Santa

I braved it to the mall on Monday to go see Santa... when I go there, I got in line and I was pretty happy, because it was short. Layla was asleep and I thought to myself... awesome, this is going to be easy. Well, I was wrong. After standing in line for about 10 minutes, keeping to myself, some crazy annoying lady comes behind me asking, (in a very loud voice trying to wake Layla up!) "HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WAITING? IS THE LINE MOVING? BLAH BLAH BLAH!" and the lady in front of me is like, "It isn't moving and Santa is taking his lunch break in 5 minutes for an hour!" WELL, I have zero patience and I quickly turned around and left the line.

After some shopping and meeting Jayson at the food court for lunch, I decided to give it another try. Layla looked too cute and I did not want to come back to the craziness of the mall. So... I stood in line for an hour and Layla was pretty good compared to the undisciplined children around me...until... she had to sit on Santa's lap. In her defense he was pretty scary! He wasn't a very Jolly Old Saint Nick. The second I set her down she started screaming and Santa was pissed! I apologized and whipped a candy cane out... it distracted her for the 2 seconds it took to get a picture in! She was not about to smile, but I figured some kids won't stop screaming, so she did pretty good! What an experience.

PS. Don't worry Grandma, I am sending you a copy in the mail.

Things I want to remember

Layla is almost 17 months old... time flies...
She is so adorable right now, okay ALWAYS!
Things she can do...
count to 3
say the sounds to the following animals:
cow
horse
pig
sheep
elephant
duck
chicken
snake
lion
cat
dog
monkey

Words she says:
bite,elmo, sock, shoe, eyes, nose, mom, Dad, grandma, papa, buster (buby), Ollie, eat, water, juice, baby, dog, cat, Where'd it go? Yes, NO! fish, bear, little bill, Carly, blue, outside, it's hot! it's cold! Where daddy go? dixie (my mom's dog), cookie, cracker, done, uh oh, uh oh, uh oh (over and over again) dooey (dorah), wow, hi, bye, night night, she almost has down... love you :) abc, turtle.

She loves to dance and she is at a silly stage where she shows off all the time. She is obsessed with chapstick. Loves to play in the junk drawer and to pull out all the plastic bags out of the drawer. She likes to store things in the cupboard (her bottle, ornaments, ect.) She loves to ride on mom's back and gets crazy excited whenever she see's daddy. She runs around the house saying, "Where's Daddy?" with a furrowed brow! Her favorite things right now are Carly and Ollie... it is the first thing she says in the morning. She is really into hugs and holds really tight. She gives kisses when you let her do something she knows she shouldn't. She already knows how to work it! Her baby doll is very important to her and last night she tried to put one of her diapers on it! I am sure I forgot many things, but I am glad I will always have these memories to look back on!

Thanksgiving in Phoenix

We were fortunate enough to take a trip to Phoenix to visit with Jayson's family for Thanksgiving. We had an awesome time. We were able to get together with his extended family for Thanksgiving dinner although our flight was 2 hours late. It was great to finally meet some of them.

Jayson's Grandparents live there as well as his mom and sister. We stayed at his Grandparents home and enjoyed visiting with them. His Grandma and Grandpa are 86 years old and you would never guess it by looking at them. They are the cutest couple. Jayson has always told me how much he admires their relationship. His Grandpa always opens the car door for his wife, it is the sweetest thing. You can tell how much they are still in love after all these years.

We spent one day at a ghost town with Layla's grandma and auntie Talitha. We went on a train ride and saw some horses... We also had a picnic by the lake. What a great trip. The 80 degree weather was heavenly.It is too bad they all live so far away.

She loved Talitha's gum!

Train ride

Ghost town

Cookin in the kitchen

Layla loved her Great Grandpa

Doesn't she look great?

A little game of Chicken Foot

Veterans Day

Every time I think about the sacrifice Jayson made for our country... I am humbled. I cannot imagine giving up everything in your life, being completely selfless and risking your life for something.
Jayson, thank you so much for your service. I know you think I am a cheese ball, but you really are my hero.

Thankful

One of the blogs I follow decided to write down 5 things each day she is thankful for each day until Thanksgiving. I thought this was a great idea. Although I am not motivated enough to do it each day... I thought this would be a great post. I have so many things to be thankful for, even though some days, it is hard to think of anything.

