This CRAZY thing called life

Hi there. It's nice to be here in front of my computer again. In my domain. Getting ready to share all of the recent goings on. But first before I delve into sharing an enormous amount of photos that depict our busy weekend I've just got to share a few things that are hanging out on the top of my head. Hello bullet point list! Most of these are random tid bits, happenings and thoughts that I probably won't be able to find a way to weave into my weekend story but I definitely don't want to forget them! So here goes....time to spill my brain!

*First off I must say that I'm writing this tonight with a much, much, much improved mood when compared to my failed attempt at writing last night. Rewind to Saturday evening around 8:00. I sat in front of my computer for nearly 90 minutes lazily staring at the screen in between laying my head on the arm of the couch considering going to bed way early and grumbling random complaints and worries to my handsome sidekick across the room. Bless his heart for having to deal with me this past week. I was  am a tired, frustrated, worn out, burnt out lady. Honestly I felt a little crazy. Ask my family and they'd just tell you that's normal though. But for real....after this week....I. WAS. DONE. Done with work, done with being busy, done with ever-changing work responsibilities, done with being away from Hallie, done with things going wrong. Just done. On top of work frustrations I've been crawling my way out of a major FUNK. It may have been little miss diva's funk that put me in my very own funk. You could say that the house was just all funked up with week. I've been eating sweets as if my life has depended on it....this combined with having no desire to workout or train for this pending half-marathon monster staring me in the face has left me feeling very EEEEK. Eeeeek = bleh. While I ponder on my feelings quite often I usually end up at the same conclusions each time I get in one of my "can we please move back to Mustang" moods....

1)It's LIFE.

2)It's crazy.

3)God never fails us.

4)Give me a couple of days and I'll be loving it again.

*Our mini Einstein has been on overdrive. Every time I turn around she's wowing me with something brand new. Take for example her knowledge about a certain former president. Let me explain.....this past week I found her walking around the house shrugging her shoulders repeatedly. For no apparent reason either. It made us giggle and she soon realized that her shoulder shrugging ways were humorous to her parental audience. I began referring to this as "the George Bush" because of his famous shoulder shrugging chuckle that "W" used to do. This weekend while at my dad's house I mentioned her latest little silly thing she'd been doing. I had her sitting on my lap while I told my dad about her "doing the George Bush" and the little toot proceeded to shrug her little shoulders with a big ol' grin on her face. We of course began rolling with laughter which made her want to do it even more....that is until I started videoing her on my phone. I have yet to get her George move on video but I'll keep trying. I'm picturing her in grade school history class moving her shoulders up and down while learning about our 43rd president. Silly goose.

*She's hip...she's cool....she's ready to fist bump. The girl is so over her high-fiving days. High fives and double high fives are child's play. She's now able to fist bump when we say "pound it." She holds out her fist with a smile. Next I've taught her to "blow it up." She's not quite proficient with this one yet. Ya see, instead of opening her fist like I did she instead "blew it up" by literally blowing on her hand. Ha ha ha ha ha!!!! I seriously can't get enough. She's a riot. We will keep working on her cool hand gestures.

*"Beep beep!!!" Get out the way! Hallie is coming through. She can now be seen shouting "go! go! go!" and hollering out horn noises at any moment.

*My dear husband tried to pull a fast one on me. This evening Hallie and I walked out to the garage to catch a peek at what he was up to. While standing there chatting and watching our crazed young lady turn in circles I happened to notice something missing. Something rather large. "Ahem, where is my refrigerator?" A huge mischievous smile appeared on his face and he said "oh yeah, about that...." I don't blame him for trying to slide it past me...I'm not the most observant person and had it not been for my water bottles sitting on the garage floor I probably wouldn't have even noticed. It took me two days to figure it out after all. I guess our garage fridge is now taking up residence at one of the new clinics he is opening. My first question was "are there going to be any fecal, blood or urine samples being stored in it????" I've been assured that this is not the case. ;)

And that concludes my neurotic list of bullet points. I'm ready to jump right into the weekend.........

