Mommy's Girl

Such sweet, tiny hands.

Checking out all the lights on the cars in the parking lot.

This is my view a lot of the time, and I love it.

Dinner isn't dinner without someone's feet on the table.

Mama's little Diva

Gym Time!

We like to go to the gym as a family. Since Jer has been in ALS and is tired from class all day and homework all night, Layla and I have been going without him more often. It's always more fun when it's the three of us though!


Layla likes doing sit ups with daddy on the incline.

I woke up early Saturday morning to hit the gym by myself while Layla and Jer slept in together, and I ran 8 laps around the track. I was pretty proud of myself for running all three miles without stopping to walk or get some water. I can run 3-4 miles on the treadmill because I can set my pace easier and I have more control of how fast I am going. It's harder on the track because my muscles have to work harder to propel myself and stay at a good pace. On the treadmill it sets the pace for me and I don't have to work quite as hard. I was pretty dang proud of myself!

Layla likes doing sit ups with me at the bar in the back of the gym. The other day she decided to try something different back there. It was just too cute.

Laundry Day!

Layla loves Laundry day. We pile up the laundry in the living room and sort them accordingly, and Layla thinks it's her job to go through the piles and pull out different items to wear or play with or mix the piles up altogether.

She found my hat in the bedroom, decided to put on my dirty white shirt and two of her dirty socks to wear as gloves.

She whined and complained trying to get me to put her in the laundry hamper.

I complied and she decided that it just wasn't as fun as it looked.

Napt Time!

...with Barney, B.J., and Baby Bop!

Kitchen Sharing Tuesday

I found this recipe in the Biggest Loser Simple Swaps book. They have a lot of great ideas for healthy dishes. Last night I made spinach and cheese quinoa and some grilled chicken breasts. It was delic!!!! It wasn't the best thing I've ever made, but it's probably the best tasting HEALTHY recipe I've ever made.

Chopping up the spinach.

Checking the recipe throughout the cooking process....

Onions, mushrooms, garlic, and spinach.

Quinoa. None of our local grocers carry this (if yours does it will be in the rice/pasta aisle.) So we made a trip out to Whole Foods.

The final product =) The chicken isn't part of the recipe, but I knew that eating just quinoa wouldn't fill Jer or I up so I sprinkled on a little cumin and grilled on our handy, dandy Forman Grill.

The Many Faces Of Layla

Layla loves when I put my make-up on. She likes to copy almost everything I do. It's so cute.

I took this pic during one of our walks last week. It was nice enough that we just had to wear our light coats and we went out and enjoyed the sunshine.

Layla doing pull-ups! Strong little nugget!

Layla's friend, Connor, was riding her bike around and so Layla climbed in the back to be take around the living room. They had so much fun playing together.

Mama's little cowpoke.

Trying to escape naptime.

Modeling one of the cute little dresses I got her in preparations of Spring. Told you I'm excited!

Eating a cookie and watching Curious George.

Playing dress-up again!

This is What Jer Has Been Up To:

Layla's Newly Decorated Princess Room!

So we turned the jungle themed nursery into Layla's Disney Princess big-girl room! It took me a few hours to put some of the furniture together, and Jeremy and Layla helped me put all the decorations on the walls up. Turned out so cute!

Layla's Princess tent, little table, and the cloth toy box that we use for blanket storage because Layla has a whole other room for her toys.

The top of her dresser. That little shelf used to be mine and hung on the wall in my bedroom when I was a little girl.

I love this mural of Cinderella's castle on her wall, and Layla loves her little storage bench that is full of Disney Princess toys.

Layla's awesome canopy bed.

I'm going to repaint the letters in her name soon so it matches the rest of the room better.

Woke up to enjoy sitting on her little bench.

This was her first night in the bed. She lasted until about 5 a.m. and woke up and had to come into bed with us. Last night she lasted the whole night in her bed and came looking for me around 9 this morning.

Dress Up

During the USA vs. Canada hockey game (the one we lost) Layla and her friend, Nina were playing dress up in the playroom while the grown ups were watching the game. They came out to show us how cute they looked! Check out the little Fairy Princesses!

What I've Been Up To...

Getting Ready For Spring:
In the past few weeks I've really been looking forward to Spring. It's pretty much all I talk and think about. So Every week I've been getting fresh flowers for my house. I have a lot of differently shaped glass vases that are all clear glass, but last week I decided to use this old tea pot to hold some pretty little daisies that I got. This tea pot belonged to my great-grandma Mary who brought it with her from Yugoslavia when she brought my papa here to the states.
Running:
I took up running to get back into shape. I've put on a lot of weight since Layla was born, and I'm tired of carrying around the extra pounds. So in November I laced up my old running shoes and hit the gym. I either run on the treadmill or the indoor track. I think that's another reason I'm excited for Spring. No more running in circles. It's been a slow process, but since November I've lost 8.3 lbs. I'm slowly getting there, and I run so often and for so long that I've decided to start training for a half-marathon! Here's my new Asics that I got at Sport Chalet in Vacaville.


