Jesus and Walmart

Is it just me...or are 2 1/2 year olds some of the funniest people on the planet?  Layla has had me in stitches for the past week...mostly during prayer time.

On Sunday, Neil, Layla and me all went to church, as usual.  That morning when I was talking to Layla about getting ready to go to Jesus' house, she informed me that the last week she ate way too many Nila wafers and that made her go "gak".  I'm assuming it hurt her belly?  I suggested that this Sunday she should only eat one or two and save her appetite for a yummy lunch.  

SO, after church and lunch (where she informed me that she ate Cheerios for snack at Jesus house), we went upstairs to read some books and get ready for nap.  While I was singing to her, she put her little hand over my mouth, telling me to "stop that noise" (I like to think of it as beautiful music...but whatever) because she needed to say a prayer.  So I stopped and closed my eyes.  This is how the prayer proceeded:

Mommy:  Dear Lord, thank you for such a beautiful morning...thank you for the nice ladies at  church who do such a great job with Layla

Layla:  And Lord, I tink you need go to Walmart and get some more goldfish and Nila wafers...I not really like Cheerios.

Mommy:  Yes Lord, please make a trip to Walmart

Layla:  And you need to get a buggy for all those things too

Mommy:  Yes, don't forget the buggy.  Lord, please be with Layla while she rests.  Help her to sleep good and wake up with lots of energy to go swimming.

Layla:  And Lord, help that man...Michael...to rest...I need to sing with him and use his microphone at church.

Now, Michael is the preacher and I just want to note that for the past two bedtimes and THREE nap times, we have had to pray for Michael to get good rest.  I have yet to figure that one out.  And the whole bit about needing to go to Walmart....I almost lost it because her little face was so serious.  

Finally...let me start by saying that Layla started using potty time as a stalling tactic for bed--she figured this out after only three days!  SO-I have started taking her before we sing songs and put her down and make sure she knows that its the last time until morning.  Yet, she still attempts to make another trip to the potty EVERY night and every afternoon before nap.  Last night, Neil helped her on the potty, so I wasn't there to make certain she knew it was the last time for the night.  SO, while I was singing, she asked over and over and over and over to use the potty.  I told her "no" after the fifth time and that she wasn't to ask again.  I told her she already went potty and she'd have to wait until morning.  Shortly after, we began our night time prayers that went something like this:

Mommy:  Dear Lord, thank you for such a great day.  Thank you for daddy and how hard he worked today.

Layla:  And Lord, help Layla...I really need pee pee on dat potty right now.

At this point I looked down at her and her little eyes were closed as tight as I've ever seen them.  I whispered to her to walk to the door so we could go potty one more time (I felt TERRIBLE), but that its not right to tell stories (to which she said she loved telling stories, especially stories about The Very Hungry Caterpillar)---uh, lies to mommy about things like needing to potty.  I explained to her the importance of being truthful.  She nodded and said she really had to use the potty.  So we went...and she was right.  

Although the little prayer was kind of comical, I was really proud of her for talking to Jesus about it.  Up until now, its been mostly a conversation to Jesus about her day and all the things she likes and doesn't like...so this was an interesting change of topic.

Last but not least..

I have more belly pictures that I'll post tomorrow along with Layla's dance to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" complete with pink tutu.  The belly is really growing guys...I think I'm kinda proud of the latest little picture.  I was hoping to have a BIG belly by the beach next week, but I'll just have to settle for a medium sized belly that still looks a little awkward :-)

The little guy/girl has been moving like crazy lately..mostly after 1opm--must be the ice cream I eat at 9 every night.  Layla always got a little crazy after I'd eat ice cream too...

Pinkerbelle the Great

Today we had our first experience with REAL LIFE pretend.  

Let me start by saying Layla got a book at a birthday party as part of a book exchange.  It didn't surprise me that she picked the book with a GIANT pink cupcake on the front...if you know her at all, you know that she LOVES cake...especially cupcakes and most especially pink ones with glittery frosting (I know...I'm still not sure where she gets it from) :-) ANYWAY, once we got home from the birthday party we had to read the book right away.  I was surprised to see how much of a brat the main character was.  Neil and I have had to change the words in the book to protect our sweet Layla just a little longer.  Had I read the book before, I would not have let her take it home...its THAT bad.  Just in case any of you moms out there want to know for reference, its called "Pinkalicous" and trust me...its awful--or was awful until we did some parental editing.

So today, while jumping on the trampoline, Layla decided she was no longer Layla Antoinette but was Pinkerbelle.  In fact, she asked that I not call her anything but Pinkerbelle.  I couldn't even call her sweetie or monkey or anything.   Only Pinkerbelle.  Then she insisted I take her swimsuit off because it was "green and Pinkerbelle is pink".  So my little naked Pinkerbelle jumped on the trampoline until lunch.  And before her nap, she wore nothing but a pink cape (blanket) around her room.

