Such a Prissy Girl!

(Be sure to scroll down, possibly go back a page, to see all the recent posts! I just posted A LOT to get caught up!!)

Ayda LOVES shoes. It doesn't matter if it is fancy heels, tennis shoes, flip flops, or ratty sandals. She loves to try on and wear anyone's shoes she can find! Today her choice was some of Kevin's mom's fancy shoes. You could hear her anywhere in the house as she clomped around!

Posing for a picture in her very pretty shoes! Also enjoying some corn! haha!

No Snakes Allowed!

We had a little visitor here last night. Kevin walked into the kitchen and found a snake in the middle of the floor...very much alive! He called out to me to NOT come in there and definitely keep Ayda out. I was, of course, intrigued and came in. By the time I walked in the snake had gone under the refrigerator. And thus began an adventure to get him out. Ayda and I stood on kitchen chairs watching Kevin try to scare him back out. Definitely didn't work. I finally went and put Ayda to bed and also shoved a towel under her door to keep him out of her room!

When I got back in the kitchen the snake's head was peaking out from behind the fridge. But he went right back under in no time. We tried everything we could think of to get him out. We finally found a flashlight and after shining it under there several times we concluded he must have gone up in the coils of the fridge. Nice. So we decided to watch some tv and check back periodically. I pretty much went into denial that there was a snake in the kitchen!

About 30 minutes went by and we decided to check in there. As we both stood up to head to the kitchen we froze as we saw him about to go into Kevin's mom's room. Kevin grabbed a golf club, I grabbed a gold club and we slowly approached the snake. I eventually ended up with both clubs, one on each side of the snake to keep him from going anywhere. Who knew you could direct a snake where you want it to go. Kevin had run to grab the trash can to trap him (we had already decided to try to get him outside safely, without killing him). Well the clubs were working until he starting moving toward one of them and acted completely unafraid of it. And that is about when I panicked. Snake must have known and made his break for the living room. Luckily the living room is very open so we had lots of space for him to make his move but us to still capture him. Kevin grabbed the clubs from me, I jumped on the couch, Kevin yelled I had to be doing something, I grabbed the trash can and sort of aimlessly, yet luckily threw it on the snake!!!! Victory!!!!! I collapsed on the couch to catch my breath, Kevin was dying laughing at me. Somehow Ayda slept through all the screaming and laughing!

We then put something under the trash can and took the snake outside. He was quite happy as he took off for the orange groves! I HOPE he learned his lesson and will NOT come back to our house...EVER!!!

Right before the release

Still a little too scared to move!

Freedom!

Too Young for XBOX!

I found Ayda playing with Kevin's XBOX controller and headphones. I was quite impressed (and a little frightened) that she knew what to do with both! She was not actually playing a game but she was sitting there like she was.

Getting the headphones just right!

Ok, ready to play!

The Met and dinner with Sara

After lunch we all headed to The Met for the afternoon. We were all pretty tired but I have always wanted to go. I was super excited. I feel like I need to go back about a dozen more times though to fully grasp everything in there! Ayda went to sleep on the walk over and proceeded to sleep through the entire experience. Probably better that way! She woke up on the elevator to leave. ha!

The Met!

We decided to get creative and take some pics of Ayda enjoying her experience! We really thought we were funny and I must admit I still chuckle at these pics!

Sound asleep and oblivious of her parents being ridiculous!

Family picture!

After the museum we all went our separate ways. Kevin and I really wanted to meet up with Sara, a very good friend of ours. We met her at the coffee shop where she works and then headed to dinner when she got off. We had some really yummy Italian food! Ayda loves her Aunt Sara! She always hams it up with her!!

The two weeks out of town was tiring but so much fun packed full of wonderful memories!

Lunch in NYC!

We all met in the city for a family lunch on Saturday! Kevin's family is HUGE! We had 13 adults and 4 kids! The food was really yummy and we really enjoyed that time together as a family.

Ayda really enjoyed her fruit smoothie! It looked gross but it was actually quite tasty and she downed it!

Kevin's grandparents with Nathan. They are visiting from Taiwan. It was neat for them to have their grandkids and great grandkids together.

My SIL, Sherry, and MIL!

Daniel and Ayda playing. She loved playing with her cousins! I so wish we lived closer so they could all play more often!

Our niece, Hannah!

Roger and Cindy's Wedding

Kevin's Cousin, Roger, got married last Friday (7/23)! Roger and Cindy have been dating 10 years and I am so excited for them. They are such a great couple! Their wedding was beautiful and SO much fun!! She looked gorgeous!

Kevin and his siblings with the Bride and Groom!

Ayda was getting antsy before the wedding so Kevin was whipping out some serious skills to entertain. She thought it was the greatest thing that he could juggle her sippy cup and snack cup. I was impressed too!!

The Bride and Groom's first dance!

Me with our precious nephew, Nathan! He is the cutest little thing!!! I absolutely loved his sweet giggle and smile. Such a happy baby!

Ayda dancing with Aunt Ivory! She was pretty tired but she still managed to have some fun!

Congrats Cindy and Roger!!!

Connecticut-Part 3

Beach Day!!

The weather was perfect for an afternoon at the Beach on Friday. So we loaded up and headed out. I was not sure how Ayda would do. Last year she absolutely hated the sand and was afraid of the water. What a difference a year makes!! She played with the shovels and pails for the longest time. She loved putting her feet in the water and splashing around. She had tons of fun and was wiped out by the time we left!

