Welcome to the Family Baby Spencer!

Yesterday Justin and Celeste were blessed with another handsome son, Spencer Thomas Anderson. He was delivered by c-section last night and both mom and baby are healthy! We were able to go and meet him for the first time today and am so excited to have another nephew/cousin.
I don't know if Ayla was too happy about another baby being on my lap though...Poor little guy got his first slap in the face : (

I must admit that I prayed he would come a bit early so I could hold him before I head out to Utah for a couple of weeks. He is so adorable and looks just like Xander.

Despite some jealously Ayla was still very attentive to her little cousin.

Milton was able to get work done a bit early so we all could go together to see him.

So cute!

The proud parents!

Grandma Priday brought Xander over for an afternoon visit. He was very excited to see his little brother!

He was so excited he even gave Curious George over to Ayla (as some of you may know he is VERY attached to George).

Here's a video of Ayla running down the hall (with help from her Papa of course).

Xander is an excellent big brother. When asked what his baby brother's name is he says Pinecone (which you may not be able to hear in the video). It became Xander's nickname for him after his Grandpa Priday said that maybe they should name him Pinecone. Congrats Justin, Celeste and Xander! He's adorable!

Ayla's Sock Mishap

While on our way over to say good-bye to the Gagon's house and to pick up some of the artificial plants they so graciously gave us Ayla was unusually quiet. When we got there I noticed she had a very long string in her hand and her sock had obviously had a blowout. She must have pulled and pulled on the string until she undid the whole seam...For some reason I found this quiet funny, especially since they were brand new socks (go figure!)

Rachel and Grant's Short Visit

This past week has been BUSY! I finished painting upstairs, cleaned the carpets downstairs, went to a friend's BBQ on Friday night, Relief Society Activity on Saturday morning, had a BBQ at our house on Saturday night. As some of you may know that we are well known for our BBQ's. I spent 2 days cooking and preparing for it! We had invited over 60 peoplel, most of which did come. Unfortunately, I didn't take a single picture!!! All that work and nothing to show for it! However, the food was awesome and so were all the guests.

And then tonight we had a BBQ in behalf of our short visit with Rachel and Grant. They were on their way to Chicago for the summer and taking a little vacation to Cancun between their drive out there.

Grant's sister, Diane, lives in Aurora so she was able to come over for the night as well.

Xander really enjoyed the rocking horse.

Rachel held Ayla most of the night.

After dinner we all played Phase 10 and enjoyed our time together. It was good to see Rachel and Grant and wish them the best in Chicago!

I Shouldn't Have, but I Did!

After running some errands I decided that we would make a quick trip to check on our community garden plot....Of course I let my ice cream craving get the better of me and we stopped at McDonalds Drive-Thru on the way. While getting Ayla out of her carseat she noticed I was eating something and HAD to HAVE it. I relented and of course she LOVED it.

It's been kinda nice that she eats just about anything we do...but there's no hiding anything from her either. Even if she is eating the same thing we are she still wants what is on our plate instead. What can I say...she has parents who like to eat and she's inherited our genes.

One taste just wasn't enough. I'm not sure who had the most.

On our way back from looking at our garden (which is starting to sprout) I didn't have a napkin with us so I decided that licking her face would be the fastest way to clean her up. She thought it was hilarious and I happened to get a picture after the first lick, hence the reason only one half of her face has ice cream.

Oh, Ayla! We sure love you!

Milton's 32nd Birthday and Haircuts

Today is Milton's 32nd Birthday! We got up early and went to get some breakfast. Ayla really liked drinking apple juice...

And of course she wanted more!

Shortly after Milton had a hair appointment...much to my dismay he decided to cut it off. Here's a before pic.

This is just a small amount of hair that was cut off. It was definitely enough to cover a small dog.

Ayla also had a small haircut. Her bangs were getting in her eyes and she had some very long strands of hair in front of her ears.

She did so well and didn't even put up a fight.

Here's the after pic of Milton and Ayla. We really miss his long hair...

Happy Birthday Milton! Ayla and I love you very much and appreciate all that you do for us!

Little Miss Independent

Ayla has grown up quite a bit lately and decided that she no longer needs to nurse or eat baby food. It's been a bit bittersweet, but she has shown interest in everything we are doing and wants to do the same. Here is her first grilled cheese sandwich with some green beans. Even though it takes her a lot longer to eat now, she is much more content than me trying to force baby food anymore.

She really likes strawberries and even had her first egg quesadilla. She definitely LOVES her Mexican food, especially black beans. She knows what she wants and will smack her lips until she gets it!

My first Mother's Day

What an awesome day! Mother's Day has definitely taken one a whole new feeling and meaning to me. I am so thankful that I was blessed with such an amazing daughter and look forward to having more children. Ayla, thank you for choosing me as your mom and I promise to always do all I can for you!