Going to the Bookstore:
Layla and I go to our local Borders a few times a week. It's either Borders or the gym! Since the weather has been so cold and snowy we haven't been able to do a lot of our favorite outdoor stuff all Winter. So when we start to get cabin fever we head over to Borders. Layla enjoys playing in the Children's section and finding new books for us to read.


Reading:
Well, we spend so much time at the bookstore, that we might as well get something out of it, right? A little while ago I was bored stiff and was having trouble finding books I could really get into and enjoy. So I picked up my old copy of Pride and Prejudice and got an idea. I'll go through all of Jane Austen's novels! There's only six, so it won't be too difficult, right? Wrong! Austen novels aren't the problem, it's all of her admirers! I didn't realize how many books have been written about her or inspired by her characters! Austen enthusiasts have taken the characters and written novels about what they think happened after the last page of the novel. They're so interesting! So I'm reading them all. I don't know what I was thinking, because my reading list is at 34 books...so far! I'm still reading Austen novels right now though. I finished Pride and Prejudice and Emma, and now I'm on Persuasion. It's been an easy read so far, and as long as I get some quiet reading time away from the toddler that likes to climb me I should be done by the end of the week.

Happy Homemaker Monday!

I got this idea from Sandra, over at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom. She answers these questions every Monday for her followers.

The weather in my neck of the woods:
It's been rainy, and we're supposed to get more rain tonight, which is a disappointment from last weeks sunny weather. I'm just glad the temperature hasn't gone down. It finally got up to the 40's and with all that sun last week the snow is almost all melted. There are still big patches of ice in areas that are blocked from the sun, but hopefully this week and next, the warm temperatures will keep climbing and it will all be gone soon. I'm looking forward to SPRING!


One of my simple pleasures:
Cuddling with Layla and Jer in our bed. Ever since Layla was sick over Christmas she's been sleeping with us almost every night and it's been really nice cuddling all three of us. She just got her own big girl bed this week though, and last night was her first night spending the entire night in her bed! I'm so proud of my big girl, but I miss her too!


On my bedside table:
Persuasion

On my TV:
Well, right now Curious George because Layla is eating some yogurt and watching her favorite monkey so I can sit here and blog. We're been watching Biggest Loser all season and I look forward to the new episodes on Tuesday nights.

On the menu for tonight:
Spinach and Cheese Quinoa with grilled chicken. Yummy!!


On my To Do List:
Clean out the Fridge (it smells awful!)
Start the laundry


New Recipe I tried last week:
Didn't try anything new last week, but the quinoa is a new recipe I'll be trying tonight.


In the craft basket:
Scrapbooking! I am so far behind on my scrapbooking, and I really need to start catching up.


Looking forward to:
Warm weather! I love winter and the snow, but I'm ready for warmer weather and dressing Layla up in cute little dresses!

Favorite Blog Post of the week (mine or other):
Reusing glass jars on Sandra's blog. Such a fun idea!

Favorite photo from last week:

So this blog...

I used to make posts about what we were up to, and then I figured the few people that do come check this blog out are only looking for pics and updates on Layla. So for the past year or so I only get on to upload pictures of her and let you all know how she is doing, and now I don't have a camera! First it was spotty and would work only if Jeremy turned it on. I guess it didn't like me. Then finally it said, enough is enough, and even Jeremy couldn't work his magic on it. That is why I haven't posted anything since early February. So I decided to get back to blogging and writing about things I want to write about. I follow this blog, Diary of a Stay at Home Mom, and I loove reading her posts! She is also an Air Force wife, and she has so many creative cooking ideas and suggestions and she truly inspires me! I was never really taught how to cook, so I'm almost frightened to try new recipes, or anything in the kitchen really, but because of Sandra, I have been much more adventurous, and now I will share my triumphs and mishaps with anyone who cares to stop by and check them out. I was thinking I would have to do this without pictures for a while until we were able to get a new camera, and then my mom reminded me that I could just take pics with my new iPhone (that Jer got me for Valentine's Day) and I have some amazing photo editing apps, the only thing is, there are a lot more steps to get them onto the computer and then onto blogger, so please be patient if there aren't any new pics up everyday.

Crazy Little Monkey

Sorry for lack of posts, camera is still broken, and I haven't gotten a new one yet. Here are some pics from my phone.

My best friend Barb is about to have another baby and I was getting Layla's old bouncer out for her to borrow and Layla wouldn't get out of it.


Layla and Jeremy enjoying our new couch.

I was walking down the hallway to go to the bathroom and as I passed the playroom this is what I saw. She really thinks she's a monkey.

Best Friends

Jer, Layla, and I took a nice little trip to California to visit my family and escape the snow. I wish I could have taken more pictures, but my camera isn't working well and I only took a few on my phone, which doesn't have the best quality. Here's one of Layla and her Aunt Wendi when we just arrived at the air port. It had been about 3 months since she'd seen her Aunt Wendi, but she knew her best friend!

Thank You Aunt Debby!

My Aunt Debby knitted a beautiful purple scarf for Layla, which I'm so glad she did because I was having a hard time finding one small enough for her to wear in this cold weather! Thanks Deb!