Things I am thankful for:
1. That Jayson and I both have wonderful jobs. The way things are right now really suck for most people. No matter how much we complain about our jobs, we are very lucky to have them.
2. My wonderful husband... no matter what I throw at him, after a bit of convincing, he always cooperates. He is such a supportive and involved husband/daddy. He is always willing to give me a break from the crazy baby and watch Layla all weekend when I have my inconvienient classes. (although he always says, "WHY do you have to take more classes, I don't understand!") He loves Layla more than anything and that just makes me love him more than I did, which seems impossible. I thank god daily that he led me to this wonderful man. I guess he really does have a master plan.
3. Buster and Oliver... even though they are mainly a big pain in my **s, I love their smashed faces. Jayson and I have felt so much sadness lately for our poor baby buster... she won't be with us much longer. But, I am thankful for everyday I have left with her poopy butt.(tear)
4. Layla... I cannot describe the love I have for this little monkey. She makes each day worth living. Anyone that knows me, knows how much I HATE mornings, but all the grumpiness goes away when her sweet smile is one inch away from my face, with an expression that says "wake up mommy lets play!" I am thankful that god gave me such a blessing. I cherish every moment I spend with her, she entertains me continually. I could go on for pages, but I guess what I am trying to say is...I love you little one.
5. Family. They say it takes a village... our village is absolutely the most wonderful in the world. I cannot express the gratitude I have for my support. So to you, wonderful family, a million thank you's aren't enough. I love you all so much and I don't know what I would do without you.

Happy Holidays and let's all be thankful for the wonderful blessings we have.

Halloween

We had fun on Halloween night. We went to my parents and showed off Layla's lady bug costume and then to hang out with Jesse, Erin and Xander. Layla played like crazy with Xander and his cousins Drew and JJ. She was the cutest lady bug around. She wasn't very happy about wearing it, but it was worth it.

Pumpkin Patch

We finally made it to the pumpkin patch. Mainly to take some cute pictures of Layla... I love the weather right now, it is so perfect. Layla is so big... today I looked at her while she was drinking out of her juice box independently like a pro and spooning jello into her own mouth...Thinking... Where did my baby go?

Jayson's half marathon

Wow, Jayson... you are my hero.

My wonderful husband decided to train for a half marathon(13.1 miles). I was able to tag along as the babysitter and enjoy stuffing my face and a free trip to Moab. I watched Xander and Layla while Jayson, Jesse, Erin and our friends Spencer and Angie ran the race. They all did amazing. Jayson finished the race in 2 hours, which is incredible. Way to go babe! Keep motivated :) Maybe you will rub off on me one of these days.

We stayed an extra day and enjoyed the perfect weather and amazing scenery. I forced Jayson to go see some arched the day after the race even though he was sore. He was a trooper. I have never been to arches national park and I am so glad we made time for it because it was AMAZING! Layla slept in the carrier during the hike... the life of a baby! Layla had a fun time with her cousin... he gave her millions of open mouth kisses.

Layla's new words this month:
Carly (her favorite thing to say)
Bubbles (everything that is round is now a bubble)
Turtle
She says these words so clearly.. I am sure she is saying much more, but I am not the best baby interpreter.

She is so cuddly and adorable, I grow to love her more everyday.



We had the first ever Valadez Family Reunion a couple of weeks ago at the ranch. It was a really great experience. I met an uncle of Jayson's I have never met before. We were able to spend some quality time with his family and his Grandma Jean flew in from Chicago. It was really great to see everyone and spend time with relatives. Wayne and Lisa were amazingly prepared and we ate like kings... Jesse and Erin were nice enough to let us stay at the ranch and invade their space and stay in their awesome rooms for the weekend... what a great family! Thanks again you guys.



We are headed to Moab this weekend for Jayson's big half marathon. It will be really nice to go somewhere warm for a minute! He is a bit nervous but I know he will do wonderful. We are just trying not to get sick with all the nastyness going around.

I watched Landon and Carly this week and I was able to catch some really cute pictures of them! They are so cute together. Whenever Layla plays with them she passes out super early, they really wear each other out.