Labor Day Weekend

I always look at Labor Day as the end of summer.  Fall is my favorite season, but it's the last weekend to soak up some warm sunshine, lounge on the lake, cookout with friends and family, and end another season.  I get a little sad, but then there's college football that cheers me right up!!  That's the best thing about Labor Day. 

 

 

I have to be honest, I haven't really been ready to say good-bye to summer.  I have been wishing it would last just a little bit longer.  And then, I went to Mason's....  I saw all the adorable boots and fall clothing and started to get a little excited.  Fall is just around the corner, but our family definitely had a big Labor Day weekend, soaking up the last days of summer.

 

 

 

We had a BIG morning at Little Gym on Saturday. 

 

 

 

Reese wasn't feeling her best, but still did GREAT!

 

 

 

After Little Gym, we went to Kinsey's First Birthday party!!  It was so much fun and I am so happy to be back so that my girl can grow up with Tara's sweet munchkin. 

 

 

 

After the party, we headed out to the lake.  It was the perfect afternoon!!  We listened to the HOG game and then went back to Mom and Dad's and had burgers. 

 

 

 

I got to meet Aaron, Lindsey's boyfriend for the first time!  Such a great guy.

 

It was great to see Austin again too.  Love our big family so much!!

We didn't get home until 10:00, so we slept in Sunday morning and were planning on going back to the lake, but the storms held us off.  Instead, we met everybody at the Buss Stop in Garfield and ate lunch.  Then, we girls decided to make wreaths.  I've been wanting to get a Razorback one and here it is. 

 

 

 

 

 

You can tell someone was up in the mix of everything!  :))

 

 

 

Sunday night, we went to a cookout with some people from church and had a great time.  Monday was spent sleeping in (which is 7:00 for us these days!! :)) We had breakfast, went on a nice morning walk, ran some errands, enjoyed lunch at P.F. Chang's, and then finished the night at Gigi and Poppa's for swimming and a cookout. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was the perfect Labor Day Weekend!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11 Months

I really cannot believe that my baby girl is about to be one!!! How has this year flown by so quickly?? Things have been a whirlwind lately and in the midst of our move, new jobs, and getting settled, this Momma is planning a big birthday party!!!  I told myself back in June that no matter how crazy things got, I would put all my being into making sure she has a great FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!  Lets just say planning is in full force!

 

 

Reese, we have loved watching you grow right before our eyes. You are EVERYWHERE these days and here are some of our favorite things about you at 11 months. (Yes, I realize we are only 10 days from your birthday, but cut me some slack...Mama's been busy.  :))

 

 

 

You are crawling EVERYWHERE!! This started about 3 days before we moved into our house in Hyde Park.

 

 

You LOVE climbing the stairs and are so proud of yourself every time you get to the top.

 

 

You love a sippy cup

 

 

Daddy has started his long 12 hour shifts, so you sit on the counter with me in the mornings in the bathroom while I get ready.  You play with makeup, empty my purse, pull all the kleenex's out of the box, and have all sorts of fun!!

 

 

You have wanted nothing to do with baby food for about 6 weeks or so. You eat pretty much what we eat. (Some favorites are: carrots, cheese quesadillas, rice, oatmeal, cheerios, puffs, puffs and more puffs).

 

 

You and Jovie are starting to play more together.  You will throw a toy and she will go get it.  You think it's really funny.

 

 

You now have 8 teeth!!

 

 

You still haven't said "Mama," but are starting to sound out other words like dog, duck, and ball.

 

 

You still LOVE the water!  Pools, lakes, sprinklers, fountain, and baths.  Anything with water!

 

 

You stand by yourself and have taken 3-4 steps, but not walking yet.  I don't think I'm ready for that.  *tear*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 You are the light of our life sweet girl!!  I cannot believe you will be ONE this month!!  This is such a fun stage....  We love watching you grow and learn things daily.  You are so observant and as happy as can be.  I love when you reach those little arms out for me and when your laugh echoes throughout the living room when we tickle you.  I still rock you to sleep at night and just stare at your beautiful little face.  I can't believe how you fill up my lap now.  You are getting so big and I am so thankful you are growing strong, yet so sad that a year has flown by so quickly.  We will be celebrating your sweet face in just 10 days!!!  We love you so much, Reese!!!



 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Crazy Life

I am so behind on blogging, it's not even funny!!! To say that our lives have been crazy is an understatement.  Our little family of 3 is moved into our new house in Hyde Park and we are gradually falling into our "new normal." (By the way, I love that saying..."new normal".  My sis-in-law says that with a child, every milestone and every change they make begins a new stage of life, so you adjust and it becomes your new normal.) This is so very true!!

