Our Summer ( 1 post, 3 months!)

Happy end of Labor Day weekend everyone! Hope you weren't laboring too hard. I worked this weekend myself but thankfully had today off and so did John! So it was all weekend crammed into a day...but more on that later. I shouldn't get ahead of myself considering this post is a quick catch up of the past 3 months of summer and a admission that most likely from now on, this will be how I run the ye ole blog. Let's face it, even though I plan to work part time for a year or so, we will adding a new family member shortly and I won't pretend like dropping one shift a week will open many doors of blogging possibility! This blog is meant to be a place of keeping up, sharing some thoughts and ideas to family, friends etc. No pressure ; )

Ok so I'll get on with it. This summer...hmmm let's see.

We left off in May after we returned from Alabama. We came back thoroughly anticipating seeing our baby on ultrasound and hearing about their health and of course the gender.

JUNE

And we know...GIRL!! I knew when I saw the ultrasound. Some silent tears of joy and excitement came from me while John stared at the wall. JK. I told him its just because he is a good girl dad which he definitely is. So there you go. See you in November little baby!

Before that, we immediately jumped into redoing Ellie's nursery to a "big girl room" the weekend we got back. It was a success! We painted, put together furniture, and I decorated until it was right. Ellie loves it and her bunk beds. I'll share completed pictures when I FINALLY post a home tour of our new house.

We took Ellie to Blowing Rock, NC to see Thomas the Train at Tweetsie Railroad amusement park. It was so fun and the weather was perfect and Ellie was so excited. She loves some Thomas so we had to go while he was there.

JULY

July 4th weekend my parents came to visit and we had a little home incident from an air conditioning unit that was placed and not connected correctly.

The ceiling partly fell their first night here but we didn't let it damper the whole weekend. We were definitely extremely aggravated and all the what-ifs circled my mind from paying to repairing but I can say now it all worked out. While my parents were here we celebrated their birthdays and grilled out. On July 3rd we went to Table Rock State Park to swim and picnic. On the 4th my parents had to leave and I worked that night some so that was our holiday weekend. A fine time had by all.

Next we celebrated the upcoming 

wedding of John's sister Holly and her fiancé Jonathan. We had a big cookout dinner at our home with appetizers, a meal and a dessert bar! It was a wonderful night and we were so happy to host our family finally! Oh... and John and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary that day. Cheers!

The next day we got to see my cousins Ashley and Drew and their daughter Joelle as well as my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Jim. It was wonderful to catch up and have a quick brunch at our house. It was as entertaining as ever to see our daughters together. They are about 6 months apart, just like Ashley and I!

Drinking buddies 😉

The next weekend we left for summer vacation to Edisto Island, SC. We spent a week with John's family relaxing, beaching, eating, napping and having quiet morning drinking coffee on the porch with a book (me). Ellie loved the water (we got a pool membership that week at a nearby resort) and we had a good time. By the time we got home it was already...

AUGUST

We got our ceiling fixed from last month and a fresh coat of paint on the ceiling! It took 2 days, a bad attitude from yours truly, lots of cleaning afterwards but a beautiful finished product as a result. Ellie and I went to the Children's Museum and Library to try and help stay out of the way during construction...

We went to a Greenville Drive baseball game courtesy of John's company! I had been wanting to go, you know stadium food, and he finally scored some tickets. We thought it was going to get rained out but alas it only started about 30 minutes late for the delay. We made it through 3 or 4 innings which was enough. It was late and I felt like I was just getting hotter the longer we were there lol.

We spent the next day starting on the nursery. We painted, put together the crib and arranged the furniture. I also ended up washing some clothes, blankets, etc and started to organize the closet.
This had been a goal of mine to set-up/redo the kid rooms this summer so it was nice to just about be there. Besides, once I'm heading towards the end of a pregnancy, I don't really want to be worried about finishing xyz if possible. I just want it all done and sit back to enjoy the time before there are big changes and new baby is here!

Ellie and I went to our 1st tea party...

At the end of this month, we went to NC to visit my family. We hadn't been since February when we celebrated Ellie's birthday so we were overdue for a trip. We had a nice weekend with family and got to meet the newest member of our family: Baby Solomon! 

By the time we got back, it was practically September. The summer went by pretty quickly and was a good one but a HOT one. Not that I need to tell anyone that but for real. HOT. We spent some days inside, some days in the little pool and sometimes just staying out for entertainment. Oh! We also *pretty much* potty trained Ellie in August after vacation and while its not perfect, it is much better than what I kinda expected. I'd say most days she is 95% there. But we still have our regression days that just about drive me crazy. 

She is changing so much now it seems. This is just one more step to make a her "big girl". She is pretty incredible that little Ellie. She is going to be such a good big sister. I don't know about the transition at first but after we all adjust, she will be so good. Anyway! Signing off for now and expecting to write a September post before a home tour but it's coming in October! I should think...

Hope you all had a beautiful summer and great farewell weekend to the unofficial end of it!

