Swimming, Soup and Layla's Eye

Saturday Layla, Elv and I hung out at Em and Mike's all day while Joe worked with his dad and brother on the electrical work in our basement. We still have a long ways to go, but we're making progress. Layla enjoyed throwing all the toys out of the pool while Gavin kept busy putting them back in:-).

This is what Layla's hair looks like with sunblock in it:-)...

Fighting over the car...

Gavin enjoyed drinking from the hose...

Em was busy cleaning Gavin's new jeep outside so I went in and gave them their first bath together. It's definitely a little more challenging bathing two kids instead of just one mainly b/c Layla was tired and not happy about the bath.

Sunday night we weren't sure what we wanted for supper and Joe said he felt like tortilla soup. I found a delicious recipe and actually happened to have everything (with some modifications) in the house. I thought I'd pass it along since it was so good:-).

2 (10.5 ounce) cans condensed chicken and rice soup (I used 1 can of chicken broth b/c I apparently read it wrong:D)
1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers (I think my can was 14 oz)
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce (I didn't have tomato sauce, so I used 1 can of tomato soup)
8 ounces tortilla chips (I used tortilla strips)
4 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese

I added:

1 can pinto beans (would have used black beans if I had them--I really needed to get groceries!)

chili powder (which I think is what made it super spicy)

cilantro (which I buy in a spice jar which is so handy)

corn

onion (spice)

In a medium saucepan over medium high heat, combine the soup, tomatoes and chilies and tomato sauce. Bring just to a boil and remove from heat. Place some tortilla chips in the bottom of an individual bowl and sprinkle cheese over the chips. Pour soup over the chips and cheese (or garnish with strips, cheese and sour cream as I did).

This is probably kind of gross to post right after talking about food, but Layla woke up Monday morning with an eye infection. I don't know how she got it, but the dr prescribed some drops and already today it's looking better (although I'm not sure how many drops really get in her eyes as she starts bawling the moment she sees the drops coming!). Poor little baby looked pretty miserable with her puffy red gooey eye. At least it didn't seem to bother her!

Twins??

Ok, so I realize we don't look anything like twins besides our matching outfits:-). My Grandma Buurs got me (and maybe Em wore it too??) this outfit when I was a baby. It is from some other country, but I can't remember where...Sweden maybe? Or Switzerland? And "S" country I think:-). I was 10 months in the pics and I took them abot a month ago so Layla was almost a year (so by her "adjusted" age, it's like we're the same age).

It's a little short on her:-)...


Here I am playing in my sister's old room...


Em and me...

Happy Birthday in Heaven!

Today would have been my mom's 58th birthday. Today is also the one year anniversary that marks Layla coming home from the hospital after spending 22 days there. I feel as though a year ago today I overlooked my mom's birthday with the excitement of being able to take my daughter home from the hospital. I didn't think a year ago that it would be my mom's last birthday. I wouldn't have guessed that she wouldn't have stayed on this earth long enough to see Layla turn one or to even see Layla sit up. A year ago today my mom also came home from the hospital. I can't remember how long she was in the hospital that time (a few days maybe??), but it was her first extended hospital stay that led to more hospital stays throughout the summer/fall and eventually to her final hospital stay in December.


This picture was taken the day Layla was born. Of course now I wish I had more pictures of her with Layla, but at least I have some! I remember how excited she was to have a grandaughter (since she already had a grandson). And how she suddenly loved the song "Layla" even though she had never heard it before Layla was born:-). Someone she worked with burned her the cd and she played it over and over. She truly loved Layla and although I am sad that she only got to be her grandma for 6 1/2 months, I am happy that she GOT to be her grandma for 6 1/2 months. Even through all of my mom's pain and suffering, she still always had a smile on her face when talking about Layla or Gavin. She loved being Grammy. She was an amazingly loving Grammy, mom and wife.


