Wild Animal

Today I dressed Layla up in her zebra shirt and giraffe print sunglasses. We picked up our friends Shelly and Parker (Parker was wearing leopard print pants) and we headed to the zoo.

It was both of the little ones' first time at the zoo and ... they didn't love it as much as we thought they would. They liked it, but they didn't love it. I thought Layla would laugh and talk to the animals. She didn't. But she did point, bark, and meow at the animals.

The weather was nice and cool and it was a pretty day. I thought the leopard was pretty too! Layla kept calling him "kitty" and meowing at him. It made me laugh because he looked like he wanted to eat her for lunch.

This is how the ape was sleeping. Totally made me laugh. Layla thought it was her uncle Dudin because he was so hairy.

What do you think? Did we evolve from apes?

Layla got lots of compliments on her giraffe print sunglasses.

The baby elephant was absolutely adorable.

I think Layla had fun. She was definitely tired and slept the whole way home, which surprised me considering the whole way there she and Parker sat in their car seats and laughed at each other. It was fun going with our friends. We'll have to go again this summer.

And just for fun, here's a video of my wild animal at dinner tonight. One perk of being Layla's mommy is that she thinks I am the funniest person in the whole world. I love it. Oh, and don't mind her crazy Einstein hair- she had just pulled out her piggy tails.

Stuff

I feel like we do so much around here and I hardly ever write about it. I need to blog more often so I don't end up with ridiculously long posts like this one.

Mitch went to Chicago last week for work and was able to attend a Cubs game. He hates baseball because it's too slow, but I think he had fun anyways. He also was able to check out the Sears Tower (the tallest building in the US) and said it was awesome.

Layla is walking all over the place. She still falls down and crawls here and there, but she's definitely getting better at walking.

For Family Home Evening the other night we ate dinner outside and let Layla "swim" in her wade pool.

I ran in the Wasatch Back Relay and had a blast. I'll post more on that later. One week later, last Saturday, Mitch and I decided to run 10 miles to train for our half marathon on the 4th. It was 80 degrees outside and I thought I was going to pass out while running. (I have Cardiogenic Syncope, which causes me to dehydrate and overheat really fast.) Stupid idea to run that far in the heat. Mitch saved me from passing out by running to Maverik and buying me a Gatorade. My hero! He ended up running 11.3 miles total. He's definitely ready for the race. Let's hope I am!

I made a scrapbook of Layla's 1st year of life. She loves it. Almost daily she'll pull it off the shelf, flip the pages, and point at people in the pics.

Here's a few things I want to remember about Bug at this age (14 months):

1. She walks around the house saying, "dada, mama, KID-TEE!" (She pronounces "kitty" almost like it's two words.)
2. She learned meow like a cat this week.
3. She signs "more" and is now also using it when she wants to read another book. It makes me happy that she loves to read so much. For some reason the other signs are not catching on. Oh wait, that's because I'm totally not consistent. I really need to be better about that.
4. She can show you where her belly is when you ask her. She lifts up her shirt every time and her belly is always bulging out.
5. She goes up and down the stairs like a champ. She can also get off the couch by herself, but needs help getting on.
6. She will finally keep her sunglasses on! And if you show her her reflection in the car window with her glasses on, she laughs and claps.
7. She is close to mastering utensils. Tonight I helped her eat her veggies with her spork. Every time she'd get them in her mouth she would hand me the spork to hold so she could clap for herself. The girl thrives on praise. Even self praise. Super funny.
8. She won't eat anything else for dinner until she's had her fair share of veggies. It's wonderful! She loves peas and carrots the most, but will also eat corn. She still refuses to eat the green beans and puts them in her cup holder. Once she's had enough veggies, she will usually eat whatever else we offer her.
9. For the last three days she's been telling us when she goes poo. She'll say, "doo doo" and we check her diaper and it's poopy! I don't think Mitch believed me at first, but this morning I came back from running and Mitch said Layla had told him "doo doo" and he checked and she had pooped! Maybe we'll be potty training her sooner than I thought??
10. She learned to "give kisses." Melts my heart. Especially when she is playing and comes over to me just to give me a kiss and then goes off and plays again. She's such a sweet girl. She also loves to give her kitty and lamb kisses. And she makes them kiss each other, which I think is super funny.

I am still waiting to hear back on the job I really want. I check in about once a week, only to be told that it's taking longer than normal, she sends me her most sincere apologies, and says, "hopefully next Monday." Hmmm. Well, at least that's better than a no.

My new aunt, "Auntie Laura" was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints last week by my Uncle Kent. She is so happy. He is so happy. We are so happy for them! What can I say? The Gospel is happiness!

What else? We put in three new windows upstairs. And by "we" I of course mean Mitch and my dad. Thanks again, Dad, for helping out and bringing your tools! And thanks to my brother Brock for getting us the sweet deal on the windows! They look awesome. Because we had crappy blinds for two of the new windows, I decided to be crafty and make a roman shade for the smaller window. I love the way roman shades look and would love to make them for our whole house (eventually).

My biggest mistake was buying fabric that is too light. As a result, the pleats don't fold quite the way I wanted them to. It's not exactly what I was going for, but I still really like it. And now I know to buy heavier fabric next time. On the other hand, the whole thing cost me less than 20 bucks!

I also joined Pinterest. Have you heard of it? It's basically a way to save ideas you find online. I love it. I've found all sorts of ideas, projects, etc. In fact, I learned how to make the roman shade from Pinterest. I also made these oreo-filled chocolate chip cookies, thanks to Pinterest. They ended up being HUGE and way too rich for my liking. I don't think I recommend them. I sent them to scout camp with Mitch.

And, I made a 4th of July wreath based on Pinterest inspiration. I'm pretty proud considering I am not the crafty type.

Caio!

She Toddles!

We officially have a toddler now. So bittersweet. She doesn't even look like a baby anymore; she looks like a little girl. It makes me want to cry. On the other hand, I am so excited for and proud of her! And now we can take her camping (I didn't want to go and have her crawling all over the campground.)

Here's a video of our toddler toddling. You also get the privilege of hearing her say, "Wahoo!" and seeing her attack the camera, forcing the end of the video. Enjoy.

*Update: I just called my parents' house to tell them to watch this video. I was telling my dad some of the funny things Layla has done lately. He said, "You have a little angel. She's just like you were ... so sweet and easy going. You were just like her at that age." Wow, can I just say how happy that made me?! All I ever hear is how much she looks like Mitch, which I agree and it's a good thing because she's cute, but it was nice to actually hear that she got some of my genes too. (She also got my mom's slight dimple in her left cheek. Face, not bum. And my eyelashes.) So, while she might look just like Mitch, I am convinced that she has my temperament. Wahoo! Something for all my hard work.

DaDa

Layla is blessed to have Mitch as her DaDa because he wants the world for her. He loves to "hang out" with her. He misses her when he goes out of town for work. He loves to teach her new things. He thinks she's the cutest, funniest, smartest baby in the world.

I am blessed to have Mitch as the DaDa to our baby girl because he is an interactive, helpful dad. He stays home with her in the mornings so I can feed my running addiction. He lets me buy her too many clothes and tells me how cute they'll look on her. He works hard so I can stay home with our baby.

Happy Father's Day, Mitch! Layla and I love you so much.

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!