Conversations from here and there...

In the car:
Layla: Daddy...Seatbelt!
Aidan: Seatbelts!!
Kendall: Why do we wear seat belts?
Layla: SAFE!!
Kendall: That is right, so we can be safe!
Layla and Aidan: yesss...safe.

Layla's comment after the car wash "Daddy...AWESOME!"

Counting...
Cindy: Hey Aidan, lets count the chairs, one, two, three...you try!
Aidan: Uno...Dos...Tres....
(apparently Dora has had more of an influence than we thought!)

Kiss It...
Layla: Mommy owee
Cindy: Where is your owee Layla?
Layla: butt...kiss it! (points to her butt)
Cindy: oh sweetie how about i blow a kiss?
Layla: No Kiss it!
~~Later that night~
Nikki changing Layla's diaper with a rash
Layla: Gikki...owee (points down there)
Nikki: Yes i see, i will put cream on to make you feel better down there.
Layla: no, no Gikki...kiss it better.
Nikki: How about i put cream on then blow a kiss with your diaper on?
Layla: Ok!


Best Friend: (we had to ask the kids numerous of questions for their development at the doctors..here is how Layla's went)
Cindy: Layla who are your friends?
Layla: No mommy, playing.
Cindy: Layla who is your best friend then? The doctor wants to know.
Layla: Eeyore!!

Counting Cars

Aidan has grown to be such a little goof ball, he is constantly making me and everybody else laugh by his facial expressions, or doing something physically crazy. I always joke that he is going to be the class clown and Layla will be the class talker.
Even though Aidan is a silly little boy, he also has this side to him that is obsessed with figuring things out, taking things apart (our front door), and recently counting like crazy. Aidan loves to count, he can count to 10, usually he won't do it when asked, but if i start counting he will finish for me, or "help" me then saying every other number back and forth with me. However if you catch him, he will quietly count in the car as we drive, pointing out cars...one, two, thwee, four and so forth, he will quietly count with Dora on TV, he will count the chairs in the room, count his toes...this kid LOVES to learn! He even surprised us the other day when he went "uno, dos, tres!!!" Dora influence i am sure but i really think he realizes it is also 1 2 3. I work with him daily on counting and actually have been finding a few websites for both of them to sit next to me and count with different objects and numbers that is meant to help kids learn. Aww they are my little sponges!

Cooking 101 by Aunty Em

The kids love helping so we have started to get them involved in the kitchen and its very cute that after we are done with everything, later they will "cook" that item or mix it up in their own little kitchen as make believe. Layla and Aidan are helping Emily make a pizza here by putting on pepperonis.
Aidan was very serious about getting the pepperonis lined properly. He didnt even try eating them!
Layla enjoying the pizza's afterwards, she is such a silly little girl sometimes!
Lately we have been making a lot of brownies, and Layla LOVES helping, she is missing the bowl a little bit with the powder mix but she poured the oil in perfectly.
I would say the best part for her is mixing it up, although when we try and help or finish mixing all the powder and clumps, she gets mad saying "No, ill do it!"

"No, No, Mommy! Stop It!"

Everybody who has met Layla knows she is a sweet little girl, but there is a little girl inside of her that comes out as very bossy...daily...and mostly to me. I will tell her to stop something or to ask her to do something, this is the response normally "No, No, Mommy!" Often times she will add "stop it mommy!" when i walk in front of her Dora time, or if i am taking something away from her. Awww... the joys of a little 2 year old pointing her fingers at me telling me "No!". There are three things i do for this "no"ness. 1) I grab her finger and say "You mean Yes mommy, Ok Mommy!" 2) i put her in timeout if it is in a huge fit. 3) i ignore her "no's". Whichever i choose to do, she still has to do the request i had in the beginning, i refuse to give into anything they both try and hassle out of me, because it will just increase this behavior in the future. She is getting better about saying "Ok Mommy" and every time she does i praise her and let her know that i appreciate her obeying me. Looking at the picture above it is obvious she is saying "No Mommy!" and look two fingers waving at me!!

