Jef + Erika + Otto: July 2012

We had a pretty fun July. Otto got to go swimming for the first time. My boss invited us to her community pool at her new house! We all had a really fun time and Otto seemed to enjoy himself. As soon as we left he zonked out in his car seat.

At home, preparing to leave for the pool. He was a bit nervous.

Cool dude in his shades

One of the hardest parts of being a Mommy came with a work trip I took. One of my responsibilities at work is organizing my company's trip to the International Christian Retail Show each year. The 2012 show was held in Orlando. I really didn't like the idea of being away from my 10 month old & husband for 5 days, but I knew I would be really busy and hoped to just be distracted.

Otto helped me back before my trip.
He enjoyed throwing everything out of my suitcase.

I flew down to Orlando on Saturday to get our booth & hotel rooms situated.
I had a little fun reading on the plane. This was a Book Club pick and was actually pretty good.

Leaving the boys at the airport was really tough and I approached it like ripping a band aid off. I didn't want Otto to see me upset so I just kissed them and headed off to security. Jef and Otto's teacher made sure to keep me updated with photos and stories while I was away. One of the coolest parts of my week was getting to have dinner with TV producer Mark Burnett and his wife, actress Roma Downey. They are some of the nicest people I have ever met and definitely the most famous. They came to the show to share information and clips of their upcoming TV series for The History Channel called The Bible that begins airing March 3. I didn't get any photos with them, but I wish I had.

I did however get my picture taken with George W. Bush again. JUST KIDDING, he really a G.W. impersonator named John C. Morgan. Pretty convincing isn't he!

On July 21st we celebrated our friend Liam's 1st Birthday!! Jef had to work that Saturday so Otto and I went alone. We had a great time celebrating his accomplishments! It was a Mustache Bash. Amy made all of the kids little shirts or onesies with mustaches on them. They were adorable!