WARNING: This post contains an insane amount of photos. Consider yourself adequately warned. If you make it all the way through then KUDOS to you for putting up with my wordy ways. ;)

Friday. Finally a much needed day off. I was elated to have a day of anything but work. The whole working mommy thing had kicked my hind end and I was ready to devote my time to my little sweetie. We were up with Riley's alarm and I got a jump start on baking the Amish friendship bread I'd been given the week before. While I baked Hallie watched cartoons and spent some time sitting up on the counter snacking on grapes and watching me like a hawk. My kitchen apprentice is very astute let me tell you. ;) We did some major packing of the car which took quite a lot of thought and planning considering we had a LOT to pack. You would've thought we were going on a week long excursion instead of a one day trip to Enid. Gman had requested that we bring the red wagon along, I had a couple large gifts to pack carefully, Hallie's pack'n'play, not to mention our bags and other miscellaneous items that needed to make the trip with us. Baking and packing her not quite at the top of Hallie's list of desired activities for the day. Among some of hers were Mickey Mouse, apple juice, baton twirling and last but certainly not least...playing in the rocks.....

"I'm adding this one to my collection for sure"

Her rock collection ;)

I almost didn't have the heart to load her up in the car for the drive....we all know just how much she loves the car!!! Ha! We made a stop by work and dropped off one of the two loaves of fresh bread to Nanny. She said that Papa would be thrilled...apparently he is a friend of friendship bread. ;) (so am I...YUM!!!)

Our trip to Enid involved a few small pit stops along the way. Two of the stops were binky related. Our last stop however was diaper related. But it turned into a little bit more than we'd expected......

"Ahhhh, fresh air"

Our pit stop at the Gloss Mountain rest area was a bit comical for me. After giving her some dry pants I decided to let her down to explore a bit. By explore I mean get some of her wiggles out of her system. She'd been especially wonderful this car ride and I was hoping for a strong finish on our last leg of the drive.  

"Great idea mom"

So why was our stop comical to me? Well ya see....my mom and I always had a running joke about the "famous" Gloss Mountains. While during my first semester of college at OSU (yes, I just admitted that I started my college career at the rival school) we took a "field trip" to some areas in Western Oklahoma for a geography class I was taking. The Gloss Mountains happened to be one of our stops along the way. I remember recounting to my mom the events of the day in typical dramatic Ashley fashion. When I told her that they made us walk to the top of the Gloss Mountains she couldn't stop laughing. We'd driven by there a thousand times before on our way to visit the grandparents but had never considered it a site for a field trip. Ever since that day she and I got a big laugh everytime we passed this place. I couldn't help it....I just couldn't help but make Hallie do this----->

After taking a look back through the pictures I snapped of my lady I'm actually quite a big fan of them. Let me guess....you are wondering what kind of kooky mom stops to change her daugther's diaper and ends up having a photo shoot in the grass of a road side rest area. The crazy kind!

She didn't seem to mind. Once back in the car all she needed was a pair of sunglasses, Veggie Tales DVD and some Fruit Loops to munch on.....

"Are we there yet?!"

Yes we were. At Aunt B's house to be exact.

My girls

We surprised Aunt B at her doorstep and played in her backyard for approximately two minutes. I was busy admiring her enormously huge backyard while Hallie began wandering off to the right toward the fence. We looked up and both asked Hal where she was headed...then it hit us both at the same time. Duh. There the little lady stood right beside a big playtoy. The only thing separating her from pure joy was the neighbor's fence. We both gave her a pouty-lipped "awwww" and immediately loaded up to show her a place that she could frolic. Gman's backyard.....

Sweet sweet smile

She swung and slid and ran and played. Oh yeah, and hollered at the unsuspecting and very innocent dogs. If a dog is in her path then chances are they will be getting scolded by the little mini with a finger shake and a stern "no,no,no!"

After getting some use out of the swingset us girls set out on a walk. The weather was gorgeous and Hal wasn't complainin' one bit....

Right before she figured out how to set my car alarm off. Sneaky lil devil.

So what brought me to Enid besides seeing my family??? A long-awaited baby shower for my best friend Ashley. Her baby Adalyn is due at the beginning of May and we are all just waiting, waiting, waiting! Auntie Heather came by to see Hallie before the shower began and once Gman walked through the door we said adios. After all, Hal and Gman had some serious playing to do.....

