Natural Instinct

A couple nights ago, we were at my parents house. Leila was playing on the floor and while her back was turned, Troy snuck up behind her. When she turned back around, his face was the same level as her face and he kind of "boo-ed" at her. She punched him right in the mouth...closed fist and all. It was A-W-E-S-O-M-E!

Easter 2011

Since I was just little little we have gone to St. George for Easter. That was our chance to get to warmer weather and reunite with my mom's family. This is the first year (in history) that I did not go to St. George. Kuso's cousin James got married on Saturday and since Easter comes every year and a wedding is once in a life time (usually), I decided that staying for the wedding was more important (but Kuso did say that Leila and I could go to St. George if we wanted because he knows that I love my family traditions.)

No pictures of the wedding, mostly because I hate carrying my camera around. We missed the ceremony, but were there for the reception. Good food. They had their reception at Millenial Falls in Draper. Beautiful place, but it's kind of small and awkard shaped for a polynesian wedding. Only a few people were able to enjoy the entertainment without crowding around. Congratulations and Best Wishes to the new Mr. and Mrs. James Aiono!

Leila was SPOILED this Easter. New dress. New clothes. New shoes. A basket from the Easter bunny with candy, chips, bubbles, hair bows, etc. A basket from Grandma Bunny with candy, bubbles, (the previously mentioned shoes and some clothes), etc. A basket from the Home Teacher bunny with toys and candy. Bubbles and a teddy bear from the Home Teacher bunny. A LARGE bag of candy from the Nursery Bunny. And a little cute bunny made out of a washcloth from her church friend, Hadlee (also had some M&M's with it.) Again, no pictures because I just suck at keeping my camera around.

Because we are usually out of town, it's sad to say that I have only been to church on Easter a handful of times when we decided to stay long enough to attend church. We usually just get up and head home when the rest of the family heads off to church. In class, our teacher had us separate our chairs (for privacy), gave us a piece of paper with a picture of Jesus on one side and lines on the other, and asked us to think about and write down our feelings about our Savior. While we did that, she played songs about Christ. Initally, I thought "wow, that is a great time filler" but there was seriously a special feeling in the room.

As I turned my thoughts to the Savior, the Spirit immediately filled my soul with warmth and comfort. This is one of the first times I have FOCUSED on how I feel toward Jesus Christ and His love and His atoning sacrifice. I took that sheet of paper to work to keep in my drawer, so when I am searching for things and come across it or if I just need a boost, it is right there to remind me of how loved I am and to keep myself focused on Christ-like qualities.

Leila is also turning "spiritual" (as much as a 19 month old can be.) She LOVES to pray. She folds her arms and says "pwayew?" (prayer?) Then waits while you say a quick prayer, then says 'Amen' at the right time. She always reminds us to pray at dinner. Kuso and I have gone through times where we are good to say family (couple) prayers and times where we just don't. (Sad, I know, but honest.) With him out of town so much, it's hard to keep the habit going. But I told him that we need to take advantage of Leila's interest in prayer now and make family prayer a priority. He agreed. So hopefully, we can do that each and every day he is home, and even when he is gone when timing is appropriate - we can maybe do it over the phone. (If I'm not driving or if he isn't surrounded by the guys watching basketball or whatever.)

Zzzzz

YEP! I slept from about 10:45 until I finally rolled out of bed at 6:45ish...here, I'll do the math for you...that is 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep! Thank you Leila. And PLEASE, do that more often.

Brooklyn's Birthday!

Saturday April 16th Leila went to her very first birthday party (that is not family or because the adults are friends...) Brooklyn is Leila's church friend. She turned 2! The party was at Brook's house. They had a Minnie Mouse theme. We had BBQ lunch, the kids played, Brook opened presents, we ate cake and ice cream, then we all went home to give the munchkins naps! Above: Leila with her mouse ears...and candy necklace.

