2 Years Old!

Our Leila Bug is 2 years old today! She has been such a blessing in our lives. The past 2 years have been full of love, happiness, laughter, heartache, frustration, exhaustion, and every other emotion in between.

Right now Leila LOVES movies. Her favorites are Princess and the Frog, Gnomeo and Juliet, Tangled, Pocahontas, Lion King, Aladdin (newest addition to the mix), and Little Mermaid. She asks for each by name, knows when they are about to sing songs, dances during the songs, and knows when the movie is about to end and comes running for a new one.

Leila LOVES to play chase, especially with Grandpa Vic. She flirts and taunts with anyone who will chase her, but especially men. She is WILD. Loves to play rough with Daddy and Uncle Troy. When she falls down (even when she scrapes her elbow and is bleeding) she just jumps up, says "bing!" then continues on as if nothing happened. She is a dare devil. Loves to climb up slides and ladders by herself. Loves to swing as high as you will let her go.

Leila is mastering the art of throwing a fit. She gets really whiny, bounces up and down while she whines, throws her head back, falls to the ground, and on and on.

She is also learning to share. Kind of. When she wants to. She at least understands the concept of it...now we need to work on her sharing her things all the time, not just when she wants to.

Leila is not a very good sleeper. Most nights she goes to bed after 10pm. Then wakes up at some point wanting a "sssiiiiippppyyyyyy." Then goes back to sleep. Although the past few nights I've been able to get her in bed and leave her there while she is still awake and let her put herself to sleep after a book and a sippy.

She is also not a very good eater. She will eat chips and bread and milk and juice and an occasional chicken nugget or hot dog. She also usually likes pizza and potatoes and gravy. That's about it. She doesn't really like a lot of sweet stuff either. She likes a lot of Samoan food, but only if daddy is eating it with her. She eats other things, but not well, and not often. The past couple days have shown some improvement, but she is definitely a snacker, not an eater. We'll have to get that in check at some point.

Leila shows SOME interest in using the toilet to potty, but I think we've got a little longer on that before she will really be ready to give it a go.

Leila has natural mothering skills. She doesn't play with babies often, but when she does it amazes me how well she can take care of them. One of her babies actually cries when you touch it's feet, and drinks a bottle and "goes to sleep" - snoring sounds and all. When baby cries, she runs for the bottle. She holds the baby so soft and sweet, puts blankets on her, and shows the baby pictures and says, "Yook (look) baby."

Leila talks all the time. A lot. Pretty understandable to most people. She is very polite with Please, Thank You, Excuse Me, and Bless You. When she is throwing a tantrum, we always make her calm down to say "please" in a nice tone. That usually turns into "Please, nice." Some of the things she says sounds like she has an Italian accent. Eh bebe (a baby) Eh Seepy (a sippy) ah papa (granpa). She says eh or ah in front of almost every phrase she says. Eh Eh Eh Bwankie (blankie) Ah Matai (her future husband's name.) Ah Auntie. Ah Uncle. You get the picture.

She LOVES church and most mornings when we drive by our church on the way to the babysitter she points at it, says "church." Then "Pweeeease?" Often times I take her to my youth night activity, and we've been playing some volleyball on another night, and she loves nursery, so at a young age she associates church with fun. Hopefully she can continue those thoughts throughout her life.

I could go on and on about all the funny things she does and all of the frustrating things she does. Either way, we love her and are so grateful that we have the opportunity to be her parents. I couldn't ask for anything better.

**Today she will get to open her presents from mom and dad (even though daddy is out of town - boo) and maybe one from grandma and grandpa. Probably take her to dinner so she can "swide" at Chick Fil A. Then we are having a friend/family party on Saturday. HOPEFULLY I'll get around to taking a few pictures. Until then, just imagine how stinkin dang cute she is!

10 Years since 09/11/01

September 11, 2011 marked the 10 year anniversary of when terrorists attacked U.S. soil by hijacking airplanes and running them through the twin towers of the World Trade Center.

Their intent was to break the American Spirit. Little did they know that their attack would have the opposite affect. The American people united together as One Nation Under God. Although lives were lost, the attempted blow at hurting the American People was a feeble one. Regardless of economic status, leadership, crime rates, etc., The United States of America is the BEST place a person could ever live....if for no other reason but because we ARE One Nation Under God.

