Gymnastics

Well, summer gymnastics has come and gone. I am torn with the decision of continuing or stopping for a bit. Zetta really did enjoy the classes and her teacher! She learned so much, but at her age its most for learning how to wait her turn and listen to a teacher more or less. :) I really think gymnastics is a great starting point for little kids, but I feel like we are constantly on the go and that it is just one more thing. I guess we will see if she asks to go often, and if so I think we will continue. Otherwise, a short break would be a nice change!

Next summer all four of Ashley and I's girls will be in one class. What a glorious 50 minutes for us (poor teacher!)!!

Girl's just wanna have fun!

The last weekend in July, I had a girls weekend with some of my very favorites! These girls have been in my life since high school (or younger) and are going to be life long friends! It is amazing how are we are in totally different places in our lives, but when we come together it is like nothing has changed! We all say we have changed, but when we get back together we really are all just the same! :)

We just went to St. Louis since that is kind of a middle ground for us to meet, and Lauren was flying back home to NYC on Sunday, it only made sense for her to be close to the airport! Friday night we ended up going out at the last minute, and I am so glad we did! We just wore sandals and shorts and didn't care about anyone else, just having fun together! Saturday, we woke up and went and had brunch, and just laid by the pool all. day. We're talking until 7:30 pm...it was GLORIOUS! We finally made our way inside, got ready and headed out to dinner. After dinner we tried to go out, but we ended up back at the hotel early and just went and sat around the hot tub and chatted the night away.

Perfect weekend get-away! Love you girls!

Baby Palmer

My bestie, Megan, came into town one weekend in July and somehow we did not have anything going on that weekend! We totally took advantage and hung out with Meg and baby Palmer all day!!! The girls and I went to the Farmer's market Saturday morning and then Megan, her mom, her sister, and baby P came over to look at all of the girl's clothes I am getting rid of! After naps, the girls and I headed over to Mrs. Paula's (Megan's MIL) to swim and hangout. We ended up staying until bedtime!! Pete came over for dinner and we all just ate, swam, and spent time together! I bet I said 10x on Sunday how thankful I am for good friends, and how much more enjoyable life is when we go somewhere that is baby friendly! Mrs. Paula went above and beyond to help me out with the girls, had snacks, toys, and everything I needed for them..she even had a crib for Nora to nap in! Any other moms out there know how stressful it feels to be in someone else's home with two destructive toddlers. It was just a nice change to not have to worry about packing up my whole house for an afternoon away from home. :) SHOUT OUT TO MRS. PAULA!

She was so proud to be "helping" baby Palmer

That's my girl. Snacking on pretzel's poolside!

Zetta was just straight chillin' in that baby pool! Kicked back and relaxing! 

It is always crazy for me to look at these girls now and think that in 5 years, they will all 7, 6, and 5 years old and you will hardly be able to tell a difference in their ages! I love little friends so much!! Cannot wait for another weekend with this crazy crew!!

Friday Favorite's!

I am going to do something a little different this week and choose FIVE small topics and share my favorite of each. Today I am going to talk about these five things: favorite quote, favorite picture I took this week, favorite new (to me) blog, favorite product, and my favorite purchase I made this week!

O N E 

Favorite quote

Growing up in church my whole life, this verse is a pretty "common" when it comes to memorizing different verses, but I keep finding myself coming back to it and reciting it in my head. Especially in that hard days of parenting a "I can do it all by myself" 2.5 year old and a 16 month old who is teething, falling, fighting naps, and everything else toddlers do. I love these ages, and I KNOW they are flying by quicker than I want, but some days I just long for when my girls are big and can put on their own shoes, and take themselves to the potty, heck do anything for themselves ;) I don't want to let my anxiety get in the way of enjoying these short baby and toddler years. Let's be honest, it is a constant battle, especially when you're running on a week of 3 or 4 hours of sleep. #momproblems #realtalk

T W O 

Favorite product

Whew. On a much lighter note, I have found a miracle product that I have to share with anyone who has red skin or a lot of blemishes. The best part? You can get it at any drug store and it is less than $10!! 

