Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Fun Summer Days.

One of my favorite things about summer is all of the fun things we get to do. It mainly involves water, since it's so stinkin' hot here (which I know is a relative statement, since those of you living farther south are probably melting at this point! ha!).

Yesterday we had a little pool get together with several friends. Brayden is ALWAYS talking about his friends, so he greatly enjoys these get togethers these days.


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Parker and B checkin' out the mower in their matching swim shirts :)
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Connor's first time in a swing! He LOVED it!

Then we went to Target for a quick trip (I needed to get the gift card I gave away recently). Brayden is starting to ask to go to "Tardid" for "poten" (popcorn). Connor kicks his legs when he sees the popcorn bag, so I am sure he's not far behind... I've developed little Target popcorn addicts I'm afraid! ha! This is how our current get up looks when we go:


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I absolutely HATE the buggies with the two seats attached to the front of the cart. It's like driving a suburban through the store. And considering I have a hard time calculating turning radius', this means I run into the aisle end caps when I am careening that mammoth through the store. So we just stick to the regular buggies for now :)

When we got home Brayden wanted to play outside while I got dinner ready. I went to check on him, and found him sitting in his little chair outside. It so reminded me of an old man! haha!


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Then last night Brayden and I went to get haircuts. Brayden L.O.V.E.S. my friend David who cuts our hair. He is ALWAYS talking about him, and tells people that "Daby tut me hair lite bzzzzz" (translation: David cuts my hair like bzzzzzz").


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Connor was just along for the ride-- I can't stand to cut his hair again :(
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Before...
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During...
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Almost done! (This is a happy face, in case you wondered).
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Finished product! SO handsome!

After my haircut I ran to Aldi's to get a few things for this weekend. We're having family up this weekend so I had some meal planning to do in addition to my normal things I pick up there.

Looking forward to a fun-filled weekend-- what are yall up to for the 4th?

Monday, June 27, 2011

And People Wonder Why I Don't Shower Often.

Let's just be honest... I don't shower much. It's not because I don't really want to, because really, who doesn't like a nice hot shower where you get to wash your hair and rinse off? But honestly, it stresses me out to no end because it never fails that the minute I get out of the shower, there is this silence in the house that is deafening. If you have a toddler, you know what I am talking about. it's that silence that makes a mom say "Oh crap!" Outloud, and then run frantically from room to room hoping and praying that something is not broken/drawn on/torn apart/eaten.

Today was one of those days. I had to take a shower because we ended up taking C to the doc this morning due to this never ending virus that has plagued our family. I just wanted to be sure we weren't dealing with something else. Anyways, since I knew we were headed out in public, I at least wanted to smell decent. So I locked B in his room and told him I was going to take a shower. He's pretty good about this most days. Today I thought, "wow, he's really not complaining that much about being in his room alone today. Weird." Then I took a shower for about 10 minutes. I got out, got dressed and went to check on B, who was quiet. TOO quiet. And when I opened the door I had the strange mixture of anger and sheer laughter intertwine in my head.
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The little stinker had completely squeezed out an entire tube of Desitin. You know, the thick, paste that is SUPER hard to wipe off your baby's bottom? Yeah, it was smeared EVERYWHERE.
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(I think Toby was too embarassed to look at the camera. And you should've seen his face when I walked in the room... he was like "mom, you seriously left me in here with him?!?!?")
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It was also on his GI Joes, his ride-on train, and I found some leftovers on the door this evening that I hadn't caught earlier today.

I went back and forth, between anger and just sheer wonderment of my life right now. Remember, I had to be to the doctor. So in the midst of trying to get ready, I had to deal with cleanup. By the time I cleaned up the desitin in the room, cleaned off the dog (who still has Desitin in his hair on his head-- need to bathe him before we go to bed tonight) and got everything ready to go, I had to leave the house with a wet head of hair.

