Pretty hat and lots to say!

My SIL and brother gave Ayda the cutest hat for Christmas. I have tried numerous times to put it on but she keeps taking it off soon after. Refer back to the "post-it" post to read what she would prefer to wear in her hair! Anyway the hat is just precious so I put it on her the other day and she left it on! I grabbed the camera to get some cute pics of her wearing it. She kept looking at me as if to say "Geez mom what is the big deal? It's just a hat?". Sigh...

She just looks too cute and I have been wanting one of these hats forever! Thanks Josh and Allison!!!

Also Ayda has started saying more and more words lately. Of course they don't come out super clear and in most cases I am the only one that knows what she is saying. But it sure makes communicating with her much easier. Also wanted to jot these down so I will be able to look back and remember what she was saying at almost 14 months!

Sign Language:

please

baby

more

all done

bath (occasionally)

Chinese:

Flower (no clue how to spell that in chinese)

Eyes and Nose (she only knows those in chinese and will point to it if said to her in chinese)

English:

Mama

Dada

Thanks

Yes

Hot

Ouch

No no no (yikes, I know!)

Please

Dog

Woof Woof

More

Bye Bye

Hi/Hello

It is crazy how much she picks up each day!!

Hair bows...or not!

Ayda will not wear a bow in her hair! No matter how sneaky I am or how hard I try to distract her, she will rip it right off the second she can get her hands up there. However, she does not minding wearing a 'post-it' place marker in her hair! She has had that thing in her hair since she got up from her nap. Go figure!!! Well at least they come in lovely colors such as red, bright orange and yellow!!!

Reading (upside down) and taking a break!

A New Blog

So I decided that I wanted to have a blog that is for family and then create a new one where I share ideas and thoughts about living a natural life. As a Bradley teacher I already have couples asking about cloth diapering, baby wearing, vaccines, newborn procedures, baby food making, etc. So I plan to send them over to my blog to read about what Kevin and I have researched on various topics (some being very controversial, but stick with me through those!) and links to different websites (only credible ones) that discuss the topic. Click here and check it out!

Splish Splash

Ayda absolutely LOVES her bathtime! All I have to say after dinner is "Ayda you ready for your bath?" and she takes off running to her room. She loves to splash water everywhere, blow bubbles, play with the toys, and simply goof off. Last night she was especially in a goofy mood and was cracking herself up which in turn had me cracking up. She had water going everywhere. I quickly grabbed a few pics and then put the camera away to keep it safe from all the water!

Laughing hysterically at herself!

Notice the water flying through the air to the right of this picture. I'm so glad she loves the water as much as she does! Being in Florida I see many days at the pool in our near future!!

Fresh Air at Last!

When we moved to Florida I really didn't believe Kevin that it actually can get cold down here. Well I ate my words when for over a week it was in the 30s. Ayda and I didn't get out much because it was just too cold and miserable. If we did venture out we would head to Target and stroll the aisles. Even that got old though (especially since Target is about 25 minutes away). So when it finally warmed up Ayda and I headed for the playground. There is one about 10 minutes from us that she absolutely loves. We went in the morning and had the entire playground to ourselves. It was great! She roamed around freely with no risk of getting trampled by the bigger kids.

Heading straight for the big kid part of the playground!

Not too sure about the moving bridge. She finally came across it only if I held her hands the whole way!

Loving the swing!!!

So happy to finally be able to run about and get some much needed fresh air!

Dress Up

The other night Ayda was a mess after dinner so I stripped her down to her diaper. Pretty soon after she came up to me with her tutu and signed please. So I put it on her and she was thrilled! Then she got her scarf out and put it on. I thought she looked adorable in her little dress up outfit she had put together. Then in she walked with her stethoscope around her neck. I could not resist taking a picture of her outfit! Quite the creative dresser I must say!

As promised...

Here are a couple pictures of Ayda playing this morning (and yes, I found the camera!!). She loves to take all of Ama's sauces/oils out of the drawer and relocate them to another place in the kitchen. We are still working on putting them back in the drawer though!