She been gone just over 6 months already and I still find myself from time to time thinking, oh, I have to tell Mom that. I obviously know that I can't and I realize that before the thought even fully processes. I wonder if that will go away. Probably. But I'll probably always have things that I wish I could share with my mom or things I wish I could ask her. I hope I don't lose that. I don't want to forget her. The main thing lately that reminds me of my mom is the whole Jon and Kate divorse drama as silly as that seems. She would have been so disappointed:-).

I wish I could tell her happy birthday today. But. I. Can't. Instead I will just think about what an amazing day she had today celebrating in Heaven:-).

Recent Pics

Well, we survived the rain storm over the weekend! We couldn't believe how windy and rainy it was by us. We thought our house might blow away! The worst thing that happened to us was that we lost power so that wasn't too bad! We lost power during the night Thursday night and so Joe hooked our generator up Friday morning when we realized it. They said we wouldn't get power back until late Sunday night but thankfully had it back Saturday night. We're so thankful we bought a generator--it sure comes in handy when we loose power! The worst thing for us about having to use a generator is that we didn't quite dare use the a/c--that's difficult for us--we are both really warm blooded and have had our air on since early May. But that really wasn't too bad--with all flooding problems that I know others had over the weekend, having to be a little hot wasn't too bad I guess:-).


I thought I'd post some more pics of Layla and Gavin since Gavin's mommy has pretty much retired from her blog:-).


Layla loves playing in Elv's kennel. If I haven't heard her in a bit I can often find her there. Gavin used to love playing in it too--and again does--if Layla's in there!
That fuzzy blob on in front of the kennel is Elv--he doesn't think it's very funny when they play in it:-).

Watching the neighbors across the street...

Elv had some puke episodes a few weeks ago during the night and I didn't want the kids (or me) walking/crawling through the wet spots (from cleaning it--I didn't just leave the puke there:D) so I put baskets over them to cover them up. Gavin thought it was a good drink holder--like a high top table:-).

Layla then thought it was a good place to store her book...

Gavin found Joe's old Hart and Cooley truck and little car. Both kids loved them! Unfortunately Layla loved the car a little too much and sucked the words right off the side of the car:-(.

Gavin is hoping is feet grow soon so he can fit in Uncle Joe's sandels...

His daddy would be so proud:-)...

Such loving cousins...

One second they're playing nice together...

And then the next second, they're not:-)...

Gavin is putting a spoon in her mouth here...unfortunately for Layla there wasn't anything on it...(she loves wearing her Minnie ears--she gets them and brings them to me to put them on her:D).

These ears are ridiculous, Mom...

Give me my ears back, brother!

First "ponytail" (if you can call it that!)...

I thought this was cute...this is from the other day when they were both watching Daddy mow...

Elv did not appreciate the other day when Layla disturbed him during his nap time...

He really didn't like it when she shut the door and trapped them both in!

Saturday we were able to enjoy some time outside...

She loved her new pool! Apparently she just doesn't like BIG pools--this was pretty much like a tubby so she loved it!

Elv on the other hand did not appreciate me putting him in the pool. He HATES water (baths, rain, lakes, you name it).

She still doesn't like touching her hands on grass so she doesn't crawl on it--this was how she figured out to crawl around on the grass without getting her hands dirty:-)...

Layla's Laua (and the Rest of our Weekend)

I started off my weekend by going through all my mom's stuff from school with Em. Gavin's Auntie Becky was nice enough to watch both kids in the morning so that Em and I could go through the stuff at Beaver Dam and decide what we wanted to keep. There was a lot of stuff!! It's amazing how much stuff she accumulated in her 30 years of teaching! We now have plenty of books for our kids when they get older. I even found one of my old Cabbage Patch dolls there! We used to complain when she would take our stuff to school (mainly all of our old books like the entire Baby-Sitters Club and Boxcar Kids series--at least she left all my Sweet Valley High books at home--I think those were probably a bit too risque:D) because they would then get wrecked, but I understand why she did--she loved those kids so much too and wanted to have as many learning materials possible for them!