Yet another reason why I am learning to breathe deeply.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Weekend in Review

We had fun this weekend, even if the end of it went a bit different than planned (and ended on a -no pun intended- sour note).

Friday was the first day I felt 100% better, and despite every longing in my body to be at the pool, I used the day to run errands with the boys. Don't worry, I made it fun by making a (albeit necessary) trip to Target, complete with popcorn. It was only the second time we've been to Target since Connor has sat up in the buggy on his own, but he made it known that he remember what popcorn was, by kicking his legs, waving his arms and making various unintelligible grunting noises. I'm quickly creating popcorn addicts in both of my boys :) When Drew got home from work on Friday we ate dinner as a fam, and then let B play in the backyard in the sprinkler... I am pretty sure it's his new fave thing to do.

Saturday was a busy day for us. Drew graciously took the boys for me so that I could have a morning to myself. This means I was able to actually clean/tidy up the house without having a little tornado behind me to demolish my progress :) After cleaning I took a shower and then headed to a photoshoot for my friend Samantha. She recently had baby #3, little Silas, and asked me if I could take a few pics of him. After the photoshoot there was a sip and see for Samantha and Silas at one of my best friend's, Katie's, house. As always, I had fun visiting with my girlfriends, snapping pics and EATING :) Doesn't this food look delish?! It was, trust me :)


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(pretty sure I half this plate by myself-ha!)
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(not quite sure what these even were, but let me tell you, it was like heaven in my mouth. SO FREAKIN' GOOD!)
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the hostesses with Samantha and Silas
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tough life huh?!
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Me with one of my best friends, Katie. Love this girl so much!


Saturday afternoon two of Drew's friends from college came over to visit with their families. His friend Jared was in from out of town, and his friend Keith lives in town but we never see them. Keith and his wife Michelle have a little boy named Hudson who is the same age as B, so B LOVED it because he had a little friend to play with the entire time. Unfortunately I didn't really take any pics :( Too much fun visiting I suppose :)

Sunday started out fairly normal. You know, the 2 year old waking up at 6am kicking the walls, me trying to peel my eyelids open, taking a shower, rushing around the house getting two diaper bags ready for church. I was just about ready, and we literally were walking out of the door when Drew yells "Linds! Puke emergency." GAG. Story of my life the past two weeks. Poor little Connor threw up AGAIN. I feel so sorry for him when it happens because he starts gagging and choking, so it freaks him out. Since this was our week to serve in the nursery, we kind of played a game of 'who's going to go to church and deal with those screaming kids and who's going to stay home and deal with our sick baby'. Drew volunteered to stay, and since I knew I might be dealing with it during the day tomorrow by myself, I decided to jet out the door with B. Connor acted normal for the rest of the day today, and besides having some 'other' tummy issues on the other end, is perfect normal. However, since this has been going on now for a week, I may be bringing him to the doc tomorrow or Tuesday just to make sure I'm not missing something.

This afternoon Brayden and I went to the pool on a little mommy son date. We made it extra special by getting Sonic drinks. We sat on the side of the pool kicking our legs and sipping our drinks. It was one of those moments that made my heart smile and that I took a mental picture of that I will never forget. He kept looking at me and saying "dis is good momma. I lite it!" {smile}.

I am hoping to get to the pool more this week since we haven't been able to go much last week, but not sure how it will all pan out with C-man. Hope yall have a great week this week! Stay safe in this aweful heat :)

Friday, June 24, 2011

Sprinkler Fun.

Well, we're hitting record breaking temps and it's not even July yet. Makes me shudder at what August is going to bring us. Yowsers. The heat has placed a dilemma on me as I try to entertain a 2 year old who L.O.V.E.S the outdoors. Especially considering this week as I've fought of a terrible stomach virus.

