Happy Halloween!

We had such a great day today! When Layla woke up this morning we gave her her Halloween present (which consisted of candy, books, a stuffed animal, and a toy) so she started the day out bye eating candy for breakfast. A little while later we got ready because we had our FRG Halloween party at noon. Layla put her Dorothy costume on and of course she was the cutest kid there! Ed was the only one dressed up among his peers, he wore his Jamaican attire and kept saying "YA, MAN!" when everyone talked to him. It was hilarious, he made everyone laugh. After we ate pizza and chatted some, the kids went around to all the offices in the company and trick or treated. Layla had so much fun. She would go right up to whoever was giving out the candy, say "trick or treat" and then reach for the candy bowl. She didn't wait for people to put the candy IN her basket, so she got double what everyone else got. She had a ton of fun! Then later that night we went to a friend's house for a party and some more trick or treating, even Ed and I dressed up. We were Rastafarian's and Ed even painted his face black! It was freezing outside though and the trick or treating just wasn't that much fun since it was so cold. We stayed out for about 30 minutes before Layla decided she was done! So we went back to the house for some food and drinks. Layla changed into her Bob Marley shirt so she could match Ed and I, she looked so cute in it! We ended up staying for awhile and on our way home Layla passed out in the car. She had a great Halloween and ate tons of candy, just like it should be! :)

She is so our kid!

Tonight all three of us were watching Sponge Bob and out of no where Layla says "I want to play Rock Band! I want to play the drums!" Okay, only our kid would want to play video games! LOL

Pumpkin carving day 2.

Today we finished carving our last two pumpkins. As soon as Ed asked me to get him a spoon Layla yelled "GET MY PRINCESS SPOON TOO, MOM!!!!" So there is Ed using a regular spoon, and then there is Layla using a Princess toddler spoon. It was so funny! After that though, she wasn't as interested in them today as she was yesterday. Ed was half way done cutting through the last pumpkin and here comes Layla with her broom and my dustpan. She was cleaning up Ed's mess, she kept saying "ok, time to clean up!" I think she is taking after me! :)

Pumpkin carving!

After dinner tonight we decided to carve one of our three pumpkins. We had so much fun! We had Layla pick out which pumpkin she wanted to carve first and then her and I made Ed do everything else. She had fun looking inside and touching the seeds. The whole time Ed was carving she kept being a "monster" and scaring Ed, she thought it was so funny. After Ed was done cleaning the pumpkin, I put the seeds in the oven to eat as a snack and Layla picked out the face she wanted on the pumpkin. We found a pumpkin carving website and she found the "silly face" and wanted that one. So after Ed took forever to draw it (which I had to step in and help with an eye) he got to cutting. I got the seeds out of the oven and Layla loved them, she ate almost the entire bowl herself. Just as Layla finished her seeds, Ed finished our pumpkin. I told Layla to take a picture with the pumpkin and she put her arm around it and said "cheese!" Then we put a candle in it and put it on our balcony! After that it was Layla's bedtime and she told us "We'll do it again tomorrow, ok?" We have two more to do so she got lucky! However, when I told her the pumpkin wasn't allowed to go night night with her she got a bit upset with me.

Fun in the mud!

This is what happens when Daddy makes us watch his RC cars!

Silky has so many uses...

As you all know by now, Silky is Layla's lovie/blanket that has to go every where with us. If we step foot out of the house without it, she freaks out and we can't stop her crying until Silky is safely in her hands. Silky's most recent use is hiding Layla. Our neighbors on the first floor have a witch hanging up on their door that Layla is scared of and she hasn't walked down the stairs by herself since it's been up. Now whenever we leave the house I have to hold her (30 lbs. of Chunk!) and she takes Silky and puts it over her eyes so she doesn't have to see the witch. Well the other day I took the trash out and she always follows me down the stairs. This time, however, I left her up stairs with Ed and said I would be right back. As I am walking to throw the trash away I turn around and look at the window where you can see the stairs. Layla is holding on to the rail for dear life with one hand and with the other hand she is holding silky over her eyes. She was taking about 1 step per minute, she just couldn't do it. It made me laugh so hard! I threw out the trash and then walked back and thought about how long it was taking her to get out here. When I walked up the steps to our door, I see a little chunky girl sitting at the foot of our stairs. She didn't make it past the witch after all.

