A Very Happy UNbirthday To Me!

I have a December birthday, and quite frankly, December birthdays stink. Gifts only one month a year is so not cool. I've tried to play the card that "I was born 3 months early so I should get gifts in March, when I was supposed to be born" but that never works. I've tried making a big deal about my half birthday in years past, but no one cares about that either (besides that one year when I happened to be in Moab on a mountain biking trip on my half birthday so we celebrated with ice cream, but no gifts).

But yesterday, on August 29, 2012 I celebrated my 28.75 year birthday.

Mitch and Layla were even kind enough to buy me a present ... new running shoes!

Too bad the ugliest shoes are always the most comfortable for me. Why can't a super cute pair be the best fit???

What a great birthday, right? Okay, okay, so maybe I just desperately needed a new pair of running shoes to avoid the injury I could feel coming on due to running for far too long in worn out shoes, so I bought myself a new pair and felt guilty for spending so much money when we really need to buy a washer/dryer, blinds, etc. for the new house, so I decided to call them my "birthday present" and swore up and down that Mitch does not have to buy me A THING when it's my real birthday and I won't even care because I'll have my new shoes. All of which is true of course.

And the shoes weren't THAT much money, just an average pair of running shoes, but I felt bad that I couldn't wait until my birthday to get them. Seriously, I was going to get hurt if I didn't get new ones. And heaven forbid I should stop running; I need my daily dose of endorphins!

I told Layla they were my birthday present and she told me "Happy Birthday, Mamma!" and kept telling me to open my present. It was cute. Mitch seemed happy that I could continue my running addiction sans injury and he seemed genuinely pleased when I returned from my first run in my new shoes this morning feeling great!

I would also like to let the world know that I have gotten out of bed at 6 am every day this week (besides Sunday since I don't run on Sundays) to get my run in before Mitch leaves to work. That has got to be some sort of record for me— I am not a morning person. Super excited for when we live in our new house so that Mitch doesn't have to commute to work and I can get 30 more minutes of sleep before I run.

This summer I did not participate in any races for several reasons: we thought we might be living out of state, and now we're building a house so I would rather spend entry fees on new bathroom rugs. But I'm already planning on some half marathons next year. Maybe a full if I'm feeling crazy enough.

50

My mom turned 50 last week and we threw her a surprise birthday party. I'm so glad it's over so I can be done telling little white lies! I have been quite stressed and worried that she was going to find out about it— I made a stupid mistake and put my parents' address as the return address on the envelopes, since this is where we're currently living, and one invite was returned. Of course that happened to be the ONE day my mom actually checked the mail ... she asked me what I had mailed to my cousin ... I ho-hummed and didn't really answer her, but thought the rest of the time that she must have guessed what was going on.

But, judging by her reaction when she walked in the room, I'm pretty sure it's safe to say she had no clue. And, just in case she wasn't embarrassed enough at the party with all the pictures of her during her youth that we hung around the room, I will also include this video of the surprise:

She was so shocked, I'm sure especially to see people from out of town. Jordan and Tenley, Grandpa Kermit, Kent, Dale and Jolene, and Judi and Sam all came in from out of town to surprise her at the party. (Well, she actually knew Kent was here ... he was part of our plan to get her to the party, but she was shocked to see everyone else!) We had celebrated her birthday earlier in the week, like normal, so I'm sure she was extra surprised that we threw her a party too.

cutest.baby.picture.ever. (sorry this pic is blurry!)

It was quite the ordeal to get her to the church. My parents, grandma, and Kent went to dinner, but they got done too early and had to stall for quite a while. At one point, Kent had my mom looking at clouds so she wouldn't see our cars in the parking lot. Ha, ha. Thankfully it all worked out. Sorry if I stressed you out, Dad, Kent, or Grandma, over having to stall for so long!

I made a slideshow of pics of my mom from her birth to present, including music from the decade she was born. We hung balloons on the wall in the shape of the number 50. Her yearbooks were displayed on the table. We had a dessert bar. I made brownies and cupcakes, Grandma Ruth made lemon bars, and Natalie and Tenley made rice krispie treats. My in-laws made their famous home-made Oreo cookies (seriously to die for!).

