Watermelon Crawl

Layla had watermelon for the first time...I mean REALLY had watermelon.  It was hilarious.  Neil went out on the front porch to cut "the watermelon" in order to minimize the mess it would make.  HA--Layla had other...more desirable plans :-)

She ran after daddy and insisted that she supervise.  You can imagine her excitement when she discovered that watermelon was both edible and messy.  She had a blast as watermelon juice ran up her arms...down her shirt...between her toes...IN HER HAIR.  And it gets better...for all you "cleanies" out there.   Layla then proceeded to make her way to the yard with mommy to plant and water flowers.   So, just think--nice, sticky watermelon juice and potting soil--it was HILARIOUS!  

Life with my little Layla, this weekend, showed me how to experience watermelon for the first time and it was amazing!  

On the "milestones" front--Layla has started trying to put puzzles together...which seems to be giving her some frustration and ultimately pride when she gets one right--but it has been so hard for me not to reach in and make things easier for her.  She's incredible...she has no idea how much she is teaching me.

Miss Opinionated

Well after researching the plastics...and stumbling upon TONS of environmental toxins that I either refused to acknowledge for years or just didn't know about...my family is now microwave/red meat/plastic/corn and almost wheat free! And, yours truly is now wine and cigar free...YIKES. I really didn't even do the wine thing on purpose. For some crazy reason, now that I've started working out more and even RUNNING (yeah..that's right...I'm a runner--HA--not really but I'm just starting to enjoy it), I just haven't been in the mood for wine. And, that is very very strange for me. And I know this is coming---NO---I'm not preggo again :-)

So yeah...a brand new lease on life. This is the first time that I have initiated such a healthy lifestyle. Normally its someone forcing me into doing/not doing something. YAY Lindsey!

On a side note, we had my brother and his wife over for dinner this weekend. Every time we get together, I feel so proud that he's my big brother--and so SO blessed that we have such an amazing and real relationship. He's funny, sweet, protective and he has ALWAYS had my back, but makes sure to quietly tell me when I'm wrong. OH MY GOODNESS I just love him to pieces! So I put a picture up of us just goofing off the other night...


And on the Layla front...nothing really new and big with her. She is (and someone tell me if this is early for her to be doing this) starting to be SUPER opinionated. On Sunday, she insisted on eating her peanut butter sandwich with a spoon. She isn't talking much, so you can imagine how torturous it was for her to wait on mommy to figure out what she was grunting and pointing at. On Monday and Tuesday, she insisted on wearing her Uggs. She picked them out of her little closet and started trying to put them on her feet. So I asked her if she wanted to wear them--she nodded her head and came over to sit in my lap. Little Miss Opinionated....ohhhh I hope she stays that way.

Life Without Plastic

So, I just found out via a good friend's blog (see link at right to "Alchemy" blog) about the dangerous plastic found in sippy cups. I thought I was doing so well, limiting Layla's exposure to hormones and antibiotics in meats and dairy products, only to find out that the sippy cup she carries around every day could be linked to hormone disruption! WOW. So I took the first step and just ordered her a Klean Kanteen sippy cup. The next step is to completely get rid of all plastic storage containers (including the one that holds our peanut butter)--so I'll make sure to keep you guys posted on our progress.

Guys, this is real and its worth looking into. Please take a couple of minutes to go to Michelle's blog ("Alchemy").

Freschetta IS betta

I have really REALLY been blessed with the most amazing sister-in-law. In fact, to even call her that seems to minimize how important she is to me and how incredible our relationship is. Anyway, we normally get together every Monday night (it has since moved to Tuesday night to accommodate our spring TV schedule) to indulge our guilty pleasure of watching Hollywood smut. So we watch E! news (if they can even call "that" news) and enjoy pizza and wine. I always look forward to Monday (Tuesday) nights.

Just recently, I have been introduced to the frozen varieties of pizza via my Tuesday wine/pizza/smut night. Pizza was a food that I ABSOLUTELY hated pre-pregnancy, but now I love it. I noticed that Freschetta pizza had something about it that was strangely familiar. I was searching for online coupons (one of the many new roles I perform as a full-time mommy) and I stumbled upon something most fantastic. Freschetta is owned by Schwann's! Unbelievable. Schwann's...the pizza my grandmother used to feed me until I thought I'd turn into a piece of small, cubed pepperoni! Have you ever figured something like that out and felt really proud. Maybe I'm just very strange. I felt so proud...I had to write about it.