Below: Check out her hair! She held still long enough for me to put 6 elastics in!!! Her hair looked SO cute. It was lots cuter when it was still wet before it got out of control looking, but I was impressed with how cute it was for the party! Above: Leila and Brooklyn in the wagon. One of the other girls and her parents had walked to the party and brought this wagon. The rest of the kids thought it was a great play toy. Brooklyn happens to have the SAME wagon, so they got theirs out, and some of the dads ran around the yard with the girls in the wagon. The girls were LOVING it. The dads tired out WAY faster than any of the kids tired of being bounced around the yard. Leila spent LOTS of time playing in and out of the wagon. Even during the present opening, Leila was playing by herself in the wagon. Silly girl. Below: Brook wasn't too interested in opening her presents. She kept walking between the chair her mom had set up, and these lounge chairs to sit to open her presents. Above: It cracks me up that at these young ages, the kids love to be around each other, but don't really know how to play WITH each other. These two both played with balls when we first got there, but they didn't play together. At any given time, all the kids were at different places around the yard doing their own thing, but they all had fun!

Leila, Brooklyn, and Hadlee eating lunch.

These 3 girls are all in nursery at church together. I also serve in the Young Women's presidency with both of their mothers. Brooklyn and Hadlee are both adopted. Leila looks like she is adopted until her dad comes around! These three love to see each other at church. Hadlee is the oldest and turned 2 in February, then Brook in April, then Leila will be 2 in September. They will probably be in different school classes, but will always be in the same church class. I'm glad that Leila has friends her same age to grow up with.

Changing of the Guard

In a previous post, I related the order of whom Leila prefers to go to. Second to the bottom was grandma, then me. Well, things have apparently changed. Now Grandma is on the top of the list (unless daddy is there...I'm sure he is still top.) The past few days, Leila only wants grandma. Last night, we slept at my parents house to cut half the commute in the morning to drop her at the sitters house. She was a cry baby all evening (she has been messing up her nap routine and it shows). She finally calmed down after I gave her some Tylenol and rocked with her while she ate some crackers...but that wasn't good enough. She wanted grandma. Soon enough, she was dead to the world. I went to bed and within a couple of hours, Leila was out of the crib and in bed with me. Fine. Until 4am rolls around and she had scooted herself so close to me that I couldn't roll over, so I moved her over about 8 inches. Well, that set her off and she screamed...and screamed...and screamed. My dad gets up for work at that time so he heard her, brought a sippy cup down and offered to take her. Leila responded with a "NO!" then said "bomma..." through tears. Soon after that, my mom came down, took Leila, and she immediately stopped crying. What a brat! Mom sat with her for a little bit. I asked Leila if she wanted to go back to bed with me. She says yes, so we go to lay down. (Cue crying.) So I took her back to grandma and she slept with her for the rest of the night (all hour that was left before my mom had to get up for work.) SUCH a BRAT! Besides all that, my brother is trying to sleep through all this. He already complains about sleeping because of my dad's snoring, so this just added to it. Sorry 'bout it! Lesson: Leila never gets to sleep at grandma's house ever again. Ok, that will never happen, but I guess I just have to deal with the commute every morning until she learns to be a better sleeper. Ugh. Interestingly enough, she sleeps better when daddy is home... **2 nights ago Leila took control of my hand and put it in and out of the popcorn bowl. One time was to my mouth, next time was to hers. She did this for a couple of minutes. She used my hand to share popcorn with both of us. It made me chuckle...

Monday Funnies

So Monday night, my parents were over at my house because my mom was helping me tie a quilt and my dad was going to entertain the Bug. While we were in the kitchen, Leila walked in with her blanket, laid down, looked at us over her shoulder, said "night night", then laid down. After a couple of seconds she proceeded to fake snore...long, slow, loud snores. Not the quick ones most kids make when they pretend to snore. She seriously sounded like she was sleeping. Then she "woke up" after about 5 or 6 rounds of snoring and went on playing. A little while later, she was sitting at the table with us while I was sewing part of the blanket. She was playing with some spools of thread. Each time she would pick one up, she would say "Oh geez." Then put it down and do that over and over with 3 different colors. It was so random that it was that much more funny. I can truly say that this stage is my favorite. It's definitely more work than other stages have been, but it's more interactive and WAY more funny. (btw....see how good my dad is at watching her while my mom and I are busy?) It seems like he is a flake, but truth be told, he is so good to that little girl. He plays and plays and plays with her, reads her books, changes diapers, gives her snacks, gives her baths, snuggles with her, dances with her, sings with her (much to the chagrin of others.) Thanks dad for being a good babysitter. Actually, thanks to my mom and brother too...they are such a huge support system to me and Leila while Kuso is out of town (and even when he is in town!) Now if I can just find and keep my camera close by so I can show pictures of these funny moments....