10 years ago I had NEVER heard of Osama bin Laden or Al Qaeda. Now those names are commonplace. It's surreal to think that my children will read and learn about this in their American History classes, then turn to me and say "you were alive when that happened? you remember that?" This is one of the marked events (along with the likes of Pearl Harbor, JFK being shot, the first moon walk, and the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster) in history that regardless of circumstance, you remember where you were and how you felt that day. Those feelings may be suppressed over time, but just recalling the emotions and thoughts from that tragic day in American history renews those feelings as if they were new.

My family and I had the opportunity to visit Ground Zero in October 2002. At that time, the fence surrounding Ground Zero was still in tact as a barrier. Over a year later, the fence was still covered in shirts, posters, stuffed animals, balloons, etc with well wishes to those who lost their lives. Over a year later, those items attached to the fence still smelled like smoke. It was similar to a campfire smell, but eerily different. A nearby church was left open as a makeshift museum to show the scars on the benches from where the fire and police workers went to lay down for a few minutes of rest and left their marks with their utility belts. I'm glad we had the chance to visit Ground Zero. To be there in person to feel the solemn reverence that surrounds that plot of land.

I am proud to be an American. I know that our country is not perfect, but the religious freedoms and original ideals it was founded on gives me enough comfort in saying that we are truly blessed to be living in this great country we call home.

One Word

What is the ONE word in this world that has an all encompassing meaning? You can basically pick ANY verb and that word can describe this one word. This ONE word makes you feel...

strong. happy. tired. love. excited. worried. smart. confused. busy. dependable. helpful. crazy. complicated. stressed. fun-loving. silly. poor. weak. powerful. support. independent. frustrated. dependent. blessed. greatful. lazy. exhausted. thrill seeking....well, you get the picture.

What is that one word?

MOM

Being a mom has been the best thing to happen to me. As frustrated as I get, I get equally or even more excited when my little Leila Bug hollers out "MOM!" (even if it is for 30+ minutes at night because she doesn't want to go to sleep....) I love being a mom and I hope I'm doing a good enough job that my daughter and any future children will know that I love being a mom by the way they are treated.

Sassy Pants

My mom told me about the following converstaion when I went to pick Leila up yesterday.

Leila (standing at the top of the stairs and yelling): Troy! Eat! Food! (not really food time.)
Troy: There is no food. (in a teasing tone.)
Leila: Shush Troy.

Oh geez, this made me laugh. And it still does.

Makes Your Heart Melt Like a Popsicle on the 4th of July

Aukuso has been kind of slow at work the past few weeks, so he has been spending a lot of time with Leila. When times like this happen, mom basically becomes non-existent unless daddy is gone. She wants nothing to do with me. (Which to be honest, is kind of a welcome break because when he is gone working so much, that leaves me to do EVERYTHING.) One of my favorite parts is that she wants daddy to take her to bed at night. If I go lay down with her, she pushes my shoulder and tells me to "move" and yells for daddy until he comes. Sorry honey, but thank you!

Last night Kuso was taking Leila to bed. She had fallen asleep on the couch, but when I laid her down, she woke up and pushed me, told me to move, and yelled for daddy. No surprise there. Well, daddy goes in to lay with her. He came out about 30 minutes later to get a sippy cup. I was REALLY surprised she was still awake after all that time. After she finally went to sleep, he told me what was going on.

Leila played with Kuso's face while he pretended to be asleep. After a while of running her fingers all across his face, she put one hand on his cheek, put the other hand on the other cheek, and kissed him...about 5 times. He cried. Then he laughed because he was crying. He thought it was so sweet that he told me about it several times before we went to sleep.

Our daughter is the most beautiful and precious gift that the Lord has blessed us with.

3 Years Down...an Eternity to Go!

Three years ago today, Aukuso and I became Eternal Companions.

Future In-Laws

Matai Uta'i and Aukuso

Arranged marriages may not be common practice, but my BESTIE and I have decided that Leila and Matai will marry. PRIOR to Matai's mission, they are "cousins" so that there will not be any love interest there. AFTER Matai returns from his mission, then life will reveal itself that they are not REAL cousins and that yes, it's okay to like them. Yes, it's okay to love them. Yes, it's okay to marry them. And Yes, it's okay to make beautiful afatasi babies with them!

(How cute would that be...2 afatasi parents which adds up to making afatasi babies!)