Don't just take my word for it (Miss C, June 2016)

6/1/16: Super deeeee-lish! Kona Ice visited us today! Charlotte was diggin' it!

6-2-16: Such a big kid! Charlotte is already practicing the Pinch N' Flip technique to hold a pencil! Nice work! :-) Charlotte loved water day today!

6-3-16: Charlotte had a small battle with a pink marker and it won! Haha! Here she is mowing down her roll from catering. She loved the nuggets and the bread the most! :-)

6-8-16: Charlotte enjoyed practicing her handwriting today! 

6-10-16: Charlotte was making awesome circles at the easel this morning! Awesome hand-eye coordination! And she even went straight to the sink afterwards to wash the chalk residue off her hands. Great thinking, kiddo! :-)

6-13-16: Charlotte just makes me smile whenever we talk! She told me this morning that she had swim lessons this weekend and she goes with her sister. She said that someone didn't like to go into the water though and stayed on the steps! Her giggle is contagious! I love it! :-)

6-14-16: Tennis time!

6-17-16: Charlotte loved having donuts with sister and daddy this morning! 

6-20-16: Ooh la, la! Charlotte loved painting freely with 3 different colors of paint today! 

6-21-16: How adorable is that!!? Charlotte noticed her friend had a Paw Patrol cup and was turning it around and around, saying the dogs' names. Then she started singing the theme song to the show! Awesome! :-)

6-23-16: When we were playing outside today, Charlotte said she was pretending to be at the beach playing in the sand. Good imagination Charlotte!!

6-24-16: Charlotte did a good job tracing her name today!

6-27-16: Charlotte is getting really good at writing her name. She is doing a really good job improving on her handwriting skills. Great job Charlotte!!

Making our house a home: Charlotte's big girl room

Charlotte is movin' on up! We'd been using the big girl room move as incentive to ditch the diapers, and since she had a bit of progress on the potty training front over the weekend (can I get a HALLELUJAH?!?!), Miss C was finally able to move into her new room.

This was formerly our upstairs guest room and that furniture was relocated to the basement guest room and now a nice and cool guest oasis complete with a full bathroom away from the craziness that will be three little girls. I had a lot of fun decorating another girly room and loved going into my "happy place" to enjoy little breaks in the week that it was finished but vacant! 

I knew we wanted a daybed to leverage the room's space and layout efficiently and love that we have a trundle to allow for future sleepovers or to host guests for short visits. I didn't have plans to paint the room because it was a nice neutral linen color, but when we realized it was one of the only rooms we've left with untouched walls and the touch up paint we thought would work didn't, this 29 week pregnant woman took a half day off work and we went a light shade of lilac. Considering we hear that Charlotte's favorite colors are "pink, purple, and yellow!" on a daily basis, we knew she'd approve. The pom poms were a fun little project that I'd totally do again and recommend; although they include a couple of her "not favorite colors" (aqua and white), she loves them! 

Product links: 

Daybed

Dresser

Bookcase

Nightstand

Wall Art

Bedding

Pom Poms
Paint color: Sherwin Williams Elation

Maternity moments: the clothing

(Catching up via phone while Mike is out of town)

Me: So, I'm laying in bed with a tank top dotted in bacon grease splatters because we had breakfast for dinner and I didn't have time to change while monitoring "no pants I don't want to sit on the potty" Charlotte.

Mike: Man, you're not going to be able to give any of your maternity clothing away, you keep spilling on everything.

Me: #1 - you need to watch it buddy, those are fighting words to a pregnant lady, we can't help the spillage! #2 - there was no plan to give any away because I already have plans to burn them ALL in a bonfire as soon as this baby is born.

Needless to say, I am SO over maternity clothing. I'm wearing mostly dresses lately because the thought of capris or shorts makes my skin want to crawl. And, I'm cherishing the time I can wear dresses before my year of transformer-style bras and no-dress-wearing starts along with nursing. I will say that maternity wear has gotten cuter over the years, but it's still nothing any woman actually wants to wear when she's in the throws of feeling like a literal whale.

PS - I do have a fairly robust selection of maternity clothing covering most seasons, mostly in size Medium, if you know anyone that could use them; free of charge along with a good riddance from me : )

Sandwich!

They tried to get me to play along, but I pulled out my "pregnancy card" : ) Pretty cute sandwiches if you ask me!

