Lately

The Budweiser Clydesdales were in town a couple days this week and my mother really wanted to take the kids to see them. 

They were HUMUNGO. And so pretty.

Lucy was loving it.

As we were about to leave, we saw my friend Amy and her boys, so we stayed to play with them and waited to watch the horses leave.

I don't know about you, but Ryder looks like he could pass as a Barry brother. They all three have the exact same hair. Its pretty awesome.

While we waited on them to leave Lucy snacked....

...and Ryder cheesed it up. Of course he doesn't look at the camera though. This kid always looks down and to the side when I take his picture.

The Clydesdales were at the amphitheater, so of course they had a band playing. Lucy decided it was a great time to bust out her new moves.

Yea....she doesn't have shoes on. She did come with shoes, BUT I felt bad because we were in a rush to get out there before the horses left so I crammed her feet in these shoes that honestly should have been stored away a month ago. I decided it would be fine for her to be barefoot for 20 min. She lived :) And on a productive note I rounded up all of her shoes that have been lingering in random rooms of the house and put them back were they belong and purged all the too little shoes from her closet. 

Yay, dinner has been eaten, baths have been taken and now its off to bed! Oh buddy, I was freaking exhausted.

We have some fun things planned for this weekend including a baby shower, birthday party, and maybe a trip to see the Blue Angels! As in a trip to the Northport Wal-Mart parking lot......we learned our lesson the first year people.

What do you have going on?

Spring is Here!

My poor Ryder has been really sick for the past couple of days. He went in for his 4 year check up and had a little bit of fever and goop coming out of his eyes. The doctor said it was pinkeye and gave us a prescription for drops. The next morning he was running a fever and has been every day since. He has been laying around, not wanting to eat much and is really pitiful. 

So, since we have been chained to the house so Ryder can get well I have been taking miss Lucy outside and letting her roam around the yard. Unlike Ryder this girl doesn't need anyone to play with. She will go sit in a pile of clovers and just pick them until I tell her to stop. 

Since Spring (or maybe Summer since it was 85 degrees yesterday!) is officially here I decided it would be fun to let Lucy play in the hose.

Oh man, get ready. There were smiles and tears. 

Her first little taste of playing with the hose this year. Look how cute and timid she's being.....

I turned the pressure up a little at this point. Still being kind of shy about it. Don't worry, she'll get into it. *Side note: She found this Alabama pacy somewhere in the laundry room. It was Ryders. You know, back when he took a pacy....when he was like a month old....

There's that smile!

 

Oh Snap. She loves it. 

  

Apparently the Advil started to kick in. Ryder peeked out the window and saw how much fun the sis was having and wanted to join in :) I'm glad he felt just a little better.

  

At this point Lucy was still being pretty sweet about letting Ryder play in the water. The key here though is that she was still the one holding the hose. Ryder doesn't like to get wet, which is good, because a sick kid + getting drenched with a hose doesn't sound like a plan. He stayed pretty much dry except for that little bit on his pants. 

And here we are. Ryder wants a turn with the hose. And I can't stress enough how sweet he is. He asks Lucy so politely for a turn......she didn't like that too much...

"Oh my God, MOM! Do you not see that he took it away from me?! DO SOMETHING!" No girl.

"Seriously, why aren't you stopping him!" 

"Alright, this is just getting ridiculous. Watch out, I'm about to go all out."

 Oh and believe me she pitched a big one. Another spank(seriously, the 12,000 of the day) and a little redirection and we are on to playing happily in a puddle.

Ryder finally gets that crazy girl off his back. He doesn't even pay her any attention when she is acting like that. Its so often and over every little thing that he has just learned to tune her out. I really can't wait til this phase is over with.

 

Shortly after, George gets home from work. Man, this face is awesome!

And he informs Luce that it's time to go inside. This is the face she makes when hearing the sad news. Um hello, do we not see how busy she is watering the driveway??

When she doesn't do what we say("put the hose down, lets go") George holds her hand herding her towards the door.

Here you are about to see the 3 stages of a her silent protest.

Stage 1: Throws her head back and arches her back

Stage 2: Goes completely limp

Stage 3: Plays dead and lays on the ground. Does she care that she is outside soaking wet and in the grass? Nope. She doesn't discriminate on where she will do the silent protest.

SWEET JESUS. She is a hot mess. For some balance, I thought I would throw this little sweet nugget in: If you are laying on the couch and there is a blanket beside you, she will cover you up. If you are crying, she will very sweetly rub your cheek and make a "shhhing" sound :) And she loves to give kisses.

See, in case you thought I wanted to send my 18month off to boarding school the fact is that she makes up for the crap moments. Most of the time...

*pic from here

Here is what is swilring around in my life lately.