Enter the sprinkler.
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I'm not quite sure why I have overlooked the good ol' trusty $10 sprinkler when I think of fun summer things. I guess all of the marketing of huge blow up play things and super fancy kiddy pools has made me completely forget my summer fun as a child. And it's a double bonus in that it waters the grass weeds that grow in our backyard :)
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Clearly, Brayden was just as enamored as I was as a youngun'. He kept sayin' "oh dat's fun momma! dat's fun!" while running through the streaming lines of water.
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He even wrangled his inner hair stylist and insisted on "puttin' it on Tonden's head". His brother loved it ;)
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And of course, as most backyard excursions go, it ended with him like this:
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Wrestling with Daddy.

Just about every night about 30 minutes before bedtime, you can find 3 boys wrestling around on the living room floor. It's pretty much a tradition around here. Brayden will get his jammies on and then say "wrestle daddy?" and then when Drew says, "ok let's go to the living room" Brayden RUNS as fast as his little legs will take him shouting (almost in laughter because he's so happy) "dats fun daddy! dats fun!" It's one of the many moments as a mom that my heart smiles. I usually sit on the sidelines and watch, soaking in the moment. Connor has normally sat on the sidelines too, but now that he's a little older I can tell by the look on his face he wants in on the action. Here are a few pics from the NWA LWWF*
Northwest Arkansas Livingroom World Wrestling Federation

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(please note the GINORMOUS smiles on both of the boy's faces).
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Thursday, June 23, 2011

Brotherly Love.


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Wordless Wednesday. My Loves.*

*alternately titled: I was so sick I felt dead on Wednesday and never logged into my computer so this post will have words.

Greetings from the house of the walking dead the recovering sick. I seriously was so sick yesterday it took everything in me just to move. I made a pile of diapers and a pack of wipes next to the couch, and the minute I smelt a dirty diaper I rolled off the couch to change the dirty butt and then crawled back to the couch to assume my position. I stayed that way till Drew got home, and then immediately got in my bed the minute he walked in the door. I have no clue what I had since I was running fever, achy and lost the contents to my stomach a few times too. All I can say is that a mom should never have to get sick. There are no sick days when you're a mom. You can't call into work and tell your boss you're going to sleep it off. It sucks. Plain and simple.

I still feel pretty lousy today, so that's all I'll write for now. And I'll leave you with the pics of the boys that were originally planned for yesterday anyways :)


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Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Brayden's Singing Debute.

A few weeks ago I noticed Brayden was saying things in rhthym. It dawned on me that it was him singing-- for the first time! When I asked him what he was singing he said "Hippy Birday Momma". It took me a second to figure out that he was telling me he was singing happy birthday. A few days later, his song still incesstant around the house, I figured I should video the occasion. And I did. And now, the world debut of Brayden singing Happy Birthday.

Monday, June 20, 2011

A Few Updates

If you tried to get on my blog early this morning and had some trouble, I apologize. I was in the process of trying to figure out how to set my OWN DOMAIN up and failed miserably at my first try. Thankfully I clicked the help button, read a few things and reset everything to start over, and was successful during my second attempt. Now if you go to www.adollopofmylife.com, you'll land right here! I feel a little (ok, a lot) legit now with my own domain. I've been wanting to do this for a while now, but finally bit the bullet. Now if only I could muster up the courage to switch to wordpress... ha!

Also, not sure the regular visitors here ever go there since you pretty much know my fam, but I FINALLY (like, after 2 years), installed pictures on my About Me page and my My Family page under my nav bar. During our last MOPS meeting this past year we had a professional photog come in and speak, and at the end she took head shots of us. It was one of the rare days that I was wearing makeup AND had blow dried my hair on the same day... I rarely ever look that kept up :) I also convinced my fabulous husband to pose for a picture for the blog. So, just so you know, pigs do fly :)

I'm thinking I may make some changes to the actual design of my blog... that is, if I ever have time to design my OWN blog. I've been busy with blog designs since the first of the year, and it's rarely let up enough for me to catch my breath. If I find some spare time to do it, you may see some changes in the looks department too.