Taking a nice walk with Papa Joe. Looks like a serious conversation was going on!

Papa Joe insisted on sharing some ice-cream with Ayda. She LOVED it and I didn't mind at all letting them have that time together!

Nothing going on here, Mommy! I didn't have any chocolate ice-cream!!!

Now time for a walk in the water with Nanna!

Lori, Jaci and I enjoying some relaxation on the beach! I never imagined I would be able to just sit back and relax at the beach with Ayda. It was nice having extra hands to play with her and the sand toys were awesome!

Connecticut-Part 2

Pool Party!!

It was a really hot afternoon so we got the baby pool out for Ayda to play in. Before we knew it we had all drug out the beach chairs and were chilling by the pool. It was a sight for sore eyes! The neighbor came out and said "You guys look like you are from a scene from the 50's!" So true!!!

Connecticut-Part 1

Ayda and I travelled up to Connecticut for our yearly visit. We spent 9 days there which was great. The only disappointment was that the weather was about as hot up there as it has been in Florida! I was really hoping for a break!

We had all kinds of fun while we were there. We went to the beach, playground, mall, and more. We ate lots of yummy food and did some serious shopping in town! I love spending time with my dad, step mom, sister and brother! Ayda also enjoyed playing with them and all the pets!

Throwing the ball around the yard!

Playing ball with Uncle Alan (Lori's brother)

My sweet little girl!

Enjoying a snack with Willie. Notice the other dog Reggie (neighbor's dog) mid climb into the baby pool. He did finally get in and plopped down. Quite funny!

Ayda loved having the dogs and cat to play with. It was funny to see how she interacted differently with each pet.

Willie: He was not so impressed with her (very little patience). They sort of had an understanding that they would leave each other alone for the most part. Occasionally she forgot and tried to play with him and he would forget and growl at her as she walked by.

Cody: A Standard Poodle. He was very protective of her last year and was again this year. He will jump in between Ayda and Willie in a second if Willie growled at her. He was not messing around in his job! Ayda got lots of kisses from Cody as well. If we had let him I am quite certain he would have loved sleeping by her crib at night!

Mitzy: Rather old mut. Ayda messed with Mitzy, Mitzy is too lazy to care. Not much else to say!

Tia: Rather old Cat. Poor Tia is all I can really say. Ayda tried to be gentle but really she essentially tortured that poor cat. She would get cloths and "bathe" Tia, she would pull both her ears at the same time, She would pet her, pull her bed around the kitchen (with Tia still on it) and more. I think Tia was completely traumatized and Ayda was so thrilled to FINALLY get her hands on a kitty!

4th of July

I'm seriously behind on all my blogging...here goes trying to get caught up with a lot of posts!

We had a very fun 4th of July! We went to a couple parties and Ayda loved getting to swim in the pool. The first party we went to had a blow up slide that Ayda and Kevin had a blast going down! She also loved going down a little slide that dumped her in the pool! The child has no fear!

Ready, Set, GOOOOO!!!

Don't ask how they ended up on the grass!

Next party! She was quite intrigued by the explosives. Yikes!!

Helping the guys grill!

It was a busy, but very fun day! I loved being with our little family and visiting with good friends. And the food was amazing!

Coming up for a quick breath...

And then jumping back in the deep end! haha not really! We have just been so crazy busy the past couple weeks. I think Ayda and I will have been home in Florida a total of 10 days in July! We have been on the road but having fun!

Kevin is in Dominican Republic for a Chiropractic Mission trip! He had an interesting time getting down there but finally made it at 4AM Saturday morning! He was supposed to arrive Wednesday night! But I think he is having an awesome time and learning a lot. He loves serving so he is definitely getting to do that. He went to DR two years ago and it is crazy to think where we were then. I was 17 weeks pregnant, visiting CT, still sick from first trimester ickyness, and I felt sweet Ayda kick for the first time while he was gone! We didn't set up any cell phone coverage that week and I learned my lesson. Not talking to him for 8 days about killed me. So I was sure to have something set up this time around. We have been able to text 10 times a day. And I am so thankful for those texts we have! It's nice to hear from him and know he is doing ok.

Ayda and I took a quick trip to ATL this past weekend. We had a great time with our friends, the Tenery's, and time with my mom and step dad. It was a quick but wonderful trip. I took Kevin's mom's van which has a DVD player and introduced Ayda to the wide world of traveling with a movie playing. She was so excited! Except now every time we get in the car she starts chanting "Moo-eee! Moo-eee!" We'll work on teaching her that movies in the car are a special occasion for long trips...not 5 minute trips to the store! I refuse to play it around town so she will figure it out!

Tomorrow we head out for Connecticut to spend a week with my dad, step mom, sister and brother. I have not seen them since this time last year so I am SO excited to get up there!!! I am just praying for an easy airplane ride with a 19 month old (do those exist?!?!). I am planning to lug her ginormous carseat through the airport so I can strap it into the seat and hope she will sit there like she does in the car. It is a three hour flight and once that is over I will certainly breathe a sigh of relief!

So all that said, we have been busy! And we are still on the go. Kevin gets home Wednesday! I won't see him till next week though when he comes to NY for his cousins wedding. We should definitely have tons of pics to post when we are back in Florida under one roof! I promise to post what we have!

Blessings!!

Flashback Friday!

Happy 4th of July!