Friday funny

Potty pains

I'm pretty sure I found this picture and saved it on round 2 or 3 of potty training Miss Charlotte. At the time I thought it would be funny for a few days, maybe a week, a month tops. Fast forward a few months and we still have a diaper-wearing 3-year old on our hands; this girl is stubborn with a capital S. Believe me when I tell you we've tried everything (and I mean EVERYTHING). We're persistent and continue to work with her, but at end end of the day it's got to be on her time; so help me God that her time is before this baby is born in 9 weeks and counting.

And, if you have a suggestion that you're *sure* we haven't tried and will work for us, she's all yours to try it out on; document your process, send her back home in underwear, and take your show on the road to make your millions ... and if you're not willing to do that, might I suggest you not say a word because NO ONE dislikes changing poopy diapers more than an eight-month pregnant lady.

Word(less) Wednesday

Be afraid, be very afraid.

Busy Bee Boogie

Anna performed in her second dance recital this year and did a great job in the Busy Bee Boogie! We had a little snafu and booked an evening flight for vacation the same day as her recital, so I made sure to get good video the evening of the dress rehearsal to send to her fan club that couldn't make it to the recital a couple of days later. Anna is third from the right in the video below, or, the one that knows most of the dance moves : )

She loved performing and for a little girl that has a shy streak, was very happy to be on stage! She told me after the rehearsal, very matter-of-fact'ly, that "you know, when you get nervous on the stage, I just remember that everyone in the audience is really nice and happy to see our dance!" ; she then asked me why "Gigi and Paw Paw didn't come to watch me and no one has given me flowers?" Mom of the Year then got to break the news that only Daddy would be at the actual recital, but it seems that if you pepper anything with "but it's because you get to fly on a plane to Disney World that night" all is forgiven and forgotten.

The program she participated in came to her daycare and she had a blast, so we we'll have to explore local options to keep this busy bee boogying in the Fall!

Finale practice!

Anna and Audrey = BFF

The star and her fan club

Daddy was in charge of her pre-performance picture, apparently she's making wings : ) 

Lately

Sorry for the delayed posting around here, I'd like to totally blame blogger access issues, but really we've just been busy. I hope to get the backlog updated, so feel free to scroll through from time to time and see what's new, and my goal is to get better about posting from my phone since that's where most of the action takes place these days. In the meantime, here's a picture from this morning that made my heart smile : )

Wordless Wednesday

Swimmin' laps

We loved going to the pool last summer and decided it was time the girls had some official lessons under their belt to ensure they were comfortable in the water. Also, Anna's pediatrician is sure she will be great at sports that tall girls play since she's 90% for height. We're not sure where her tall and skinny gene came from, but we are positive that both sides contributed to her lack of coordination, so her gold medal status in any future sport remains a little shady. Regardless, the girls had a GREAT time and we lucked out in that there were no other students in their class and they basically received private lessons for the week, each tailored to their skill levels. They had so much fun that we decided to keep them in weekly lessons at least through the summer, making pool time on the weekends even more fun!

Ready to swim!!
(Anna has a butterfly painted on her face here from school that day)

The swim school we attended awards ribbons for various milestones and the girls were a bit spoiled the first day, each receiving a couple. Then Charlotte totally got a "pity" ribbon the second day when she threw a total tantrum after Anna received one and she didn't. From that day forward I kept all ribbons in the bag, just in case one needed to be recycled. Here they are showing of their swag after a week of swimming ...

Thirty seven feels like heaven

OK, not literally, but it's really hard to find something that rhymes with thirty-seven : )

We travelled home from vacation in Florida on my actual birthday this year, but Mike had the foresight (as prodded by me) to already have my traditional Baskin Robbins ice cream cake on hand to celebrate when we returned home. To me age is just a number and every birthday I celebrate is amazing and a true gift. Although at 27 weeks pregnant this year, I did feel every bit of my 37 years as I waddled through two airports with two tired kids in tow.

Charlotte, however, took my birthday pretty hard, as depicted below. We've got a VERY dramatic three year old on our hands and most of the time all we can do is laugh, and that's obviously what we did here. I don't remember exactly what set off this round of tears ... could have been that it wasn't her birthday, that we weren't singing to her, that we wouldn't let her play with fire, that I wasn't holding her, that she didn't get her preferred stool, that Mike suggested she smile at the camera ... you get the idea. Whatever it was, we all (minus Charlotte) had many good laughs as we scrolled through this series of pictures later that evening and the next day.

All that matters is that I'm alive to celebrate and was able to spend my birthday weekend on vacation and / or with those I love the most. Cheers to what I know will be an eventful year ahead!