The cutest little car swing

Aunt B spent the evening with the Gman and Hall-ster. They all had quite the good time I hear....

Crashing Aunt B's room for some cartoon watching

The baby shower was just darling. I am near obsessed with the excitement that comes along with baby and bridal showers. From the cake....

To the decorations.....

To the gifts.....

I just can't get enough. Add in that it's one my very dearest, oldest, and bestest friends of all time and my excitement for her was busting at the seams. She was absolutely radiant and glowing...not to mention incredibly slim for being less than two months away from her due date. Check her out!

We had a great time, played some fun games and just spent some much-needed time catching up....

Around 8:00 I was beginning to miss my little one. Gman had assured me that they were having a mighty fine time and that she hadn't let out so much as a whine....but I wanted to go snatch her up so that the girls could hang out with her a little bit. It turns out that she didn't spend much time in the room with the grown-ups. No way! There were way too many fun little people to play with. These little people were also great for hand feeding my Fruit-Loop snackin' munchkin.....

I jokingly said "Step right up! Take your turn feeding the baby that is never full!"

What happened next can only be described as a side effect of the sugary Fruit Loops so late in the evening (I never said I was aiming for any mom awards, ha!). She turned into a circle turning, lap running, squealing with glee, floor spinning maniac. A maniac is the only way to describe it....

I loved every minute of the time we all got to spend together Friday night. Adalyn and Ashley came away with a slew of wonderful things to welcome her to the world. I'm ready to don the title of honorary "Auntie Ashley" very soon. It won't be long!

Did I mention that the baby shower was a mere two blocks away from my dad's house?  It made it easy to get Hallie back home quickly to put her sleepy head to bed. She was uncharacteristically more than happy to shut her little eyes. Of course it may have been her two familiar nighttime buds, Lamby and Leila, that I had brought along for the trip and put in the corner of her crib. She melted my heart Friday night. But what's new? ;)

Saturday morning was a special treat. Not only did Hallie spare the house an early morning rooster crow but the girl slept until 9:05. Oh yeah!!!! I had had a long discussion with Gman the night before about the importance of not waking her up in the morning. He had insisted on getting up early and having breakfast ready for my impatient child who wakes up with an empty belly and has issues waiting for food to be placed in front of her. I assured him that she would be okay waiting for breakfast to be made after she woke up on her own. The late wake up call was just what I needed to start the day off on the right foot. Oh yeah, and this too.....here are just three of the reasons I LOVE my daddio....

#1

#2

#3

We all enjoyed a quiet breakfast while Hallie sat atop the table and inhaled her food. She wasn't done yet though. We drove over to Lisa and David's for a visit where she polished off the fruit smoothies they'd just made. She was a bit picky about the method delivery for these smoothies. As you can see below it was a bit tricky trying to please her....

"I told you!!! I want it in the cup with a straw!"

It turns out she just wanted to be sassy. Good thing Lisa and David love then some Hallie because they ended up feeding her smoothie out of three different cups and two different spoons. The little turdette ended up watching cartoons in David's man cave while Lisa and I did some bridal shower planning for Aunt B's big day. Cousin Doodoo showed up too!! They played on the swingset, spun in circles, picked a few weeds in the front yard...ya know, typical baby activities....

Us three girls did some bachelorette party brainstorming and by that point I was pooped....she was pooped.....we were pooped. And it was only noon. I took her back to Gman's house for some shuteye. For her, not me. I had a list of errands to run. Hobby Lobby was at the top of the list of course. I also had to stop by the furniture store and pick up a side table we had ordered that had finally come in. Hallie woke up shortly after I returned with lunch for Gman and I. So much for my promise to make a lunch for us...the days always fly by when I'm at "home"...sometimes I wish time would slow down when I get there. The rest of the afternoon was just perfection. I sat back and watched my dad and my girl play their hearts out. Nothin' better....

So graciously smashing in Gman's firepit cover with a piece of metal

I'm not really sure what's going on here

I taught her how to step along the stones...she may or may not have looked a little intoxicated while doing this

"Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!"

