Pink

I was so excited to see Layla in her pink swimming suit and pink hat in her pink pool.

She did not disappoint. She even danced.

The water was a little cold, so Layla only sat it in for a second. Mostly she just splashed and stepped in and out and in and out.

I am so excited to spend my summer hanging out by the pool with Bug!

Summer

It finally felt like summer today. And we took advantage of it.

This afternoon Layla had fun playing with Eliza in her wade pool while I chatted with Tynelle. (Should have taken a picture.) Despite the fact that Layla's swimming suit was much too small and threatening to cut off her circulation, I think we fully enjoyed the nice summer weather today. Layla didn't like the wade pool at first, but she quickly changed her mind. She did take a little spill in the pool and swallowed some water. It scared her and she cried. In her defense, it was nap time and she was tired. We called it a day and headed home for a bath to remove the sunscreen. The bath was not nearly as fun as the wade pool.

After her nap we headed to Babies R Us for a new swimming suit, which, might I add, is ridiculously cute and only cost six bucks! Oh, and since Layla loved Eliza's wade pool so much, I splurged and bought her a seven dollar plastic wade pool of her own. I know, best mom ever.

We are officially ready for summer! I am excited to spend time with Layla in her little pool. Well, she'll be in the pool, not me. I doubt we can both fit. But I am willing to give it a try ...

And because I regret not taking any pics of Layla and her friends today, I will add a pic of Layla and her other friends, daddy, kitty, and lamb.

And a pic of Layla and her enemy--green beans. Please notice how she picks them out of her veggie medley and puts them in her cup holder. She must be my daughter.

Punctuation

This made me laugh today:

It's so true!

Layla's Friends

Every morning Layla insists on holding her "friends." Her buddies consist of the kitty, lamb, and lately, the teddy bear. She carries them all around the house and sometimes they even come in the car with us. She will not drink any milk in the morning until she has her friends by her. She gives her friends kisses and sometimes they end up all wet from baby drool. She also loves to hand Mitch or I her friends, one at a time, and then lifts up her arms to let us know that she wants to be held too. It's pretty cute to see Mitch holding Layla and three stuffed animals. I need to get a pic of that still.

In My Next Life

Sometimes I find myself prefacing a thought with the words, "In my next life ..." I guess it's my way of day dreaming.

Anyways, the other day Mitch and I were talking about how hilarious the Tina Fey/Sarah Palin skits were a few years ago. I still crack up every time I picture Tina Fey pulling out a flute and asking if it was the talent portion.

Thinking of Tina Fey led me to tell Mitch that, "In my next life, I want to live in New York and be a writer." Yes, that is one of my day dreams. I would live in an apartment in a high rise building (but not too high up because I'm scared of heights. But since this is a day dream then I guess I wouldn't be scared of heights anymore. In that case, I'd live on the top floor and have 360 degree views). I would be a talented writer, working for some big company, and I would have time to do yoga at a fancy spa that is within walking distance. When I am about 30 or 35 I would get married, have kids, and write from home.

That is my first next life.

In my second next life, I would be a horse jockey. I remember telling my dad when I was young that I wanted to be a horse jockey. I can't remember the exact conversation, but I imagined he laughed. I don't blame him; it's a funny thought to picture a little girl handling a 1,000 pound animal running at 40 mph.

I'll never forget the day I proudly told my dad that I weighed 110 pounds. I don't know why I was proud, but at the time it seemed like some sort of milestone. Anyways, I remember how disappointed I was when he told me I couldn't be a horse jockey because jockeys only weigh 110 pounds, soaking wet, with all their gear on. I was so bummed.

But that's what day dreams are for, right? (Because I'll never have the physique to be a jockey unless I starve myself and if I did that I wouldn't have the strength to stay on the horse!)

So, "in my next life" I will be a horse jockey.

What brought on this random chain of thoughts? I watched the movie Secretariat tonight. It reminded me of my childhood dream. It also made me cry. Not because the horse wins or because her parents die (sorry if I spoiled that for anyone), but because I want so badly to ride a race horse. Even if it's just one time around the track. I want to have a death-tight grip on the horse's mane, smell the horse's sweat, feel it's muscles move under me, squeeze my legs around the horse so I don't fall off, and feel the wind rip through my hair as we race around the track. That would be awesome.