Grandma Ruth made the beautiful table runners.

We hung pictures of my mom everywhere. Actually, this was my uncle's job and he made it look awesome with his artistic skills. There were at least 100 pictures hung around the room.

I started planning this party months ago. My Grandma Ruth and Natalie were a HUGE help; I couldn't have done it without them! And thanks to my brothers and SILs, Grandma Ruth, Kent, and Judi and Sam for helping us set everything up at the church. It all turned out better than I imagined and I was so pleased with it.

We held the party in the gym of our church, which proved very beneficial because the little kids were entertained with the balls and other games we brought.

Even Brock and Jordan and their wives had a mad dodgeball tournament that sounded like it may have resulted in some welts. It was hilarious.

Thought I should include this pic of Jordan hitting Brock since it's usually the other way around.

It was so sweet of everyone to come and I know my mom really appreciated it. I hope she knows how much she is loved! She has decided to go to college and earn a business degree, which will be very helpful in her current career. She has her first class tomorrow night and I know she is going to rock it. I am so proud of and happy for her decision to return to school; I know she will not regret it! Happy Birthday, Mom, we love you!!!

Potential Artist?

Here are two pictures Layla drew this week:

Layla's depiction of me.

Layla's depiction of Mitch.

Now, you might laugh at her caveman-like drawings that look nothing like her parents (what? you couldn't see the resemblence???), but ... she is not quite 2 1/2 years old yet (28 months) and is drawing faces. That is quite good! She is drawing them consistently now, so it's not just by chance. Also, I should add that about one month ago she drew a pic of me that included a head and face, a body, arms, and legs with sidewalk chalk; I wish I had taken a pic before the sprinklers washed it away. I did show it to Mitch though.

My point is that, according to my limited research, drawing faces at this age is quite advanced. Most children do not draw faces until age 3 or 4. Most children also do not draw a body, and instead draw arms and legs protruding directly out of the head, until age 5.

What does this mean? Well, according to the all-knowing internet, it shows that Layla is intellectually advanced for her age, which we already assumed, though we've never had her tested. (I try not to let my parental biases affect my assumption that our daughter is extra smart, but she does show a lot of the signs of being gifted, so now I figure I should try to nourish that gift as much I can by studying up on how to raise a gifted child to help her reach her fullest potential. (Warning: showing signs of being gifted does not mean the child will be easy to potty train. ha, ha, ha.) At the same time, by vocalizing our opinion that she is gifted, I automatically get nervous for her ... will people expect too much of her? will she feel pressured to always do well? what if she doesn't do as well in school as we're thinking she will do? what if I can't help her nourish her abilities the way I should? Ahhh! It scares me a little.)

But my favorite part? It is a good indication that she is also artistically gifted. Just like her name sake, my aunt Leslie (Layla Leslie). Two of my mom's siblings are exceptionally gifted artists. My uncle is a car designer and my aunt, whom sadly passed away before I was born, had dreams of studying in Paris and working for Disney; I have no doubt she would have done just that if she were still here. We have some of her art she drew before passing away at age 18, and it is amazing what she could already do at such a young age. I know my mom could be just as good if she practiced; the few things I've seen her draw she does very, very well, even though she'd deny it.

I'm hoping Layla inherited this talent and will have the interest to develop it. (Good thing I purchased an art easel for her two years ago, hoping to have an artistic child— just have to wait until she is actually tall enough to use it! Ha, ha.) And I am so glad, once again, that we will be living in a area with excellent schools so she can utilize her little brain to her fullest ability. I can't wait to see all the things she'll accomplish as she grows.

Weekend Getaway

I absolutely love it when Mitch has to go to Huntington Beach, California for work. I love it even more when has has to go on a Friday and I can go spend the weekend with him there. And I love it the most when we have enough sky miles for a free plane ticket for me, enough hotel reward points to pay for what Mitch's work doesn't cover, and a free rental car weekend! That equals one cheap vacation!

While we did have enough sky miles for my ticket, we did not have enough for Layla, so she got to hang out with Mitch's parents all weekend, which I am sure she would have preferred anyways. Thanks to them for watching her and spoiling her! She had a blast and I had a much more relaxing time at the beach than I would have had she been there. I did miss her like crazy!!!! and called her every day, but I must admit, it was a nice break. Pretty sure she missed us too since she told us she missed us at least 20 times each the day we got home.

