Minor Surgery

About this time last year I had a benign cyst removed off my right shoulder. The doctor said he was able to remove all of it. Well, it came back. At first I thought it was scar tissue from having it removed last year, but it kept getting bigger. I finally went back to the doctor and asked him about it. Sure enough, the cyst had made its return. This time I had to schedule a "minor surgery" to have it cut out. The whole thing lasted about one hour. I stopped counting after the fifth layer of stitches. I don't know how many stitches I have, but it's a lot. Three of them are permanent and the rest will dissolve in about one month. It hurt pretty bad the first few days, but it doesn't bug me too much anymore (it's been almost one week). Hopefully the cyst won't grow back anymore! This pic is kind of gross, but I wanted a pic of it so I can remember how I got a scar on my shoulder in ten years from now (pretty sure it will leave a scar).

Don't worry, the rest of the pictures in this post are much cuter.

Mitch and I spent about 30 minutes the other night trying to capture Layla's huge, goofy grin on camera. We never quite got it, but here are the best attempts:

Man, is she cute or what? Mitch is so so so excited for Layla to jump in her Johnny Jumper thing that hangs from the doorway. He put her in it the other day to try it out ... guess he'll have to wait a little longer, it's still way too big for her! Ha,ha. You can't quite tell in the picture, but her feet don't even touch the ground. Mitch said she just stared at him with that look on her face. Hilarious.
And here's The Little Princess in another cute skirt that Aunt Natalie gave her.

Positivity

I came across this video today. It made me laugh so hard.

I can do anything good.

So funny. But really, I love that!

I hope Layla believes that she can do anything good. I want to instill that in her. I want her to be able to find the positive things about every situation she finds herself in, good or bad. I want her to grow up seeing the beauty in the world and people around her. And I think it's up to Mitch and I to teach her that. To only say positive things around her. To only focus on the good. I don't want her to be shy, scared, boring, or naive . I want her to have a zest for life, a love for learning, a healthy self-confidence, a love for people, an appreciation for her many blessings, and most of all, a love for Heavenly Father.

And I think those things are learned. Whether she learns to be shy/social or positive/negative those are things that Mitch and I will teach her by our example. If we're shy or negative, she'll most likely be shy or negative too. If she sees us being social and positive, she'll most likely be social and positive as well. (I understand this isn't true 100% of the time, but I believe that for the most part it is.) So as parents, Mitch and I need to be the type of people we want our kids to be, as they will most likely end up like us - but hopefully better.

Now I don't always have the best attitude. I've been working on being positive. Trying to set a good example for Little Girl. Maybe I'll try pumping myself up in front of the mirror every morning while Layla watches. It ought to rub off on her eventually, right?

***I've been thinking about this a lot lately because Layla is going through a phase where she doesn't want to be held by other people besides Mitch and I. Hopefully it will pass soon. I do not want her to be a shy, anti-social person. It really worries me. But, I know this is pretty typical of babies so I shouldn't worry too much.***

Ode To A Busy Guy

Mitch is a busy guy, and last week was especially busy. But no matter how busy he is, he always takes time out for me and Layla. I love him for that. Last week Mitch had a work trip to Chicago, spent one night at work for a missile launch, spent two nights preparing for Scout camp, spent one night at Scout camp, and two days with our families celebrating Father's Day. At least this week there's not much on his agenda ...

Daddy and daughter in matching Pink Floyd shirts

I hope Mitch had a good Father's Day. He sure deserves it. He's such a great dad. Layla loves him sooooo much, you can tell. And he is always so willing and eager to help me with her and give me a break. He loves to spend time with Layla and that makes me happy.

So, for Father's Day I made Mitch breakfast (okay, I kind of cheated ... Toaster Strudels, fruit, and orange juice. Hey, I don't have much time anymore and Mitch loves Toaster Strudels!). I gave him an outdoor firepit for his gift. This firepit runs on a propane tank so there is no messing with firewood or smelling like campfire. Mitch hasn't had a spare minute to set it up yet and we've had it since Thursday, but hopefully tonight he'll have some time. I hope it works good, there's nothing better than a warm, gooey s'more!

Happy Father's Day, Mitch!!! We love you!

Little Girl fell asleep in her car seat after church

We were able to spend some quality time with both our fams for Father's Day. We did yard word for Kevin and they made us dinner. It was yummy. (Mitch and I missed most of the yard work and wish we could have done more.) My grandpa was in town so my fam got together for dinner. My mom and dad made some incredible shishkabobs with steak, chicken, shrimp, red and green peppers, onions, pineapple, and zucchini squash. They were amazing! It was nice to spend time with both of our families. We both have great dads. We sure love them.

Grandpa Miles wanted cash to buy a new anchor for his boat, so we rolled some bills up in a diaper. It was pretty funny.

