Last Week Recap

How is it already Monday?? These summer weekends are flying by. Before we know it we'll be putting up the Christmas tree! 

The most exciting thing our mall has is a soft play area for kids, an Old Navy, and these rides. Oh and a Kohls. If we're in a rush, we have to avoid the play area like the plague. Emma can sniff it out like nobody's business. 

I think I've mentioned about our little splashpad/spray ground right up the road. It is awesome for Emma's age-- Even if she just runs the perimeter of the area. She some how gets soaked and has a good time so a win. 

We were there twice last week and once the week before. We have a playdate at a different one tomorrow morning. I'd say we are getting good use of the swim suits. :-)

Oh and Nathan's mom got me that shirt and I love it! Except the fanciest place we go to is Sams so I may or may not have worn it there and then to..you guessed it, back to the splash pad. 

God our lives are exciting. I swear I only post this stuff because it's what I have pictures of. Anywho. My grandmother got E that coverup and it is perfect for the drive home! I also said "Say hi to Nanny" and she'll wave right at the phone. 

We met a little girl and her mom so chatted them up. The little girl (2.5) chased Emma around and stole her ball so that made for an easy bedtime. Boom. 

Friday morning we had gymnastics while Nathan mowed and Caralyn slept. Oh to be 19 again. Emma "volunteered" to show off the skill of the week so that was kind of funny. She is such a ham. 

Saturday it rained all freaking day and I think there was a tornado spotted somewhere not too far from us. I could be lying but I saw that on FB. We ordered take out and watched Cinderella. 

Sunday Nathan took Emma out for almost 2 hours (!!) so I could vacuum/laundry/woman's work. They came home with almost everything on the grocery list andplusalso: sunglasses (N), three outfits (E), pajamas (E), two books (E), and a Diet Coke (Duh). 

The crocs are still a bit big for her but I thought it was cute that Nathan picked this outfit for their day out.

Okay stay tuned next week: more trips to the splash pad. You won't want to miss!

Life Lately

Emma is napping so I thought I could throw up a post of some random pictures of life lately. 

Emma is 20 months old and definitely in the "helper" stage-- we love it! She wants to help with everything. Including vacuuming. :-) Unloading the dishwasher and dryer are her favorites. 

Our little hydrangea bush bloomed and it is so, so beautiful! Last year I Googled how to change their color (they were purple), so I'd say that was successful! 

Last week the outlet mall had the Mommie & Me group and it was so fun. We got all the freebies and left early because it was super crowded. Emma did awesome and doesn't mind the crowd or loud noises. One kid was just relentlessly screaming. Glad to see it wasn't mine (this time). 

Every morning when we wake up Emma wants to be so loud and play and throw things to the main floor. I always whisper because Caralyn & Nathan are sleeping and then she'll whisper too. So funny. 

It lasted for about 30 minutes but I loved Emma's first braid! <3 <3 <3 Seriously, little girls are the best! 

We had to get steaks & corn for our Father's Day dinner and because I have half a brain, we tried out the tiny cart. Kidding, a little. 

It was fun and Emma only ran into our ankles a dozen or so times. 

Saturday morning was gymnastics as usual. The teachers (coaches?) used to put up mats to keep the cats (I mean kids) in, but they stopped doing that. 

Anytime Emma spots me, she makes a run for it. I am the only parent who literally has to hide. Granted, most of the parents are about 5 feet away from their child during separation time. CUT THE CORD, people!

We were getting ready to head out the door for the mall around 10:30-- what better time to have pasta with vodka sauce. 

We have a love/hate relationship with balloons. They occupy her and keep her happy, but oh my gosh she wants to squeeze the life out of it. I can only imagine the screams the day a balloon pops around her. 

Every day is just so much fun with my people! Caralyn had made Oreo balls and Emma somehow weaseled her way into getting one. I don't really know why Nathan was in her crib. 

After our Father's Day adventures a certain little girl was so tired. She snuggled right up and went to bed super easily that night. :-)

We go through about 2-3 bananas a day. We are like a bunch of monkeys! My grandmother found that romper at a thrift store and it's a little big but so soft & comfy. Win win. 

We had a ton of boxes from the grill, some diapers, and Nathan randomly bought Emma a shopping cart (!!), so Caralyn made a castle! 

It is so awesome. We may paint it or cover it with wrapping paper? Not sure yet. Oh and we brought the potty down because E is showing so much interest lately. I'm way too lazy to start but at least having it nearby will keep her familiar. Who knows, maybe she'll teach herself. Amiright?

And Caralyn always seems to find the most random things online. I don't really know what to say but we were crying laughing so loud when she sent this to me. 

I don't know. There is obviously something in the water up here because we just laugh and laugh every time we see it. It gets funnier each time.

