33

Holy cow friends, I am 33!! Sounds like a fun number to me.

We turn not older with years but newer every day. Emily Dickinson

I really am not one that gets upset for getting older.  Call it cheesy, but I feel like life is really a gift and to celebrate every single year we are granted is not something to take lightly! I feel great and have so much to look forward to this year, I am incredibly blessed.  It was an amazing weekend and I couldn't be more spoiled by family and friends!

Thursday night my in-laws stopped by with this beautiful and delicious Rum cake and cheese filled puffs. OMG.  They also gave me an ice cream maker, so I cannot wait to make vanilla almond milk ice cream with strawberries or blueberries--oh my!

Hubby was full of surprises--Panera breakfast sandwiches, a Starbucks latte, and flowers.  It's been forever since he sent me flowers from an actual delivery service, so I was pleasantly surprised and teary eyed at how pretty they were.

We spent the day at the "nicer" mall haha, and this pregnant birthday gal wanted new sneakers.  I loved these Asic gel Noosa Tri 9 whatevers, {crazy named shoes!} and realized I needed to go up a half a size to fit properly.  I had nothing that fit well and I think I actually take a 9.5 in sneakers--weird but they are much more comfortable now!



Before dinner plans, we wanted to get a few photos.  Joe thought of this place with a cool view of our city.

I was like um---how to pose with a crazy wiggly toddler?

Drooly face.

She would just run towards her daddy and photobomb. It was so funny.  {out takes}

Twirling

 Bump-shot- 4 months!

Pardon the non-cropped photo--but how cute are my loves?

A few of my girlfriends and my family met for a nice dinner at Avvino-- Brooke was really good!  {we did not take nearly enough pictures at dinner; boo!}

My step mom was selfie-spamming my sister's phone.

My girls! xox

Saturday I wore a dress my step-mom gave me and headed to my brother in law's birthday party (we actually share a birthday) and I turned 16 weeks!

I received lots of chocolate, some new Alex & Ani bracelets and lots of special moments with the ones I love.  Here's to a fun-filled year of new surprises!  I can't believe in my 33rd year, I will welcome a brand new baby into our world.   I am so grateful for all that we have and all that will continue to come our way.  A huge thank you to everyone in my life--you make it beautiful!  

Life and I have a 1.5 Year Old, Say What?!

Hmmm….where to start?  How is it July 21st already??

{{Happy Birthday to my sweet friend Alison!!! I wish we were picnicking in a park, wearing all yellow. Haha those were the days!}}

Life has been busy, that is for sure! This whole pregnant with a 1 1/2 year old is no joke.  I am 15 weeks as of Saturday--no bump date, oopsies-- and I feel fantastic!  I do get tired, but it's more like, just lay down and rest a bit and get back up and I'm fine.  I can't really nap, although I try, but my mind races, so I have been reading more, which is nice.

Saturday Joe and I went out on a little date.  We went for sushi, well I had hibachi, and I wanted to see the movie Sex Tape. OMG it was hysterical! I think it was very relatable to married couples with children in particular, but it was just so silly.  Joe was laughing so loud--I was happy he enjoyed it and it wasn't just some stupid girl movie he sat through to make me happy.

Brooke is just getting SO big.  She is down to only one nap a day, so we are transitioning again…no longer are the days where I could hop in the shower and get ready during her first nap.  That's ok, I just need to figure out what works best.  She is all over the place and loves to be outside, so I try to spend them majority of our time playing outdoors, as the weather permits.

When it does not, this is my living room.

We eat lunch around noon and she goes down for her nap now between 1-2 (maybe later, pending what we do) and it seems to be working.  There are still some days she needs a morning nap, but 6 out of 7 days, she's good with one that lasts about 2 hours.

She is really starting to sing a lot more; if you listen closely she has the melody to our silly song [that  made up] down nicely!  We sing it before bed and insert as many names as we can for each new round, "Goodnight Sadie….goodnight Holly…Goodnight Daddy…so on and so forth, we'll see you in the morning."  She then goes around "Mah" and gives everyone a kiss.