After her nap (which wasn't really a nap because she played the whole time), I thought the little game of pretend would be over.  Not so soon.  She woke up telling me she was a boy.  She only wanted to do "boy things" at the park and wanted to be called, "just Boy" all night long.  At the dinner table, she thought she could get away with bad manners by claiming she was Boy and boys stand in their seats and yell inside.  Fortunately her daddy is a great example and we foiled her plan by letting her know that daddy was a boy and boys eat dinner just like daddy.  When daddy left to smoke cigars with the boys tonight, Layla was somewhat mystified that she was not invited to the little soiree.  She didn't let up ALL night.  In fact, I had to refer to her as Boy during our prayers.  

I hope tomorrow morning my sweet little Layla girl is back because Boy is WILD and Pinkerbelle is kind of demanding :-)

Baby belly and potty training (take 3)

Okay...so this week, I finally committed to getting Layla potty trained.  I firmly believe she was capable of being potty trained months ago, but she likes to do things on her terms (or at least I let her believe they are on her terms).  So as you can imagine, potty training was a difficult task because I have to lead the way and encourage her to sit on the potty even when she'd rather not.  But--we've had two days of success and no accidents...WHEW.  She even made it though gymnastics on Tuesday with big girl undies on.  I am so proud of her...I think she's proud too, even though she's asked me not to say "YAY" when she goes to the potty--so I do a silent "proud mommy" dance for her--which is quite amusing.    

The funniest story yet....

Yesterday I took her to Whole Foods because Neil was sick and it is so difficult to get rest with a little one running around.  So I had her sit on the potty twice before we left and right when we arrived at Whole Foods.  She didn't go either time...so I'm starting to sweat it, thinking she's going to pee in the buggy at Whole Foods.  She didn't.  So we went again at Whole Foods before we left and no pee pee.  

So, I loaded up the car and off we went.  As soon as I got on the highway, she yelled out "Pee pee mommy".  I made a quick exit and noticed a Hardee's right off the highway.  Little did I know, it was the ghetto Hardees.  The bathroom was clean by fast food joint standards, but it reeked of peach air fresheners and old cigarette smoke.  When we entered the restroom, Layla looked at me and said, "ummmm mommy...it smells good in here...like some peaches".  HA, my eternal little optimist.  I wiped the potty down at least three times with a wipe covered in anti bacterial soap and popped her on top.  We sat for about 10 minutes and no pee pee.   Out to the car we went.  As soon as she was buckled in her car seat, she told me she had to go potty again.

Sooooooooo

In we went...to the fabulous Hardees...this time for about 15 minutes and then SUCCESS.  We both laughed like crazy...I laughed because I had never spent so much time in a public restroom and I guess she was laughing because I was laughing.  All in all, I was so proud of her for telling me she needed to go potty and then actually doing it.

Fingers crossed that this attempt at potty training is a success :-)

Finally, as promised...a belly picture.  Its somewhat disappointing, I know.  I told Neil to make sure he was at an angle that made it look the biggest.  I don't think you'd ever hear a female ask her husband to take a picture of her belly and try to make it look big.  Oh well.  We tried--I even arched my back a little.  I guess this little one is going to be a tiny baby like Layla....I was really hoping for a big belly this time around...I still have five months to make it happen though :-)  Bring on the milkshakes.

Layla thought it amusing that I was having a picture of my belly made, so she wanted in on the action.

  

UPDATE

SO...

no leg cramps last night :-) YAY.  I still woke up a dozen times or so  trying to stretch and then reminding myself of my propensity toward leg cramps...I'll learn eventually.

Thanks Michelle..I think the potassium did the trick.  Now if I can ONLY keep up with eating bananas and be more proactive than reactive.

Happy rainy Tuesday guys...I hope to have pictures of the Bean at gymnastics tonight and of my growing (yet still kind of embarrassingly wimpy) belly to post.

pain in the

So since I became a "runner" a little over a year ago, there has been one little thing that has given me a TON of enjoyment....

After running pretty consistently for a couple of months and picking up my mileage, I began to really enjoy how nice it felt to stretch my legs in bed.  I enjoyed it so much that I started having problems sleeping through the night because I'd wake myself up to stretch my legs (picture a cat stretching when it wakes up) every couple hours.  Eventually the joy of it lessened enough for me to only wake up at 6am to stretch out...and boy was it amazing--still is--well, until THIS morning.

My center of gravity has shifted over the past couple of weeks...apparently it happens almost immediately after your first 12 weeks of pregnancy.  I could tell my legs were tired at the end of any run that exceeded 5-6 miles.  This was kind of strange, because even in the midst all my marathon training (including hill repeats and speed work), my legs were never really tired--or at least what I would consider tired.  Sometimes they'd get a little sore and heavy after a 20+ mile run...but not the way they have been the past couple of weeks.  THEN I read this nice little article about exercising (particularly running) while pregnant.  APPARENTLY this little shift in my center of gravity has caused some random muscles to up their workload when I run...just to keep me from falling over (or forward).  Who knew?  I guess it explains way running is one of those sports where pregnancy makes you a better athlete.  

