November 2013

Seems like it's getting harder and harder to keep up with this blog! I've been busy lately, but I have been keeping a running list of things I wanted to remember. And sorry, but most of these pics are off my phone so they're not great, but man is it ever convenient!

This picture melts my heart.
The other day I caught Layla singing "You are My Sunshine" to Marcus
and I almost cried it was so sweet!

Thanksgiving was nice. We spent it with my family this year. Jordan and Tenley came in town and announced they are expecting their first baby in July! We are excited for them! The food was delicious as always. My favorites are my grandma's homemade stuffing and Natalie's yams that taste like dessert. Layla kept calling it a "feast" and it made me laugh. For preschool the week before Thanksgiving she learned about the holiday and made a paper turkey. She wrote five things she was thankful for on the feathers. Her five were mom and dad, a nice house, friends, snacks, and tickles (we tickle her a lot). On the morning of Thanksgiving I asked her if she knew what I was thankful for (intending for her to say, "Me!" meaning her). Instead she said, "Jesus!" I was surprised and said, "Yes, I am thankful for Jesus, but what else do you think I am thankful for?" She said,  "Me! And Daddy! And Marcus! And Harvey!" Cute! And I'm thankful that I've taught her enough about our Savior that she knows I am thankful for Him. :)

The other day she played at her friend Rylee's house and she came home with a pen mark on her face. I asked her about it and she said, "Rylee drew on me with a pen and I told her, 'Don't do that again or I will poke you in the eye!' " Oh, wow, my first reaction was to laugh, which I did, then I told her it's not nice to poke people in the eye, no matter what they do to you (but I was proud of her for sticking up for herself).

She's still working on her Halloween candy.

So, we let Marcus cry it out in November in an attempt to get him to sleep through the night. The very first night we said we would let him cry for up to one hour before going in to rescue him. He cried for 58 minutes. No lie. It was tortuous! But then the next time was only 30ish minutes, then 15ish, then less and less until he slept the whole night through. It was hard to do this, in fact, Mitch physically pushed me down when I tried to get out of bed to rescue Marcus. He didn't push me hard, it was pretty funny to tell you the truth, but I really have a hard time letting him cry. I just do it because I know it will pay off in the long run. While this method worked awesome for Layla when she was a baby, it was and wasn't successful for Marcus. It was successful because it only took a couple of nights before he was sleeping 10+ straight hours. This lasted for almost two weeks. It wasn't successful because then he got a cold and now he is getting his two bottom teeth, so he's no longer sleeping through the night. BUT, he does fall asleep on his own much better than he did before, he is taking longer naps, and he wakes up far less than before the torturous "cry it out" began. Once he gets his teeth (should be in the next few days I'm thinking) I will give him a few nights before I let him cry it out again.

I've been spiking his hair like this lately.
It takes his cuteness to a whole new level.

Speaking of Marcus, I cannot believe he's already 6 months old! He is THE.MOST.FUN baby ever. He thinks everything is hilarious and he gets hyper every evening and is super loud and crazy. It's impossible to be sad or upset when Marcus is around because his happiness is contagious. He really is a little ray of sunshine in our home. I pray every day that he will keep his happy disposition throughout his life.

At his 6 month checkup he weighed 16 lbs 11 oz, 50th percentile. I can't remember how many inches he was, but he was 45th percentile for height. (Much different than Layla, who from birth has always been 90th percentile or higher for height.) Marcus got two shots and took them like a champ. The second I picked him up after his shots he stopped crying and was fine. Tough boy, just wants his mamma to hold him. Layla, on the other hand, was a mess! She also had to get two shots, which I did not tell her about because I knew if I did I wouldn't even be able to get her in the car to go to the doctor. Once she realized what was going on she literally curled up in a little ball on the chair and starting sobbing, "I don't want a shot!" It was the saddest thing ever. Seriously way harder than watching a baby getting a shot because the baby has no idea, but Layla understands now. I had to pry her off the chair, pull her pants down (the shots were in her thigh), and restrain her arms so she wouldn't try to grab the needle. It was awful. Then she is extra dramatic on top of the sadness, which meant she cried the entire way home (which made Marcus laugh, which made her cry even harder, but it was really funny for me to witness), and then she literally limped into the house, which was weird since she stopped limping when I offered her some candy! And of course she was fine the rest of the day. Ha, ha! Anyways, I am thankful, once again, for two healthy kids!

