Tiny Dancer

I couldn't resist posting some pictures of Ayla in her new leg warmers! I've had "She's a maniac..." from Flashdance in my head all morning!

Here are some more pics of her practicing her crawling & standing moves... enjoy!

Ayla's First Christmas

We had a great Christmas this year with our sweet baby girl! She was so excited! For only being 8 months old, she sure shocked us with how into it all she was. She seemed to sense our excitement & got right into the spirit with us!

On Christmas Eve we went up to Grammy & Grandpa's for dinner...

Ayla wrote her note to Santa (with the help of Mommy) and left it out on the deck for the elves to get on Christmas Eve...

That's her signature under her name :)

They took the note to the North Pole & left a little stuffed Santa for Ayla. She, of course, had to immediately kiss it, which is what she does when she makes a new friend :)

We opened up family gifts...

and lit the menorah for the 4th night of Hanukkah...

Christmas morning we woke bright & early & saw that Santa had come!!!

Ayla got into her pretties...

Look at me trying to crawl!

She opened up LOTS of books- her favorite!
There were also some pretty cool blocks, stackers, music CD's and other cool toys...

There was also a BIG HUGE present that Santa left...

She was pretty excited about that box!

And I guess what was IN the box was pretty special too!

We hope everyone's holiday was filled with as much love & laughter as ours was!
Merry Christmas!

Ayla's First Hanukkah

We had such a lovely evening celebrating Ayla's 1st Hanukkah!

Grammy made Ayla a double sided ornament- the other side says (you guessed it!) Ayla's First Christmas...

Ross lit the menorah while Ayla looked on...

Family chessiness :)

Ayla enjoyed opeing up gifts from her Grandma & Grandpa G...

She absolutely LOVES her new musical stage... in fact, when running errands today, the little microphone HAD to come with us because I could not pry it from her little hands :)

She also got a beautiful sundress to enjoy next summer...

Ayla's Grandma G also made this needle point which we are going to frame & put in her bedroom. If I'm not mistaken, Mama G made this years ago in the hopes that she would some day have a granddaughter to give it too :)

Ross loved his new shirt (from Mama & Papa G) but due to its Mojito theme I think he has been inspired to drink more ;) ...

and new Napoleon Dynomite game (from Hanukkah Harry)...

I received a gorgeous bracelet from Mama & Papa G as well...

Ayla & Ross also have 8 little gifts from Grammy & Mr. Wilford to open each night of Hanukkah! And Uncle Brent & Auntie V also sent 8 gifts for Ayla for each night. Can you say S-P-O-I-L-E-D??? We are definitely feeling all the love!

We finished off our perfect evening with brisket & latkes made by none other than Ross! They were delicious! To top it all off, Ross got to witness his Giants earn home field advantage as they head into the playoffs! As if the night couldn't have gotten any better!

We hope everyone had a very Happy Hanukkah too! I'm sure there will be a million more pictures to follow so stay tuned!

All Aboard!

Thursday afternoon we went to Old Sacramento & hitched a ride on the Polar Express...

Here we are waiting to begin our journey to the North Pole...

We were joined by our friends Jack, Kim, Macy & Bob...

and Grammy & Grandpa W

Grandpa even wore his Box Car Willie hat! Choo choo!

The train was all decorated for Christmas...

We went chug chugging down the river... but as Jack so astutely observed, why were we traveling south when we're heading to the North Pole... hmmm, boy's too smart for his own good, I say!

On the train they served hot cocoa & cookies and read the story (and played songs) over the loud speakers. All the kids wore their PJ's too!

Ayla sported her bunny feet jammies!

Ayla had such a blast dancing & clapping her hands!

In the movie version, there is a hobo character who doesn't "believe"... so he showed up on the train & tried to convince the kids that there is no Santa... but luckily they all saw through his little act :)

Here's Ayla arriving at the North Pole... pure magic!!! Look how well she can stand on her own!

Santa decided to hitch a ride back into town with us... He told Ayla not to worry, she will grow more hair :)

He passed out silver bells to all the kids... in the story, only the children can hear the bells... the adults could when they were children but can't now that they're grown up...

Ayla loved her bell! It is hanging prominently on the Christmas tree right now!

We had such a great time sharing this experience with Ayla and our family & friends... we can't even describe how much fun we're having creating family traditions that will last for years to come!

Ayla's Christmakah Stocking

Ayla's Christmakah stocking is now complete!

It's called "Rudy with Menorah"

Now Santa AND Hanukkah Harry can leave little goodies (or coal & gefilte fish) for Ayla's first Christmakah!!! Thank you Grammy!!!!

This is "Strahan the Dog"...

He and Ayla are best friends...

They are about the same size & they are undeniably, completely & unabashedly IN LOVE...

The best part is that every time Strahan & Ayla are in the same vicinity, Ayla must grab him, pull him forward & give him a big slobbery kiss on the nose!

What a sweet baby girl!!!!!!!!!