Leila

My little bug is almost 19 months old now! Just thought I would take a quick minute to update with some of her silliness.A month ago I put her hair in piggy tails for the first time. They were cute. Didn't last long, but cute. She has worn them a couple of times since...don't last long, but they are dang cute while they do.

My little baby isn't such a baby anymore...she is definitely more on the side of a little girl now. She chit chats all day long, but more recently, we can decipher some of what she says. bup bup = sippy cup bawk bawk = chicken (basically anything to eat) weeb woo = love you (says it mostly when she talks to daddy on the phone or when she is going to sleep at night.) night night = night night pweese? = please tay you = thank you awemuss = awesome hot daw = hot dog beebee = baby (that she whispers every time) poopoo = poo poo (she usually goes to a corner or in another room, comes back and reaches toward her diaper with her legs bent and says it. Lately, she has started laying down ready to get her diaper changed - we are lovin that.) Is that a sign she is ready to start potty training? dodo = koko (as in koko Samoa. Yes, she drinks it. Yes, she loves it. Yes, she is her father's child.) Ew = Ew (mostly if someone farts, or if she picks her nose. smart girl huh?) Doy = Troy (which she yells down the stairs at my parents house) dabba dabba = Gabba Gabba (as in YO! - all you moms know what I'm talking about.) Shhh - with her finger to her lips. Other words she says (or variations of but most people can figure out what she is saying) = turtle, purple, NO, up, hot, many animal sounds, and more and more each day becoming understandable. Although she doesn't communicate fully with words, she can definitely communicate and get her point across. She is VERY independent. Wants to walk up and down stairs without help, standing up, and sometimes not holding on to anything. Has started jumping off of small elevations. Gives kisses to most who come or leave the house. Loves "high fives and bump it". LOVES to dance. She just can't control herself sometimes with her shoulder shakes. She laughs a lot. Surprisingly very quiet most of the time...just wanders around playing with things here and there. Started to do somersaults on her own - correctly. She is VERY strong. Has EXTREMELY good balance. Starts to try to comb her own hair. Learning to "clean up." Very good at copying people's actions. Takes things to the garbage. Understands most of what we ask her to do (basic stuff.) LOVES to go to nursery. LOVES to go to the babysitter. LOVES to be around people. She gets very bored at home and when she gets bored she gets bratty. Wants to be outside as much as possible. Knows that grandpa is the one who takes her to feed the fish in his pond in the back yard (also where she learned "turtle.") If we are with my family, this is who Leila goes to in this order: Daddy, Grandpa, Uncle Troy, Grandma, then if no one else is available, then me. I'm glad she is willing to have other people hold her and take care of her. It makes life so much easier for me. At night when she goes to sleep (in her big girl bed that she has been in for the past 6-8 months) she wants me to lay down with her. She lays down, grabs her blanky and doggy, then points at the pillow next to her for me to lay down. Then comes a series of kisses and "weeb woo" exchanges. Then she eventually rolls to her left side then falls asleep. Although I wish I could just lay her down and have her fall asleep without me there, I cherish those moments. Being a working mom, I only spend a few hours a day with her. So that 10-30 minutes of laying beside her, letting her know that I'm there for her no matter what, is priceless. Leila is so smart, so sweet, so funny, so active, so brave, so strong, so silly, so creative, so beautiful, so athletic,...I'm so blessed to be her mom. She brings such a sweet Spirit when she is around. I said before, she is my Mary Poppins baby, "Practically Perfect in Every Way." Love you Leila bug.