Hunter Bean

Well, here it is. Layla's first buck. ;) She shot it with the pink .22 that Grandpa Ice bought for her when she was first born. Alright, so she didn't really shoot it herself. Jake did, but Layla wanted to take the credit for it so we threw her up on the truck w/the deer to shoot some pics w/dad's win. We were wondering if she'd be afraid of it, but she wasn't. I'm pretty sure she thought it was a dog, and, that it was still alive. We didn't have the heart to tell her the truth. Hudson, on the other hand, was scared out of his mind of this thing and thought for sure that at any moment, it was going to come alive and start beating him to a bloody pulp.

Nice job on the buck daddy!!

What a difference a year makes!! Here's Bean with her prize from Grandpa the day we got home from the hospital with her. She was two days old with her shiny new gun. Whoa mama.

Walk it Out!

Well, you asked for more, and here it is. Layla is really getting the hang of this walking thing now. I give her maybe two weeks before crawling will be a thing of the past for her. She is loving this new found skill, and most of the time she'd prefer to run at a dead sprint rather than walk. She took a digger at daycare yesterday that landed her with a bruise on the forehead. It will definitely not be the last massive fall she takes, judging by how wobbly she still is.

Just a quick one here, but thought her face was cute once she fell on her butt. :)

And here's a random one. Layla LOVES shoes. She ALWAYS wants us to put her shoes on, no matter what time of day it is or what she's doing. She's definitely my little girl! ;) Here, she wanted to put my shoes on (yes, I'm aware that these shoes are ass ugly... They're my go get the mail shoes). She tried walking in them, but it wasn't working out for her so much.

Veteran's Day ... Two Years Ago

It's hard to believe that this was only two years ago. Two years ago, on Veteran's Day (ironically), Jake returned home from his 15 mo deployment. It was an amazing belated Bday gift for me, and the end of a very long year apart for Jake and I. Thankfully, I had my dear friend Jaimie to keep me alive and afloat for the length of the deployment. Her husband, Jason, returned the same day as well.

Happy Veteran's Day, and thank you to those of you who've served our country and risked you lives to protect the privileges that we enjoy as Civilians of this great country.

10th Anniversary of my 21st Birthday

Yesterday was the 10th Anniversary of my 21st Birthday. ;) Big day! In fact, it was by far the best birthday of my life. Not because of some grand party, or cake or presents. Not because of anything like that. This weekend was Jake's very last drill with the Army. No more weekends of him being gone for absolutely no reason at all, to stand in a line and take useless orders that really just send him walking in circles for 10 -12 hours a day. Besides having a full weekend back for family time every month, we're also blessed with knowing that we do not have to worry about the possibility of another deployment. That thought alone is enough to send both Jake and I sailing into heaven with happiness.

On Friday night, Jake went to drill and was told that he was free to go and wouldn't have to come back for Saturday or Sunday's drill times. He was thanked for his service and commitment to the Army and sent on his way with a blessing to enjoy his life as a civilian. Very final and very comforting. What an AWESOME birthday present.

To celebrate the weekend events, Jake and I got a surprise visit from his parents. They hand delivered my birthday gift on Saturday, an awesome t-light candle holder / wall hanging thingie (okay, I don't know what to call it really but it's super cool and I saw it in a boutique up in Crivitz the last time I was there and told Jake's mom how much I loved it). How sweet of them to make the trip down to say happy birthday, deliver the gift and bring us lunch! Love you guys!!

Saturday night Jake and I had our friend and neighbor, Jenny, over to partake in some celebratory wine drinking. Good times had by all, that's for sure! Sunday Jake went hunting for a bit and our other friend and neighbor (we have awesome neighbors), Lori, took Layla bean for a while so I could make dinner for Jake and I (I made steak for Jake, fish for me, but seriously, aren't you proud!? I made steak!). Then Jake and I were able to have a quiet dinner alone. Which, I must say, was super odd. We both kept looking around as if we had lost something. We were set to pick up Beepa at 8:00 and by 7:45, I looked at Jake and said, "Okay, can we go get her now? I miss her."

