows about letters and numbers and can do a little math and read some too. She knows the difference between consonants and vowels and what they do. She loves music and singing, painting, play-dough, animals and nature. She loves throwing her arms out, twirling around and dancing.

Here is the Aylaism of the day.

She wouldn't listen and kept dancing around and talking and singing to herself. I finally had enough and took her arm and pulled her toward the car to get her in. I said "Ayla, please I have the Chinese food and my arms are full and you have to help me." She said "Okay Grandma, your right, I'm sorry I have been acting so foolish." My mood changed immediately. Totally forgiven!!!

She has a long line of comedians in her family and it shows.

She has had me busting out with laughter many many times as children often do. Sometimes she is not aware that she is saying something funny but I think more often than not she is aware.

Today she told me that her mom had bought some honey bread. I told her when I was a little girl we had Bunny Bread. She said "Ah, well, what did it taste like, fur?"

This morning I was reading a book and she asked me what is was about. I said it is about a family of dwarfs that traveled and entertained years ago. When I showed her some pictures she said, "Oh, they look like children . "Yes, I said, a little but they are grown up." She said "Yes, I know a dwarf... pawpaw's mama! " Don't blame me Steve, I believe that you told her that!

She is very good at bike riding now. I let her ride in the house around and around in a big circle through the living rooom, dining room, kitchen and back again. I had hung a bag of little paint bottles on the handlebars momentarily but before I could remove them she took the bike and started riding with the bag of bottles still on the bars. She said, Momaw, this is a little difficult to ride with this bag on here." I just looked at her. She was dead serious.