Apparently we felt like since most of our weekend getaway was free, we should spend too much money on food. We ate at the most amazing Italian restaurant, called La Opera, in Long Beach. Next time we're in that area we will eat there again. We also ate at Bubba Gump's. The food was good, but not amazing. However, I would go there again only because Forrest Gump is one of my top three all-time favorite movies, and it was fun to read all the quotes and facts about the movie. "And that's all I have to say about that."

Our hotels were awesome. We spent one night at the Hyatt at Huntington Beach, the same hotel we stayed at a year and a half ago. It is literally across the street from the beach and has it's own bridge access. We flew in Thursday night, so Friday morning Mitch went running on the beach and then went to his meeting from 9 to 2. While he was there I: slept in, went running on the beach, stopped to watch the surfers, showered, then laid on the beach for a good three hours. And that pretty much sums up my perfect day. Mitch came back, we shopped and ate in the Huntington Beach area, which I totally love, and then headed to Long Beach.

Our second hotel was nice, but not as nice as the HB one. This one was right on the harbor in LB. It was kind of like a mini resort with lots to do: tennis, swimming pool, fire pits, etc. It is also near an area with many restaurants, a movie theater, etc. We saw the new Bourne movie, which we LOVED, and we played tennis. Neither of us have ever played before and I'll just say we're just okay. I must have had a death grip on the racquet though because my arm hurt so bad for days afterward! Ha, ha. Of course Mitch beat me; he's better than me at everything, except water sports, and that's only because I've had more practice. We went swimming, relaxed by the firepit, and just had a relaxing time.

I didn't take any pics except a few of the harbor that I won't bore you with. I should have taken some more, but we were too busy having fun. Thanks to my hubby for letting me tag along! It was so nice to just hang out with Mitch and not have one thing on our agenda. So relaxing. I hope he has more business trips to that area again soon.

August Already?!?

Seriously, how did it become August already? I can't even believe how fast the last few weeks have gone by.
I haven't been very good about taking pictures lately, but we have done a lot: spent a day at the lake with mi padres and our friends, played at the Gateway Museum several times, went to the park,  Layla rode her bike, pushed Layla in the backyard swing (a LOT), had a girls' night with some good friends, etc.

Perhaps the highlight of Layla's life the last few weeks has been riding in "the big yellow bus" at my mom's work (she works for the transportation department of a school district).

While my mom does not drive a bus for her job, she does have to know how to drive one and have a current CDL, which means she got to take us on a ride. Layla's favorite part was definitely talking into the microphone/loudspeaker thing on the bus; she sang "The Wheels on the Bus" and "ABCs" over the microphone. So appropriate, right? She also loved taking the bus through the car wash. I liked that part too.

Mitch and I were able to have a date night, thanks to my parents being so accessible to babysit. We went out with a friend of mine from junior high and her boyfriend. Steph and I were the best of friends in junior high, and then we went to different high schools. We kept in touch for a while, but eventually lost contact. Thanks to Facebook we have reconnected! (I have a love/hate relationship with FB, but finding long lost friends is definitely a plus.) Her boyfriend, randomly, is from Lithuania, where I spent several months of my life as a missionary for our church. It was so fun to ask him questions and brush up on my almost non-existent Lithuanian. I found out my favorite saying, "This is my friend," is kind of and old way of saying that and no one really says that there. Bummer, because I thought it was so fun to say! (It sounds like, "Shitas manos bitchas" and cracks me up every time I say it.) Steph is going to Lithuania with Montas to visit for her first time next month and I am slightly jealous, mostly because it is stunningly beautiful there that time of year. I can't wait to see her pictures when the get back. They are planning to get married there in the next year or two ... I would love to make it to their wedding. We'll see.