• I can't wait for summer to get here. Occasionally in the summer I would go sit in my backyard and read a book and let the sun dry my hair while Lucy was napping. Of course I can't do this everyday, but on the days I did I was so relaxed.
• Our washing machine broke last week. Well, it would go through all the cycles perfectly but it wouldn't agitate. Thank goodness my dad had a super old one from the 80's in storage that works. If it works that is all I care about. Plus, it washes our clothes in half the time the other washer did. Win.
•  We haven't been going to bed until almost midnight lately. I don't know how George and I got on this path, but it is not a good one to be on. Tonight we are going to bed at 10:30, if not sooner!
• Ryder has been having some sleep issues as well. About 6 months ago we let him sleep in our room because Lucy would just scream and scream when it was time to go to sleep. So we thought it was pretty cruel to make Roe stay in the room and listen to her scream. We let him stay in our room until she stopped that nonsense. Well, Lucy is now a champion sleeper.........and Ryder is still in our room. If we even mention that he is going to sleep in his room he breaks down into a panic. What have we done! He used to be so fine with sleeping in his own room. In the dark, alone, with the door closed. Now he is "scared of the dark". I am going to start preparing him today that he and Lucy are both going to sleep in their beds tonight. It will be a rough week, but I have to get my room back! I just wish I could sit in my room and read a book before bed, but I can't when a 4 year old needs to sleep. Im thinking a sleep machine will be a great help in this. I get it, silence & darkness are creepy sometimes. 
• I have recently discovered dry shampoo. IT IS AMAZING. My hair is super oily. I can shower at 10 pm, go to bed, wake up at 7:30 and it looks like I haven't washed my hair in 5 days. It would be so much easier to take shower at night and then all I have to do in the a.m. is get dressed, straighten my hair, wash my face, brush my teeth and put make up on. Dove makes some that is about $5 a can. It has only been 2 weeks and I have already went through 3 cans though. It doesnt last very long thats for sure. Bumble and Bumble makes some that I am sure is way better and lasts longer, but I haven't convinced George that it's worth it to drop $35 on dry shampoo. 
• Grocery shopping is on my list of ToDo's today.....which is always a fun chore with two kids in tow. Saracasm. 

What do you have going on in your life?

 

A Little Crazy

 

She looks cute enough, but man, sometimes she makes me want to turn in my parent card for a day. Can you do that? 

 

Lately she has been SOOOO whiny. About EVERYTHING.

Dont worry fellow moms, she's not teething, & no earache. She just gets mad at me when I wont let her be as independent as she thinks she is.

This girl thinks she is 20 years old and ready to see the world. Um WRONG.

 

When we go to the grocery store she will pull out all the stops to get out of the cart. She sees that Ryder is allowed to walk around, un-captured, and she thinks she should be awarded the same privileges. Sorry sister. I dont want to pay for the 5,000 jars of baby food you will knock off the shelves. Have a nice day.

 

But then on the flip side she wants to cling to me and gets mad if I walk two steps away from her. She always acts like this when we are home. The other day we were looking at an elmo book on the couch and I stood up and she freaked. I didnt even go anywhere! 

 

She will hand me a book, sit in my lap and get mad that i dont turn the pictures fast enough. She'll hand me a toy and get mad that I dont play with it right.

George and I always joke that she is a mini Donald Trump. Its her way or its wrong.

 

 

I can hear her little corporate self now: "YOU'RE FIRED!"

New Shoes and a Sneak Peek

Hello Friendlies! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Mine was alright, but can I just say that I am glad we are back to normal life this week? Vaca was fun and all, but routines make me happy :)

I have been looking all over for Lucy some cute shoes for fall. Somehow Ryder has 10 million pairs of shoes and Lucy has none. Well, I did just buy her 3 pairs at Old Navy, but they are pretty basic and not really my fav. But there is an Etsy shop I have had my eye on since I was pregnant with Lucy. They sell A-freaking-Dorable mary janes. I wanted to buy some for her when she was a little baby, but they are about $35. So, I realized I would use my brain and decided she could have a pair when she was actually walking. $35 for an accessory(which is what a shoe is for a person who cant walk)? Um, no. Im all about deals. Which is why today she was dressed head-to-toe in baby Gap, and the whole outfit cost $20. Oh, you wanted to see the cute shoes and go to the Etsy site? Here it is!

 

 

 

 

 Ok, see! Aren't they awesome! They have tons more cuties....here to check them out!

Now I just need to figure out which ones I want :)

 

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Sneak Peek! My beautiful friend Emily took these amazing pics at Lucy's birthday party. There might be a full birthday post later, with links to the mason jar tutorial :)

 

 

 

Hope everyone has a great day, I think we are heading up to skate church tonight.

We're Back!

 

pic from here

YAY! WE ARE HOME!!!! This will be a quickie post, I will share our pics and adventures with you tomorrow.