Two Years Old

I cannot believe that two years ago marks the beginning of motherhood for me. The time has passed and i have grown so much within the life role i have been given and would never trade this opportunity for the world. Layla and Aidan were born two healthy babies and a thank God everyday they remain to be healthy and grow strong. Even though the birth was not so easy on me, i would never trade the pain i went through as long as i know it was to keep them safe and pain free. Born on August 11, 2006, they weighed in at 5 lbs 2 0z and 5lbs 3 oz. Now i imagine they are creeping by 30 pounds two years later.
Layla and Aidan grow together, they do everything together, and even slept in the same crib up until they were rolling. It was at this point we made the decision to move them to separate cribs, mainly due to Layla kicking Aidan and keeping him awake. Their cribs have remained next to each other, where still each morning i hear them giggling and talking to eachother.

Even after a year, i have seen such a tremendous change in their faces. Their personalities remain the same since they were born, Layla has quite the facial expressions to go with her mood, but still is a sweetheart at the end. Aidan has always been the one to push his limits physically, if it was bouncing his bouncy chair till the bottom fell through till now, jumping off anything he can climb up to.
Layla picked up a companion at Christmas 2006, whom she still carries with her to this day. Eeyore. He has been a faithful friend to her, and even though she has a few more little babies and pals to carry around, in the end she asks for him when she needs comfort. Even though this raggedy stuffed animal has seen better days, she loves him the same. Aidan enjoys his blankets for comfort, but when around the older boys he seems to avoid it, as to seem tougher.
Two years old today and the kids can carry on a conversation with us, it is so hard to believe that they were once so little that they could barely grasp an object to now, stirring their birthday brownie's proudly. Layla has grown into a sweet little girl, who loves to help. She lives to help and please us. Kendall and I joke that she is going to grow up to be a mommy, that is her future. She rocks her babies softly, kisses their foreheads, and pats their backs gently. She can pick up on cues when i am upset, or tense. She senses this, puts her little hand on my back or arm and softly says "ok mommy, ok." as she leans into kiss my cheek. That alone brings tears of joys that she has grown to be a compassionate person and understands how to console someone. Her imagination is growing, she has even been caught putting Eeyore in time out, and often times blames her dirty diaper on Eeyore.
Layla is in love with babies, she tries so hard to be "big" so she can hold a real baby. Even though she is still too little, i let her help me when i watch a friends baby. Here with Karl II, Layla tickles and he smiles back happily. When i ask her to grab a diaper (even though i can reach it fine) or to give the baby a kiss, she smiles big. The terrible twos are definitely hitting our house, and no matter how frustrated i get, Layla always seems to lighten the mood. Daily do i hear them both begging to watch Dora, and when i say no, she will wave her finger at me and say " no no mommy dora!", this is enough to make my blood boil, a two year old waving her finger at me and telling me no?? Last night she asked "movie dora mommy please!", keeping my cool, i turn to her and say "No sweetheart, mommy is watching the Olympics, it is her turn for the tv." And then she said quickly.."ok, byebye mommy" and ran off to play. Slowly she will learn that telling me no won't get her far but politeness will, i ran and gave her a big hug.

Oh how Aidan has grown, he has passed Layla in the physical aspect, and learns a lot from her since her language is increasingly ahead of him. Aidan is my little clown, he loves to do things to make others laugh, he loves to laugh himself. As a close friend said to me the other day "Aidan's laugh is contagious!" Aidan loves to explore, so much that he often gets in trouble when he wanders off and scares me! He climbs as high as he can on jungle gyms, couches, picnic tables, rocks, whatever there is to climb on. He proceeds to jump off of things, as he realized "oh i can jump off the couch and not get hurt, why not try off the arm rest of the couch?" He can kick a ball like no other, he actually takes the time to put the ball where he wants it to line it up, and then kicks it straight to his target 4 out of 5 times. I often set up a goal for him to kick through and sure enough, he lines up the ball and boots it through.
Although he is all that is boy, eats more meat than veggies, he still has a sweeter side that makes me smile. When Layla is upset and crying, he will walk to her and pat her on the back softly as to comfort her, if this doesn't work he will run off to find Eeyore and hand him to her. Our time outs in the naughty spot here involves me counting to 10, 20, 30 or higher depending the crime done. I figure this teaches them counting while being punished. Layla was in the naughty spot in time out, and Aidan was sitting next to her playing, before i began counting i heard his voice counting "1...2...3...4..."he then paused and continued with"...2...6...2...8" he had realized he wasn't good at counting past 4 so just named numbers he knew. He loves to learn, figure things out. He figured out how to put the shapes into a block months before Layla, and now its not of interest to him because he is on to figuring out bigger things. We often catch him counting quietly to himself, or hear him over the monitor at night. Even though he only plays with the baby dolls now and then, after he is done rocking and kissing him he throws them across the room, something Layla would never do because she really feels they are alive.
I cannot believe that two years ago, you were just learning how to eat, to turn your head, and grasp with your fingers. Now you are learning to ride bikes, go hiking with us, jump like crazy on your air bouncer, and never stop running around playing. Although so little time has passed in your lives so far, so much has happened, you have grown and developed quickly, making time pass by too fast.