Mitch was out of town for what was supposed to be 6 days, but he got to come home one day early! Wahoo! That was a nice surprise. Layla has been extra clingy to me lately; I feel like she' going through some sort of "mom attachment" phase. Not sure if that's common at this age? When we went out the other night, my mom put her to bed, and said that Layla kept saying/whimpering, "I want my momma," over and over. So sad. She seems to always want to be right next to me, wants me to watch everything she does, etc. She will randomly give me a hug and say either, "I love you" or "I like you." Not sure if "I like you" means she loves me less at that moment or not. Ha, ha. And of course, she is still her hilarious little self. She is constantly singing. I estimate that she sings the alphabet at least 25 times a day. No joke. One day I stopped counting at 25.

And, she always makes up her own songs. It's hilarious. The other day she made one up to the tune of  "Frere Jacques" but the only words were "my, my mamma." So cute. Here she is making up a song while Mitch plays the guitar. Her lyrics were something like, "Daddy plays the guiiitttaaarrr..."

We've had our fair share of car troubles this month. Mitch's radiator broke while he was on the freeway. I had to go pick him up; made me nervous having my hubby wait on the side of the freeway. Also made me grateful that I have a handy mechanic as a husband; he was able to order the parts and fix it himself. Saved us a lot of dough. A few days later he got new tires on his car and the stupid tire place broke two of his lug nuts! Of course Mitch fixed those too, but then he was up late doing that and finishing a report for work. Poor guy has got next to no sleep the last few days. Hopefully the rest of the week will go smoother.

I felt like a bad mom, but she did enjoy her first Mickey D's happy meal.

Our house is coming right along. I can't believe how much work they've done over the last few weeks. We now have heat, ac, plumbing, and electricity! Oh, and don't forget our bath tub, jetted tub, and fireplace. I even insisted that we pay extra for the fireplace with a blower. (I always loved my parents fireplace and the insane amount of heat it blew out on my naked feet while I sprawled in front of it to read books, but I could never figure out why most people's don't seem to blow as much, if any, air at all. Enter ... blower! I'm so excited to use it this winter.)

Mitch and his kind, dear friends spent a few hours last night installing Ethernet and surround sound speaker wire throughout the house. Mitch is stoked about the surround sound system and even bought some fancy speakers that will be flush to the wall (per my request. I hate having the speaker boxes poking out of the wall). It should look really nice and sound even better. We have inspections today or tomorrow, as far as I know, and then they start insulating and sheet rocking. I can't believe it. So.excited.I.can.barely.stand.it! Also, my dad was kind enough to ride out to the new house twice with us to give us his input on how well the framers did their job. There are a couple of things they need to fix, which I'm sure will get caught in the inspection, but overall he was very impressed. Makes me feel better to have someone who knows what they're talking about looking out for us. Thanks, Dad!

I have a theory that watermelon makes her hyper ... I swear it does.

Oh ya, maybe no one cares about this but me, but I am working on increasing the miles on my weekly runs. Last summer I tried to do that and got hurt because I tried to increase too much too fast. I have since learned about the "10% rule" that says you should only increase your mileage by 10% each week, which doesn't seem like much, but I'm trusting it this time. I would love to be able to run 6 days a week without injury. I'm addicted to the endorphins and I swear it makes me a better wife, and especially mother, to have the extra dose of happy each day. I am working towards running 20 to 30 miles a week, which I realize for some people is nothing, but for me that's good. I'm more than halfway there and running 5 days a week. I love it.

I'm still upset that my all-time favorite band, Coldplay, is not coming here as part of their supposed-last-ever-tour, but we all know it won't be their last. Don't they all do that? If it is their last, I will be truly heartbroken forever that I did not get to see them one last time. I honestly cry, just a little, every time I think about it. Perhaps I need to get a new favorite band. I've tried, but I've never found anyone that I can listen to  as long and as often and still love just as much if not more.

How's that for a long post?

Jordan and Tenley

My youngest brother got married last month, on July 8th. They wanted to have a private ceremony, just the two of them, in Jamaica, so we had a little celebration in their honor last weekend. My mom put a lot of time and thought into the events, and they turned out great! We had a luncheon on Saturday for extended family and friends and later that evening we went to dinner at Little America (yum!) with just our close family (I consider Judi and Sam family. :)
Congrats to the newlyweds! We wish them a lifetime of happiness together!
Here are a few pics of the day: