This isn't a great photo, but it the only one I have of Joseph. He is SUCH a sweetie. Bless his heart he is teething, dealing with adjusting to his family, jetlag and on top of it all he has bronchitis! We are hoping he is better in a few days. He is about two weeks older than Layla.

Good Friends

Well this was taken a few weeks ago, but I am happy to say that Vic and her son Josiah are coming back for a longer visit! So we'll have Jeni with her new baby boy from Ethiopia as well. We MUST get some photos. They are all about three weeks apart. Josiah is very interactive and fun and smiley. Updated photos coming soon!

"I Should Be Fired" Part One

I say Part One, because I am certain that there will be more segments to follow in my lifetime as a mother.

Early this morning, I was enjoying the lovely cool breeze (cool meaning about 98 degrees) in our yard and letting Layla run around in her walker. It's been awhile since I've had her out in her walker - the heat keeps us in all the time. Anyway, she's developed quite the leg power apparently. We have two sets of tile and a bunch of gravel in our yard. The gravel separates the tile as they are at two different heights. Well, Layla launched herself off one set of tile, through the gravel strip and fell head first on the lower tile. Yikes. She freaked out of course and I really didn't know what to do. I didn't want to head into the house because Tom was still sleeping. I figured our neighbors' kids were always screaming so I'd just stay outside. Good thing I did. A couple of seconds later she threw up on me. And I mean this girl threw up EVERYTHING in her stomach. It was all over my arms, my chest, my legs and even underneath my feet in my sandals. Now I really didn't know what to do! I sort of wandered around like an idiot and finally decided I couldn't just have her sobbing and both of us covered in nastiness. So I made it into the bathroom and tried to tug off her sweet yet un-functional dress. I lamely wiped her legs off with a tiny baby washcloth. I needed a garden hose in all reality. Anyway, to complicate matters, I was expecting someone at the door who actually never showed up. Thankfully. I calmed her down, got a new shirt for me and just pretended cleaning her legs got us both clean enough to continue the day.

A little later on we were on the little couch her room. Next to the couch is my "project table" covered in all sorts of fun and dangerous items. She was batting the bag of ballons around while I was on the phone with a friend comiserating over the first situation of the day. Suddenly Layla looks wierd and I remember seeing a balloon in her little fist. I throw the phone down and jam my finger in her cheek to open her mouth. Sure enough, there is a red ballon making its way down her throat. Oh My WORD! I'm awful.

So I get off the phone, thinking I should pay better attention to her. Then she throws a book between the couch and the wall. I blithly jam my arm down and realize I can reach the book. Well, I soon realize that I can't actually pull my arm out. I was seriously stuck! I kept trying to shift my weight to pull my arm out but some physics law that I'll never understand was at work and wouldn't release my arm! So with one arm jammed between the wall up to my armpit, and one arm around Lj who was still on the couch eyeing the bag of balloons, I try to throw my weight around to move the couch. Obviously, as I am typing this, I succeeded.

This is why I should be fired.

The photo show the gravel part she pushed through and landed on. You can just see the corner of the tile she was playing on originally. See my cool jeep? We are trying to sell it now that I am a mommy and need a spot for a car seat.... sad

Little Sheikh

I was at a wedding recently and saw this little boy running around. He is dressed in the way sheikhs dress when they are at formal events. How CUTE is he?!? The stick thing is essentially a riding crop for camels but men carry it on formal occasions like funerals or weddings etc.

This is SUCH a fascinating culture. I can't believe I am barely dipping my toe in after 2.5 years!

By the way, when I pulled my camera out there

was a reaction from all the women - they DON'T want their picture taken because they are not wearing their abayyaas. Weddings are the place to show it all off!

This is a mystery to me!

I'm not sure I'm up for the lifestyle of the blog. I'm not sure who would actually READ my blog. I already have You Tube and the Picasa. Hmmmm

Hopefully this one will actually post. It's like my 8th try tonight. This is when we were in Thailand. I was feeding Layla in the hotel room. She is actually a really neat eater if she isn't doing finger foods (=

We really enjoyed our time in Thailand once the conference was over!

Beauty sleep for everyone

For some reason, Layla started napping in our bed when we were in Thailand. It was quite lovely, but I am glad she doesn't do that all the time! It was perfect to do on vacation (= She does this adorable thing with her hand....when she has her thumb in her mouth, she likes to flutter her fingers and touch something like a pillow or a face or a stuffed animal. She's like me in that she likes to sleep with her face smooshed up against something. It was a little disconcerting at 3 months of age, but we're used to it now!

Why isn't this working???

This is on the plane to Thailand - we were able to use the bassinet which was really helpful. She slept well on the night flight there but not so well on the return flight during the day.

On the return flight we had a lady sitting next to me that was so IRRITATED with Layla even though she was hardly making much noise. She kept pulling her blanket over her head! It was so overly dramatic!

My Sleeping Beauty

How my dear child manages to sleep in these positions is unbelievable! I'm SO grateful that she's such a good sleeper. I can tell she is getting ready to drop a nap, however because she is playing longer and longer in her crib and not sleeping as much as she used to!

Look at my TEETH....NOW!

Layla Jane is such fun in her crib these days. I can't resist taking a bunch of photos of her. She is interacting a lot more and talking up a storm.

When I leave her for a nap I keep poking my head in to see what she's doing (=

Her teeth already look different than this since she has a third tooth already on the top. I think she is much less cute since she looks all wonky )=

8 months old this week!

Well, I have looked at three other people's blogs this morning (I am supposed to be filing our health insurance...) and have gotten inspired, guilted, and shamed into returning to the blog I started. (=

All the most recent photos are on the other computer so I'll have to upload later.

Layla is now crawling, pulling herself to a standing position, eating finger food, watching flies intently, turning pages in books as we read, sitting up in the bath and various other truly adorable things.

Her latest facial expression is the scrunchy nose smile. so sweet.

When we moved to this house I was at a loss for what to do with the dramatic arabic-style tiled floors. Happily, they a source of endless fascination for Layla.