Discouraging

Today there was a new job posting for sales and marketing for a company that sells promotional items. You know: the company logo printed t-shirts, tote bags, coffee mugs, etc. Well most job postings don't have phone numbers and this one did. It is a woman-owned business, in Deerfield, with flexible hours. All good things. Not my dream job, but sounds like it could be fun and give me some income.

So I call and the receptionist says that I should fax my resume and asks what my background is and I say architecture, project management, vendor and client relations. She tells me that I might be qualified for a lot of things but this job wouldn't be one of them.

SERIOUSLY?!?!

I actually know a lot of people that might want some screen printed stuff for their company. So, I am sending my resume over anyway. Hopefully, the receptionist was just speaking out of turn. Looking for a job is utterly discouraging. It seems that I am either incredibly over-qualified or severely under-qualified for most of the jobs out there. Do you remember that commercial with the kid who says "when I grow up I want to be a middle manager"? Me too kid, me too.

Water Baby

Jason and I took Layla to the Parks and Rec. Center near our home for open swim yesterday. We were encouraged to do this since she shows so much enthusiasm for bath time. She splashes and squeals and has a really good time. She was slow to warm up to the pool, quite literally, since it was significantly cooler than her bath water. Eventually she got the hang of it and enjoyed swimming with her daddy.

This is the first time I am posting videos so let me know how it turns out!

Happy 6 Month Birthday Layla!

We cannot believe the time has gone by so quickly. Our family is so blessed to have you Layla, you are amazing in so many ways. Funny, smart, and beautiful: you are the whole package and we are excited to see you grow up!

At Steve and Annie's, playing with her tag blanket 1/1/10.

Playing with Dad, 1/12/10.

Just woke up, checking out the score of the Vikings game 1/17/10.

Loving her sock monkey from Uncle Paul, 1/19/10.

A Direct Line to GOD

A man in Topeka, Kansas decided to write a book about churches around the country. He started by flying to San Francisco and started working east from there.

Going to a very large church, he began taking photographs and making notes.

He spotted a golden telephone on the vestibule wall and was intrigued with a sign, which read "Calls: $10,000 a minute.."

Seeking out the pastor he asked about the phone and the sign. The pastor answered that this golden phone is, in fact, a direct line to heaven and if he pays the price he can talk directly to GOD.

The man thanked the pastor and continued on his way. As he continued to visit churches in Seattle , Phoenix , Salt Lake City , Denver , Oklahoma City, and around the United States , he found more phones, with the same sign, and the same answer from each pastor.

Finally, he arrived in Minnesota , upon entering a church in Perham, Minnesota behold - he saw the usual golden telephone. But THIS time, the sign read "Calls: 35 cents."

Fascinated, he asked to talk to the pastor, "Reverend, I have been in cities & towns all across the country and in each church I have found this golden telephone and have been told it is a direct line to Heaven and that I could talk to GOD, but in the other churches the cost was $10,000 a minute. Your sign reads only 35 cents a call. Why?"

The pastor, smiling benignly, replied, "Son, you're in Minnesota now ... You're in God's Country, It's a local call."

American by Birth - A Minnesotan by the Grace of God.

A Special Prayer

On of my facebook friends had this posted and I absolutely must share it!

Our Favre-ther who art in Mississippi hallowed be thy name. Thy bowl will come, it will be won, In Miami as it is in the Dome. Give us this Sunday, Our weekly win. Give us touchdown passes, but do not let others pass against us. Lead us not into frustration, but deliver us to the Super Bowl. For thine........ is the MV......P, the best of the NFC, and the glory of the Purple People Eaters now and forever. Amen :)

6-Month Update

We visited the doctor yesterday for Layla's 6-month check up. We did it a little early since she has a cough that has been hanging on for 2 weeks and we wanted to get it checked out. It doesn't seem to bother her (no fever or anything), but needed to get resolved. Turns out she has chest congestion and a double ear infection! Yikes! Apparently the fluids in her sinuses (also know as crud) were pooling in there and not getting out like they should. She is on amoxicillin for the next 10 days. We will back for a check up after that and then if all is well she will get her shots. Her doctor doesn't want to give her shots while she is sick. Makes sense to me.

