thanksgiving week in iowa

aiyana's 1st Famous Dave's experience! Yum!

so excited about her Thanksgiving meal!!

so many sentences!

it seems that with nani's first birthday came a flood of sentences! it caught me by surprise at first, but i'm beginning to expect it now.

a few weeks ago, walking into church, we were talking about who we were going to see. Nani says, "See Wally church, too?"

here are a few of the things she's saying now:

• where's my baby?
• baby go night-night. she's sleepy.
• i need that.
• i want that.
• i need more.
  
• where's my knife? i need my knife.
• mommy take away
• i put this away.
• this mine's
• read this one.
• i want this one.
  

i'll think of more to post later. she's quite a talker!

pretty smile

mario started the car, and nani yelled, "oh! oh! my car! my car!" and sprinted toward the car so she wouldn't get left behind.

ok, she was running so fast that these are a little blurry, but i couldn't resist sharing her glowing smile!

storytime with auntie em

nani loved her visit with grandma and auntie em...she really liked the futon mattress in the middle of the living room floor! it was great for wrestling. poor emmie. i hope her bruises are beginning to heal!
in the days after their visit, nani still asked for her nap on "emily's bed" and, in the car, pointed to the seats, saying, "that emily's seat. that grandma's seat."

kid in a candy store

nani's auntie shelly had the idea to take nani to the fancy candy store for her birthday....

"where do I begin?"
nani walked in like she owned the place. her first stop was the pile of shopping baskets. she needed not one, but two! she was going to be prepared!

happy birthday!

she even had to ice her own birthday cake...but she didn't mind. she used A LOT of sprinkles!

nani served her great-grandma joyce a lovely tea party
....she heard someone call grandma by her first name (joyce) and when she was asked to go tell grandma that supper was ready, nani yelled down the stairs: "Joyce! Joyce"

this birthday made an impact on aiyana. she's been singing "happy bert-day" to everyone and everything! we drove up to Indiana to visit our family and just happened to be there on her special day!

aiyana loves....

painting
sept 23

playing baseball

munching on lollipops...she even took mine for a "taste"!
sept 29

dressing herself...she put her sock on and then fell asleep

sleeping in her big girl bed! the first night was a little rough -- she quickly learned how to open her bedroom door, wander down the hall, and then back to her room. except for a little crying, that was the worst of it! she's only fallen out once, and it just scared her (and got her a free ride back to mommy's bed!)
oct 1

cooking in her new birthday kitchen
oct 2

walking in mommy's shoes
oct 4

loves the park!

so, i blame facebook for our blog absence....JULY 20? was that really the last time?
we've been to the beach twice, seen our jenna rae and her family, been to indiana to meet baby jaxon, sang and danced in Kindermusik classes....and generally just had a lot of summer fun.

tonight i'm beginning the blog-catch-up game...once again. enjoy! we do!

Big Girl Kindermusik Class

Aiyana sang, danced, and thoroughly enjoyed her "Our Time" class for 18 mos - 3 year-olds. She wore a wide smile through the entire class! I can't imagine not having Kindermusik for her. Of course, everyday is a Kindermusik day in our house, but it was as if she thought: "hey! this is why I have been practicing all those songs at home and in the car! Sign me up!"
It really clicked for her.

She likes the setting up our classroom, too. She hangs posters on the wall, puts the instruments out on the floor. She's a great help behind the scenes, too. Per request, there's always a Kindermusik CD playing in the car...I believe 4 out of 5 CD's are hers? When did that happen?

a typical afternoon stroll

we spent a lot of time walking (and adjusting our sunglasses) up and down the street. we always have to say "hi" to the horses across the road.

loves swimming!

perfect depth for swimming!
but she still wouldn't keep her head out of the water...so after too many gulps, we had to cut our swim date short.

painting and peanut butter sandwiches

THIS is what Peanut Butter looks like in the hands (and on the face) of a true artist!

she was really into her work, but paused to take bites of her paint-covered sandwich (she never put the snack down!)

turn up your volume! you don't want to miss her "yes".. or the random honking....and watch closely for the many faces of nani. Several appear in this short video!

Topsail Beach in July

t

first beach trip of the summer -- we spent 4 days relaxing on the sand, splashing in the ocean, napping under the dock, and eating really good food! it was great.

didn't think she was supposed to make that face till she was 13....awww, DAAAAAAD!

good-bye to beach...good-bye to beach...good-bye to beach....sing good-bye.

the famous elmo jammies

aiyana is simply fabulous. that says it all, really. she's sweet, yet tough when she needs to be.
outside is her favorite place to be, though she also loves to be home, and tells us this by chanting: "happy home. happy home..."
she's headed to the beach tomorrow for a much deserved vacation. she works hard.
in addition to elmo, she's also discovering "princesses". ...since mommy had to work (at home) extra last week, and daddy was out of town, we had to hire the furry red baby sitter to entertain nani a little more than we would have liked to. she even began saying: "all done elmo"..i thought she'd had enough of the little guy, but we realized she was "all done" at precisely the same point in the movie each time -- when the greedy mean guy lands in grouchland. i can remember jenna not wanting to watch the sea witch in the little mermaid, either. brought back memories.
anyway, i realized we've been absent from the blog for some time now. again. blame it on facebook.

pool party!

i can't believe i forgot to post these pictures until now! we had such a great time swimming with our church when we went to the pool.
nani caved to the peer pressure and decided to jump right in the pool when she saw the big kids doing it! she's been a little cautious this swim season until this night....she even tried out the water slide and couldn't get enough!