Hopefully I can own a race horse in heaven. His name will be Silver Nitrate. And he will be the fastest horse in town.

Pick a Winner

We fed Layla spaghetti for dinner the other night. She loved it.

Good thing it was bath night. Her other new favorite thing is to stick her finger up her nose. Pick a winner, Layla.

Sometimes she shoves her finger so far up her nostril that her nose bleeds. Of course, she gets upset when we tell her "no, no!" and it usually ends in crying. The other night, Layla decided to prove a point to her daddy (who was doing the punishing because mommy was laughing) and stuck a finger up both nostrils instead of just one. Oh goody.

She learned how to sign "more" and is constantly telling us when she needs more food, more milk, etc. It's super adorable. We're working on signs for milk, again, sleep, and thank you.

In other news, she is now saying "mama" and the way she says it melts my heart.

She's not walking yet, but I'm expecting it any day now.

One last random note: I haven't heard back on that job yet. I received an email today that said I will probably know by Monday. Apparently they aren't in too much of a hurry.

Working Mom

I'm bored today. I have extra time because Layla is taking another long nap. Plus, it's still weird for me to be a stay-at-home-mom. I'm just home. All day long. Usually I have a lot of things to do and I feel like I'm always busy. Running a household and chasing a one year old is not easy. But at the same time I'm bored. Doesn't really make sense, I know. Especially when you consider that my "job" includes smothering this face with kisses all day long.

The problem is that while I am busy grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, etc., I am not busy using my brain. Asking a one year old if she wants "more?" and changing stinky diapers don't exactly stimulate my thinker. I feel like it's shriveling up, slowly decaying into a void of nothingness. I feel stupider. I know, "stupider" isn't a word, but that's my point.

In order to combat my first wish to go back to school, which is pretty much impossible right now since my uber motivated hubby is becoming a doctor of sick rocket motors, I decided to put my already-earned education to use and get a job.

Now I have a job already, but they rarely have work for me to do. When they do send me something it doesn't take much time for me to finish. So I applied for more jobs to fill in the rest of my time. I applied for ten jobs, all editing jobs working from home. I spent at least 15 hours last week studying and taking editing tests for one job that I want so bad I'll cry if I don't get it. Keep in mind the woman doing the hiring told me she picked me as a potential candidate out of "hundreds of resumes," so I should just be flattered to have made it this far in the testing process. But that's not good enough for my perfectionist brain. I want the job. I am job.

I'm supposed to hear back by Thursday. They'll either offer me the job, ask me to do more testing, or tell me I suck and that I have no business editing someone else's work. Either way, I've told myself that it will all work out for the best. Trying to stay positive.

While I was ridiculously busy last week, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I used my brain. And I feel smarter already. If I don't get the job, I'll wait to hear back on the others and then apply for some more. I need to work I've decided. Just part-time and from home. I want my first priorities to be my hubby and our girl.

Speaking of my hubby, he is doing so great at work. I am really proud of him. I'm a little nervous for him to start school. Not because I think he can't do it. I know he'll do awesome. But because I know he'll be super busy and I hope he's not so busy at work that school stresses him out. I want him to enjoy it- as much as one can actually enjoy school, that is.

And our girl is doing awesome. She will probably be walking this week or next. Actually, she can walk, she just doesn't know how to stop and stay standing up. She prefers to squeal and dive to her destination. While it makes me laugh, every single time, I do wish she'd take it a little more serious and slow down. She would have been walking weeks ago if she'd stop diving. But, it's funny and what's the rush, right?

I dressed Layla like summer today. It looked like summer outside- until this afternoon. I hate that. Pick a season and stick to it! At least it's warming up and I can run outside again.

I am glad every day when I get to hang out with her. She's fun and she teaches me so much about loving people. So don't get me wrong, I am very thankful that I can stay home. Mitch works so hard so that I can. I just need to exercise my brain a little.