Loungin' on the hammock

One last wagon ride

See what I mean?? They both finally crashed on the couch after all of that...

They watched cartoons while Gman prompted me to do a quick search through the front coat closet to see if anything belonged to me. I assured him that nothing in there belonged to me but low and behold I found this upon taking a quick peek inside the closet.....

Stylin' Jr. High style

Hallie had to check her Facebook status one last time before we left....

Aunt B was addressing wedding invitation, Gman had begun to settle into a nap and Hallie and I needed to hit the road to get home at a decent time. She had mixed feelings about leaving although you wouldn't have been able to tell by looking at her....

Her poker face

We said a gratitude-filled goodbye to Gman and Aunt B and made our way home to this....

Holy responsibilities

Did I mention that I like being spoiled by my Dad?? Because I do.

But I also really like having these two under the same roof with me....

She was being extra motherly to her babydolls last night and giving them sweet kisses and "singing" to them....

She even took it upon herself to put one of them to bed.....

"It's a soft landing I promise"

" Night night!"

Night night we went. Woah, I was wiped out! With the time change looming over our heads I decided to hit the hay at 9:30. I proclaimed that it was 10:30 and had a far-too-long debate with Riley about the fact that it was 10:30 and not 9:30 even though it was technically 9:30...you get my point. I felt the need to get a headstart in case Daylight Savings Time did a number on Hal's sleeping patterns. Luckily I got some extra hours of sleep instead of losing and Hallie decided to sleep in until 8:15. That is the same time that Riley decided to wake mama bear. Not the best idea he's ever had. Ugh. I rolled out on the wrong side of the bed and was pretty thrown off by the time change. Somehow instead of losing an hour I'd gained two hours compared to my normal. My body didn't really know how to feel about it. Riley was antsy to go to early service at church so we rushed around (as usual) and walked in only twenty minutes late. I'm being completely and totally sarcastic by the way. Riley is stuck on early service and there doesn't seem to be a thing I can do to change his mind. Maybe I might try a little changeroo of the clocks one Sunday. But I'd be afraid his world might come crumbling down if we didn't make it to the 8:30 service. Hallie was a persistant little gal Sunday morning. That is precisely why she ended up wearing this to church......

Yes to the frog boots....hey it was a little soggy outside...very appropriate ;)

She even wanted to take her babydoll along but it turns out that it was much too cold outside to get her newborn out in the elements.....

Underneath this monstrosity is a stroller and a baby

Mama bear, Baby bear and Papa bear all headed to the grocery store for some shopping after church. This was a huge treat for me as I had an extra pair of hands. It's usually my two hands trying to occupy a food-obsessed maniac trying to reach for everything we pass in the aisles. Riley found just the way to keep her busy......

"Beep! Beep!"

Hot stuff comin' through!

We made our way down the road to meet the fam for Kylie's belated birthday lunch. Hal sat sandwiched between Nanny and I while she chowed down on anything she could get her hands on. I'd give her an A for behavior in public during usual naptime. High fives for Hal! And high fives to Aunt Ky on turning the big 2-1!!

Happy Birthday Aunt Ky!

Still getting the hang of crayons. Who knew colored wax looked so tasty?

Naps were upon us so that meant it was time for me to get busy running errands. This Sunday's list of to-dos was a lot more enjoyable than usual. It included some retail therapy. I found myself gravitating toward the nearest place to shop and it ended up that a bit of shopping was just what I needed to turn my sour mood around. I found the perfect dress for Bailey's bridal shower and a few other things that I didn't need but certainly helped me out of my funk. Whatever works, right?? ;) I'm wondering if this guy would agree with that statement.....

Looks like a thumbs up to me!!!!

The hubs and I took turns going for afternoon runs which also ended up being the perfect stress reliever. I'll remember that next time....shopping and running. We had a fun girl's afternoon when Katie, Carmen and Kylie all came over for a stroll around the neighborhood and a trip to the park. We tried to talk Hallie into taking her baby cousin for a walk in this......

"I can't laugh with you until I know what it is that you're all laughing at...."

