Conversation With my Daughter

Last night was just your normal run-of-the-mill night at the Sherman house. I got home from working out and Jake blasted out the door to help a friend sight in his bow -- Gotta do it now I guess. God knows the whole world is going to come to a screeching halt when September hits! Layla and I were just hanging out, prepping for bedtime and then we started to have our mommy / Layla chat... It went something like this....

More from our Staycation!

Layla throwing pennies in the fountain by Nonnie's house. I asked her what she wished for but she wouldn't tell me.
Petting the Georgia O'Keefe cow in Sun Prairie --- awe.
Riding the cow -- she then proceeded to tell me the cow was hot and she wanted to get off. ;)
Walking in circles around the "fountain of youth".
Mommy, do you think this flower matches my dress? Or is it the wrong shade of pink?
Layla walking in the pool with Nonnie. Love this pic!!
Check me out! I am such a big girl!! Layla probably went down this slide 2909 times!!
Holla!
My little sunshine.
Right after she dunked under water!! She was super excited!!

Sorry blog followers... this is going to be a quick update as we're packing up and heading North for the weekend. But, knew it was far past my due date for posting more pics of the Sherman family staycation so forced myself to do it!!

The pictures are of our trip to see Nonnie in Sun Prairie. Layla loved the Georgia O'Keefe cow that's down town and loved making wishes with pennies in the water fountain. She had a SUPER time at the SP Aquatic center... I think she would've stayed and played there for the entire week had we let her! The funnest part for Jake and I was to watch how Layla would get increasingly more brave as the day went on. After about 20 times down the slide with help from Nonnie, Layla wanted NO help at all. And, soon after that she was hard charging into the water to jump into daddy's arms with no sense of caution what-so-ever. I think we may have quite the little swimmer on our hands!!!

Heading up to see G'pa and G'ma Sherman for the weekend. Lots of pictures will be taken there... all of Layla having a blast. She loves it there and I'm looking forward to a quiet weekend in the woods.

Later internet!!

State Fair on the Sherman Family "Staycation"!

Oh yes dear friends... I've done it. Posted pictures of an event that took place just a less than 24 hours ago!!! Whoo hooo!!! ;) Yesterday, we went to the WI State Fair with our friend Kruse. He was able to get us free tickets and free parking as his wife, Becky, works for U.S. Cellular (fair sponsor) and was able to pass the tickets our way. Thanks to you both, Becky and Jason!

Layla had a blast and was SUPER good. We were there all day and we didn't have one meltdown. Amazing. Layla's favorite thing was doing the bungee bounce thingie. Unfortunately, we don't have pics of that (by that time, my battery was dead on the camera). Jake has a great pic on his phone and we're in the midst of figuring out how to upload it to the computer. Anyway, it was the funniest thing I've ever seen. They put layla in a harness and set her on a huge trampoline and just started bouncing her up in the air. Jake was right there with her, telling the "assistant" how high she could go (not too high) so it was safe. Her face the ENTIRE time was VERY serious. But we could tell she was having a blast.

Here's Bean petting a giant horse... Now of all the things we did, THIS made me nervous. I hate horses. Don't trust 'em since I gut thrown off one at girl scout camp when I was a whipper snapper. Thankfully, this guy seemed pretty tame. He did almost eat the crayons Layla tried feeding him, so that was pretty funny. See his big old eye staring back at the camera?! Yikes!!
Oh yes blog fans... that's me, sitting right next to a giant cow! Aren't you proud Meyer's?? ;) Really though, I love cows. I think they're adorable. Sorry, I just do. And surprisingly, it wasn't too stinky next to this heifer. Bean was a smidge nervous, but she warmed up very quickly...
See?? :)
Awe daddy, you're cute.
Daddy, you look hot. Drink this water.
Ahhhh.... apple juice. Holla.
Mommy and Layla, just strolling through the fair grounds. Layla... such a ham for the camera!!
I just love this pic. She looks like an angel!!
Watching the pigs... another favorite of Layla's! She thought they were very amusing, even though they weren't doing anything spectacular. Just sleeping.

Today, we're off to see Nonnie (my mom) and will be hitting up the Sun Prairie aquatic center (water park, essentially). Layla will have a blast and will be so exicted to see Nonnie. She loves her sooo much!

More to come... :)

Promises, Promises

Stella, Theresa and Brian's niece... smartest kid I've ever met. Freaky smart man.
Don't pour water on my head man! I told ya I HATE that!!! God! (They were both totally fake crying in this pic).
Cheeeese!
Bath time! Stella, Layla and Logan.
Just chillin' on the steps.
Logan being a bucket head.
Bean being a bucket head.
Wrestling time!
This is GOOD!
Layla on her 1st airplane -- or as she calls it, "airpeeeen!!"