Saturday night was Layla's "Tropical Minnie" birthday party with both our families. I'm sure we looked a bit ridiculous to our neighbors and to those driving by, but it was fun! Who doesn't like an excuse to wear a Hawaiian shirt??:-) It started off looking like it might rain at night but ended up being beautiful--almost too hot to be in the sun!

Appetizers and drinks (complete with Minnie/Mickey ice cubes:D)...


Dinner...

I saw this idea in a magazine and on someone else's blog to display her growth pics over the past year...

Grandma and birthday girl...yes, that is a Minnie tattoo on Grandma's cheek:-)

Elv and Auntie Heidi...

Grillin'...

Gav-man...look closely and you can see cute little Mickey and Minnies on his Hawaiian shirt--I think Gavin would have won for best dressed because he really obeyed the theme:-).

After dinner everyone played some yard games for a bit...Elv definitely got his exercise chasing Frisbees!







Us, of course...

Mike, Em and Gavin (who wasn't real excited to have his picture taken)...

Grandpa and Grandma G. and Rachael with Layla...

Grandpa and GG with Elv...aka "Royce" (Ron and Joyce) :D

Steve and Heidi...

Gavin and Layla having a fun tractor ride...

We ordered her cake from Creations By Marcia and she did a great job...she even included the cute little cake for Layla to eat.

Layla picking at her cake...

She never really got too much past the picking...I think she pretty much just ate some frosting. She liked it, she just wasn't so sure about having such a huge cake infront of her! Plus she had a bit of a fever earlier in the week and just hasn't been herself since, she was acting better on Saturday but suddenly she doesn't love food like she used to:-(. She's pickier about what she eats. Hopefully it's just a phase! She also has been really needy and whiny this week too so hopefully that's a phase too!!

I ordered this adorable shirt from Ebay. That seller makes tons of cute custom shirts! I figured I wouldn't get "Happy Birthday" or anything like that on it so that she can wear it other times since it's so stinkin' cute:-). The price of the skirt makes up for spending more than I typically do on a shirt for her--it was like 33 cents at a garage sale (I say "like" because I got 2 other items and this skirt at that garage sale for a $1) :-).

She wasn't lacking in gifts...

She was more interested in climbing on them than opening them, imagine that from a one year old:-)...

Unfortunately Joe's parents and us both got her the Minnie Shopping Cart! Cute gift though!

Gavin enjoyed trying to steal her bucket o' play food...

Gavin and Elv were good helpers opening gifts...

Then Elv realized that it was Layla's birthday and only she should be center of attention, so he chose a seat among the circle...had there been an extra chair I'm sure he would have loved to sit in it:-). He's such a little person!

Wow, look at my big pony from Grandpa and Grandma G.!! This will be fun to climb over!

Her new push buggy from Grandpa and GG was a big hit with her and Gavin...

Thanks for the Minnie sippy Auntie Em (and Uncle Mike and Gav)! Looks interesting!

Gavin and Layla peaking over the picnic table from Grandpa and GG...

I loved my party!! Thanks everyone for the gifts and for dressing appropriately for my theme:-)!

Gavin liked trying to push Layla in the buggy...

But liked riding in it even better!

I think the kids would have loved going for more rides in it, but the Grandpas got too tired out!!

Layla enjoyed trying her new toys out today...she gets mad at the cart b/c the wheels don't always go so great on carpet and when she runs into a wall or piece of furniture...

Today we went for lunch and swimming at Joyce's. Again, it was beautiful weather! I forgot my camera so all I have are some pics from my phone.

I'm hoping that one of these days Layla learns to like the pool, but she was not happy about swimming today!

Gavin doesn't love the pool either, but at least he doesn't cry when he's close to water like her! He'll go in the pool in small increments of time.

Layla napped right when we got home so Joe, Elv and I just sat outside and enjoyed the weather and then Layla joined us after she woke up from her nap. We were only outside a couple of hours, but I'm fried! I guess I forgot just how pasty white I was!

Don't worry, that is just water in her sippy in the Bud Light coozy:-)...

She loves balls and noticed our neighbors' outside. She kept pointing and saying "ba, ba"--I guess she knows the word ball.