Laters-

New Bed...first injury

SO...we took a leap of faith and spent the night with Neil's parents last night. Layla has ONLY slept in her crib at our house since November--I've been a bad mommy. We are taking two family vacations to the beach this year and I thought it would be hell if we didn't get her accustomed to sleeping somewhere other than her crib. So, we packed up everything--her bumper pad, her sheets, her blankie, her crib toys--and headed to High Point for the night. I was a nervous wreck. I was so afraid that it wouldn't work and we'd be driving back to Lexington at 8pm. BUT....drum roll.......Layla did amazing. She cried for about 5 minutes just after I put her down, but after that, she slept straight through the night until about 7am! YAY! I was so proud of her. Its crazy how something that small makes me so proud of her. I don't know what I'll do when she makes her first "A". HA!

Layla also experienced her first injury this week. I thought it was major, but in reality was probably no big deal. She has a little toy dump truck that she loves to take to the park and fill with mulch. She was pushing it around in the house the other day and I guess put too much weight on the back. The truck tipped back and popped her in the mouth. It looked a lot worse than it really was. She bleed and bleed and bleed--and cried and cried and cried. I was heartbroken, so when we went to the grocery that afternoon I made sure to get her a "Get Well Soon" balloon. Interestingly enough--her daddy felt so sorry for her that he stopped at the candy store downtown and picked her up a giant cotton candy flavored lollipop. I took a picture of her in her wagon...with the lollipop, balloon and flowers. Rotten :-)

OH and she has finally said what I believe is her very first big kid word. She's been saying "mommy" and "da da" for a couple of months and then picked up "ah-o" about two months ago. But she just said "clothes"--well more like "gos"--but still. She is absolutely obsessed with carrying her clothes around her room on hangers. She loads up both hands and walks in circles for at least 15 minutes. For a one year old--that is an eternity. So I think "clothes" being her first word less of her being a little diva and more of her interest in being able to successfully pack her hands full of hangers.

Not on Wednesday

Yesterday was different than most other Wednesday mornings. Now that I am a mommy, a day that begins somewhat predictable is a good day. HA--crazy, I know. Anyway, yesterday did not begin that way. It began with a call for mommy very early--normally Layla plays in her crib until almost 8am--what was going on? I walked into her room and she impatiently started reaching for mommy. So I held her and rocked her--and we went downstairs. Normally she plays in the living room or goes to jump on the bed with daddy. Not on Wednesday. I held her all morning. She helped me make coffee, make breakfast, make the bed, put my make-up on, and all the while I was wondering what happened to my little independent, secure girl. Maybe this is her first real touch of separation anxiety? I should add that this little stage is accompanied by some major whininess. Poor Layla.



On a side note, I am teaching Political Science at a local community college. I was informed yesterday that I have been letting my class out too early nearly all semester. APPARENTLY there is some rule out there that the entire hour and fifteen minutes has to be used. So the Academic Leas ion in my department suggested I--wait for it----------talk slower or show videos. ARE YOU KIDDING ME! Somehow there is this little part of me who has a serious problem with productivity being measured by the amount of time you spend "on the clock"--more time=more productive and more successful--does that seem a little backwards to anyone? And, I think there must be some part of me that detests being told what to do--I tend to want to rebel...AGGHHH. In fact, Neil made me get out of bed last night and take another shower because my heart was beating so hard. Other than that...the class is going great and I've been so impressed with my students, surprisingly after missing ten minutes of class every day. Really, Lindsey....really...in the grand scheme of life, this little incident is not so important...but I just had to rant! :-)

Back to my sweet little Layla--I hope she doesn't inherit this from her mommy!

New to all of this...

This whole "blog thing" is very new to me, and I'm terribly afraid I may say too much--I tend to do that sometimes. Anyway, here I am and welcome to my world. Enjoy!