Hallie pushed her for a few feet and then realized we wanted her to do it so she stopped....already acting like a teenager. Carmen was a great sport but seemed much more cozy in her big girl stroller.....

"That's more like it!"

The five of us had a nice walk and introduced Carmen to the park around the corner. The weather was just perfect and actually seemed to get warmer as the afternoon passed. I was sure to get a pic of the convoy of pink before we left the house......

We saw some turkeys along our walk and Hallie broke her neck trying to get a good look at them. We made around to the park and found out that Carmen is quite the big fan of swinging....

Hal, on the other hand, was being somewhat of a toot. It turns out that she isn't so much for sharing the baby swing with others. Swinging in the big girl swing sufficed for about ten seconds and she was off to go visit Aunt Ky's dog who was just across the park grounds at Kylie's boyfriend's house.

Meanwhile Carmen and Katie were sliding....

And Riley had driven by and stopped in to play for a bit.....

And little miss set-in-her-ways decided that she was ready to go home so she loaded up and "drove" on her dad's lap the one whole block back to our house (Aunt Katie was hollering out "you're pulling a Britney Spears!")

She's got dinnertime on her mind I'm almost sure of it

The girls headed home after hanging out in the house for a bit. We had a relaxing evening at home reveling in the fact that it was so light outside. Hallie's bedtime came and went....no problem at all because we had no idea it was getting late. We were pretty busy after all.....

So busy...

And even more busy rearranging the barstools

It was too beautiful outdoors to waste the rest of the evening so Hallie and I took a wagon ride/dog walk until I felt that my arm was going to fall off. We parked the wagon, dropped off the dog and hopped on the bike. Oh how I love that bike. It's an incredibly tough workout with an ever-growing child on the back and non to mention uphill half of the way. She lasted quite a while being content on the back simply watching the trees fly by and humming to herself behind me. It wasn't until we approached the neighborhood that she decided I was crowding her out so she started her "get off the bike mom" kicking and pushing. It just makes me laugh....but I did have to stop a couple of times and turn around to tell her that it was not okay to push and kick people....especially the lady operating the bike she was riding on. My legs were jello and she was needing some breathing room for her chubby legs so I took too pushing the bike. She wasn't heartbroken in the least.....

Look at miss sassy pants propping her feet up

Look who found us while we were heading back to the house???

So here's the deal.

I need to take a chill pill.

For real real.

Everything's gonna be alright. ;)

Those Two 'S' days

Dear Saturday & Sunday,

We can't get enough of you.

P.S.- You rock.

Sincerely,

The Fannings

Seriously though. Why are these beloved days so fleeting?! Oh the weekend...what with all it's relaxation and gorgeous weather. Here's exactly how we spent our 'S' days....

Cartoons aren't as much fun without your friends!

Looks like she has perfected the lounge pose

Oh wait, this is the one!

Saturday morning was simply delightful. We had an enourmous amount of fun in the playroom...I think we managed to drag out every toy within reach which resulted in a very tired little girl when it was all said and done. Well it could also have something to do with her newborn babydoll that kept her up all night hungry and all....

"Sheesh baby....I'm not sure how much longer I can handle this. You eat constantly!"

She mothered her babydoll for quite some time in the recliner....her baby goes without eating for days so I reminded her that she had some catching up to do. She took her time and held her baby tight while feeding her a bottle. So ooey gooey sweet wouldn't ya say? So is this smile.....

And this one too.....