Oye! Just recently, I sent an email to my friend Meg, razzing her about a "goal" she set for herself for the weekend. She vowed that she would have her pictures from our Vegas trip posted to Facebook before the end of that weekend. When I saw her message, I replied back to her and asked if her goal was like one of my goals that I've recently "committed" to -- finishing my budget spreadsheet, completing our will, assigning legal guardians for Layla and of course, posting to our blog twice a week. Turns out, Meg's "goal" wasn't on the top of her priority list at the time. Apparently, neither was mine.

I haven't done well at all with my recent promise to post to this blog on a regular basis. I think I have figured out a way to do a much better job at this though. It's really quite simple... all I need is for my fellow blog followers to find me a personal assistant. It shouldn't be difficult. I'd like someone who is overly ambitious, proactive and not reactive, outgoing but not loud and she (yes, it needs to be a she) can never talk back or say no. First on her list, remind me each morning that the blog needs to be updated. I will then dictate to her the latest events and Sherman happenings that I'd like to document and she can transcribe them creatively into my blog. Then, I'll leave it to her to use her creative thinking and and innovative ways to choose the most recent photos of our family that will go with each post. Sound good? Great. Send resumes my way and I'll let you know who's been chosen for the role by August 15th. Thank you.

So, since my last post -- let's see. Last Saturday, Jake, Layla and I traveled to MN. It was Layla's first airplane ride and boy did she LOVE it. I had to work in Minneapolis Mon - Wed, but was able to hang out with the Meyer's for the weekend before heading to the city to be a slave to the man. Layla played her little tail off with Logan and crashed HARD each night. I was thoroughly impressed with the Meyer's garden, apple trees and bees (yes, they have bees. Bees that they brought in to help pollinate the garden and apple trees). I was also impressed (and intimidated) by Theresa's cooking. Yuummmmyyyy!!! Now I have some severely high standards to live up to here at home. Step 1 - get some damn groceries.

One more day of work this week, then we will be kicking off the Sherman Family "Staycation" of 2009. On our agenda of things we'd like to do (we'll see what we can actually fit in): Dells trip, State Fair (gotta get us some lard on a stick, don't ya know?), visit to Nonnie's house for a trip to the S.P. aquatic center and a visit w/ Uncle Ray and Auntie Linds, "date" day/night for mommy and daddy, and some other stuff.

Mother of pearl... it's 9:45! Where does the time go??? Hope all is well with our fellow blog followers and that you're keeping the faith (take from that what you will. Go with it... be creative, use your imagination). Oh and Tee, you're gonna love this - I can't find the USB cord for our camera, so uh, stay tuned for pics. For a glimpse at our weekend trip, please see the Meyer Ranch. **Update - found it... hence the pics! ;)

Also, found out today that the big execs at my company just got slight salary increases... at the top of the list, our CEO is now making $900k / year and earned himself a nice $4.7 million in company stock today. It continues on from there and is quite sickening if you ask me. I recently heard that the president of the U.S. makes around $250k / year. Which one of these things is not like the other. WF - go ahead, tell me we're not getting bonuses this year... and that our raises will be "subtle". Try it. I saw the recent earnings report. I know how big we are. SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!! (And Dooce, if I am fired for posting this, would you please hire me as your personal assistant? I will even pick up your dogs' shit.)

Midsummer Night's Dream

No, I haven't read it (I know, shame shame). It just popped into my head as I sat down to type my blog update. We're already past "midsummer", it's night, and all I did today was daydream. About what you ask? Oh, who knows... vacations on the beach, having so much money that I don't know what to do with it (no, money doesn't buy happiness, but seriously sometimes I beg to differ). I was also thinking about how Jake and I haven't assigned a legal guardian for Layla yet in case something should (God forbid) happen to us. Come on, that's just not acceptable.

So, I've made it a goal to get that done this weekend. Yeah, sounds simple right? Writing our will and assigning a legal guardian for Layla. That is some serious shit right there. That's a super serious and heavy decision to make as parents, but it's a huge thing to ask of someone. "Hey, what are you doing this weekend? Wanna go get a drink and then hit the lake? Oh, and can you be the sole guardian of Layla if something ever happens to Jake or I? Great. Thanks." If anyone has any hot tops on writing a will, shoot 'em our way please!!

This past weekend was pretty chill for the Sherman's. Hit a lake party on Saturday and relaxed on Sunday. Jake has been up North, doing something fancy with the Iron Grid for the past three days and is set to be home by 8:00. Layla's pretty excited about that (and I suppose I am too). :) Now, just push through the week and get to the weekend... Jake's taking the Ice Man to a Brewer game for a late dad's day / bday gift and I believe Bean and I are hanging out w/ G'ma D. Sounds like a nice family weekend to me!