Here are her 6-month stats: height is 27.75" (99th percentile) and weight is 18 pounds, 1 once (90th percentile). Apparently, she is one of the tallest 6-month olds in the country! She is sitting up on her own and also squirming around and getting started on crawling. Her coordination is getting better everyday and she is really enjoying the new toys from Christmas (mostly banging them together and on other hard surfaces and chewing on them).

Bubble Juggler

Layla's school had their 3rd Birthday party over the weekend. The entertainment for the birthday party was a "Bubble Juggler". This man did lots of bubble tricks including making a square bubble and making a huge bubble that a 4-year-old fit inside. (I would like to show you this because it was pretty neat but I don't want to show pictures of kids I don't know without their parents permission.) Layla is pictured with her lead teacher, Ms. Natalie.



The school is growing fast and she has three new babies in her class last month and three more coming this month. Lots of new friends for Layla! Right now her buddy is Miles who is 2 months older but very playful and they interact a lot. It is fun to see her with the other babies and if everyone sticks with the school as we plan to they will be together through Kindergarten!

I am going to be helping out at school, in Layla's room, every day for a couple of hours. It will be good for me to get out of the house and also help with all the new babies in her class.

Car Seat Graduation

Layla is graduating this week to the convertible car seat. We could have used this seat from birth, but we elected to buy an infant seat for her early months as it can be transported in and out of the car with her in it and easily snaps onto a stroller base. It was a great buy for us and we will use it for the next baby too. With the new seat she will have to be strapped in and out of the seat inside the car. She is getting too long for the straps in the infant seat and too heavy for me to be carrying her in and out every day. We were lucky to find a Britax model on closeout, it is a very highly rated seat for safety and ease of use. This seat is rated to 40 pounds which means she will likely be using it until she is about four years old. At least that is our hope!

I'm a Mall Walker

I have been feeling a little cabin fever this winter. Not too surprising, I know. I decided to go check out the mall walking scene at our local mall after I dropped Layla off this morning. Our mall is obscenely nice. I don't even go in half of the stores because I wouldn't be able to afford a thing: Burberry, Louis Vuitton, etc. plus a bunch of boutique places that I am too self conscious/old/fat to ever actually go into. It is interesting window shopping though.

I think I will go back regularly, and with peanut, so we can get some exercise. (We had to put our gym membership on hold.) But I have to say there are some strange characters out mall-walking. A few are mall strolling, meandering, and looking utterly lost which I fail to understand: it's basically a circle, albeit a jagged one, you just walk around it. One lady was in really tight green tie-dyed jeans (I just thought that was weird) and one lady was in full make-up, hair and heels. The latter was chewing and snapping her gum so loud I almost felt the need to push her over the guardrail. Fortunately, we were near the stair so I just switched levels. I know it's my first time so I can't be so annoyed but really: why do people have to walk the wrong way? I am betting that these are the same people that walk with their backs to traffic and headphones on busy streets.

All in all, it wasn't bad. They have lockers for your coats and a place to put your wet boots. They even have a family area with a private room for changing and nursing babies. There were a few people with small kids at the "playground" area, but no baby-mamas walking their strollers. It is snowing pretty hard so maybe they stayed home today!

Baby Books

When we visited the lake this summer my Mom dug out my baby book to give me as a gift. She did a great job filling it out and there are a lot of funny things of note.

The first is that Layla is much larger than I was at her age. At four months I was 11 pounds, 2 ounces and Layla was 15 pounds, 14 ounces at the same time. Yikes that girl is really growing!
Secondly, I didn't get a tooth until I was 13 months old! Layla has yet to get a tooth so we will see......
Lastly, one of the first phrases I said was "I pean up". Which meant "I clean up". Apparently my neat streak started early in life. That note made me laugh pretty hard.

Thanks Mom, I hope I do as good a job with Layla's book. It is a wonderful keepsake.

Happy New Year

Jason, Layla and I are back home today after a long holiday trip to visit family in Minnesota and Wisconsin. We had a wonderful trip, spending time with so many friends and family. Thank you everyone for your kindness, generosity and hospitality.

We have many dreams and aspirations for 2010, not the least of which is to maintain our good health. We wish you all the best for a happy and healthy new year and hope that this new year brings you many new and exciting adventures.

Beth, Jason and Layla at Allie's House on Christmas Eve