We had so much fun and it was awesome to get away, but oh buddy are we glad to be back home. This was our first trip down with Lucy and the drive there and back went really well. Both kids were awesome, thanks to the dvd player my mom got them ;) Im not a fan of kids constantly watching or playing something, but on a long car trip with two young children it was a lifesaver. 

It has been fun getting back on Pinterest, and catching up a bit on the blogs I read. The condo didnt have internet. 

Now I have a mountain of clothes to wash and dry and put away. That is the craptastic part of going on vacation. 

Two milestones did happen while we were away: 1) Ryder got two splinters in his foot! Stupid wooden deck :( 

2) Lucy started to really walk. She has been taking steps for a while now, but only like 3 or 5, then she would fall. But now she is walking everywhere. I mean she still falls some, and she sometimes thinks that crawling is the way to go. But she's getting it!

Ok, that's it for my boring update! I will be picture heavy tomorrow! BYE!

A Day of Shots

 *pic from here

Today Lucy had her 12 month check up. The appointment was at 9:30, so I arrived 10 min late, of course. I am late every single solitary place I go. You would think I would realize it does not in fact "only take me an hour and 15 min" to get out the door. In reality, it takes me about TWO hours and 15 min  from the time I start getting ready to when i walk out the door. My brain never added and extra hour to my routine when I had children. I should have caught on by now since my first child is nearly 4, but I havent : /.

Anyway, I was at the pediatrician for a full TWO hours. I mean, even though I was 10 min late, that is a ridiculous amount of time for a well check. Especially when all Lucy wants to do is crawl around on the dirty floor. I try really hard to occupy her in my lap with books, or up on the exam table with toys, but after about 25 min she is over it and I give in and let her play on the floor. Go ahead, send me to mom jail. 

She got 5 shots today. I have never been one to get upset or become anxious about my kids getting shots. I mean, it hurts for just a second, then they get over it. Today though I wish she didnt have to get so many, and I feel for her now because she is kind of irritable. She is sound asleep in her crib right now though, so Im sure she will be good as new when she wakes up. Her nap was a little off today because of the appointment, and then I met some friends for lunch afterwards at McAlister's. Let me tell you something, McAlister's has THE BEST Heath Bar cookies you will ever put in your mouth. I have always been a fan and cant go eat there without acting like freaking Cookie Monster. I wish I could just buy out their whole stash.

Im glad we are home and Lucy is sleeping. Naps are a top priority in this house. I have friends whose kids just dont take naps, or can take naps in the car and are cool. My kids arent so easy breezy. If they dont get their routine naps in they are crank monsters. That makes the day no fun for anybody, so we schedule our lives around Lucy's 9-11:30 am nap and Ryder and Lucy's 2-5pm nap. 

Oh, I also filled my car up with gas today for the beach trip. My 4Runner was on E. It cost $75 to fill that car up! GEEZ! 

I think that's it for me and my day. Oh, except for this nugget. When I was at the doctor in the waiting room this kid came in wearing a full out Batman costume. Another mom in the waiting room shot me a look like "I cant believe she let her kid wear that". I didnt return the snob look because if Ryder asked to wear something like that I wouldnt object. But this kid did come stand RIGHT next to me and started rubbing my arm very slowly. I did cut my eyes at him over that. 

Bye!

Happy Birthday!

Today is a pretty awesome day; it's Lucy's 1st birthday! We have had a pretty low-key day so far. After we had breakfast and dropped Ryder off at Pre-School we came home, drank some milk, and took a nap. Well, she did :)

After sleeping beauty woke up from her long morning nap we went outside and had a little picnic lunch. She was more interested in the dessert though. Last night I made these Chocolate-Coconut Bars. Don't make these unless you are ok with eating the whole pan. Because you will. Unless you package them up and give them away to your friends. Your friends will love you.

When George gets home from work we are headed to my grandfather's to open some presents with my family and eat some birthday ice cream. Im honestly sick of cake right now. I don't think Lucy will mind :)

Isnt that quilt fun? My grandmother made it. It was mine when I was little, or maybe it was my brother's. Either way, I have it now! hahaha! I made the cake plate, and my sweet friend April made Lucy's awesome shirt! She is oh so crafty. We still haven't ever had a craft date together, and that makes me sad :(.

Lucy has started taking a few more steps now. She would randomly take one step every couple of days and then fall. That was it for her and walking. But about 5 days ago she started taking about 5-7 steps before falling. She will get there soon enough. She is also all about the word "cat". Everything is cat. I know she knows what an actual cat is though. Because when she sees Cat's Baby and Baby Kitten (our two cats, Ryder named them. We call them CB and BK for short) she says "cat" and gets super excited. But with everything else she points to it and says cat almost like a question. I've told her a million times that the flowers are not cat and neither is the light. Oh, babies.

Off to work on my 7 Day Toy Cure. Thank you Lord for the Hulu+ app. Bye!