Tag Archives: happy

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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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Reunited

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Wednesday, 10 September 2014; One Year, One Hundred and Sixty Two Days Old.

Ayla was reunited with her Daddy tonight, when he flew down to join us in time for Ayla’s procedure.

Hubby asked that I didn’t say anything to Ayla about picking Daddy up as we headed off to the airport, but I did accidentily mention it to her yesterday and since then every knock at the door or sound upstairs has had Ayla pointing and saying “Daddy?”

We got to the airport early and waited at the gate. Ayla was restless by the time people started disembarking and she was wandering around excitedly, dodging legs and carry on baggage as they hurriedly headed for the baggage collection area.

I saw Hubby well before Ayla did, and he squatted down next to her. Ayla stopped in her tracks and stared at him; studing his face as if to work out whether he was real or not.

Then it clicked. Ayla ran the last two steps towards her Daddy and threw her arms around his neck, refusing to let go. Ayla kept looking back at me, smiling, then patting her Daddy’s face as if to say
“Nawww Mum! Look! Daddy’s actually here!” – so cute.

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More than OK

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Sunday, 20 July 2014: One Year, One Hundred and Eleven Days Old.

As I go to bed tonight I feel so amazingly blessed to have such a beautiful, friendly, smart, gracious little girl for a daughter, and a kind, loving, honest and strong man for a husband.

I’m not quite sure what it is that’s making me feel the love but I had to drag myself away from Ayla’s bedside after I snuck in for her nightly kiss and “sweet dreams” wish, and now I feel heart is going to burst.

It’s intereseting because feeling “blessed” is something that’s attainable by all of us but I feel so very privledged to be aware enough to see it.

The past month or so has been quite tumultous, worry and stress and uncertainty has hung over us like a fading shadow, and even though logically we know everything will turn out just fine and that everyone will be alright, it’s been hard to let myself really feel it.

I think tonight I’ve just had a renewed sense that these really are some of the best days of our lives, and I’m determined to appreciate them while they’re here.

Hubby, Ayla and I are a fresh little family of three with so much excitement and potential on the horizion and so much support and strength from our friends and family behind us that no matter what happens we will be ok… More than ok.

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Pull along puppy

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Saturday, 12 July 2014: One Year, One Hundred and Three Days Old.

Hubby and I gave Ayla a new toy today; a pull-along puppy.

It was a present a friend had given Ayla for her birthday, but we’d kept it aside until such a time that we’d knew Ayla would use it and give it the love and attention it deserved.

And that was today.

Ayla has been such a good girl lately and Hubby and I are both so proud of her, we wanted to reward her and decided to give her a new toy.

It was a big deal because we don’t make a habit of spoiling her with gifts, and Ayla seemed to know that she’d done something good to earn her puppy.

Ayla spent most of the evening toddling around with her puppy in tow, stopping to give him and pat or a kids every now and then.

At one point Ayla even took her puppy over to The Dog’s bowl for some water and Hubby and I melted with love at our smart, happy, precious little girl.

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Balloon

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Friday, 11 July 2014: One Hundred and Two Days Old.

Ayla was given her first balloon today and she wore it on her wrist like she’d been recieving them for years.

We were in an arts and crafts shop that also sell party supplies, and Ayla had become too heavy and awkward for me to carry so I’d put her on the ground to toddle around.

Ayla had a wow of a time pulling packets of beads and spools of ribbon off the shelf while I wasn’t looking; gosh that kid can make a mess real quick!

But although I might not have been watching, the lady behind the counter had been and Ayla’s curious antics won her a new fan.

When we approached the counter the lady ooh’d and ahh’d at how cute Ayla was, and giggled at how excited Ayla got when she saw a bunch of helium balloons ready for some customer to come and collect.

While I was putting my change away, the lady went and got one of the balloons and had a wrist-knot ready before I could blink.

Ayla watched intently as we slipped the ribbon over her hand and when I put her down she began squealing with delight!

Ayla walked out of the shop with the hugest smile, stopping to look up at her balloon every few steps…. Her balloon that read “Happy 15th Birthday”

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Back to reality

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Friday, 4 July 2014: One Year and Ninety Five Days Old.

It was back to reality for my little family today, and Ayla didn’t want a bar of it.

When I dropped her at day care this morning, Ayla cried and clasped onto me and wouldn’t let me go. It was the first time Ayla had reacted like that since her first few weeks of day care and it was heartbreaking.

I knew that Ayla loved our week away, having the attention of both her Daddy and I for a whole seven days, but I didn’t realise how much it actually meant to her.

Ayla’s reaction shone a spotlight on the importance of family first, focusing on our own little nucleus instead of all the day-to-day living activities that often steal our attention.

Going back to work (and life) was also a bit of a downer for me. Not because I don’t love my job or because I’m not grateful for the wonderful life we have, but because with life comes distraction and I know what an impact this can have on Ayla.

I don’t know what the answer is… The answer to life-balance.

To keep a roof over our heads and food on the table, to have the money to afford a good education for Ayla, and still finding funds for the things we enjoy means both of us must work.

It also means we have to dedicate our spare time to renovating and property investing, goodness knows our superannuation won’t be much, and it takes time and commitment to continue building our skills so we can maintain our careers.

But, it all comes at such a cost!

Seeing Ayla in tears this morning brought back my desire to throw all our plans and goals and dreams away and head off on an extended family “holiday”; to not worry at all about the future, or Ayla’s future, and think only of the now.

But while it sounds like a wonderful idea and one that could even be achievable, it’s a risky whim that doesn’t address the real issue, it still doesn’t create balance.

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The stars align

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Wednesday, 28 May 2014: One Year and Fifty Nine Days Old.

There’s absolutely no question about how being a mum has changed me.

In so many ways I see the world more clearly, I’m more conscious of myself and I feel like I can relate more to people around me.

I also feel stronger, calmer and more resilient and I find myself turning to focus on what matters instead of how a situation came to be.

Best of all about my mummy-transformation is that it’s happened while Hubby has been by my side.

He too has grown and changed, and together we find ourselves to be confident in our partnership, our goals and where we’re headed.

Of course we attribute a lot, if not all, of this newfound wisdom to Baby Ayla, who in all her innocence had opened our eyes to happiness and contentment in its purest form.

It’s hard to tell if we’ve been uniquely blessed or if there’s been a few strange twists of fate that have made the stars align for us, but we certainly know what we have is special and we’re not going to let a single thing ruin it.

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Miracle mood

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Tuesday, 27 May 2014: One Year and Fifty Seven Days Old.

Ayla was like my miracle mood ring today!

I’d woken up frustrated and angry, probably due to a few bad nights sleep in a row.

I could tell my foul mood was oozing out of my skin, so when the time came to take Ayla to day care I was conscious that the tension was trapped inside my car!

In an attempt to distract Ayla from my mood I turned the radio on, hoping she would turn her ears to the noise and forget the steam coming out of mine.

Then suddenly something click inside me and I decided the easiest way to stop Ayla picking up the bad vibes was to turn them into good ones, or at least neutralise the negativity.

So I picked up the tune from the song that had just finished playing and started making up my own lyrics about Baby Ayla.

The words were silly and repetitive, my tone was terrible and the melody was almost replaced with shouting but Ayla loved it.

From her car seat Ayla started bobbing away, dropping her left shoulder, clapping her hands and kicking her feat.

Ayla’s enthusiasm did nothing but spur me on and by the time we arrived at day care I was puffed, and happy.