My "little" Girl

She's just chillin'... havin' art time w/ daddy on the floor.

I had to take this picture of her hair. Look at those curls!!

This morning before school. I know, she sort of looks like a boy here, but look how BIG she is!

Yeah, yeah, mom. I'm big, I'm tall, but I still need my nuk. Get off my back already, would ya?

Is it possible that I now all of a sudden have a little girl? Not an infant, not a baby, but a little girl. I know, techincally, she's a "toddler", but seriously... look at these pictures. She's a little girl. A precious little girl who is innocent and happy and free. I just love her so much and cannot express how fulfilling it is to be a mama who wakes up every day to such a happy little girl. She honestly wakes up every morning with a smile on her face, or, at least with a funny little Layla laugh. Jake and I try to get up early each day to have our coffee together before the madness starts, and our favorite part of the day is hearing her first giggle. Think about it. Wouldn't it be great to wake up that happy, that excited, every day?? Try it once. I'll try it, but I think it might start as a fake laugh and end as a tired groan. ;) Not because I'm not happy, simply because I'm flippin' tired. You'd think this little one would be too, but she's not. She's our little girl, our little energizer bunny, our little sunshine.

Videos... and lots more... just keep scrollin'. Start with "First Haircut"...

Layla ... hangin' out w/ Hudson, playin' w/ her Christmas present from Nonnie, and Layla on the run with mama's camera!

Scroll down, start with "First Haircut" and work your way up...

Alright... here we go... long overdue. Pictures of Layla from mid December til now. Very random events, mostly Christmas and a few other things, take a look and see how big our "baby" is getting! SO big, so fast. Hard to believe she'll be 17 months old in only two weeks!!!


Bundled up to meet June.



Layla and mama, dinkin' around.



Whoah!! Falling backwards in Layla's first cardboard box fort.



Baby June Olivia Hamilton, who's now home safe and healthy with her mama and daddy and brother Levi.



More presents... this one from Grandpa Degnan.



Bean and daddy with Mr. Anferni Pernelli while home from Alaska and before he left to learn to be an organic farmer in Equador.



Layla touching the very button I told her NOT to touch.



It's not going in our yard Russ.



Layla Bean playin' with her Christmas present from Nonnie.



She loved her Christmas shoes.



Mid December on the redneck riviera... winter wonderland.



The fam at our first Christmas as hosts!


Best of friends.


Layla in her Christmas dress.


Wait a tick... this isn't string cheese!!

First Hair Cut

Layla Bean had her very first hair cut today!! Nonnie came last night to babysit for Bean while Jake and I went to a wedding and today Nonnie cut Layla's bangs. Really, she only took about three snips of hair so that her orphan looking bangs wouldn't hang in her face anymore, but that's technically a hair cut, right? She was a little freaked out by the whole thing but I reassured her that Nonnie was only trying to make her look a little more put together and that we'd leave her lovely curly locks alone so we can continue to put it in pig tails!!

Burning it at both ends

2009 is off to a "blast your face off" start for the Sherman's. As always, we're burning the candle at both ends and to be honest, I've come to realize that I'm not sure Jake or I know how to do it any other way. At this point, the only thing that's going to get us into "slow mode" is a vacation and the way things are going for me at work I don't see that happening for a while. I think our next "vacation" will be sometime in March, after I've gotten the new projects at work launched, things under control w/ half our team MIA (maternity leave, travel, etc) and for the simple fact that it's just been far too long since we've gone on any sort of retreat. I think we'll be hooking up with the Meyer's in the Dells, which will be a blast for us all.

Yesterday, I decided that if there was one thing I accomplished for this family this weekend, it would be cleaning our piece of crap refrigerator before it dies (if any of you have been over for a visit lasting more than 20 min, you know the retched sound the thing makes at sporadic intervals. It sounds like an emphysema patient smoking a crack pipe and then choking up a giant loogy). I am embarrassed to say that the fridge was so dirty that it was probably breeding highly infectious diseases. I do not have the slightest clue as what some of the things I found in there actually were and actually almost BARFED. No joke. It was sick and I am wondering how I let it get so bad, and, how I managed to turn a blind eye for so long. Our poor parents... God knows they've been in that refrigerator for one thing or another on family visits and have done everything in their power not to say, "For the love of God clean that God forsaken germ infested refrigerator." Now, it's shiny and new and it's amazing how empty it is. I filled an entire garbage bag of old food. Sick dude. How does that happen? Purple house flash back I tell ya.

Other minuscule items accomplished this weekend... Layla's laundry. The bonus -- I didn't have to fold it. Lori, our wonderful neighbor and friend did it for us. She was over for a few hours last night babysitting Layla while Jake and I went to see Marley and Me and somehow managed to also fold all of Layla's laundry. Thanks Lori!!! Marley and Me... what an amazing movie. If you haven't seen it yet, and, if you haven't read the book, read the book first. It's better and will prepare you for the movie. But, they did an amazing job with the movie and we LOVED it. Let's just say this, my eyes still burn, I was crying uncontrollably, cried all the way home and promised Hudson I wouldn't take him for granted anymore and wouldn't be so mean to him anymore. We'll see how long that lasts. :)

On a different note... a message to my dear friends who've been so patient with me over the recent weeks. Kelly M., Gobbz, Theresa (phone tag has been crazy), and anyone else that I may be forgetting at this moment due to mommy brain -- work should never take over the most important things in life like family and friends. Unfortunately, it has for me and I'm doing my best to just get things back on track and leave the rest behind. I think about you all very often and my top priority is to get something locked in on the calender for a long overdue visit.

Off to clean up duty on the house, then prep for travel today to visit some friends who are in from Oregon (the Nimm's). Then, home, work (I know, I know), and sleep.

I WILL be posting some long overdue pictures and videos today. TODAY.

Peace and Love. PEACE being the key word here.

We're not dead... Just busy!

For all of you who are "chomping at the bit" (what does that even mean??) for a new post from us, sorry... we're not dead, just super busy! I haven't even posted family Christmas pics yet! Booo!!! Bad mama! I hope to have some time to do that at home tonight. I've got some funny videos of the little bean hanging out around the house and talking our ears off too. She's growing too fast! She just moved up to the 1-2 year old room on Monday and is LOVING it. In fact, when we put her down, she's off and running and seems very uninterested in giving us our good-bye kisses. At one of Jake's drop off's she ran off to play and when he said, "bye bye" Layla turned around and waved. Jake had to say, "Hey, get over here with my kiss!"

New Year's came and went like a flash, there've been three babies born in the last few weeks and there are more to come. I'm off to see some friends, fam and new babies this weekend, hoping to cram in a date for Jake and I to celebrate our anniversary a bit late, Jake's leaving tomorrow for an ice fishing extravaganza, work is CRAZY right now with the acquisition of Wachovia, and I am truly wishing we'd win the lottery so we could hit up a beach somewhere.

More to come... Just wanted ya'll to know we're not dead.