It turns out that a certain momma can be kinda funny (contrary to popular belief). I would pretend to fall asleep on Grizzo the bear and then wake up startled. This caused a riot of laughter and big belly laughs. And a little bit of drooling too. ;) She had had her share of momma time...then it was time for a date with dada. They hit up the hardware store together to hunt down wallpaper removing supplies, stopped by the livestock show to see chairman Papa (and the piggies of course) and finally made their way back home for some lunch. I hear that her experience with the pigs went a lot like last year. Not a fan. Not at all. The gal also wasn't a big fan of naptime either but can ya blame her? She had been having a blast with the grown-ups up to that point. She conceded and took a nice long nap in preparation for a playdate we had planned for the afternoon. We had made a date at the park with one of my cousin's friends (Lauren) who lives here in Woodward. My cousin's wife Kris has been telling me how well Lauren and I would get along so we added eachother on Facebook and have since been "stalking" eachother via the Internet (ha!). Riley met her last week at a work reception since they both work at the hospital together. It was high time I meet this chick. We met up with her family of four at Crystal Beach on Saturday afternoon. Her little girl is close to Hallie's age and is cute as can be. They all fed the ducks while Hallie stood frozen from shyness (that's a shocker!) and began to eat her piece of bread instead of sharing with those quacky creatures. The kiddos played on the playground for a while until it got pretty windy and chilly. Hal ended up getting a great big ol' hug from Kadence right before we all left. A repeat playdate is definitely a must very soon!

This mohawk-ed missy had worked up an appetite despite munching on her duck bread for the majority of the time we were at the park.....

We can thank dada for this hair-do

And these too. ;)

We had decided that Mexican food sounded good and we were both starving. Eating out....no big deal, right? Well not if you have the busiest little girl in town with you. She has a long history of making eating out not worth the hassle. We've actually become conditioned to eating at home and accepting the fact that eating out just isn't in the cards for us until Hal is a bit older. It was time to give her another shot though....and let me tell ya, she. was. an. angel. No joke. The girl sat contently in her high chair just listening to us talk, munching on some chips and cheese, smashing lemons, smiling up a storm and "chatting" with passersby. She didn't mind waiting for her food to arrive at the table and didn't try to escape from her chair at all. Unheard of!!! I couldn't help but snap a picture of our growing girl eating her very first meal off the kid's menu. Probably doesn't seem like a big deal but I almost wanted to cry as she sat there drinking her kid's drink and chowing down on her chicken strips and fries. :( She's growing up on me....

The cutest little girl I ever did see

From dinner we made one last stop by the piggy pens at the livestock show...no Papa in sight but we gave it one last shot at trying to talk Hallie into petting a pig. It wasn't happenin'.

"Fine by me...I've had enough human interaction for one day..."

Since it was too cold to play outdoors that evening we stayed cooped up inside cuddling and reading books. She grabbed one of my soft sleep shirts off of my closet bench and insisted on putting it on. Fine by me. She looks hilarious running around with it on. She soon realized that the only way to keep from tripping on it was to raise her arms up high.....

"Perfect!"

You can just imagine what she thought of herself....HOT STUFF. Yep, that's right. My daughter turned into a teenager right before my very eyes. All she was missing was a major attitude and some Justin Beiber music. It's just a matter of time....

We curled up on the floor in Hallie's room and read just about every book in her book bin. A little bit of Mickey, a bowl of strawberries and a few more books later, she was ready for nighty night. She turned into a limp noodle as I carried her to bed. Very sleepy baby. Riley and I did plenty of relaxing Saturday night.....I blogged....he watched shows about cars and other man things. We lead such exciting lives people! ;)

Sunday morning snuck up on us. We had a peacefully quiet morning getting ready for church, watching cartoons and making breakfast. But first we had a big super important mission to attend to.....

"Binkyyyyyyy???? Binkyyyyyyyy???? Where are you?"

We found the bink and all was right with the world. At that point we could move on with life. Sigh of relief on her part. Am I ever going to be able to take that thing away from her?? The meer thought of it makes me shudder. :/ I had to pry myself off the couch to finish getting ready. I could've stayed curled up with Hal in our favorite blanket all day...Mickey on repeat and all! Someone wasn't budging from the couch though. I guess she was the first person in the house ready to go so she earned some extra relaxation.....

Notice our baby food catcher to the left

Sunday afternoon was just like any other. Lunch...nap for Riley and Hallie....shopping, cleaning and workout time for mommy. I was in denial most of the afternoon and I guess you could've just called me a bitter Betty. We had plans for our Sunday school class to serve a dinner before bible study that night. With a big number of people expected to be there we needed to be at the church at 3:00. The bitterness came from the fact that I would be missing out on time outside in the ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS WEATHER. It was disgustingly gorgeous (if that's possible). Hallie didn't go without a playmate though just because we were leaving.....