She wears "a princess dress" over her clothes nearly every day.
I even let her wear them to the store because it's not worth the fight.
And she looks pretty dang cute.

Marcus has also been chowing down on his baby food now. We got the go ahead to give him baby food three times a day, and he loves it! His favorites are sweet potatoes and applesauce. I haven't found anything he doesn't like yet since he learned to like avocados. I do need to branch out more, I've just been really busy and keep feeding him the same things because I haven't had any time to make new baby food. But I'll get to it soon. Also, he is just days away from getting his first two teeth and from sitting all on his own for longer than one minute at a time.

Seriously so happy almost all the time!

We got a new car! We sold the Hummer and bought a 2008 BMW 328xi. It only had 35K miles when we bought it. I am so glad we bought it because I like it so much more than the Hummer. The Hummer was fun, I just prefer a car over an SUV. It's easier to get the kids in and out, gets way better gas mileage, and the BMW rides incredibly smooth and quiet. I always heard people say how much quieter and smoother luxury cars drive, and I never really understood, but now I do and I am in love. It also has all sorts of crazy options like a leather heated steering wheel, which is lovely on a cold winter day! I am very pleased with it and hope it drives forever! Mitch's poor Subaru has had all sorts of problems lately and Mitch has spent hours working on it. If we would have known, maybe we would have sold his instead of the Hummer, but of course it happened afterwards. Hopefully his will hold out until he graduates because he wants to buy himself a super cool car when he's done with school ... he'll sure have earned it!

Layla "driving" the new car ... only 12.5 more years! Ahhh!

My little photography business exploded the last few months! I have done two high school senior sessions, two engagement sessions, and and five family sessions. Fun! I am also photographing my first wedding next month and I am excited and nervous! With the money I've earned I am going to buy a nice hot shoe flash to replace my cheap one. My goal is to eventually be a wedding photographer, but for now the family sessions help me gain experience too. It has been quite stressful at times trying to finish editing everyone's pics since they all needed them back for Christmas cards, but I have learned so much and am having a lot of fun. After I finish editing the other engagement session and the wedding, I will focus on updating my photography blog and advertising some more. Hopefully next year I can start getting more into wedding photography!

He laughs at everything Layla does.
They have a lot of fun together.

Mitch and I went on a spending splurge the last few weeks ... I guess we'd been saving all year and finally decided to make some purchases. We bought a new Christmas tree, a new kitchen table and chairs, tile for our kitchen backsplash, a new TV, and Mitch's Precious, the Xbox One. (The Xbox was kind of a sore spot for a while with me because I thought it was expensive and unnecessary, but I must now admit that it is super cool. It basically makes the TV a smart TV and it even does voice commands! And the voice commands actually work! It has a really neat fitness app and other things that I like too, so now I'm not mad about it anymore, which is good for Mitch! Ha!) We still haven't found any bar stools that we love, so we will keep our eye out for those. And we should probably slow down with the spending for now, but I'm not gonna lie, it was fun!

Now Christmas is right around the corner and I am so excited for Layla! She loved seeing all the Christmas decor around our house and I even put some in her room, which she thinks is fun. (Harvey has already jumped in the Christmas tree! It makes me so mad. He jumped in it today, ironically while I was teaching Layla's preschool and the topic was pets. You better believe the kids all thought it was hilarious that he jumped in the tree while I was talking about him!) I talked to Layla about the Nativity and tried to teach her the true meaning of Christmas. We set up a Nativity scene on the fireplace mantle. We also wrote a letter to Santa today. She dictated and I wrote. Here's what it says:

Dear Santa Claus,
I am a good girl. I wish I could go to the North Pole with you! I wish you could come through my front door, not down my chimney. Come through my front door. Please bring me a Minnie Mouse puzzle, and can you bring me a marshmallow robot? A kitty toy. Thank you! Layla 

She also drew "a map of the North Pole" and put an x where the North Pole is located. So funny! Oh, and I have no idea what a marshmallow robot is ... I'm not going to worry about it. The only consistent thing she has said that she wants for Christmas is watermelon, so we'll make sure to get her some of that. :)

Merry Christmas!