Videos

Here's some videos of Layla crawling; poor little girl, her knees are red from crawling so much. And poor Harvey, he gets chased around all day. Not a moment's peace for him now that the little terror can crawl. Ha, ha.

Layla is also really good at feeding herself. I try to give her finger foods for lunch so she can practice feeding herself. She thinks it's super fun and she's pretty good at it. Today I decided to see what she can do if I give her a spoon to eat with. She can't get food on the spoon, but if you give her the spoon with food already on it she can get the food into her mouth. Of course, we only tried this with banana, which sticks to the spoon pretty well, but I still say she's got great hand/eye coordination for a 10.5 month old!

And you don't have to say it, I know you're jealous; not everyone has beautiful green carpet like us. (It will be replaced this year, promise.)

She Crawls!

I didn't think it would happen. Our pediatrician didn't either. We both thought she'd walk and never crawl due to her above average amount of strength- as is evidenced in the picture below. Some ab muscles she must have to lift both her legs up like that! I cannot wait to put her in tumbling. What do you think, U of U gymnastics team 2028???

But I digress.

Little Bug figured out how to crawl this week and now she's crawling around the house while I chase her around and keep her from ripping all of Harvey's hair out. (He usually runs away before too long.) She's much happier now that she's mobile. She jabbers the whole time she's crawling like she's so happy she can't help but tell everyone about it. She crawls from door to door; she loves to open and close the door. She loves it even more when she can see Mommy peeking at her through the crack of door. That makes her laugh her head off. Then Layla and Mommy both end up in a fit of giggles. And for that very reason I am so glad she learned to crawl.

Not to mention how ridiculously cute she is when she crawls.

I am so happy everyday that I am Layla's mom. I feel really blessed. I love taking her to the store and watching her wave to everyone (and I mean everyone) and seeing the smile she brings to stranger's faces. It cracks me up how social she is. I love that part of her personality. It makes me laugh to see the surprise on people's faces when a little baby waves and smiles at them for no reason. I hope she stays that way- not shy and friendly to everyone. I love you, Bug!

War and Peace

I did it. In seven weeks. I finished War and Peace, the longest book I've ever read, 1110 pages of Napoleon, Alexander, and, well ... war ... and peace. Thanks to my awesome Kindle that made reading this monstrous book a lot easier! (Where were you, Kindle, when I read Anna Karenina?!)

I loved the book. It made me actually enjoy learning about history. (Sorry, Natalie, but history is not my forte.) However, Tolstoy has a way with words and helped me understand the significance the Napoleon Era had on the Russians. If you're debating on whether or not to read War and Peace, I recommend it.

It also influenced my dreams and for several nights everyone in my dreams had Russian names, which are already long anyways, but in my dreams they were exaggerated and ridiculously long, like Anna Pavlovnaskayachika Rostovaskayachika. Ha, ha! For a few days I even called Layla "Laylichka" in my head. Between actually knowing Russian and reading this book, these crazy names kept popping into my head all the time. It's a good thing I finished reading it before I started speaking Russian to everyone. Pazdravlyayoo menya.

My Valentine

I vaguely remember asking Mitch if he would be my Valentine last night before I drifted off to sleep. He said yes. I was sure he'd say yes considering the flowers he sent me on Friday. Tulips, my favorite, red, white, and pink ones. Isn't he sweet? He also bought me a new swimming suit. I'm not sure if he realized that he gave me a swimming suit for Valentine's because I ordered it online and wore it to St. George last weekend, but thanks, Mitch!, I love it!!! I gave him a new pair of flip flops. He likes them. On Saturday we went and saw Just Go With It, which we thought was totally hilarious and we went to eat at Kobe, which we thought was good, but Tepanyaki is better. It's been a great Valentine's with my Valentine. I love you, Mitch! Thanks for being all mine. And for our beautiful daughter, who was sick on her first Valentine's, but was so happy to see her daddy when he came home from work. I love that. I love my family!

Day of Sin

I was a horrible person today. I feel so guilty. Layla woke up with a high fever this morning. We quickly decided that Mitch would go to sacrament while I stay home with Layla. Then we would switch so I could go teach my Sunday School class. After Sunday School I would ... wait for it ... go to the store (gasp!) and buy baby Tylenol and Ibuprofen for Bug. I never ever shop on Sunday, so this was a huge deal for me.

Unfortunately, Mitch didn't mention to me that he left sacrament a few minutes early to make sure I would be to my class on time. So I got there and no one was in my class (because they were still in sacrament meeting). I thought I was late and that my class had gone to a different class since I wasn't there. (In my defense, I have a nasty head cold right now so I can't think straight.)