Go ahead, {{{awwwwww}}}

She also loves, "Let it Go," "ABCs" and will dance to anything with a beat.  Loves Sia and Lorde.


Her tastes in food are pretty consistent, although she is picky with some things lately like veggies and meats.

I stopped giving her Soy milk and switched solely to Almond and her (TMI) poops have been WONDERFUL!  I have her on a 3 a day schedule now and they're not mushy or runny. Praise the lord! If you have a child, you know what I'm talking about.  You can tell a lot by poo, and when it's a big ol' mushy mess, and 4-5 times a day, it is no fun.

I don't know why she seems to have an issue now with Soy, as she was not, and is still not 100% okay with cow's milk, but whatever.  Everything in moderation.  I give her the equivalent to one cheese stick a day, let it be a bit of yogurt or cheese in our meal, or what have you.  She just can't handle too much.

Sunday morning while Daddy golfed, we enjoyed cinnamon buns from Trader Joe's.  She was so cute with it; she hadn't eaten one before.

She just learned to say, "I love you" back to us, and it stopped both Joe and I in our tracks and melted our hearts the other morning.  Joe's also been working on her more with saying her name.  "Brooke" seems to be a tricky one for her!  She'll get it though, in time.

Still loving on those popsicles. I love how I treat it as "an activity" haha.

Baby girl loves her fruit!

She is a 3T all the way in tops and mostly in bottoms. I accidentally put a 2T shirt on her and it rode up high on her belly!  I can't believe my 18 month old is so big.

She is already raiding my closets!

Brooke is very into her three bigger stuffed animals: Minnie, a pink bear Daddy bought before she was born, and this big white bear Joe gave me with flowers…once upon a time! She plays with them and I think they are her "friends."

I try to keep the toy buying to a minimum, but with Christmas and then 2 weeks later her birthday, we are sort of low on outdoor toys.  I heard tons of mamas say how great a bubble machine was, so I found this one on Amazon! HERE

She can actually "blow the bubbles" herself by lifting the lever and it is fantastic.  I'll have her on the back deck playing while I throw dishes in the dishwasher or whatever.  She loves it.

bubbly toes

It was a rough week last week, as Joe's Crohn's crept up and got him good.  By Saturday he was feeling better, and Sunday he was able to golf with some work buddies and then we all went on a boat ride with some great friends.

Brooke so badly wanted to jump in, so I took her swimming.

I think she was trying to tell me something today too… oh this child!! Someone send more energy please! We were home at 10pm and she was rocking and rolling at 7 this morning.

Anyways, that's what's up bloggy world! I miss writing and am trying to find the time!  It's been such a great summer so far, I can't wait to see what the rest of it brings.

How is your summer going?

Fourth Festivities and Enjoying July

And just like that, we are a week into July already?!  Someone hit the pause button, puh-lease!! I just love July.  For many reasons.  I love how excited my husband gets over fireworks on the 4th.  I love that on July 10th, I will be married 4 years!  I love celebrating my birthday; another year in this beautiful world.  I love that life slows down, just a bit, the weather is warm, and life is good.

We spent a few days at my Dad's so we could have our big fireworks spectacular.  I had to board the dogs at a kennel, pack all of our stuff, and in the midst forgot my big girl camera, womp womp. So a few iPhone photos will have to do.

Coffee craving.  I never craved it with Brooke.  There's something about sitting in the country sipping on some coffee.

Joe took a few photos…hi bump!

I thought the reflection looked cool of the cloud.

Brooke was all decked out in red white and blue!

All American.

Sippin on some bubbly…prego style.

And of course our spread.  Grilled chicken!

Yummy salads and potatoes!

And my pulled pork was a hit!

Joe was in the garage all.day.long. assembling their fireworks display, so this was the only photo we got together.

2012                                                       2013                                                                 2014

Sunday was a day we looked forward to as well; NO PLANS. We sat like an old couple, in our driveway talking about everything and anything.  He also washed his car and grilled us some wings.  That was about all that got accomplished that day! It was so nice.

Brooke loves being outdoors.  She played on the slide, snacked, ran around with the hose and made sure to wear her sunblock!

Holly had fun too.

I can't wait to see what fun the rest of this month brings!!