What else? Layla is doing awesome. She slept for 11.5 hours last night! She might have slept longer, but I went in and woke her up since it had been 12 hours since she last ate. What an awesome little sleeper. She's been sleeping for at least 6 hours at a time, and fluctuating anywhere between 6 to 10 hours, but last night was the longest she's slept so far. I can't wait until she starts sleeping for 12 hours and wakes up at the same time every day ... right now it's a little sporadic. But I'll take what I can get!

Her two month appointment went pretty good. She screamed her head off after they gave her some shots. We had three immunizations done at this visit (instead of the recommend six) and we were able to work out a schedule with our pediatrician that spreads them out how we want. Here are her two month stats for memory's sake:

Length: 23.6 inches 95th percentile

Weight: 10.9 pounds 60th percentile

Head: 15 inches 50th percentile

She's growing very well. Except her feet. They're still really small. In fact, the only shoes that fit her are newborn size, when she should be wearing a size bigger (at least) by now. (Total bummer since I bought her some adorable sandals to wear this summer, but unless her feet start growing, they'll be too big!)

We're just hoping she doesn't inherit Uncle Dudin's gorilla hands. Ha, ha! Watch out Brock- Jordan seems to be winning the favorite uncle competition!

Layla is starting to be so much fun. She smiles, talks, and laughs a lot now. Mitch made her laugh so hard yesterday. It was the cutest thing I have ever seen. We really need to get it on camera. She also thinks my dad is pretty funny and was laughing at him too. So cute. We sure love having her around! Now if I could only capture her smile on camera before she gets distracted by it ...

Stop Yelling At Me!

Layla yells at us. It's absolutely hilarious. Instead of just waking up and whimpering or crying, she yells. I guess she figures it's the quickest way to get our attention. And boy does it work! I'll lay her down for a nap, and an hour or so later I'll hear her yelling through the monitor. (Truth be told I sometimes let her yell at me for a little while because it makes me laugh. Don't worry, I don't ever let her get too upset.)

We were able to capture one of her yelling episodes on camera. Actually, this started out as a normal "diaper-change -conversation" between Mitch and Layla, which lasted for several minutes. However, by the time I got the camera out, she was getting fed up with it and started to yell at us that she wanted off the changing table. Oh, and don't make fun of Mitch or I for acting like dorks; we can't help it, she's our first and we're completely smitten. And, yes, I am a horrible cameraman. I have since figured out how to turn the camera light on. Anyways, we're hoping Layla doesn't yell at us when she's a teenager ... I can hear it already, "But Daddy, I LOVE Billy!" Ha,ha.

Nostalgic

I walked outside today to check the mail. The warm breeze hit me with the sound of a neighbor's lawnmower, the smell of fresh cut grass, and memories of Mitch and I during our blissful dating days. Springtime, warm weather, and sunny days always remind me of when Mitch and I dated before my mission. Ahhh, such happy memories full of sunshine and smiles.

I walked back inside and found our cat, Harvey, insistent on going outside so he could enjoy the sunshine as well. I wasn't going to let him- we just bathed him two nights ago and I didn't want him to get filthy dirty again from rolling on the cement. But he got his way. (More like he annoyed the crap out of me with his incessant meowing until I finally let him out.) Then I started thinking, "Why didn't we get a dog? I'm really more of a dog person anyways." I love dogs. If I could choose, I think I'd get a German Shepard. They're smart, loyal, protective, and cute. (But ask me tomorrow and I might have a different answer. I like almost all dogs.) Honestly, the only reason why we got a cat over a dog in the first place is because at the time we were both working full-time and going to school so we were never home to take care of a dog. Also, our yard is not fenced in and I don't want the dog to be inside all of the time. So, we got Harvey. Now I love him and all, but sometimes I still want a dog. Perhaps if our next house has a fence we can get an adorable German Shepherd puppy. Or a black lab. Because really, what's cuter than a puppy?

You don't have to answer that.

But I digress.

Back to my nostalgia. As I was thinking about summertime and how even Harvey loves the summer, my thoughts wandered to my favorite thing about summer: Lake Powell!!! What's better than an enormous lake with water so warm it feels like a bath, millions of stars that glitter and shoot across the sky, a houseboat full of people you love, and morning ski runs on sheets of glass? ... Nothing. That's the answer. Nothing is better than Lake Powell. I could vacation there every single year and be happy. This year my family decided to skip Powell since we're all going to Panama for a family reunion (it would be very expensive to do both). But I insist that we go next year! And I will finally learn how to wakeboard ... Here's an old pic of us at Rainbow Bridge. And yes, that's my dad with no shirt on. That's one of the great things about Powell: you don't have to get dressed, you can wear your swimming suit 24/7 if you want. Gotta love it.

