Where did July go?

July is almost over.  I am not sure what happened to this month other than we have been BUSY!  It was fabtabulous month of so many fun things.  Let me see if I can recap without forgetting things.  Uh...right.

D and my bff, Court, threw me an amazing surprise weekend of fun!  Turning 30 kind of came and went in June without much fanfare but with a promise of joy to come.  I was a little disappointed but was assured there would be chaos.  The second weekend in July finally came, and I was being Sherlock and trying to figure out what was going on.  Friday night I was told there was a 'dinner.'  I just assumed it was the usual Friday night family event and didn't think much about it.  Until we went south instead of north, and ended up at Oklahoma Joe's for BBQ instead of the usual Mexican fare.  While standing in line, who comes strolling across the parking lot?  Megs!  My longtime bff (there are a few of those, don't get lost) who lives in Denver.  Tricky lying liars! I had no idea she was going to be there!  I yelled and cried, and then introduced her to my kid which was awesome.  Also, another friend from Denver, Paul, lied about coming in to see his parents.  He showed up for dinner and hanging.  All LIARS.  So much fun...food, beers, chilling.  Saturday morning there was brunch and Megs was there waiting for us.  I was chatting with her when I was surprised by my friend from STL, Jeni the French Pea!  (Or just Pea.) Totally caught me off guard by first hiding behind a bush and then a car.  Tricksy foreign vegetable.  Too much goodness.  We sat and I was staring at my two friends who had surprised when ANOTHER Denverite (Denverarian?) plopped down next to me!  Kacee and her BF, Chris (who I had been dying to meet) were there too!  AND THEN her mom and step dad (long time friends of my grandparents and all Walkers) showed up!  Too much joy at one table.  I was blown away!  We had a blast at brunch (which Court and D disappeared from), and then went back to my place and there was a party going on!  Well, party prep.  And lots of pictures from my first 30 years.  Pictures I had hoped were long lost in the depths of some sea.  I think Pea put it politely..."You grew into your looks." :)  Anyway, big party, lots of people, lots of laughing, lots of margaritas.  Lots and lots of good times.  Sunday was more visiting with out of town guests, shopping, and napping.  It was a glorious weekend of celebrating.

The next weekend we went to Baltimore to visit my brother, John, and sister-in-law, Elizabeth.  It was my big birthday present from D and I was super excited.  They hadn't met Layla yet, and we had no plans for the weekend besides hanging out, eating crab cakes, and playing with Layla. She did GREAT on the flights.  She couldn't have cared less about taking off and landing.  In fact, I didn't even feed her during any of them.  Her ears never seemed to bother her, and she either slept or talked to the folks around us.  It was a BIG relief, and makes us feel a lot better about traveling to ATL and Germany later this year.  Baltimore was wonderful.  John cooked, we watched Downton Abbey, hung out with my Uncle Chris, and generally did nothing.  It was the perfect vacation.  J and E had a great time with Layla, and she enjoyed showing off her skills...talking, yelling, holding things.  You know, entertainment.  She even had her inaugural trip to IKEA. I am not sure she was aware of this milestone though!  It was the best weekend, and we were so sad to leave on Sunday.

Catching up on Layla's life...she talks all the time. Mostly at 6AM when she has a lot to say and needs to say it loudly.  It's hard to stay mad because it's just too cute.  She is almost rolling over but can't quite figure out how to move her arm out of the way so she can make that final turn.  She still hates tummy time though, so that will be a sad day when she discovers that the result of rolling over will land her on her belly.  She sits up like a champ as long as someone is holding her or she is hanging out in her seat.  She is still learning the finer points of balance.  And if she really is my kid...it could take some time.  We had a trip to the doc last week, and discovered she has eczema.  It's clearing up quickly but we have to be more careful with the stuff we use for her.  She has her four month appointment in a couple of weeks, but while we were there last week she weighed 13.5 lbs and was just shy of 25 inches long.  This could be why most of the 3 month clothes (which go to 24 inches) don't fit her.  She is her father's daughter.

August will be interesting as D has two trips to ATL scheduled.  We will make it.  If nothing else, I am grateful for the family and friends close by to help out.  In September we head to Chicago.  There is a large label expo that D's company shows at every year.  We are going along, and will have a great week of visiting with some coworkers of D's and folks we don't get to see often. 

Somewhere D has downloaded a ton of pictures of all of the happenings, but I can't figure out where he put them.  When I do, I will be sure to add them here.  For now...here is the kleine Schokolade.