Stubborn

The one thing I can say about Shayla is that she is stubborn. She always knows better than Mom. (I thought I had a few more years before this started!) She always knows how it should be done. She is my most avid critic. She also has decided that she knows where we should be going. One thing that I have really liked about having Shayla walk is that I don't have to carry her everywhere. She just follows behind me. Until this last week...

If Shayla doesn't like where I am going she just sits right down on the sidewalk and refuses to move. She'll just smile at me like, "I dare you to come get me". So I do go to get her and...

she crawls away from me. Yes she knows how to stand up and walk but she will crawl away. Maybe she thinks it's faster...

The best part is that she is headed to her best friend Lola's house. They live just a few doors down from us and Shayla knows where it is and how to get there. If she happens to get there before I can catch her she will pound on their door so that she can come in and play. Sometimes she gets confused and knocks on some strangers door... Then I have to explain why my 15 month old is pounding on their door. Not awkward at all....

BeAcH DaY!!

One of the perks of living in California is that we can go to the beach on November 6th and play in the surf. Plus it's only about a half hour away from our house so it's really convenient too! No sooner did we arrive than we promptly removed our shoes to feel the soft sand between our toes. Shayla even drew in it with her fingers and then got upset when the sand wouldn't come off her hands so that she could eat a graham cracker.

The best part is watching Shayla play in the surf. She just laughs hysterically as the water starts to come up to her. She likes to stomp on the foam at the edge of the tide.

She also loves to play with her Daddy in the water. No joke after we started going to the beach she started really enjoying her baths. I guess she decided if water was that much fun at the beach it must be ok when Mom is trying to clean her as well.

She also enjoys finding shells and rocks and bringing them to me. She is a little smarty pants and observes everything. Last time we were there I was looking for sea shells and sand dollars and this time she would find them on her own and bring them to me!

She and I also hung out on the blanket and ate treats and watched all of the dogs playing on the beach. She really liked one Retriever that would run into the surf and retrieve a stick his owner had thrown in and then start rolling around in the sand. Shayla would laugh and giggle and start woofing at the dog. All I have to say is I'm glad that I'm not the one who had to clean up that dog after that! It was hard enough cleaning all the sand off a 15 month old!

We had a blast! Shayla was so sad when we left that she just kept waving goodbye to the beach as we walked back to the car.

Jon's favorite part of the day was that we saw what looked like a pirate ship sailing out a bit from us. There were a lot of sail boats out and it was a gorgeous day to be there! 60 degrees and very pleasant. It is by far one of our favorite things to do here! (Looking at these pictures can you believe that it isn't summer anymore?) I'm starting to have season confusion. It's still September in my mind because of this weather!

What a great day! Plus BYU won their football game to boot! We are one happy Laudie family tonight!

Piano

When we moved to California we moved our piano from Houston, where it has been residing the last few years with Jon's sister Liz. We gave it some much needed repairs since it is over 100 years old. As soon as it arrived it became Shay's favorite piece of furniture.

She usually only gets to play when Jon is home. Another reason why she is so excited to see Jon walk through the door. (Most days she wakes up just as Jon is leaving for work and goes to bed before he gets home. They spend a lot of time together on the weekend.)

I think the only down side for Jon is that if he is playing she will come over and take his hands off the keys so that she can play. This little girl always gets what she wants from her Daddy! (Another reason she is always happy to see him) When I won't let her do something she usually goes running to him. Yep she already knows how to work the parents.

I think we have a little musician on our hands. She loves music and likes to sing along too. I love this girl. She makes me smile!

Halloween

First we got ready and went to church. The best part was when Shayla was so tired she couldn't sit up any longer. She was playing with some of the other little kids in the ward and she just was lying there. So a little boy named Brad came and started nuzzling her, and a little girl named Kate came up and laid down right on top of her. It was just a big cuddle fest. None of the parents sitting there could tell you what happened during the last 15 minutes of Elders Quorum/Relief Society because we were all laughing so hard!

Then after she finished her dinner we let Shayla enjoy some of her spoils from the night before.

Can you tell she's happy about it?

Then we got ready to go out trick or treating... Shayla helped herself to some of our candy a little early.
Such a cute little kittie. Her costume was a big hit!

Then her best friend Lola arrived to go trick or treating with us.

We had so much fun and Shayla insisted on carrying her pumpkin full of candy. She even remembered the drill from the night before and would go up and pick her own candy... sometimes she would help herself to more than one. She was so sad when we came home and I wouldn't let her eat any of the candy and she had to stop trick or treating. What a little trooper! I can't wait to go with her again next year!

I did go around in the hat... I left everything else at home though. One night of being all dressed up was enough for me. Especially after Jon looked at me and told me that I'm much prettier in real life. That was his way of complimenting me. Oh how I love my husband!

Picture of the week

Ok so this picture is a month old, but I love it. This is what we wake up to in the morning. Isn't she a doll?