Acorns galore.

Layla wanted to go outside and play today which meant she wanted to collect acorns and leaves. It was in the 30's today so we bundled up and went outside. We get to the tree that the acorns fall off of and Layla was so excited. She loves looking around and picking them up and of course taking them home with us. When she first saw them, it went something like this: "Ohhhhh, look at all the acorns! Big acorns and baby acorns. 1, 2, 3. 3 big acorns! Mommy, what's that? What's that? MOMMY, what's that?" It was another acorn, she just wanted to make sure I saw it. So, after about 20 minutes outside (it was way too cold for much more) we ended up coming home with this...

Our new pets!

Actually, to be specific, our 30 new pets! The last week or so, whenever the sun would come out (which was hardly ever because we've been getting a ton of rain) there would be tons and tons of ladybugs on our balcony screen. Layla and I have been going out on the balcony everyday when they're out there and just watch them and touch them and let them crawl on our hands. Well the other day I noticed they were out there again so I grabbed one and took it to Layla (she was in her bedroom) and then came back into the living room. I go in to check on her a few minutes later and she had put the ladybug in a rubbermaid container with a piece of candy and she told me the "ladybug was eating dinner." It made me laugh but I explained to her that ladybugs don't eat candy. So we went outside and collected a whole bunch of leaves and sticks for it and over the next couple of days collected around 30 ladybugs to keep as our new pets. I read up on them and they hibernate this time of year and to just make sure they have water and some food (raisins or apples) and they'll be ready to fly away in the spring time. So there you have it, we have about 30 new pets until spring. Layla loves them and has been taking them everywhere with her, even pushing them in the stroller to take them for a walk. Maybe she's ready for a cat?

Grandma bought it for me.

This is what Layla says anytime she gets something new. My mom sends Layla lots of packages and whenever she gets one I make sure she knows who it's from. Now, whenever Ed and I buy her something, it doesn't come from us, it comes from Grandma. Even when we were in Berlin and bought Layla all kinds of stuff she looks at me and says "Look what Grandma bought for me!" Grandma is getting all the credit!

Daddy's girl!

I had this amazing dress made for Layla that matches Ed's ACU's and I am just in love with it. You really can't see the detailing on it from these pictures but there is a yellow ribbon and the words Daddy's Girl written on the top, both in diamonds. It sparkles so much and is just beautiful. It is already getting freezing here so I knew I wouldn't have another chance to take pictures of Ed and Layla together (in their matching outfits, of course) so since it was a sunny day outside I took advantage. Layla is so in love with her Daddy, even more so now than usual and it just shows in the pictures. It's going to be very hard for him to leave us next year. Anyway, I wanted these pictures for when he deploys next year, both for Layla and I, and Ed.

Silly Layla...

Layla: "I want to go to Berlin!"
Me: "Layla, we are in Berlin."
Layla: "Ohhhh... I want to go see the animals."
Me: "We just got back from the zoo, Layla."
Layla: "Please, Momma?"
Me: "Sorry, hunny."
Layla: "Okay, we'll go next week!"

Last night Ed "fixed" part of our bathtub and ended up breaking it. So today while Layla was going potty she saw it and our conversation went something like this-
Layla: "Handy Manny fix it!"
Me: "You want Handy Manny to come and fix it?"
Layla: "Ya, Daddy broke it. Handy Manny fix it."

While we were in Berlin this weekend-
Me: "Layla, you're a spoiled brat!"
Layla: "I'm not a spoiled brat, I'm a princess!"
Me: "Oh, you are, are you?"
Layla: "Yes! See my necklace? And my Princess hat?"

