October

So, this month turned out differently than I would have expected. Mitch has been out of town practically the entire month for work. Thankfully he was able to come home for Halloween and most weekends. To say we missed him would be an understatement. Layla really struggled and seemed more emotional than normal. I think it was confusing for her to have him gone all week, skype at night, and then home on the weekends. Anyways, we are thankful for his good job, even if it means he has to travel at times.

Already hogging the remote.

We went on a field trip this month to a pumpkin patch. It was fun, despite the fact that it rained practically the entire time and was super muddy. Marcus fell asleep on the tractor ride and Layla love riding on the "cow train."

Last weekend while Mitch was home, he took Layla on a date to another pumpkin patch and they picked out a pumpkin for each of us. (16 cents a pound. So cheap!) They had fun even though Layla was disappointed that this pumpkin patch wasn't nearly as fun as the one we went to on her field trip (but it was only 10 minutes from our house).

The next day Mitch and Layla carved the pumpkins. Layla told Mitch what she wanted each one to look like and he followed orders. She wanted things like "triangle eyes, a circle nose, and a crescent mouth." Cute and easy.

We also attended our ward Halloween party. Everyone brought soup so there were dozens of kinds to choose from. The kids dressed up and the older kids had a carnival for the younger kids with 6 different activities, prizes, and candy. Layla loved it of course. At the end they had a trunk or treat in the parking lot so Layla got plenty of candy. It was a fun night. Too bad I didn't take any pics while we were there!

Marcus turned 5 months old! He's getting so big! He rolled over all by himself for the first time yesterday and has done it several times since. Layla and I clapped and cheered for him the first few times. He can roll over both ways now. Funny how that just happens one day, right? He is also loving his baby food. So far he's had rice cereal, butternut squash, sweet potato, and avacado. He hates avocado unless I mix it with something else. If I give it to him plain he literally gags and throws up. It's very dramatic and quite funny.

 

He is still a happy guy who loves to laugh. I love his little personality. What I don't love is that he quit sleeping through the night and wakes up 2 to 4 times every night! Ahhhh! We tried having Mitch get up with him, but that just made it worse (Marcus is a mamma's boy). I think I'm going to have to do some sleep training soon because I'm starting to go crazy.

His favorite activity: pulling sister's (or my) hair.

The other weekend it was general conference and I explained to Layla who our prophet was and showed her a picture of him (President Thomas S. Monson). A few days later we were at my parents' and Tom Hanks was on TV. I asked Layla if she knew who he was (of course I knew she didn't, but he is one of my top 3 favorite actors, so I was just quizzing her for fun). She looked at him and said, "President Monson!" Apparently Tom Hanks and President Monson look similar to her. It was cute. 

After church a few weeks ago I asked Layla what she learned about in nursery. She said she learned about Joseph Smith. Then I asked her what he did and she said, "He prayed and then 2 Jesuses came!" Ha, ha, ha! Looks like we have a little work to do on that one ...

Layla gave me the best compliment the other day. She said, "You're really good at teaching me stuff, Mom." Awww, I try so hard and it's nice to hear that I'm doing a good job. Especially from the one I'm trying to teach!

I have had several photography sessions every weekend this month and it's been great! What's even better is that I made enough money to buy new editing software, and the rest of my earnings I am saving to buy a telephoto lens. I have learned so much and see that I am improving. Still have a long ways to go to get to where I want to be, but I'm getting there. I am thankful to have built up a good starting client base and hope to expand it more next year. Now I am super busy editing everyone's pics, particularly the clients who need them back for Christmas! Thankfully my new editing software is awesome and I can edit a lot faster and better than I could before.

 

I taught my first lesson in Relief Society last week. I was really worried about two things: remembering people's names and having not having enough material to fill in the whole 40 minutes. Well, I slaughtered people's names, of course, but I did have plenty of material and was able to lead a good group discussion on member missionary work. Several women told me afterwards that they enjoyed the lesson and that made me feel good. Now I won't be so nervous next month.

And, just to embarrass my kids when they're older:

But might I add that right now they both LOVE bathing together. Marcus thinks Layla is the coolest thing in the world, so Layla + water = hyper baby. Layla thinks Marcus is funny and better than any of her bath toys, so it's a win win. I love my kids, even "The One Who Doesn't Sleep." At least he laughs a lot!