Nanny to the rescue!

The two girls have a fun time at the park and Hallie showed up at the church an hour later with plenty of signs that she'd been outside and had a good time. She had dirt of her hands, legs and face....not to mention a couple skinned up knees from earlier that day when her and Riley were running out on the back porch. She was looking more like the tomboy that I have always known she was. Nanny got called in to work unexpectedly so Hallie stayed with us in the kitchen. Well that is until she started stealing too many crackers and cookies. Riley, Matt, BJ, Heather, Raenell and I spent some time outside at the playground area while Hallie got her play on. That was followed by some time demolishing the nursery. But I must say that she surprised me by leaning down to pick up some of her messes she'd made.

"I know there's food in here people....hand it over!"

Riley ended up having to take Hallie home early to feed and bathe her. It sounds as though they had an interesting night complete with Hallie leaving a trail of poop on the floor during her post bath naked laps through the house. Thankfully this did not happen on the carpet. He cleaned up the mess and lotioned our girl who had developed a rash all over her body. Lotion and the rash apparently didn't mix well. He said there was lots of squirming and screaming. Poor baby. It breaks my heart when her skin breaks out. Once she was lotioned up he tells me that she took off running and ended up on the back patio. She was running a little too fast for being so slippery with lotion and fell pretty hard on the cement. The girl had a rough evening it sounds like. He was able to get her settled down and they curled up in the recliner for some reading time.....that is until she peed on him. From what I gather her diaper wasn't tight enough and had come undone....dad had a wet lap. The little toot (literally, she was tooting all night long) stayed up running like crazy until after 9:00. She's got me wrapped so tight around her chubby finger it's not even funny. We read her mouse book about 10,001 and each time she got increasingly excited about pointed out the mouse's whereabouts to me. We put our little smarty pants to bed and kissed her goodnight. She was asleep before I closed the door I'm almost sure of it.

Great weekend. We learned lots of new things about our favorite little one. Like how she can say " I dunno" and "beep beep" in her best hick accent. Hilarious!!! There are about a billion little new things she did this weekend that I'm forgetting but I'm sure she'll be repeating them again in no time so I'll just keep my eyes peeled. She's full of personality and hard to miss so it shouldn't be hard! Here's to more spectacular 'S' days like the ones we just had.

SPRING(like) weather!!!

Spring? Are ya there?

Oh!! There you ARE!!!!

For a day or two at least.

As you can see a certain tiny tot was a bit excited about being outdoors so much this week. We were blessed with some gorgeous and mild weather this past week. That meant one thing. Play, play, play! But first....I had to drag her away from her Goldfish and Mickey.....

Notice her lovely display of snacks that she dumped on the table. Sheesh!

Monday - I picked Hallie up early from daycare. It was so nice to spend part of the afternoon together. I loaded up the babe in the stroller and leashed up the pup and we took off for a stroll around the neighborhood. The weather was just a tiny bit chilly but not uncomfortable though. I couldn't resist her pleas as we passed by the park so we fit in a quick swing before it started getting too cool....

Her best "blue steel" face

Tuesday - We had the promise of a perfectly warm afternoon. I was thrilled to get outside and relax a bit. Tuesdays are always my "recharge after Monday" day. But that particular Hallie/Mommy day started off a bit rocky though...we were late getting to Shattuck to do therapy with Meme before a very frustrating tax appointment...that followed by a very cranky and tired baby along for the ride as we took Meme on her first big outing back to the store. Take my advice. Please. NEVER, ever, ever take a one-year-old to a tax appointment.....not even if  your CPA is family. Just. Don't. Oh my, I was just a wreck by the time we left my cousin Ann's office in Shattuck. We went to pick up Meme and took a trip down the road to the store. I was thrilled by how great she was able to walk around in the store. On one hand I was a very proud that all of the therapy we've been working on has finally paid off ...but on the other hand I was a little distracted by the fact that Hal's naptime was creeping up on us. lHallie was a little less enthused about the fact that I was keeping her held hostage in the cart. Meme checked out as I attempted to distract Hallie from grabbing for gum and suckers nearby. Have I mentioned just how much my daughter dislikes the word "no"? She was screaming for good reason I guess....she wanted to sleep and be left alone! In the short time it took me to strap her in her carseat, help Meme in the car and unload the shopping cart she was already snoozing....