One Man's Trash is Another's Treasure

Something i have figured out these past years is that if you label something "free" and sit it in your yard (if you live near other people of course) every case i have had that item taken. From a bent up futon, to a computer desk, to yesterday, the kids cabbage patch kitchen in which had taken quite the beating from the kids over the past year of using it, a kitchen set which Emily bought for them for 5$ the previous year at a garage sale, so it has seen its years. There are many internet sites such as craigslist.com or freecycle.com where you can list your items for free or a price and people will come and get it locally. Even though i have not used these sites , just a simple "free" sign on the item itself has worked, the fastest was the desk, gone in less than 20 minutes. I am happy to know that these items will be reused saving the overfilling of our landfills with items that others may want. So next time you plan to bring something to the dump that is still in ok condition, give it a try first with the free sign or advertising, never hurts if your going to toss it anyway!

Backward Look at the past month!

Aidan after his birthday bash walking his friend Zoey. Notice there big Mickey Mouse Clubhouse air jumper in the background? They had a blast, this year was great not only were they surrounded by great friends and family, they also actually had kids at their party this year!! Their cousin Ebony (8), their cousin Adrianna (3), their friend Madison (16months), Stacy (7 months) and Tyrus (3 months). IT was a lot of fun for them and i am real glad it all went smoothly
Ebony helping Layla and Aidan open one of the many great gifts they got for their birthday. Adrianna watches them open the gifts. The living room was COVERED in gifts and wrapping paper by the end of their present opening!
The kids loved their bouncer mickey mouse club thing, we will probably set it up on the weekends for them from here on out. The only down point was the rain off and on throughout their party, but it didn't stop anyone from playing horseshoes, or jumping on this. There was probably 20+ people who attended their birthday bbq bash, it was wonderful.
We went to Guernsey Lake before their birthday party on Sunday for the weekend and the kids loved every minute of it. Layla enjoyed the boat more than going in the water, but after a day in the sun she was passed out on Katie's lap from the rocking of the boat.
Aidan loved the water but would never smile. He was VERY serious when he was floating on his raft, but you could tell he was enjoying it. Everybody pushed him out pretty far into the water and he loved watching the boats!
We went back to Kendall's hometown to visit his grandma who was in the hospital. The kids hadn't seen her for awile and they enjoyed their time there and with their Grandma Gail. Here Layla is splashing in the lake nearby.
Aidan enjoyed splashing and was more adventurous in the water, if we wouldn't have stopped him he would have tried to walk to the middle of the lake!
The kids enjoyed there time with their Grandma Gail, here everybody is swinging at a nearby park.
The houswarming party was a lot of fun and a great success. Many friends and family came to share this time with us. Here are all of my parents grandkids, Adrianna, Aidan, Layla, and Ebony.
Aidan was showing Gary "bobbob" how to through some horseshoes. He was in and out of the pool all afternoon.
After we moved into our new house, A friend brought over his pet rabbit, Leroy. Layla loved this rabbit, i had to teach her however that dragging him by his ears hurt the bunny and not to ever do it again.
The kids enjoying a quick bath outside in their little tub while Kendall worked on setting up the picnic table with Geoff. It was a housewarming gift from Geoff and Gina.
I then left with the kids on July 12th to a Family Picnic held each year from my Dad's work. Looking at the picture..where are the kids on the teeter totters?
On July 7th we painted the kids room, fairy tale pink, 100acre wood morning blue, pooh bear yellow, and white for the trim and stripes...the reason we painted their room was the previous owners had a love for purple and lavender...

July was a busy month for us, we moved into our new house on July 8th even though the closing was July 7th! It couldn't have come any sooner!