I'll leave you with this "Midsummer Night's Dream"... Dooce. She makes a living blogging about her life and on the book she wrote about going coo coo after she had her first kid. Now that's what I call interesting. And I found out today she makes over 1 million dollars a year. Maybe I should start blogging about my co-workers and get fired so that I can start up my own internationally known blog and be rich? Yeah? You think??

Missed my babies!!

Well, I made to Vegas and back without losing any money, breaking any bones, being robbed, getting in any fights and / or killing myself. It was a close one, but I made it! ;) The trip was amazing and I had a wonderful time with the girls. I'll post pictures later today of the trip (I'm on my work computer now and the pics are on our home computer).

The only part of the trip that was hard to deal with was being away from the fam. I missed Layla the second I walked out the door and had to do everything in my power to keep my mind on Vegas and not on my little blond baby girl while I was there. I think that I'll be traveling WITH my girl for the next several vacations instead of without her. It was so hard to be away from her!!! And it seems like she grew a ton and learned how to speak every word in the English language while I was gone! How does that happen in four days??

Here are just a few pics of her from last night. She was helping me load and unload the dishwasher while daddy did his homework. For some reason, she loves the dishwasher. While playing, she asked for some milk and I gave it to her in a "big girl" cup (no, we haven't made the full transition from bottle to sippy yet... deal with it. Every kid is different and what works for yours may not work for ours. For those of you who weren't going to judge us in the first place, sorry). You'll see how happy she was about the sippy option.

The last video is for Stef. Not the same video you watched on my camera, but similar. I'll be sure to post the video of her dancing to Beetles music on my next post - just for you. :)

Happy Thursday, wish it was Friday!

Hmmm... What's in here??

Mummy's little helper.
After breakfast this a.m. -- Oops, eggs and apples on the floor mummy (or, in Layla's words, "ewww mummy!").

We're in T-R-O-U-B-L-E.

My little dancing queen!!

Life Moves TOO Fast

My dearest little Layla - Yesterday, you turned 22 months old. Last night, as we laid on the floor together, you started "styling" my hair with your hands and a comb. You're blossoming into a beautiful little girl, and we only recently noticed that you're no longer our chubby little baby. You're a little girl, with stark white blond hair that curls into a little pig tail when we put it up and who loves dresses and shoes. You're starting to say more everyday (we're still awaiting your first swear word) and you love to be chased (by anyone including dogs), to dance, to tumble and to play outside. My favorite thing to hear you say, "Wuv you mummy!" This morning, you decided to wake up at 4:00 a.m. Daddy recently said he's no longer waking up with you in the middle of the night because he knows you don't need anything. You usually don't, but I always get up to check on you to be sure you're okay and not covered in poo poos. I let you cry it out for a while last night, but after listening to you wail, "Mummmy! Daddddy!" for about 10 minutes, decided I should peek. What happened next? Your blond curls popped up over the edge of the crib, you smiled, giggled a bit and said, "Mummy." Then, you handed me your blanket and reached out for me. How could I resist? I'm leaving for Vegas in just two days and won't see you for FOUR whole days. That is a record and I miss you already. So of course I scooped you up and snuggled you on the couch for an hour or so. Then, I snuck you into our bed and said, "Shhh, don't get us in trouble." You smiled and whispered, "Wuv you mummy."

Layla, I promise to do a better job at posting pictures and updates to your blog. We created this for you, so that you have something special to look back on when you're grown. Life moves too fast, especially for your working parents. But, life should never move so fast that we cannot stop to smell the roses and reflect on the moments in our lives that should be cherished and made into everlasting memories. We LOVE you soooo much!!!

.........

Latest and greatest in the Sherman household: I'm packing and ready for Vegas trip on Thursday. Cannot wait. Work has been overwhelming and a bit blah lately... strange that I can be so busy yet so unamused at the same time. Yesterday I found myself daydreaming in a meeting and wondering how on earth I ended up working for a giant financial institution, marketing to people about how much to save for retirement. Snnnoooooze. Important, yes. Amusing, not always. How do you make the transition from working for a financial institution for six years to doing some sort of marketing for a more light hearted company? I'm so much better at dreaming up fun slogans and pitches for travel companies, liquor / beer companies, retail, dining, etc. You just can't slam, "Who's gonna bail ME out?!" on a retirement flyer and expect to get that through compliance, you know? ;) Maybe I should just write a book. What would I write about though? Start my own reality show? Open a winery that delivers??

Jake is busy with summer school (fishing and land navigation) and post grad classes. His good friend Nimm is in town with his family so Jake's headed to the Brewer game tonight. Hopefully he's not as late tonight as he was on Saturday night. More tequila, babe?

Summer is finally here and the sun is shining. Oh happy day.... Looking forward to more summer events, cookouts, parties, and another vacation in August!

Stay tuned, and don't give up on us... I promise to do more posting in the future!!!