Hallie slept and Meme sat in the car with her while I ran into the grocery store to grab the stuff on Meme's list. I made sure Meme got back into the house, unloaded the groceries and cleaned up the tornado damage that Hallie had left behind in her living room earlier that morning. By the time we headed home I began wondering if my sleeping beauty would transfer into her crib when we got home. I had high hopes....mainly because I knew that I desperately needed some quiet time to gather my thoughts after a crazy morning. Twas not what Hal had in mind. The 45 minutes she spent sleeping in the car was all I was gonna get. Moms know what I'm talking about when I say that naps in the car don't count. Naps only count when you are home and can use the time to get things accomplished or just sit down for a moment. A couple deep breaths and a minor internal hissy fit later, I was ready to snatch her out of bed for some fun that afternoon. Once the wind died down a bit and the sun started shining brightly both of our spirits were lifted. It was time to bust out the t-shirt and shorts by golly.....

She explored every last inch of the backyard, did a little driving in her car and then we hopped in the blue shuttle and made our way to the park.....

Diva much?? ;)

She moved her exploration from our backyard to the park area. She walked/ran every last inch. I watched contently from the park bench as she had a ball....

Daredevil

A very rough start to the day turned into a very peaceful and relaxing afternoon of laughs and fun with my favorite baby girl. The sun has magic healing powers I'm almost sure of it....

I had spent part of the afternoon baking up a batch of oh-so-sweet lemon brownies. Our friends Troy and Angie took my up on my offer for taste-testers and stopped by for brownies and a chat. It was a nice change of pace to have some friends stop by during the week.

Wednesday - busy day.  More beautiful weather. It actually felt slightly hot, dare I say. Ok, it could have had to do with my malfunctioning air-conditioner in my car. AC malfunction = attitude malfunction. Do ya blame me? Put a woman in a small hot space and just wait for her to melt(down). Sweet little Carmen Jo and Aunt Katie saved the day for us! That evening we met them for a walk at the trails for some much needed stress relief and a nice long walk/talk with three of my favorite girls. By the time we made our way around the trails it had started to get kinda chilly. Carmen was armed with her cute little hat....

Thursday - an incredibly busy day. Are you seeing a pattern here? All I could think about was the fact that Riley had fixed my front bike tire which meant that Hallie and I had a date with the cycle when we got home. We left from daycare and ran a couple errands before getting home and strapping her in the bike. But first we had to free the bike from the pile of weeds it was placed in. Yes, honey....a pile of weeds and sticks would be the most ideal place to park my bike. Once we freed the bike it was ON!!!

She switched between squealing with excitement and angrily trying to push me off of the seat of the bike. Turns out she would have much rather been able to prop her feet up on the seat and I was obviously in her way. ;) She had me laughing as she would grunt and push her hands against my back until she gave up. We are still working on the concept of sharing....guess she didn't get the memo that we were riding a "bicycle built for two." We spent our time out in the fresh air singing and pointing out objects along the way. It was the first of MANY spring bike rides to come!

Friday- I find myself blogging about the week we just had in a zombie-like state. I keep waiting for that "perfect" week. Does that exist? I think I'd just settle for a week that doesn't kick my butt. Work continues to increase at a dizzying pace and I'm finding myself being away from the house way more than I intend to be. While I'm trying to give Hallie the best of what I have left to offer at the end of each day, sometimes I find that it's not much. She seems to still love me so I guess I'm doing something right. We had a great dinner with Nanny and Papa tonight...yet another Pinterest recipe in the books and Nanny picked a good one! Hal agreed. She was more than ready to eat and would run as fast as her legs would carry her to her dinner chair everytime someone would walk in the door. She was a great sport about waiting for Papa to get home though. Nanny fed us, bathed our babe and sent her home happy and very, very sleepy.

I hope you are ready for us, weekend...because we are so very ready for you!!!!