Ahhhh, the joys of summer. My Grandpa Kermit and I used to spend a lot of time biking in the summer. I miss that. He moved to St. George. Plus, he's always traveling. He travels more than anyone I know. He was in Panama right after Layla was born (his dad, my great grandpa and Layla's great great grandpa, who lived in Panama, passed away the day after Layla was born) and he's going to Peru next week. So last week, in between his busy itinerary, he came to meet Layla for the first time. My aunt Michelle also met Layla for the first time. We decided on family picture time for those of us who were there. There you have it, four generations of Panamanians. Ha, ha.

Ahhh, summer. Dating Mitch, Lake Powell, biking with Grandpa (he could always outbike me, btw), and just the general sunnyness of it all. It makes me so happy.

And just a little nostalgic.

2 Months Old

Where does the time go? Seriously. The last two months have flown by faster than any two months in my whole life. Here's some of the things Layla is doing at two months:

• She "talks" all the time to Mitch and I
• Smiles at us
• Kind of enjoys her baths (at least she doesn't scream the whole time anymore!) She just sits quietly and stares. Doesn't hate it. Doesn't love it.
• Doing great at tummy time
• Grabs toys and holds onto them for extended periods of time (I think she might be left-handed; maybe she got my family's artistic gene and we be a great artist like her name sake, Leslie, was. We'll see.)
• Sleeps (most nights) for 6 to 8 hour stretches

It is so much fun to watch her learn and grow! Here's a pic of her at two months. She wasn't very happy while we took this pic, as evidenced by her lower lip. Ha,ha.

She has her two month check up today. She's going to get her first set of immunizations. We're spreading them out so she doesn't get 6 at one time. I think it's a little ridiculous how many immunizations they give a baby all at once. So, Mitch made up a calendar that spreads them out so she gets two (sometimes three) immunizations per visit. I like it better that way. I took a class in college about childhood learning disabilities. Of course we covered the theory that immunizations cause Autism. I don't know if I believe that or not, but regardless I still think 6 immunizations in one doctor visit is too much, Autism or not. I realize that Mitch and I and millions of other kids were immunized the same way and we all turned out fine. I just think we know more about immunizations now, the public is more educated and aware, so why not take a few precautions? She will be fully immunized, it will just take a little bit longer. Except the Chicken Pox vaccine. I'm debating that one. We all had Chicken Pox and were fine. A new vaccine makes me a little nervous. It seems like 10 years after they come out with something they find out it has some nasty side effects ... I'll have to read up on that some more.

Anyways, we love having Layla with us. She's a doll and she's so sweet. Unless she's tired. She must take after me - she gets incredibly grumpy when she's tired, as both sets of grandparents learned this week! Ha,ha.

Life is good. Mitch is still enjoying his job. I am still editing for a DIY website and I also started as an English tutor for an online company called Smarthinking.com. I LOVE it so far. I don't officially start until August, when school starts, but I've been doing some training and it feels so good to use my brain again! It makes me feel smart again and I realize that those years of suffering through lectures and finals were all worth it. I'm excited for the upcoming semester to stretch my brain and help the students learn and understand new things. It's so nice to think about something besides dirty diapers and feeding schedules. Ha,ha. And it's only two hours a day, five days a week, so I can still have plenty of time for Layla. Taking care of her is the most rewarding job I could have, after all.

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

I was a little camera happy the other day and took a bunch of pictures. I took pictures of Layla's favorite things thus far in her short, little life. So here they are in no particular order:

Her swing. Really, it makes her so happy. Such a good investment! She talks to herself in the mirror that's above the seat. Adorable.

Her Dad. He's my favorite too.

Her Mom. I have to be her favorite. I have her food.

Her Bouncy Chair. Front row seat to watch me cook dinner.

Her Daddy making her smile. Such a Daddy's Girl.

Her hands in the air while she sleeps. I don't know how or why she sleeps that way ...

Her changing table. She loves hanging out on it. Kinda weird? Maybe because it's so soft ...

Her cute skirts and dresses that I make her wear to church. Okay, okay, that's one of my favorite things, not hers. Ha,ha. (Thanks for the adorable skirt, Natalie!)

Jabberwocky

Layla is developing her own little language. It sounds like Jabberwocky, but it's super adorable. Her favorite time to talk is after a diaper change or when she first wakes up. She's so cute when she concentrates on getting her mouth just right to make the next sound. We finally got it on camera. Mitch had to hide out of her view with the camera because if she sees the camera she gets distracted and stops talking. Enjoy the video, but don't make fun of me for sounding like a fool; she likes it when I imitate her language ... and my voice always sounds so high pitched on camera. I can't help it.