Quite content to play with the bottles. Who needs toys anyway?

She loves to carry around these little books that Kevin's cousin Danny gave her last year at Christmas. She acts like she is really reading them!

Well I am off to do laundry, prepare for my next Bradley class, straighten things up, go over the budget and get a shower...all before Ayda gets up from her nap! Yikes!

Yes, we still exist...

Ok so I didn't realize so much time had elapsed since my last post. How women post things a few times in a day baffles me. Once a day I might can see but I'm struggling to get in two posts in a month this month! Anyway, all to say the Lin's still exist and are doing fine. Unfortunately I have no pictures to post. Honestly, right now, i couldn't even tell you where my camera is! Probably should find that as soon as I am done here!

Things with Kevin's office have hit full force! The walls are coming up beautifully and I believe he will be open in no time. It took way longer than we anticipated or wished for the permits to come through but things are doing great now! It amazes me to sit back and see how God is totally providing so much during this time. So much fell into place perfectly and Kevin is going to have an amazing office. Such a blessing.

I have been quite busy with random things. I started teaching my Bradley classes two weeks ago and absolutely love it! It is so hard to just stick to two hours of teaching because I just have so much to say! Ayda and I also traveled up to Atlanta last week and spent a few days. I absolutely love my nieces and nephews and it pains me when I cannot make it to their birthday parties. So we made a trip to ATL and then to Bham (only for the day) to celebrate Isabel's 2nd birthday. I love watching Ayda get to play with her cousins. We also saw the little bit of snow fall while we were there. I would love to say I let Ayda go out and play in the cold, fun, white stuff but I was too much of a wimp myself to brave the cold of that day. When the temperature didn't even reach freezing and with the windchill making it in the teens we opted to observe the white stuff through the window. All to say we had a wonderful, though busy, trip to ATL! And this weekend some friends of ours (Ayda's Godparents) came for the weekend to visit. It was such a blast to be with them and the time went way too fast.

As for Ayda she is so busy! She amazes us with how smart she is. We are learning very quickly we have got to be careful what we say and do around her because she picks up on EVERYTHING! So far it is only the good stuff she is learning from us. Such great accountability though! She signs several things and is talking quite a bit. Her latest is saying "tanks" instead of Thank you. It is so cute! She is so entertaining and everyday I am so thankful that I can be at home with her. I love spending days teaching her things, laughing with her, dancing with her, going on walks, etc. It is truly the BEST job I have had or will ever have!

So that is the update on all of us. I'll try to take some pics of Ayda this week and get them on here (Assuming I find the camera!!). I'll try to post sooner than a couple weeks too!!

Kevin and I travelled up to Jacksonville FL for the Gator bowl New Year's Day. It was the first time I have ever been away from Ayda that long but all in all I did good. I only called twice and texted twice! Kevin's parents and Aunt did a great job watching her (of course!) and she had a blast. It was nice to get away for two days but I will admit coming home I was a tad bit ansy to see my pumpkin.

The game was lots of fun. I was pulling for the Mountaineers and they lost but we still had fun. Kevin is an FSU fan so as always we were divided with our teams. It was a good game and I will say it was easier to lose knowing it was Bobby's last game coaching. I'm glad he won his last game! He did deserve it. Anyway here are some pics from the weekend!

Mom and I ready to go in our Gold and Blue!!!

The guys were pumped too! We got some funny looks having 3 WVU fans and 1 FSU fan.

Mom and Jim at Cracker Barrel waiting on our yummy breakfast!

Kevin and me waiting.

The football field! Our seats were pretty high up but they were still really good! I will admit I had a hard time following the ball, but eventually I figured out what was going on!

The tribute to Bobby Bowden. It was neat!

The FSU marching band did a tribute to Bobby too during half time. It was really cool when they spelled his name on the field. Quite impressive.

WVU marching band at half time. They formed the state while playing John Denver's "Country Road". Awesome!!!

Kevin after the game. He was so happy FSU won!!!