Happy Half-Birthday!!

Today is a pretty fantastic day. It's the first day of the Olympics!! Also, it's National Underwear Day!! I'm not sure why underwear has its own holiday butt... See what I did there? Hilarious!

Actually today Lily is 1.5 years old!!! Can you even believe it?! I can't. 

I wanted to make her a half of a cake but Husband and I cut sugar out for a bit and there ain't no way I'm making a cake without licking the batter. So I gave her a banana. Honestly, she probably preferred that to cake anyway. I think she might be an alien. 

I also wanted to take some cute pictures of her but gone are the days of clear Lily photos. Now they are mostly just blurs. Except this one. We went for a walk and Lily remembered to bring her half-birthday sass. Never leave home without it. 

Cake and pictures, or the lack there of, really don't matter that much though. We hung out. We had some fun. We made some memories. After all, you only turn 1.5 once. 

Happy half-birthday Tiny Bear!!!

Safe and Sound

Church camp was really great but I sure am glad to be back! Being away from home has a tendency to make a person realize how great home is. And here are some things I am really thankful for...

1. Toilet paper that doesn't disintegrate. Seriously. 

2.  Air conditioning! Normally I'm kind of stingy about air conditioning. This is Missouri...it gets hot...but I don't really want to start selling kidneys to pay the electric bill. Since I've been back, however, I've loosened up a bit. Btw, how much will a spleen bring on the black market?

3.  Not having to fight people for a seat at the table. It's like high school lunch room all over again! You get your tray and stand around looking for a free spot. "Nope, not there. Nope, can't sit there. Yes! There's a spot! Nope, wasn't fast enough." It's also nice to sit at a table and not flavor my food with the sweat dripping from my head. Did I mention it was hot?

4.  Being able to take a shower without 20 other people waiting. It's nice to not worry about getting foot fungus too. I've seen those commercials...it doesn't look like fun. 

AND my favorite part of being back home? Seeing these faces!!!!!! Husband did a great job while I was gone! When I got home the laundry was done, the dishes were washed and there was a large glass of ice water waiting for me. Being away is fun but being back home sure is fantastic!

Squishy Face Lily Girl

Normally these posts are for you guys but this time, this post is for me. I'm going to be away at our church kids camp for the week and, in the absence of her squishy face, I'm going to need some sweet pictures of Lily Girl to get me by.

Peek-a-boo!!!!

When you go to Home Depot looking for a very specific bolt of some sort and it takes forever to find what you need...

That's right...we got Lily a pony!! But we got a special breed that doesn't leave messes everywhere and never jumps over the fence. 

Doesn't this look like the perfect picture to flash up on the screen at a high school graduation? Don't worry...you'll probably also see it on your Christmas card, my Facebook profile picture, my phone background and a photo the size of an entire wall at our house. You're welcome. 

With that face comes a fantastic pterodactyl-type screech. But when it's paired with the cute smile, who can get mad? Sometimes I do...in the morning...when I haven't had coffee. But mostly it's cute. 

And this picture goes in here too. Is that Big Foot? Maybe ol' Nessy? Nope not quite, but it is a rare sighting...it's a Lily Snuggle. They don't happen often. She always has places to go and people to see and little dogs to chase. But on the rare occasion that it happens, I soak it up and take as many mental pictures as I can. Well, and a couple grainy iPhone pics too. 

Aaaaaaand one more...just because. 

Hooray for Independence Day!

Happy Independence Day everyone!! Hopefully it was fantastic! My amazing wit and endearing sarcasm are currently in short supply but cute pictures of Lily, well, I have a jumbo supply of those.

 

We shot off a couple fireworks. I couldn't tell if the crying was from pure excitement and complete joy or from terror. It retrospect, I think it was probably terror. #parentingwin 

 

Happy House-iversary!

Welcome to our humble abode! We've been here a year so I guess it's about time to give you the grand tour. We've tackled a couple projects like painting the front door and the garage doors.





Before

When we moved in, all the walls were white so we added some color. Painting the living room was a bit of a task. We had to put up some scaffolding to get to the top. We will be sticking with these colors for, um, quite awhile.


Before

We also took out the wooden spindles. We thought about putting a slide in but apparently that's "not baby proof." Whatever. How cool would that have been?!
The master bedroom is really big!! In our last house there was literally only room for the bed. Oh and Jake had a little floor spot but that was pretty much it. We even have a master bathroom!! Which means I don't have to shove all my stuff in drawers when people come over.

 

Lily's room is as cute as a button. The windows are huge which is totally awesome. I didn't spend time decorating or changing stuff because it's pretty much perfect as it is. Someday we might repaint but for now the handprints all over the walls are adorable. 

 

Bathroom. I just wanted you to know that it's true what they say...everybody poops. 

 

The kitchen is fantastic. So much space and so many cabinets! We've been here a year and I still can't find stuff but that's mostly because Lily moves everything and hides her toys in the bowls and pans. What goes good with spaghetti? Plastic balls and doll clothes of course!

In case you are wondering about the paint patches in the wall, we are going for a new style called "giraffe." Just kidding. We can't decide on a color. Probably something in the orange, yellow, red or tan family. We really narrowed it down right?

We have other rooms too. There is a room with a totally awesome craft table. I'm not going to show you...you'll just have to take my word for it. Why am I not going to show you? Uh, where do you think all the extra stuff in the other rooms went when I took these pictures?

And we have a basement with a bedroom down there too. Currently there is a huge washing machine box/secret club house right in the middle. And I can't show you because you don't know the password.

So...that's our house! We love it! And we can't wait for you to come see it in person!

 

Happy Father's Day

Lily Girl is pretty blessed for lots of reasons. She's super cute, she has red hair, her mom is a wonderful cook... But the number one reason she is blessed is because she has the best daddy ever!

He teaches her to swim.

Reads her any book she wants.

Takes her on adventures.

Goes for walks (even when it's really hot).

Gives her shoulder rides (even though she's not exactly light anymore).

And makes her laugh all the time. 

We are so blessed!!!

ALWAYS Bring An Umbrella

Has it been raining a lot where you live? Cause it's been raining a lot here. But don't worry...we are prepared.

It's spring so we expect some rain, maybe a little hail, a couple tornado alerts. And we have had all the above. 

A little hail? I meant a big hail. Seriously, imagine that guy hitting your window! That will ruin your day! Luckily, our cars were inside and the monster hailstorm didn't last long. 

But all this rain has kept us from our daily walks. So we had to improvise. Unfortunately treadmill walks in a stroller just aren't the same. I tried to take a picture but I almost broke my face so you can just use your imagination. 

But anytime the weather breaks for a bit, we jump at the chance to enjoy the sun! (Even if a sudden downpour comes out of nowhere in the middle of our walk and we get soaked and I run down the street with a stroller like a crazy person because I didn't bring an umbrella. Bring an umbrella. Always bring an umbrella.)