And so it begins....

Tantrums.

I think this picture about sums it up.
Side note: Even if you think that your child is pretty well behaved and has always behaved good in public, trust me, there will come a day where they do not behave and they throw a fit. It just so happened that our day was today.

By the way, I am NOT excited about this stage.

Sometimes Daddy is so Funny!

Baking Queen

I took the plunge and had my little shadow help me with some baking. Up until now, most of my baking has been done during times when I don't have little hands making messes, but I figured she is old enough now to actually enjoy it.

Getting ready. Once she helped me measure and mix the ingredients, can you guess what her favorite part of baking is?

She is thinking about it. She wasn't sure at first that all of the ingredients we mixed would be something yummy.

"Ok. Maybe I will try it."

Here she goes.

I think it's safe to say she likes it.

Right after I took this picture she very sincerely said, "Thank you!" It melted my heart to know she was truly enjoying herself.

There's no going back now. She knows it's good and therefore wants to eat it all.

You can never have too many tastes.

So then I just decided to give her the beaters.

I think it was a success. I am sure there will be more baking in the future for this little baking queen.

We had some fun too...

During the week that Dan had off. It wasn't just all work and no play (although it sure felt like that at times.)

Since Alayna is showing an interest in all animals, we thought she would have fun at the Denver Zoo.

And boy, did she have fun!

Most of the time she was just so engrossed with all that was going on, which this picture illustrates quite well.

When she wasn't strapped in the stroller, she was out walking. At the end of the day she was pretty worn out. It's a lot of walking for an almost two-year-old.

If you look real close, she is pointing her finger in this picture. She was constantly saying, "Whasat?" (What's that?) in an excited voice.

Just chillin'.

The elephants were my favorite. The workers had this elephant stand and take a bow. It was really quite neat. Although, I think Alayna's favorite was probably "Nemo."

The whole gang (minus mom, the picture taker.)

What do you do when your husband has a week off?

You refinish your kitchen table.

Of course.

This project has been on my to do list for quite sometime, but it required a couple of major things, such as:

a week of no school for the hubby

and a place to complete the project. (aka my parents' garage).

Here is the before pic (scratches and all) :
The chairs:

And the after:

Now, I have a disclaimer. I am thoroughly disappointed with the way the pictures turned out. No matter what I did (flash on, flash off, etc) the color of the red is quite a bit brighter in the pictures than in real life. Seriously. It's not just me being picky. Dan even agreed with me. Imagine if you will, a deep barn red instead of the color it shows.

And if you really don't believe me. Come on over for a visit and see for yourself. :)

Despite the pictures not doing the finished product justice, I am in LOVE with my new table and chairs!

I will admit, red was a bold choice and there was more than once that I (along with some of my family members) questioned whether I made the right decision . But it worked out. And it looks awesome in my kitchen!

A BIG thank you goes to my wonderful, fabulous, understanding husband who gave up his week off to help me check off a huge project on my someday-I-really-want-to-do-this list. He earned MAJOR brownie points.

And by the way, I don't think I ever want to sand anything ever again. Just thought I would let you know.

20 (almost 21) Months Old

Let's do Alayna's 20 month update by listing some quirky facts, shall we?

Here we go.

This girl loves and I mean LOVES olives.

I know, gross, huh. She definitely gets that from her daddy.The more the better.

I can tell we are going to need dress-up clothes before long. (Now, she does get that from me. I could have played dress-up every day as a child and never get tired of it. )

But until we have a dress-up bin of our own, she will just have to put her favorite shirt over her Sunday dresses. I know, it is a little backwards....putting the shirt over the fancy dress, but with practice I am sure she will get it down.

Every now and again I will find my active girl lounging around watching a movie. Right now, her movie of choice is The Gnomemobile. What? You have never heard of it? It is an oldie, but a classic. (Of course it is a musical. Alayna and I have that in common as well.) You should watch it. It won't disappoint...unless you don't like gnomes singing and dancing, then don't watch it.

If she doesn't have a stack of pillows, then she likes to lay like this:

Just try to tell Alayna she's not a baby anymore. She won't believe you if it means that she can't play in this. I mean, come on, all the baby toys are way cooler than hers. :)

Instead of running around naked (like she normally does) after a bath, I came out to find her like this.

Daddy thought it would be funny to wrap her in a yard of fabric I bought.

(And take a look at how long her hair is getting. Crazy!)

Mommy's shoes are better, and taller. She has this part of dressing-up down (ha ha).

Although this picture is just a cute little pose that Alayna was doing while watching her beloved Gnomemobile movie...imagine this pose done with attitude and a flick of her head while saying "NO!". Because well, that is what happens at least a couple times a day.

It actually is really quite funny, but I am trying to not laugh because, then where would we be? In trouble, that's where. I am definitely not going to let her run MY house. :)

That's our 20 (almost 21) month old little munchkin.

Hooray for the Red, White and Blue!

I can't neglect our blog any longer. There are finally a few things that have happened that are blog-worthy. Once I get the pictures uploaded, there will be some posting of the activities that have been keeping us busy as of late.

But until then, I couldn't let this chance of showing off our red, white and blue outfits pass me by.

Layna and I after church:

Our little beauty sporting her 4th of July attire:

The 4th of July is not only one of my favorite holidays because we get to wear red, white and blue (because seriously, those colors are dang cute together). It is a favorite because of what our country stands for. I am so grateful to live in the land of the free and the home of the brave. We truly are so blessed to have the freedoms that we do.

Hooray for the Red, White and Blue!