Lists

I currently have three different lists of things I've been meaning to write on this blog ... things Layla has said or done, things we've been busy doing, and some things I want to record just so I remember them later. Eventually I get so sick of these little post-its lying around that I force myself to sit at the computer and write on my blog. Warning: this post is kind of random and scatter-brained. Here goes:

In the past, Layla could keep herself entertained quite easily while I exercised, showered, and got ready. This has been harder lately and I worry every day what I'm going to find her in to. The other day it was the tube of butt creme, which she had opened and applied all over her face like Indian war paint. My first thought was to take a picture, but then I instantly had images pop in my head of Layla rubbing the butt creme in her eyes, and pregnant me trying to hold a screaming, wiggling, 34-pound toddler under the faucet to rinse it out. So I didn't take a picture, but hurriedly wiped it off instead.

Portrait she drew of Daddy. 

Sometimes I wish I had a smart phone. I think I'd take a lot more pics if I had one. My mom takes lots of pics on hers and emails them to me, which is super convenient. Here's one she took while we were shopping at Old Navy and Layla randomly decided to pose like the mannequins.


Random side note: I have taken it upon myself to start teaching Layla how to climb in and out of the Hummer all by herself. It helps my back and poor baby belly so much!

Another one off my mom's phone.

Sometimes she does keep herself entertained by reading books in her bed, all by her lonesome. It cracks me up to find her laying on her pillows, with books stacked around her, talking to herself about the pics. She's got all the words memorized so it seems like she really is reading. Mitch said, "She must be your daughter." (I guess I do read a lot.) It makes me really happy that she's developing a love for reading (or her version of reading for now).

I did finish reading Les Miserables. I finished a day earlier than my goal, on January 30th! It was hands down one of my top 5 favorite books. Mitch and I are going to see the movie this weekend and I can't wait.

Relaxing by the fire at Mammie and Grandpa's house.

Layla calls a "baker" a "maker" and she thinks the ladies who hand out samples at Sam's Club are "makers." The other day I threw her off and instead of going to Smith's and then Sam's, we went to Smith's and then Target. While walking into Target Layla started whining and said, "I want to go to Sam's Cwub and get some samples from the makers!" Ha, ha.

Too bad grandpa sold all his horses ... now he has to be the horsey!

Instead of saying "naked" she says, "make-ed." It's especially funny when she runs around butt-naked yelling, "I'm make-ed!" which actually happens more often than I'd like to admit. I think it's hilarious. It was also awesome when she went pee pee on the potty the other night right after her bath and then did a naked booty dance to celebrate her victory. We laughed our heads off.

Again, courtesy of my mom's phone...

The potty training is still going I guess. We don't really push it much because it seems the more we push the more she refuses. If we notice she needs to go we'll ask her to sit on the potty and she usually will. Sometimes she'll tell us she needs to go all by herself, which is nice. She usually goes on the potty at least once a day. It's a start. I'll take it!

Yesterday Mitch walked in and noticed she was hiding, which is what she always does when she has to go poop but doesn't want to sit on the potty. He nicely asked her if she needed to go on the potty and she said, "No! I'm busy right now!" Ha, ha, ha! I think I know where she learned that phrase!

Another phrase she loves to say drives me nuts because it is grammatically incorrect. I'll ask her what's wrong and she'll say, "Nuffing's not wrong." Too bad she's too young to understand why double negatives are incorrect.

Grandpa is always willing to rough-house with her.

She speaks with a slight accent lately. No idea where it came from. She calls me "Mo-ma." And she says other words with an accent too, mostly words involving the a or o sounds. It's pretty funny and really random. Also, while she does have a contagious, super girly, high-pitched giggle/squeal, she doesn't always laugh. Sometimes she'll just say, "That's kind of funny." Totally reminds me of an episode of "Scrubs" where JD is dating a girl who never laughs and only says, in a monotone voice, "That's so funny." He eventually breaks up with her because he can't handle it. 

I was able to catch a couple of her "concentration faces" on camera at the museum the other day:

We've had lots of play dates lately, which has been so nice for Layla (and for me too as I get to visit with the other moms). We've played a lot with Oakley, Parker, and our new friend in our neighborhood, a little boy named Landon. Next week we also have plans with a little girl named Elsie who lives 5 or 6 houses down from us. I think Layla is much happier when she has play dates and it's also very important for her social growth, so it's a win-win. She has so much fun with her friends!

We've also spent lots of time at the museum. She loves that place!

She LOVES the fake horse at the museum.
Gives him hugs and kisses.
I tell her to beg Daddy for one.
So far he hasn't given in, but he will someday.

Look how good she'd take care of him!
How can you say no to that?
(Just kidding, Mitch. I don't really want one.
They really are too much work.
We'll just settle with riding lessons.)

The other day I told Mitch that I must be in "nesting" mode because I want to get all this stuff done before Marcus is born, to which Mitch responded with, "I know, like how we need a new TV." Ha, ha! I just started laughing ... apparently he doesn't fully understand nesting. I meant things that needed to be done for the baby before he's born. It was funny. But in Mitch's defense, a new TV would be awesome. Ours is rear-projection and the bulbs keep burning out. Super annoying. But besides that the TV works great so it's hard to justify buying a new one.

21 weeks? Maybe 20 or 22?
Somewhere in there.

We have awesome neighbors. I've been meaning to write this on here for a while, but when we moved in we had so many neighbors introduce themselves and one even came over and helped us move our crap in. Then, a few weeks later, we had lots of help when we moved our piano here. The piano mover said if I could find two guys to help him move the piano into our house then he would charge me less. So I had Mitch and I needed one more person. At the time we didn't have a ward directory or anyone's phone numbers, so I walked to a neighbor's house and asked if her husband could help. He was out of town, but she gave me an extra copy of the ward directory and told me to call the Elders Quorum President. Well, the guy I called was not home, and he was no longer the EQP, but his kind wife told me he would be there with more help the next day when the piano mover was coming. Sure enough, that neighbor, and 3 more guys (all of whom we had never met before) showed up at our house, 10 minutes early and ready to move a piano. The piano mover was impressed and didn't even have to use his ramps ... the 4 guys and Mitch carried the piano up the flight of 13 stairs and into the bonus room. It was hard work, no doubt, but so much easier thanks to great neighbors! I wrote them thank you cards and baked them some cookies. It's so nice to have connections through the church and to know there are always people there you can count on, even if you don't actually know them. The church really has a way of bringing people together I guess.

Layla loves to help make sugar cookies. And dump a million sprinkles on.
And lick the frosting off the cookie.

Mitch was out of town last week, Monday through Friday. I was really worried before he left that it would snow and I wouldn't be able to leave the house. Normally I would snow blow the driveway myself, but I can't because I'm preggo and the snow blower, while easier than shoveling, is still a little much for a 5 months pregnant woman. We had noticed that our neighbor across the street has a 4-wheeler with a snowplow on it, so I asked Mitch to ask him to clear our driveway if it snowed while Mitch was away. Again, we had never met this guy before, but he was so kind and said it would be no problem. He ended up clearing our driveway  twice the first day,once the second day, and he even shoveled our porch steps a couple of times. And then it finally stopped snowing ... we go so much snow in those few days! I was so grateful for our neighbor and his willingness to help out. Again, a thank you card and cookies.

And blog purge complete.