Summer

I feel like this summer is going by way too fast. Layla has definitely been having a lot of fun though! She's had playdates most week days and I must note on here that Oakley's mom, and my good friend, Nicole, has been a life saver this summer! She has taken Layla swimming, to Princess Academy, or just to her house to play with Oakley more times than I can count, even picking her up and dropping her off so I can rest or get things done. I appreciate it so much and I tear up every time I think of how much she's helped me. Such a good friend! Also, my parents have offered to have Layla sleep over so many times, and that has been so helpful (and fun for all of us!) as well. And my grandma even came up one day to help me and I really appreciated her. Such good friends and family we have!

I also wanted to add that Mitch's parents had Layla sleep over recently and they took her to the dinosaur park in Ogden. Layla had a fun time with them, as always!




They also cleaned their swimming pool and Layla LOVED squirting grandpa with the hose! Ha, ha I can just hear her laughing now ...

We were able to attend Mitch's cousin's wedding, Cameron, to his beautiful bride, Katherine. They were married in the Brigham City LDS temple. I was so grateful that we were able to attend the ceremony because it was a good reminder to me of the promises and blessings that Mitch and I made to each other and to our Savior when we were married. The words are beautiful and inspiring and I may have shed a tear or two. I was so happy for Cam and his decision to be married in the temple. I know our temple marriage has only blessed and enriched our lives. Also, doesn't Mitch look so handsome in his suit? I'm sure it stinks to wear it when it's so hot out, but he sure looks nice!

Layla and Marcus hung out in the waiting room with Mammy and Grandpa Bott. They were good kids! Oh, and Marcus takes a bottle like a champ! Wahoo! Freedom!!! (We never could get Layla to take a bottle.) I try to pump a little breastmilk every day to have Mitch give him at least one bottle a day so he doesn't start rejecting it. Anyways, back to the wedding. Layla showed everyone her underwear while she was in the waiting room. It was awesome. Totally reverent. Ha, ha.

After the ceremony and a few pics outside we went to Maddox for a ring ceremony and the yummiest lunch ever. Seriously, their food is SO good. Unfortunately, by this point the kids were done. I spent over 30 minutes trying to get Marcus to stop screaming (he didn't want to eat, but was probably overstimulated and overtired and couldn't fall asleep) and Layla spilled her drink all over and wouldn't eat any of her food. So what happened? We left in grumpy moods, Marcus finally fell asleep in the car, and ... Layla threw up in the car on the way home. It was awesome (sarcasm). Mitch said we are never taking the kids anywhere nice again until they're older. I said next time we just need more help because honestly, while the food was so yummy, the luncheon was not fun at all for either of us. Of course we wouldn't have missed it for the world, we are so happy for the bride and groom, but we should have either left the kids at home or had more help from family members. Needless to say we all took naps when we got home and were very brief at the reception that evening.

I think Layla looks a lot like her Aunt Katie.

Later that night we put the kids to bed and I hear a noise that I thought was Marcus and his acid reflux, only it was really Layla throwing up again. It was nasty and we felt so bad for her. It was also very strange because she had no fever, no diarrhea, and didn't complain that her belly hurt or anything. In fact, she was her normal chatty self and seemed in a fairly good mood considering she had just vomited all over. We made her a little bed on the floor in our room and gave her a big bowl just in case. She actually seemed excited to throw up in the bowl, like it was a challenge or something, so we decided she must not be too sick if she wasn't upset or crying. Long story short, she never threw up again, never developed any other symptoms, and has been fine ever since. Weird, right? She probably just threw up because she didn't eat any real food all day and only drank juice. Parent failure right there.

Layla has one more swim lesson left for this round then I think I might enroll her in the preschool swim class next month. We'll see. Also, we went out and helped her practice riding her balance bike (a bike with no pedals so they learn to balance first and never need training wheels. Google "balance bike," they're awesome.). She's really getting the hang of it! I told her we'd go out every evening and practice until she can do it herself and then she can pick a prize from the store. She already decided she wants to pick a "candy prize." Easy enough. I'll have to post a video of her riding it once she's got the hang of it. Should be pretty soon!

Marcus is doing so much better with his reflux! He coos and smiles a lot now and it's the cutest thing. He LOVES to stare at windows and watch the ceiling fan move and gets mad if he's watching them and you move him. It's hilarious, he seriously yells at you. He's going to be a feisty one, I have a feeling. Marcus has a lot of nicknames around here: Little Man, Mr. Bott, Little Dude, Mr. Man, Little Guy, Buddy, MJ (Marcus James/Mitch Jr.), Little Brother, Baby Brother, and probably a few more I'm forgetting. Whenever I say something like, "I'm coming, Little Man!" Layla will immediately follow it with, "Mamma's coming, Little Man!" It's hilarious, and I'm sure will be totally annoying to Marcus when he's older. Ha, ha. She's the sweetest, yet most annoying big sister ever. She just loves him SO much and she's always right in his face. Like one inch away from his face, which means her hair is always touching him and I can tell he hates it. Poor little guy. It's pretty funny though. And I'm mostly just glad that she loves him so much, even if it is too much at times.

Mitch and I finally joined the 20th Century and got smart phones. Actually, Mitch has had my mom's old Iphone for a while now, but we were too cheap to pay for a data package. We finally broke down and got a data package and we both got new Nokia Windows phones. I love it! It's so sleek and organized the way everything is displayed. I feel like my whole life is organized and planned in that phone and I can accomplish so much more because of it! Mitch kept making fun of me because I wanted an app where we could both add to and view our grocery list. Well, the awesome Windows phone has that feature, plus the ability to add and view pictures we take on either one of our phones, already built in! It rocks. Now I just need to take the time to download the pics off my phone onto my blog. Soon.