We are trying to think of a way to prank Nathan-- our last one fell through so we need to find bigger and better ideas. All ideas welcome. ;)

Kid Table Makeover

Emma got her play table from my grandparents for Christmas. I thought I wanted the cheap Ikea one, but I'm glad we went with the nicer one from Toys R Us. 

The Ikea one is unfinished, so I would have had to paint it anyway, and it's a bit smaller. Maybe I'll get that one for the basement some day or something. Who knows. We could have 8 kids and need another table. 

It came with 4 chairs-- each a different color. It is totally gender neutral but I knew I wanted it to be a bit girly for Emma. At first I thought I liked grey, gold, and purple, but Caralyn didn't like the purple. 

We decided to go with Coral and I'm so glad we did. 

The picture above is from December and a "before" picture. It is completely finished, which meant we had to prime it before we painted it. 

Such. A. Pain. But so, so worth it. :-) 

We headed to Lowe's on a Tuesday-- primer, 2 paint colors (grey/almost white and coral), and a top coat to protect it from food/marker/etc. 

It was a long process. Mostly because everything required multiple coats. We ended up not doing the blue chair because we would have had to prime it 3 times. Maybe one day I'll do it if I am bored. ;) 

The gold paint I found at Target in the house/tool area. Caralyn taped the legs for the table & chairs about 4.5 inches up. It was super runny so again, lots of coats. 

By Sunday it was done and so so so perfect. The three chairs are coral and looks so natural-- not like we have a day care in our family room. :-) 

And I can't believe I forgot to take a picture, but I found a roll of construction paper at Ikea that my FIL finagled onto the table. It is underneath (hidden), and Emma can just pull for more paper and rip it off. 

She's only held onto the paper and run away like 3 times, so a win in my book. 

Father's Day 2015

Father's Day and grilling seem to go hand in hand, right? Luckily I found a grill for Nathan for our anniversary and we got to test it out. 

Caralyn is our designated grocery shopper and she picked up some water balloons-- bingo. I give her my Red Card and she comes home like 5 hours later. Kind of exaggerating. 

Grandma found that bathing suit at Macy's, I think. We need it in every size. And in my size. Emma loved carrying around the water balloons and had the same one until way after we ate, LOL. 

Nathan thinks he's so funny chucking balloons at me. Little does he know I can go buy more and get him back this weekend when we grill chicken. 

Isn't that cool? I had seen videos of these "new" water balloons on FB, but never tried them out. Apparently that's all they sell now. We are pretty out of the loop over here! 

Don't worry I watched Emma like a hawk and loaded the kid up on sun screen. Not pictured: The chair Caralyn chucked off our deck that is now handicapped. 

I feel like all of these pictures say the same thing: summer. We are so happy to see you, summer! We had about 100 water balloons that lasted all of 15 minutes. Emma was thrilled with the 2 little blue ones and watched us chase each other around. 

All in all a wonderful day celebrating the guy who does so much for us! He does the yard work on the hottest days, kills spiders for me, enjoys vacuuming, and is the best dish doer. 

Emma having some serious conversation with Caralyn (above). I'm still nervous to give her steak, so she had corn and about a billion snacks later that night. 

Such a fun day. God sure blessed us with this dude! Happy Father's Day! xoxo

Flashback Friday (FD Edition)

Had to do a little Flashback Friday today in celebration of Dad's Day on Sunday. I have some pretty great dads in my life and I'm so thankful for every one of them. I'm a pretty lucky girl! 

                             

Of course my dad is pretty awesome. We have always been close and even more so since my mom died. We now only talk on the phone about 4 times a day. ;)

I think that picture (below) was the year I threw a pie in his face. I'll have to confirm with him but one year I was so gung ho about it-- must have gotten the idea from Nickelodeon or something. 

 

Nathan is such a great daddy to Emma! She is so blessed. He takes her on little day dates every couple months (I really should nag him to take her more) to the bookstore or shoe store. Last time they came home with $80 worth of books. $80!! Our budget can't handle any more daddy/daughter dates. 

When Emma was first born he changed all of her diapers until she was about a week old. He is such a hands on Dad and that makes me super thankful. 

The picture above was on his birthday! And below was when he was the only one who did the snot sucker. He was an expert at it and never let me even try! Now we can't even bring that thing into the same room as Emma without tears. 

They always have fun together and he taught Emma how to eat freeze pops. She knows where we keep them, where we keep the scissors (obviously out of reach), and will run to the drawer for them when she needs the plastic cut. It is hilarious. 

And of course Emma's grandpas. They are both so good with her and love her to pieces. Both of them are always singing to her or right on the floor playing with her. I have a video of Emma walking for the first time (or close to it) right to her Grandpa Boese and he is encouraging her to come-- it is so sweet! 