Our weekend in Berlin!

We had such a good weekend! Our friends invited us to go to Berlin on Thursday and it was such short notice that we weren't sure if we would be able to go or not but we decided why not and went anyway. It was one of the best trips that we've had. We've already been to Berlin once, about 3 1/2 years ago, before Chunky was born. We woke up on Saturday and hit the rode at about 9:30ish (we had to stop at the hospital and see one of Ed's soldiers before we left) and got to Berlin at about 12:30ish. Only a 3 hour drive, not bad at all! We checked into our hotel and our friends had gotten there a few minutes prior. We all then hopped on the subway and headed over to checkpoint charlie. Layla and I got out passports stamped with all 16 different/original stamps at the checkpoint, how many 2 1/2 year olds can say they have that in their passports? The rest of the day we just spent seeing all the historical spots and having a great time. At dinner we decided to head on over to the Hard Rock Cafe and let me just say, it was so good! We even bought Layla her first Hard Rock shirt! As soon as we walked into the restaurant and she heard the music she would not sit still. For the two hours we were there, she was dancing the entire time. After that we walked backed to our hotel and fell asleep, we were all beat. The next morning when we woke up, I made Ed go walk over to Dunkin Doughnuts to get us breakfast. Okay, after not ever eating a real American doughnut for months (since we were in CA last) they tasted so good! That plus a white chocolate mocha and wow, I was in heaven! After we got up and got ready we then headed to the zoo for the rest of the day. Layla wanted to look at the fish the entire time so that's pretty much all we saw. We tried to get her to look at monkeys but she would just yell at us and say "I don't want to see the monkeys!" Little brat! After the zoo we did a little bit of shopping and then headed home. It was so much fun!

Want to know what Layla and I do all day?

I think this about sums it up! :)

It's fall!

Today we went outside to play in the leaves. Layla loves collecting acorns and leaves and "making dinner" with them. It was so gorgeous outside, we were playing for a long time today. This year the leaves are turning such gorgeous colors, even more so than usual. It's is just beautiful! I truly enjoy the German fall because in California we don't even have a fall. I will for sure miss this time of year when we move.

Feeding ducks.

We went and fed ducks today and Layla cracks me up. Every time she gets a new piece of bread to feed them she has to take a bite out of it before she throws it to them. She loves seeing the ducks though and always has such a great time with them.

Halloween pictures!

Today we went to take Layla's Halloween pictures around town so I can put them in our Halloween cards. She was NOT happy though! I got maybe one good picture of her out of about 100. She was scared of the water, then the pumpkin, and then the dang corn! So it wasn't very successful but at least I got one good shot that I could use.

Aw, Man!

I can thank Dora (or should I say Do Do Dora as Layla calls her) for this new and exciting phrase. Every time Layla drops something or does something wrong she says "Aw, Man!" Let's just say I hear this phrase about 50 times a day!

Swimming in the tub.

Today Layla was telling me "I want to wear my bathing suit and go swimming in there" while she was pointing to the bath tub. She needed a bath anyway so I was not complaining. I put on her bathing suit and she went "swimming" for about an hour and a half, she had a great time!

"Sorry bout dat!"

This is the cutest phrase ever! Layla always says sorry for everything, she is a very polite kid. But her new phrase is "sorry bout dat" and it is soooo cute. After we got done taking a bath I was drying her off and her arms got stuck in her shirt she giggles real quick and then says "sorry bout dat!" It melts me heart!

When I get home...

My favorite part of the day lately has been when I get home from the gym. As soon as Ed gets off work, I hand over Layla and take off. It has been so funny when I get home to see what they're doing. Two days ago I got home and Layla's hair had about 10 different clips and barretts in it, supposedly she wanted "princess hair" so Ed did it for her. Then yesterday I came home and see both Ed and Layla learning how to dance along with Shark Tale (they have a dancing part at the end of the DVD). Every time I get home it cracks me up to see what they've been doing... I wonder what they'll do today?