ANYWAY, I say all that to say that I'm back to square one with stretching in bed...But last night it was much less enjoyable.  Those of you who have been pregnant before know of those nice little calf cramps that kick in periodically during pregnancy.   Starting at about 4am this morning (during my 3-4 stretch of the night) I felt a little pull in my calf and knew it was coming.  I sat right up in bed beating the poo out of my leg until it went away.  Whew...note to self, noooo moooorrrreee stretching in bed.  Unfortunately, when I feel back asleep, I couldn't resist the urge and continued to wake myself up FOUR MORE TIMES.  Needless to say, after my run this morning, my right calf felt like I had worked it out something fierce.  When I got in from my run, I woke up Neil and apologized for being so crazy during the night.  He didn't notice a thing :-)  And he says he isn't a heavy sleeper!

I thought about taking a nap but am scared I'll try and stretch again...its pitiful really.  I guess this will break my habit once and for all...we'll see.  

As a side note, my hubby has started a new little venture...I say little, but its kind of a big deal :-)

He's in the final stages of starting his own micro-brewery, The White Star Beer Co.  I'm pretty darn excited about the kegs of  root beer and cream soda that they'll be making...but that's just me.  ANYWAY, check out his website when you get the chance at:

www.whitestarbeer.com

...hopefully soon he'll be up and blogging.  I'm trying to convince him to let the brewery's "web fans" vote on a name for one of the first beers because how cool would that be?

Mommy leftovers

What a CRAZY weekend.

That wedding I filmed on Saturday was LONG.   I left my house at around 3pm and didn't get back home until 2:15am.  Whew...that's a lot of time to be on my feet.  Originally (before traffic stopped the charter bus with ALL the guests for an hour) the reception was going to be over at 11:30.  The closer it got to 11:30, mom, dad and I realized that THAT wasn't going to happen.  They actually didn't do their exit until 10 minutes past 1am!  I realized at that point that poor Neil AND Layla were going to be served "mommy leftovers" on Sunday morning.  

But all in all, you couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day and for a sweeter family.  I'm sending the film off for processing today and am going to be waiting on pins and needles for the next three weeks.  I'm excited to see how the film is going to work with dad's stills.  I feel like we worked really well together and communicated nicely.  But getting film in is always a big surprise.

Finally, as promised, here is an attempt to get Layla singing "Jesus Loves Me. I'm still working on getting the WHOLE thing, but Layla is kind of or miss with the video camera.  Sometimes she'll smile and sing like crazy...sometimes she'll run the other way.  Maybe we'll try again today?  

Jesus Loves Me from Black Daffodil Films on Vimeo.

everything about nothing, really

Few things...

I just sold my first 8mm wedding package :-)  Talk about an accomplishment.  It feels really good.  The bride and groom are from DC and the groom's grandfather worked for Kodak for 40 years.  SO, he was really familiar with Super 8 film and seems super excited.  For more of my thoughts on this, you can look at my other blog...my "business" blog ;)

Hummm so what else.  

Layla is doing great...up to her same old things...last night after putting her down for bed, I realized that her window unit air conditioner (YES, our house was built in 1940 so even though we have central air, the upstairs gets HOT and her room needs a window thing) came unplugged.  Because our house is so old, none of the outlets work like they are supposed to.  There is apparently a certain "touch" to getting the plug back into the wall and making the air conditioner work.  I found out that I do not have that touch.

SO as I'm struggling..UNDER her crib...to get the air on, I hear her little voice say, "peek a boo mommy...I see your bum".  At that point, I should have giggled at myself and her, but I was way to focused on getting the air conditioner plugged in and getting downstairs to my OJ and club soda (new pregnancy favorite, which I will discuss in a minute).   I told her to lay down, it was time for night night.  So she obliged and went into her third verse of "Michael Row Your Boat Ashore".  I guess I was making too much noise huffing and puffing because she stopped mid verse, looked over the edge of the crib and YELLED, "Hey mommy, what you doin' down there so loud".  In other words, keep it down, I'm trying to get some sleep up here.

Needless to say, after 10 minutes, I called in daddy to fix it...Layla seemed relieved that help was on the way--help she could trust would get it taken care of.  Daddy did, indeed...in only 30 seconds.  Incredible.

Pregnancy...

WELL, running is going great.  I'm still doing about 35 miles a week running and 7 or so walking.  I've found that I can't think when I walk like I do when I run...so I tend to opt for a run over a walk and only walk on days that my friend Toddy comes over.  

I'm finished with the yuck-o sickness, but still don't have much of an appetite--except for almonds, cottage cheese, yogurt, OJ and club soda, Total Bran Flakes, fruit and anything with tomatoes.  I still don't really have an appetite for two of my pre-pregnancy favorites, ice cream and popcorn...but I've gotten my appetite back for graham crackers and peanut butter...YAY!

okay so I think that's all of my little "everything about nothing" post....

hopefully next week will be a little more eventful or I'll be feeling a little more inspired to blog.