Tag Archives: beauty

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Such a good girl

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Sunday, 21 September 2014: One Year, One Hundred and Seventy Three Days Old.

Hubby, a friend of his and I went out fishing in the boat today and of course we had Baby Ayla in tow.

Ayla was SUCH a good girl; I can’t express how proud and grateful I am of the beautiful, calm, friendly and content little girl she’s growing in to!

We were out on the water for 7 hours, right through the middle of the day, and Ayla was literally an angel the whole time. She spent the the day sitting up on my chair, chewing on biscuits, chatting away to us and playing with her dolly. And whenever a fish came on board Ayla would get as excited as we were, happily pointing and declaring “fish! fish!” over and over until we threw it back.

Ayla’s awesomeness meant it was the first time since becoming a mum that I’ve actually been able to join in on the fishing action properly, without worrying about her getting into lures, falling over at every wave or eating bait… Mmm yum! Instead, I was confidently able to relax and enjoy being out on the water with my bestie (Hubby) doing what we love, while the person we love most (Ayla) watched over us and cheered on from the sidelines.

As if in thanks for her great behaviour, (in case the perfect weather, calm water and good fish weren’t enough) the “Fish Gods” put on an amazing display of beauty when a pod of dolphins came up to play beside the boat. Ayla stood up on the deck while I held on tight and we watched in awe as the dolphins swam effortlessly beside the boat coming up for breaths of air and riding the bow wave.

We all felt so lucky and happy to be witness to something so naturally beautiful; it was one of those perfect moments that make you feel blessed and thankful and get a sense that maybe you are on the right path afterall and that everything’s going to be ok.

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Piggy tails

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Thursday, 29 May 2014: One Year and Sixty Days Old.

I picked Ayla up today to discover piggy tails in her hair!!

Oh my gosh, it was adorable, and I think it might become Ayla’s customary ‘do.

It made me realise that day care is definitely shaping the person Ayla is becoming.

It’s a good thing, I think. If it weren’t for day care I probably wouldn’t have thought to try a pony tail, let alone piggy tails!

I guess sending Ayla today care is particularly useful because I have no idea or experience with anything child related.

For example I probably wouldn’t have thought to try finger painting with Ayla but apparently she loves it!

As good as day care is though, there’s a part of me, deep down, that is sad I’m not discovering these things on my own.

I would love to have seen Ayla’s face the first time she put her hands in a tub of paint, and it would have been so exciting to realise her hair was finally long enough to style!

But I guess it’s all part and parcel of modern day life. So few people are in a position to stay at home with their kids, and I have to remind myself how lucky I was to have a whole year at home.

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The never-ending cycle of cuteness

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Friday, 4 April 2014: One Year and Three Days Old.

How is it possible for Ayla to get even more cute every day?!

Each morning when Ayla wakes up it’s as if she’s become cuter overnight, and then when bedtime rolls around and I put her down to sleep I swear she’s cuter than she was that morning.

It’s a never ending cycle of cuteness and I can’t believe it’s so. Does every one feel like this with their babies?

Is it possible that Ayla might become simply too cute for me to handle and I’ll implode with delight?

Or will the cute-o-meter explode before I do and Ayla will become, dare I say it, ordinary?

Surely that could never be the case but Hubby and I have definitely won the ultimate lucky dip prize; Ayla is clever, friendly, easygoing, kind, funny AND adorably and irresistibly cute… Trifecta!… Twice!

PS – how adorable is Ayla in this pic!? She’s wearing a headband and leggings from Melbourne children’s designer Kapow Kids that we won in a Facebook competition.

When we went to music class today we were only there for five minutes before someone commented on how cute Ayla looked, so maybe it’s not just me after all!

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Hairy interesting

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Friday, 7 March 2014: Three Hundred and Forty Days Old.

Ayla had a hairy interesting day today. No typo there, I mean hairy.

It started this morning at music class when Ayla made friends with a little girl who was about two years old.

The new little “friend” was standing above Ayla gently patting her soft blonde fuzz, then suddenly decided to grab two handfuls and pull – hard.

The “friend” was pulling so hard that she involuntarily started biting her bottom lip, all while my poor baby Ayla was having her hair wrenched from its roots.

Needless to say it ended in tears and although the “friend” seemed remorseful when her Daddy brought her back to apologise Ayla’s heart was broken and she wanted no bar of it.

That was hair incident number one.

Hair incident number two happened at home during Ayla’s lunch.

I was briefly distracted by my own lunch while Ayla ate hers and when I glanced back to check she was ok I caught my darling daughter rubbing food into her hair.

Ayla’s usually silky soft locks were sticking out in strange directions and I could see clumps of food flapping about in the tangle.

Of course, lunch today included peanut butter, cheese and tuna and all three of those delightful ingredients were squished into Ayla’s hair.

That was hair incident number two.

Hair incident number three (also known as hair incident 2b) was a direct result of the lunch-in-hair situation…

After giving Ayla’s hair the best wash of its life after lunch, it was the fluffiest and wildest it’s ever been.

Ayla’s ‘do was so outrageous that when we were at Bunnings this afternoon a stranger waiting beside me at the paint counter suggested I tip Ayla upside down and use her as a paintbrush!

Ayla laughed… Poor bubba, if she only knew!

PS – if you haven’t already, please vote Ayla as the cutest baby in Australia and help her win a People’s Choice Award in the Bonds Australia Baby Photo Comp…. Thanks in advance!