I have tried a LOT of different primers, BB creams, lotions, etc but nothing seems to cover the redness of my skin like this product! I just picked it up on a whim before my girls trip a few weekends ago because I knew we were going to be by the pool and I did not want to wear full make up, but I can NOT go without a little coverage these days. If you have red skin, do yourself a favor and go buy this, like now. #youwillnotregretit

T H R E E 

Favorite picture

EEEKK!! One of my very best friends had her baby on Wednesday (Pete's birthday!)!! I am so excited to add another sweet baby girl to our little group that is not so little anymore! :) I see many playdate's in our future! 

FOUR

Favorite new (to me) blog

I have really been trying to follow more encouraging blogs that hit on all the topics of my life right now...exercise, mom stuff, quick and easy clean eating options, home decor, etc. I don't know how I wasn't already following Natalie, but I spent a good chunk of my time after bedtime this week reading old post and her story. If you don't follow her, you should. She will not disappoint!

F I V E

Favorite purchase I made this week

I mean, come on, how could you not be giddy over these boots. #comeonfall 

Have a fabulous weekend and as always, linking up with Andrea, Erika, April, and Karli

Homecomer's!

A little "fair" if you will, comes to my hometown once a year before the actual fairs begin. My friend Tara and I share the same love for corndogs, so I knew she would be down for going with me! The girl's still don't like rides, so I knew I wouldn't have to fight them off anything! There was a trampoline, and they asked to jumped, but as soon as another little girl got on Zetta was DONE. Nora wanted a turn, and literally was just frozen on it. Hilarious. It started raining when we were there so we finished our food under a tree and sprinted back to the car! I put both girls in the stroller and they thought it was hilarious! I turned it around to face me and reclined it all the way so I could hold Nora in the whole time, no worries! It was a short trip, but nice to see a small town come together and eat a corn dog! :)

Weekend Recap

This past weekend we did a lot of nothing! I had the on call "emergency" phone for work, so I had to stay somewhere with cell service and access to a computer in case I got a call. Pete also sprained his ankle pretty bad on Tuesday night and really still couldn't walk around too good, so that limited us on what we could really do!
Friday, my sister in laws came over and hung out with the girls all day, and then that evening Emily and I went to a LuLuLemon trunk show at a local yoga studio and then we took the girls to a Dr. Seuss event at Barnes and Noble. Zetta didn't really get a nap at all, and the girl reading the book was very expressive and Zetta just couldn't handle it. We went to the cafe and hada cupcake while the little girls colored and listened to the story. I love little unexpected one on one time with my big girl. She is slowly working her way out of the toddler phase and becoming a big girl. It is a flash into my future to sit there with her and talk about our days. Her vocabulary and memory are so good, I love that we can really have a (basic) conversation.

Saturday, the girls and I snuggled in bed, and then went to Target that morning, and then Pete had to go to Jackson to show a house, so we had him drop the girls and I off at my parent's and we swam with my mom the rest of the morning-mid afternoon. We headed home at nap time and just spent some time at home! That evening we ran to Orange Monkey with Pete and then came home and had breakfast for dinner!

Sunday, we slept in and then I got a wild hair and cleaned the house :) I think it is the first time I have been able to vacuum the whole house and do a few other small chores all while the girls played together in their room. I seriously am loving that they are old enough to entertain themselves and play together for 30 minutes or so. #lifechanging I also organized all of the girls puzzles, which is always a good feeling #babysteps Zetta is always begging to go to Discovery Playhouse, so we went there after Nora woke up from her nap for about an hour and burned a little bit of energy! My mom came over that evening so Pete and I could go on a mini date (dinner)! Pete and I rarely get away without our girls so it is always refreshing to get a little one on one time and uninterrupted conversation! (THANKS MAMA!) We came home and Zetta was asleep so we got a little one on one time playing with Nora. It's easy to miss the little things when you have two kids. I love the stage Nora is in right now!

CLEAN FLOORS!

I am excited to see if this keeps the pieces with the puzzles!

Never will they both look at the camera in the same picture. Ha. 

Our favorite selfie spot!! Zetta asked to sit and take a picture (it was obviously too sunny for a selfie)!

It was really hot, so I was letting the car cool off before we got in and little gardener Zetta could not stand the amount of weeds in the flower bed. You're welcome city of Cape for my little weed puller! 

DATE NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!