crossrhodes

Layla’s first 3 official words are:

1. “Haih!” - Hi with a southern drawl and a wave of the hand.
2. “Mmmeh!” - Amen with hands together after saying grace.
3. “Memo!” - points to Elmo and bends down to kiss Elmo’s book.

Also this weekend, Don and I noticed that she associates the sign language for “Praise the Lord!” with “Jesus” and vice-versa.  She would sign the song Jesus Loves Me and then raise her hands up high to praise the Lord at the end of the song.  I did not teach her that.  This morning during the singing at church, she raised her hands up when Don whispered, “Praise the Lord.”  Then without either of us coaching, she followed it with the sign for Jesus.  There was no “Jesus” in the song lyrics.  Wonder how she associates the two?

I wasn’t expecting James to remember to call me on Mother’s Day, but I was still a bit disappointed that I did not hear from him all day.  Before I went to bed, I sent him a text message reminder but I probably should have checked my voice mail first.  I had 2 missed calls from him earlier in the day.

“I’m just calling to say happy mother’s day!
[Something about his platoon sergeant "grounding" them.
Static. Static. Static.
Something about Layla.  2 more minutes of static.]
Love you!  Bye!”

Awww… he even said “Love you!”  I was so relieved the text message I sent earlier was generic enough to go either way: sarcastic or sincere.  It read: “happy mother’s day! tx 4 remembering.”  I hope he took it as the latter.

The moral of the story?  Check your voicemail before you send guilt-tripping messages to your children.  Or, at least send one with verbage that could be interpreted in different ways =)

• Attended a very full Sunday Easter Service, the 5th and last service of the weekend, and even the balcony was packed.  I love what the speaker said during his welcome speech, “We’re here every weekend, too, not just on Easter.”  LOL!!!
• Even the nursery was full so Layla stayed with us.  No, we were not late for church.  We keep Layla in the service until the sermon, then daddy takes her to the nursery.
• She wouldn’t keep her hat on, unless she can see herself in the mirror.  Then it was stare and point at the pretty baby.
• I gave her a little mirror to play with and she just made out with herself.  LOL!!!  “Kiss the pretty baby!”

Layla’s 1st Easter
1. Top Left, 2. Bottom Left, 3. Top Right, 4. Bottom Right.

• We met Lolo & Lola (my parents) after the service for lunch at one of our favorite Jersey diners, Mastori’s.  The men had roasted leg of lamb and prime rib; mom and I had fish.
• Lola brought homemade lugaw (Filipino version of porridge or congee) for Layla.  Chicken and brown rice in a savory ginger broth… yum!  I’ve been picking on it myself.  Ssshhh… don’t tell Layla =)

First set of cards donated to Gilda’s Club Westchester.
1. dsc_9594, 2. dsc_9596, 3. dsc_9609, 4. dsc_9603.

• 5 Easter cards, 3 thank you cards, 1 birthday card, 20 invitations, 12 sympathy cards, 5 Easter treat bags, and 3 decorated gift bags later, I finally cleaned my scrap desk!  Aaahhh… so gratifying!
• Don worked on the cars all day Saturday, in the rain and after the rain.  I was majorly PMSing so he made sure he was busy outside until dark =)
• James called and I listened to him gab and gab for almost an hour.  I forgot how much James can talk!  Oh yeah, we’re driving down to see him at the end of this week.

We hope you all had a blessed Easter!  He Lives!

Before: Our energy bill dropped by a third when James moved away to college.
After: While he was home for Christmas break, it spiked to 200%.  Yikes !!!

Before: When I put Layla to bed at night, she spends half an hour trying to climb over me and everything else on the bed before she crashes.
After: In the morning, I wake up to her poking and prodding my facial orifices, pulling my hair, or biting my cheek.

It’s fun being parents!