Beach Baby!

Um, attention people: Lets hurry up and go down to the beach. There is a lot of sand that needs to be inserted into my mouth.

I kept trying to get Ryder to bury my feet in the sand. Ya know, the lazy parent's excuse that makes the kid think they are participating in the sand fun, when in reality they are asleep in the chair.....he didnt buy it. That's ok, I really like building sand castles. My mother loaded us up with sand toys for the beach, so we had some serious construction going on.

There will little "baby pools" where the tide had come in. Lucy had the best time ever. I wasnt a fan because it was all a little too warm. Plus I saw several kids pop squats in them to pee. No thanks. Lucy was out after that....

Whoa. Im too cool for pics.

Checkin to see if the parentals are looking.....

Oh yea, I got this......

THE OCEAN! FREEDOM!!

seriously, every single time we set her down she took off like a freaking marathon runner for the ocean. 

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There was other fun besides the beach though..

Whoop! Walked right in and sat down at Sea-N-Suds. My bff Randi always makes fun of me for loving SnS. She says its "cafeteria food"...she is also crazy, and a bit senile. 

I think Lucy might think its cafeteria food too. Hey, George and I are very patriotic on this night.

 

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After Sea-N-Suds we went to "The Shark Store". Otherwise known as Souvenir City.

 Ryder got a shark head on a stick...

...tried on awesome glasses with Georgio...

...and attacked me with his shark head in an alley of hats.

 

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Now, on to the beach for a little crab searchin'.

there werent any.....so we left : /

 

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Lucy's favorite thing was stuffing her face with string cheese,

and Ryder's favorite thing was playing video games at the Track. Im not gonna lie, I am the ski ball QUEEN. I wish I had ski ball in my house.

Hope you enjoyed my beach trip! We sure did! PEACE!

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!

Vintage Tuesday....on a Wednesday

So, I had planned on doing a vintage tuesday post yesterday afternoon/evening....but life happened and I didnt get around to it. So here I am today to bring you my finds!

This little shirt is so awesome. Lions, and Tigers, and Bears! Oh My! Ryder would look pretty awesome in this shirt. The shirt is vintage, and this lady from Brooklyn screen prints her drawings on them. Go here and take a peek.

And this is just the cutest dress ever. I really want to find some baby moccasins for Lucy, but etsy is leaving me hanging. Not much going on in that area :/ This shop has cute stuff, and they take good pictures. I wouldnt mind having a dress like this for myself....

So I found one! This is a shirt, not a dress. But I would have to start wearing jeans again, crap. Maybe I would make an exception for this shirt. This shop has TONS of dresses and shirts like this.

Ok, thats all i have today! Everyone have a great Wednesday! I cant wait for tomorrow, its DATE NIGHT :)

ps: if any of you know of any great antique shops or little gold mine thrift spots on the way to, or around Gulf Shores tell me! I want to make some stops while we are down there next week! PEACE!

I heart Candles.

Since Hurricane Lee has sent so much rain our way it has gotten COLD! We were stuck in the house for most of the day yesterday, but I finally had enough and decided my family would brave the rain and go out...to the mall.

In case you dont know, I am obsessed with Gap's amazing sales they have all the time. I wont annoy you with all the details now, but I have gotten Ryder a pair of $34 jeans for $4, and socks for him and Lucy for 50 cents. Anyway, I had gotten an email from them about a 40% off baby gap sale. I had to go. Turned out not to be anything great. But while I was in the ghost town that is University Mall I wanted to hop down to Bath & Body Works and check out their candle selection.

Sweet Lord. It was just what I expected. Candle Heaven. I like 3 brands of candles. B&BW has their Slatkin & Co. brand. Then their is Tyler. Anna Kate and Company is the only place in town that carries them I think. We used to carry them @ Bama Bean (the coffee shop that I worked at, and pretty much my most favorite job of my life). Really I think Tyler is my fav. Just thinking about them makes me want to go to Anna Kate and Co and smell every last one. And the last candle love I have is Voluspa. These are sold at Anthropologie. Oh, heaven.

So, back to the mall. Bath and Body Works was having a sale on their big candles. 2 for $20. I took one look at George (who is just as much a candle lover as I am) and he gave me the go ahead to pick two out. WHOOP! We smelled every single scent in that entire store. So did Ryder. He loves candle shopping. I did have to get on to him 5,000 times for trying to pick up the candles. So, these are the ones that came home with us. 

Spiced Cider. 

 and Salty Caramel.

 

There were also three mini candles that we got too. Leaves (George picked that one out), Chocolate Mint and Apple Crumble.

We always buy candles in the fall, and since the rain has got me putting socks, jackets and pants on my kids, I decided it was time.

I always lean toward ones that smell like food. What are your favorite scents?

I am wanting to hold fall back for just a little while. My family is headed to the beach this friday, so I want just a little bit of summer to remain. I have gotten Lucy's box of winter clothes down, but I WILL NOT put them in her closet until we get home from the beach. I hate that we are going so late in the summer. But we got the fall price on our condo, so ya know, we like saving money :) Also, I think this was the only time George could get off work.

Oh, and I didnt forget about Vintage Tuesday! I have some goodies to share in a second post later today :)

 

Early Start

 

*pic from here

Tomorrow I get to wake up bright and early. I have a date with a jigsaw, some plywood and paint. I have been meaning to make a tree coat rack for about 5 months, but just havent gotten around to it. After I went out and bought my very own jigsaw (it really is mine. Its in my desk hidden away from George) I drew out my tree on crappy plywood we had lying around the garage. George didn't want me to practice on "good" plywood. Well, I am freaking practiced up enough. I could use that thing with my eyes closed. 

I cant wait to get it finished. I am so sick and tired of tripping over bags in our entryway to get out of the front door. Diaper bags, backpacks, shopping bags, purses: get ready. I am making a home for you.

Also, tomorrow afternoon my fam gets to go celebrate with our sweet friends for their son's first birthday. My friend Caroline and I had our babies on the same day, in the same hospital. It's pretty awesome :)

Both of my kids are napping so I am about to sit on the couch myself, fold clothes, and watch.....something. Netflix is thebomb.com for its price, but sometimes I do get sick of watching the same old crap. Apparently I need to be watching Mad Men (says all my friends). If it's on Netflix I will give it a try. See ya!

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!