Emma used to be nervous? afraid? of her grandpas when they would visit for the first few hours/minutes. It was so funny. We don't really know why but she would make this adorably sad face and cry. She didn't do it the last time they came-- guess that phase is over! 

My dad always encourages us to push the limits (not the right word, but it's all I got) with Emma and take her all over-- it's good for her! So when he comes we're always gone doing things and Emma is always excellent for him. 

And of course my grandpa, Poppy! I have called him Poppy all my life and still do. Even Nathan does which always puts a smile on our faces. 

He used to cut my hair when I was little and I stayed at their house every Friday night growing up so my parents could go out. Even when I was sick! 

My dad always jokes that he never answers the phone on Father's Day.. he doesn't want to find out if he has other kids! Ha. 

Okay Mommie Free Time is over! Home skillet is up and reading books. 

Grief

Grief is a funny thing. After someone dies, life still goes on in the world around us. It is kind of like when we brought Emma home-- all these people were just getting gas and driving to work. Didn't they know we were driving home with our first baby? 

When my mother died, life had to go on. I had to go to school. Laundry. Dishes. You still have to get gas. You have gas. ;) Doctor appointments. You have to feed your dog. 

Life was pretty busy for me in 2009 and I didn't really have time to process what had just happened. I'll never forget that The Wizard of Oz was on that night, and Nathan & I watched Desperate Housewives together while I did homework. 

Since becoming a mother, a whole new wave of emotions has hit me. I now understand the love my mom had for me, the love my grandmother had for her . . . The worries, the newness, the craziness, the mess. I now understand why she always made me call her before bed when I was away from her, or always use sunscreen. 

It kind of hit me the other day. Bath & Body Works is selling their "throwback" products and her favorite scent is one of them. It brought right me back. It's a tangible thing that she used. And I can get my hands on some. 

I don't have many things of hers. 2 hoodies and a dog. This is a huge for me! So I had to go to the store and buy all the Cucumber Melon products they had. :-) 

It's sort of like when my dad goes to the Altamonte Mall. He parks in the upstairs Dillards parking lot. That's where she parked. Every time. We always parked there. It's crazy to think that place still exists. It's a physical place she went. I want to go back there and just soak it all in.

Womp womp. But we are pretty blessed with a certain toddler . . . who is also obsessed with a certain poodle. . . which I think is no coincidence!

God sure blessed us.

Last Week Recap

Emma's table has been "under construction" so we had to improvise for Father's Day coloring. ;) I just googled and found that giraffe one..duh! 

Monday after Nathan left we headed to Lowe's and got all the goodies we needed for our table makeover. It's done now and I'm so happy with how it turned out. 

So glad to have E's table and the kitchen table back! 

In between coats on Tuesday we just hung around the house and played outside. It was very nice in the shade and we had drinks out there, snacks. . . almost like a beach if you ask me.

This box has been sitting out for over a week now (2?). What can we do with it? We really want to turn it into something and use the leftover paint from Emma's table. 

Some ideas we are considering: Puppet stage, farmers market to go next to her kitchen, car, and the recycling bin on Wednesday morning. 

Emma loves eating in there because the dogs don't bother her. Maybe we'll just keep it as a box! I found some dried blueberries that were several days old. Yum. 

Found that picture (above) and sent it to Nathan. We have been getting thisclose to going over our data every month. 

Emma loves sweeping and vacuuming. We may have to ask Santa for a mini kit for Christmas. The birds eat the seed so fast we are filling it almost twice a week! Greedy little things. 

We had open gym on Wednesday, which means "follow Emma around for an hour". In all honesty it was fun but exhausting. I love when we walk in her coach always yells, "Hey Em!". They are so nice there. 

Thursday? Friday? We randomly hit up the outlet mall. It was pretty quiet so E had fun charging from store to store. She loves smoothies so we had to splurge and get her one from Planet Smoothie. I did find a giraffe onesie from Gap for $9.  

Not a great picture but this is the finished product! I love love love it. So glad we decided to go with coral. It is absolutely perfect. Maybe I'll do a blog post on it but it was pretty simple just took a while with all the coasts, priming, and concealing spray.                                                                                                                                                                        

Went to Target to pick up an RX and Caralyn had posted that pic (above) to FB. My sweet girl! And clearly she knows how to manipulate Caralyn because homegirl did not have a popsicle when I left. ;)

My friend's kids got dedicated to their church last night. It was such a sweet service and I think we may try out their church on Sunday. I'm excited!

They had cake and cupcakes set out for afterwards and Emma charged at them the entire time. At least she was not the child who poked a whole in the cake. 

It was fun to "dress up" and go out and celebrate those sweet babies. And when we got back N & I snuck out for a super quick date. Win win. 

Emma is waking up from her nap so Mommie Free Time is over! Happy Monday, friends.