The changes continue to flow....  I am still trying to adapt to my new territory, meeting doctors and learning a new routing.  Matt has accepted an RN position @ Mercy Hospital in the ICU and starts on Monday, the 19th.  We went to Reese's open house for Mother's Day Out last night and she will start there on Friday.  The list continues to go on.  I do feel good about the house. We have everything unpacked, now we're just trying to add little things here and there (bar stools, rugs, hang pictures, etc.).  We need to paint our little nugget's room as well.  I am telling myself that I have until September 14 to get all this done.  That will be Reese's first birthday party.  27 days...READY...SET...GO!!!!!!!

Blog posts aren't as much fun without pictures, so here are a few of what we've been up to during our recent transition.

These kids celebrated a 4 year anniversary!!  (It's been total chaos, so we celebrated with a night out and enjoyed dinner and a movie!) I tell myself that next year we will do it up BIG!  :))

Home Sweet Home

Nick and Nora were in town recently, so we all got together for pizza and pool fun at Gigi's and Papa's.  (This picture cracks me up. Swimming was a last minute decision, so Bryn and Emma swam in some of Hudson's under-roos. Hilarious!!!  This will be a picture that will come back to haunt them!!) 

I love my little running buddy!  I am trying really hard to get back into the groove of exercising. We've got our gym membership now, but the weather has been so awesome we've been outside a lot lately. 

Our little family went to Ken and Cheryl Rosenbaum's 25th wedding anniversary party.  I was the flower girl in their wedding when I was 8.  CRAZY how fast time flies!!

We love that TCBY is only a few miles from our house!!

We are falling in love quickly with the Bentonville square.  Saturday, we started our morning at Panera, then went to the Farmer's Market and bought some veggies and had a great time playing at the park. We topped it all off with ice cream at the local 50's Fountain.

Landon and Brandi brought us dinner one evening (which was fabulous).  We had a great time taking the kiddos to our neighborhood park and letting them play.   

 BATH TIME FOR EVERYONE!!!

Disorganization Is Our New Normal

For anyone who truly knows me, I am a type A personality.  My team laughs at me because I am so organized.  I live by a planner, always have a list, and HATE clutter.  I do laundry every day so that I'm not drowning in it on the weekends, keep a clean house, and manage my territory for work (not to mention take care of a sweet baby girl and handsome hubby).

You can just imagine how much hair I've pulled out, going on week 3 of living out of boxes, searching for different items every day, and trying to manage all our chaos.  To say that I am ready to move into our new house, is an understatement.  I am the type of person that needs structure and I cannot wait to have it back.  (Side note:  I am forever grateful to my parents who have let us crash and take over their beautiful home.  They have been so wonderful and have helped us out as we wait for our house to be finished.  This kid just can't stand the clutter!!)

On a positive note, we have closed on our home in Little Rock and all of our belongings are in storage until August 2, when we will close on our house in Hyde Park.  We found a good Mother's Day Out for Reese at First United Methodist.  She will go on M, W, and Friday and Mom is going to keep her on T and Th.  She will start on August 15, and we're pretty excited about it!  We pray it will be a great place for her.  Matt is interviewing right now for positions in some of the hospitals in the area and we are hoping to hear something this next week.  We've also found a gym that is close to our house and as soon as we make our move, Matt and I are more than ready to get back into our workout routines.  Things are slowly but surely falling into place. 

I'm trying to be patient during this "waiting period," but it's really starting to wear on me. 9 more days  and then the craziness of moving AGAIN will start. I will be taking off 2 or 3 days to get our things in order and I'm hoping by the middle of August, all we'll be doing is buying fun things to add here and there.  I know there's a light at the end of the tunnel, and with moving comes lots of change.  I'm really focused on keeping a positive attitude, and hoping the next 9 days will fly by!!!

Swim Ranch

As soon as we knew that we were moving to NWA, we were on a mission to see if we could get Reese into Swim Ranch this summer.  Thankfully, Mom was down there for Emma and Jack's lessons and they had a cancellation.  We jumped in and snagged the one opening they had and absolutely LOVED spending the past week in the water with our little girl.  A little history....  I went to Swim Ranch and started lessons when I was just 14 months.  I took for many years and really wanted Reese to start getting familiar with the water since we will have a pool in our neighborhood and she'll grow up spending lots of time on the lake. 

We all took turns swimming with her throughout the week.  She did so good and absolutely LOVED it.  We were so proud of her!!  She received a certificate at the end of the week, stating what she learned.


* Front Kick
* Back Float
* Shallow Jump
*Kickboard Kick
*Climb In and Out
*1-2-3 Splash

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You weren't crazy about the slide, but you did like the big turtle.  Playtime at the end was one of your favorite things too.  You would lounge in a ring and grab a toy to chew on while one of us toted you around the pool.  A full hour of swimming at 10 months old will wear a girl out!!

We are so proud of you, sweetie!!  It was a great week of making lots of memories!