I felt so bad about missing my class; I made them cupcakes just like I promised. Now I'll have to eat them and make them more next week. Ha,ha. Then I felt guilty again because I went to the store on Sunday. Then I came home and Mitch told me he had left early and we realized what had happened and that I should have paid better attention and realized that I wasn't late but early to church.

So now I'm going to try really hard not to sin for the rest of the day! And call the Sunday School president and explain myself.

10 Months

Can you believe Layla turned 10 months old? I'm kinda freaking out that she'll be a year old in less than 2 months. What?!? Where did the time go?

She learned to say "mama" on her 10 month birthday. She doesn't associate it with me, just like she doesn't associate "dada" with Miitch, yet, but it's still ridiculously cute when she says it. Melts my heart.

She visited the doctor on her 10 month birthday due to a fever of 102. Nothing major is wrong, just caught a virus, or probably the cold that Mitch and I keep passing back and forth. She's pretty much back to her normal self now, which is good because I don't sleep much when she's sick. I stay up worrying. Now we can both get some rest.

Besides "mama" and shaking her head no, her other new thing is to wave for the camera. Here she is waving to the camera at dinner with Uncle Dudin before he moved to Idaho. He moved to go to school and be closer to Tenley. We're sure going to miss him! At least he won't be too far away. We're really excited for him.

Here's Layla clapping:

And here she is waving from her car seat. She loves to sit in her car seat and play with the buckles. She's going to be able to buckle herself up in no time! I'm glad she likes her car seat so much. She's playing in it while I type this. What a funny girl.

After she's in there for a minute or so, she usually turns around and slides out then continues to play with the buckles from the floor. Silly Layla.

And now Layla would like to tell you a story:

On my 10 month birthday, my mommy insisted on taking my picture.

It was so boring ...

... until I remembered that I could pull off my socks, that is.

Yay!!! I love picture time!

But I do wish mommy had fed me dinner before pictures. I'm so hungry I could eat my socks!

The end.

So Long, Sloan

Jerry Sloan announced yesterday that he's leaving the Jazz. Seems a little sudden and random, but it's his choice and I'm happy for him if that's what he wants. I don't know much (okay, pretty much nothing) about coaching a basketball team, but from what I hear Jerry Sloan is a great coach. I just enjoyed watching him get angry and kicked out of the game. It didn't happen very often, but for some reason I thought it was hilarious when it did happen.

I hope he enjoys retirement. He did coach the Jazz for 22.5 years. That's a long time. I don't blame him for being done. I do wish he had finished out the season, but whatev. Doesn't it seem random to quit in the middle of the season? This is how I will always remember Jerry Sloan. Yelling.

Anyways, I hope this new coach, Tyrone Corbin, can fill Sloan's shoes and get us an NBA championship!

Poor Mitch

We all know what they say about Church Basketball ... and now I've got proof that it's true. Mitch came home from bball with a nasty cut on his finger and a huge, swollen ankle. He sprained his ankle pretty bad and one of the other players didn't trim his fingernails before playing contact sports and cut Mitch's hand. Does anyone else have the willies right now thinking about how many germs are under a person's fingernail, let alone that fingernail cutting your hand? Sick. Don't worry, we cleaned his cut, iced his ankle, and he is wearing an ace bandage today. Here's Mitch with his "sad face."

Aww, poor baby.

So yes, Church Basketball is rough. Why, you ask? Maybe because they really get into the game. Or maybe because they're all too old and out of shape. Ha, ha. Feel better soon, Mitch!

Petroglyphs

We had another quick trip to St . George to visit my grandpa. He is doing very well after his surgery! I was so impressed with him- we went on a 3.5 mile hike to see some petroglyphs and he walked the whole thing. I'm glad he's recovering so well.

My mom, brother, and grandma came down a day later than us. For some reason I didn't take pics of them, but they were there, I promise. I'll have to steal the pics off my mom's camera later.

We didn't have a ton of time to do a lot. We mostly went out to eat. Have you ever been to The Egg and I? It's my new favorite. I wish they had one here! Yum.

We also took Layla swimming for her first time. She got upset if Mitch or I went under water. But by the end of her little swim she was laughing and splashing. She looked freaking adorable in her swimming suit.

Please Welcome the Newest Member of Our Family

His name is Dyson and we love him. He was worth every penny (especially because he was $100 off the regular price). He cleans our floors like a champ and he is light as a feather.

I've been wanting Dyson to join our family for a long time. I'm glad he's finally here!