Click here to vote

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Ayla needs your help!

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Wednesday, 5 March 2014: Three Hundred and Thirty Eight Days Old.

I finally did it. I finally crossed the blurry line between blogging and bragging by entering Baby Ayla in a photo comp.

I guess most of you haven’t even batted an eyelid at this statement though because you figured it was only a matter of time before I subjected Ayla to a public vote!!

But it’s not just me who thinks Ayla’s adorable! Is it?!

I’m hoping that Ayla’s fan club (Ayla’s Angels I like to call you) will help her gain recognition as the cutest baby in Australia and if not well, we all know she’s awesome anyway!!

The Bonds Baby Competition is one of the biggest in Australia and there’s five People’s Choice awards up for grabs!

So please cast your vote!

It only takes a few seconds and its easy to unsubscribe from the mailing list afterwards if you want too (but Bonds do have some great online sales!)

Click here to vote

Thanks in advance! 🙂

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Like me

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Monday, 9 December 2013: Thirty Six Weeks Old.

I think Ayla is starting to look more and more like me.

I’m sure plenty of you out there will still swear black and blue Ayla looks like Hubby all over, and until today I’ve agreed with you.

But despite the blonde hair and pale skin, when I looked at Ayla playing on a mat on the lawn this afternoon I thought it was me for a moment.

It was the strangest feeling, but beautiful.

I don’t know if it was just Ayla’s expression, or what she was doing, but I could see myself in her and I felt the love in my heart grow just a little bit bigger.

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Shiny gold star

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Saturday, 23 November 2013: Two Hundred and Thirty Seven Days Old.

All I want to do is grab Ayla and give her a cuddle, a kiss, look into her eyes, tell her I love her, and give her a shiny gold star… anything and everything to make her understand how grateful I am for her.

I thought I knew what it was to be happy and feel blessed, but the light Ayla puts in my life is like no other.

I don’t know if it’s because Ayla’s such a good baby or if it’s just part and parcel of being a mum, but I am so proud of her and so thankful she’s my daughter.

Ayla is clever, and kind, and patient. She’s friendly, playful and happy. She’s wise and innocent and modest all at the same time. She’s vulnerable but strong, adaptable, generous, honest…. Ayla is everything I hope I can be one day and she’s not even eight months old yet!

Just like when I look at Hubby sometimes and I think my heart will burst, every time I’ve looked at Ayla these past twenty four hours in particular I almost believe my chest is about to explode and shoot out tonnes of sparkling, rainbow coloured happy-love-dust.

I really am blessed. I am lucky. I am grateful. I am thankful. I am not taking any of this for granted and I am appreciating and valuing every moment I have with my beautiful baby girl and my wonderful little family.

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Chopped

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Thursday, 10 October 2013: One Hundred and Ninety Three Days Old.

Well I did it… Today I trimmed the front mullet.

The wispy remnants of Ayla’s birth hair, stuck right smack-bang at the front of her head, have been annoying me for weeks.

Over the last couple of days it had obviously started annoying Ayla too because she was constantly rubbing her face to try and get the hair out of her eyes.

Then at breakfast this morning it became clear that something had to be done – urgently – because the front mullet had started to double as a beard by collecting food at meal times.

So I did what so many people asked me not to, but equally as many prayed I would: I chopped it.

And, while I was at it, I also chopped the last few remaining brown hairs from around Ayla’s head, leaving only the gorgeous, soft, white-blonde fuzz underneath (and the dark brown Chinaman-like band at the back).

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So big!

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Friday, 4 October 2013: One Hundred and Eighty Four Days Old.

Ayla’s grown so big!

It hit me like a tonne if bricks today when I peered in to see her sleeping in her bassinet at our unit.

She’s huge!

I remember when Ayla didn’t even stretch half the length of that bassinet, and now she’s hanging out of it!

I also realised how much hair Ayla had six months ago!

She had a full head of dark brown locks when she was born, and now she’s blonde with that silly tuft at the front and a back-fringe at the base of her neck.

It’s amazing how easily you can miss those little details, and maybe by seeing photos of Ayla every day on this blog you might have missed them too!

So here’s a couple of flashbacks;

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Boating

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Sunday, 29 September 2013: One Hundred and Eighty One Days Old.

Hubby took Ayla and I out “boating” today (I call it boating because we didn’t plan to catch fish) to show us a beautiful place he found a few months ago.

Not only did Hubby show us “the spot” we saw so many other beautiful and amazing things… things that some people will only get to read about but Baby Ayla’s been lucky enough to witness at less than six months old, and she’s certain to witness them again while we live in the Territory.

We saw the sun rise over land while we steamed out to sea in the cool morning air.

We saw patches of the ocean’s surface bubble and boil as schools of tuna chased balls of bait to the surface (we even caught two different species of tuna!).

We saw a school of two dozen or so mackerel chase down our lures to within inches of the boat before diving back to the safety of the deep blue.

We saw two huge turtles playing “leapfrog”… Well, that’s what we told Ayla they were doing (click here for the real story and thank me later lol).

We saw another turtle up close when he was foul hooked on a lure and we brought him aboard to free him.

And all this took place right on our door step!

It was a great day and Baby Ayla took it all ten hours of “boating” in her stride.

But what struck me the most is that we’re so lucky to live in a place where nature and adventure is a core part of our culture and surroundings.

I sure am glad Ayla’s a Territory kid 😉