Sippy Cup Meets Pavement

This is what happens when your 2 year old decides that the sippy cup that's IN the car should be OUT of the car.

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That's right folks. Brayden decided to chunk his cup out of the open window while we were traveling 30 mph down the road. AWESOME. I am just grateful that it didn't hit another car. Otherwise we might be talking about serious damage, since it was fully loaded with apple juice and water.

Never a dull moment around here!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Weekend in Review: Father's Day Weekend

Happy Father's Day to all the daddy's out there. But especially to my baby daddy, Drew. He is the best dad to our boys, and I am so grateful to have a husband who is such a great example of a man for our boys to look up to. The boys just don't know how lucky they are!

We've had a fun weekend, mostly playing outside. Friday we spent the morning at the pool, and in the afternoon we played outside in the backyard. I let Brayden turn on the hose and have some water fun. I love being able to photograph these everyday moments... there is nothing extremely special about these pictures, but I feel like it just captures Brayden so well... he's in his element.



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eating a snack on his new picnic table he got from his great-great Uncle Mike and Aunt Rina. He loves it!
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I had set Connor down on his blanket, and when I looked over he had wrapped himself up. ha!
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gotta get a good taste test in too :) (Laura, we LOVE this blanket... it is our go-to blanket for EVERYTHING for C!)
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LOVE this one of B. He is SO mischievous.
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I think he looks like my dad in the pic on the left.
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these two are made to get into trouble together
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the clothes came off
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Friday night Drew treated us to Mexican food, since I had a rough afternoon with Cman crying. I think my love language is eating out :) haha! I just love being able to go somewhere and not have to worry about dishes and the mess our kids make. And now that we have TWO highchairs to deal with, it also makes it impossible to find a spot for food and drinks to go. The wait staff kept putting stuff right in front of Brayden's reach. It frustrates me to no end, but I forget that not everyone knows the cardinal "do not place things within the reach of anyone under the age of 4" rule :)

Saturday we went to the pool with the boys. It was the first time Drew has been able to go to the pool since memorial day weekend. Brayden has progressed so much since then in his confidence in the water, and Drew was amazed. Towards the end of the morning, Brayden was jumping off the side of the pool to me, and then "swimming" back to the steps.


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Boy keeps me crackin' up!


Saturday afternoon after the boys woke up from their naps we hung out outside again. Brayden found the hose again :) I've been shooting with my macro lens, and tried to find some bugs to shoot.... macro photography is hard, and definitely not my forte... I thought kids moved too much, try an insect! ha!

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we have a serious aphid problem on our tomato bushes... any suggestions on how to get rid of them?
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this is a scary sight to see out of your lens... I was worried I might lose my equipment with this one :)
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this is his new face. no idea where he got it from, but he will give it on command. just ask for his 'crazy face'.
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no idea what he made this face for, but the capture is priceless!


Today we went to church, the boys napped, and then when they woke we went to Dickey's bbq. It seriously is one of the best bbq places here in NWA, and is so cheap, especially on Sunday's when kids eat free! If you live in the NWA area, I highly recommend it!
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Daddy and his boys :)


Drew installed Brayden's new car seat today. Connor has quickly outgrown the infant carrier, and now that he can sit up in a buggy at the store, we decided to move him up to Brayden's convertible car seat. This means that Brayden got a new one, one that we had been planning on for a while. We got the Graco Nautilus after I read reviews and contemplated what was best for our family. I love the versatility of it, as it converts from a 5 point harness, a high back booster and then a regular booster. I'll let you know how Brayden likes it once he uses it for a while.


This is how we roll now
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Somebody was HAPPY to be a big boy now!


And ofcourse, no weekend is complete without a family photo attempt...

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Take 1
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Take 2
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Take 3
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Take 4

QUADRUPLE FAIL... ha!


We have a busy week planned, but one that should be fun, complete with cousin time, pool time and even a baby shower! Hope everyone has a great week!
 

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