This weekend Jake and I will be heading to Vino 100 for some wine and to the Ale House for dinner to have a formal Bday celebration. Should be a hoot. I just said "hoot". Yep, I'm 31 for sure. I'm old.

So, all in all, a super awesome 31st birthday.

14 Months Old

Layla Bean,

You're 14 months old today. One year and two months. 60 weeks (I think). Our little baby isn't such a little baby anymore. Last night, I came home from work to you "little" Layla, standing in the living room, looking more like a little girl than ever before. You are getting so tall, and are really developing a funny personality. You do all that you can to make us laugh, and, when we are laughing at something totally unrelated to you, you start laughing with us, thinking that there couldn't possibly be anything else in this world that would invoke laughing besides you. I understand that feeling. ;)

You are still a little reluctant to go full go with the walking thing. I remember back in August I took you to visit the Schultz's, and Jaimie asked me when I thought you'd start walking. Maybe I jinxed it, because I just didn't think you'd be ready for a while and I told her, "Probably not until she's 15 months old." I think Jaimie was surprised to hear that, but here we are, on your 14 month bday, and since that first video we snapped of you taking your very first four wobbly steps, you've decided that taking more than 1 step at a time is just too much to handle. You can scale the couch and walls like nobody's business, and you stand at attention for as long as your legs will let you. But as far as walking on a normal basis goes... not so much. You'll do it on your own terms, when you're good and ready. That's just fine with us beepa bee.

You've become quite independent in the recent months and do not like to have anyone "help" you out with anything. You'd much rather feed yourself, fill up your own bath, and "fold" your own clothes. You're making some solid attempts at using forks and spoons, but it's a messy attempt, that's for sure. We recently discovered that you may have a slight fear of the dark, and finally put a night light in your room last night. So far, it seems to be comforting you. Daddy says that because it took us so long to figure out such a simple thing, that I get a free pass to kick him in his "nuggets" (you'll learn what nuggets are soon enough).

Every night, I give you your bath and we talk about your day. You seem to have more to tell me each night, which I love. My favorite thing in this world to do, is rock you to sleep. I stare at you and think about all the things you did or "said" that day that I'm thankful for. You make your daddy and I so unbelievably happy, more and more happy each day we trot into your room to see your smiling face.

Love you little beepa.

Pics

For a better view, click on the "view slideshow" link. There are a ton of them here!

Username: dreamingofdogs06@yahoo.com
Password: Hudson

http://www.shutterfly.com/lightbox/view.sfly?fid=7ca0b94672974b493315f89dbf2f35f7#1225737790812

Weekend Haps

First, let me start by saying the new pic of Layla is one of the pics we had taken recently for Layla's 1st Bday / family pics for 2008. I just love it. But, I cannot figure out how to make it appear smaller on the blog. I'm not sure it's necessary to have it so giant, but I'll deal w/that later. Also, I'd like to give a shout out to Jaimie, who also does photography but was not our photographer for this shoot. We set up our pics w/Amy before I knew that Jaimie was back at it with her photography. Jaimie, we'd still love to do a shoot w/you again soon!! I'll post more of the pics for everyone to see when I figure out why blogspot hates me today and will not let me upload these pics. Grrrr...

This weekend was spent at Grandma and Gradpa Sherman's in Crivitz. Mama forgot the camera, so she doesn't have pictures to post. :( We had a great time relaxing and being away fromt the "hustle and bustle". Thanks to Grandpa and Grandma for letting us take over your house, and for all the fun stuff you pulled out for Layla! She had so much fun, that when we put her in the truck to leave on Sunday, she cried her eyes out. Grandma Sherman had so many fun toys to share with Layla - Uncle Jeremy's play kitchen set from when he was a little tot (yes, Uncle Jeremy had a play kitchen set, and he may want to deck me for calling it out on the blog), blocks, cookie monster piano, books, you name it. And all of it are toys from when the boys were little. So neat!! Thanks for the great family weekend D and Ice. We love you!!