Sunday Dress up

Good Friday evening! Just as good a time as any for a little blogging right? This week has flown by it seems but it's been great to keep some posts coming along here! It's really been a goal to keep, or should I get, blog posts more consistent here.

Speaking of which, I've had the idea for a while to post up some momma + daughter pictures for the absolute fun of it and as I've said before...while Ellie still will allow it! Ahh hopefully she cooperate with my ideas for a while longer ;) So without further explanation, here some pictures from the summer archives of June this year. These pictures are all spring/summer colors which is kinda funny as now I, like everyone else, am starting to get fall on my mind. Just a bit. Only the littlest bit. Anyway here we are after church in the glory of the day!



                               


Here is the first set together from February. Gosh Ellie looked so tiny. That was just months ago. Sigh, sigh, and...smile.

Ellie's outfit is all hand-me-downs and mine is older clothing from one year ago (shoes) to 5 years ago (dress). It just gets better with time :)

Hopefully another post coming this weekend about some exciting up coming plans! Have a wonderful weekend.

                                                                        

The biggest bath tub

 On Saturday, late in the afternoon we finally took Ellie to the pool. (We have a pool in our subdivsion and pay a plenty in HOAs for it so I want to make it a point to finally use it!) Something I have wanted to do for a while! I really thought she was probably going to hate it (flashbacks to last summer when we put her toes in the ocean and she screamed) but in her defense she was only 4 months old and you know the ocean is intimidating so... it turns out she actually really liked it! Not right off of course but after she got used to it she was splashing in the water, kicking her feet real hard. Then she starting throwing her shoes in (which they were $2 at the thrift store so throw on it you must!). It was just stinkin cute. I know as a parent EVERYTHING your kid does is cute, but really people, this was cute. She didn't even mind she had water on her face or that the water was a liiiiittle chilly (I was struggling to stay in myself :). Oh and she kept leaning towards the pool and calling it a "bafth" (bath). Afterwards we listened to some reggae and tried to warm up a bit before heading out. Ellie has a strange love for reggae music, no lie. We can go with that.

 

 

Just for fun...earlier in the day Ellie got an Elmo sent to her by Grammie and Grandpa and she immediately tried to feed him a cookie. Ellie + Elmo= BFF

 

 

Elmo at home



Elmo at church

Special days and service

Hello, hello. Let me just recognize that the whole one post a week thing isn't working out so well yet is it? I say yet because it can work but not at this very moment. We are adjusting to my new schedule on nights and well it is just that...an adjustment. Good I think. I can sleep at just about any point so that part isn't yet a deal breaker but then again we are a whole 2 shifts into this so we shall see.

One of the beauties of this job is shining bright. That beauty is the fact that I get to spend weekdays and more home with Ellie. We get to wake up and eat breakfast together (usually some sort of egg concoction or if I've baked muffins) and then Ellie takes a morning nap. I get ready, do chores and generally just try to check things off a to do list. After her nap, we sometimes get lunch right away and then go out or if I try to go out before her nap, well lets just say things never quite get right again if that morning nap is missed. Especially now since she has a "big girl" car seat (finally) and wakes up the moment you get her out. I mean messing up a nap is a first world problem but I think people all around the world appreciate their quiet time. After a nap and maybe lunch, I try to get us out to do something: library, park, errands, or (I'm not going to lie...) target! We also go on a wagon/stroller/baby carrier walk with the dog (s) every afternoon. Then its usually a little afternoon nap and then time to get dinner going.

Wagon rides...all day every day

Tearing up the library

Grammie!

 

At the library....me lookin like Axel Rose from Guns-n-Roses ;)

 

Factory tour at Da-Da's work!

We have a good time together. Its fun to sit and watch her. Already such a funny baby, really and truly. I mean, I need her to have that nap time for sure. I'm not going to pretend otherwise but she is such a good little friend to have. And she loooves her momma ;) Dada too of course.

I had mentioned before about service projects to be a part of each month, I thought I'd mention a couple now that have already happened or those in this month to help with.


Another lovely church shower for lovely church family. How beautiful it is to celebrate with people. To see the joy on their faces as you just become carefree and focus on the excitement in your life. This past Saturday, I helped plan a brunch for some church family and it turned out beautifully and so many people came out to support the new family. I stopped by to see it during my lunch break and was happy to see them so happy with day and of course with their little family.

One of our circles at church is planting flowers on the church grounds this month. Yay! lots of people use and visit our church so we need to take care of it and help it to look nice.

My "Florence Nightingale" table at the Tea 

in June...there is a 5k to benefit Miracle Hill which I hope to be a part of...we'll see.

Hope everyone has a lovely week!

Uncharted Territory

The title says it all, it is uncharted territory in the way of how I have blogged thus far. But! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't keen on the idea of throwing a little more lifestyle into this blog as well as continuing to of course recap family things and updates of the sort.

Truthfully some people don't care to read about recipes, clothing, décor, etc. but I think it's fun to share ideas and inspiration for different things. Especially on a blog! You always take what you want from it. So without further ado, here is the first post on a mom, baby outfit-Valentine's style. Yea I'm a little late.

 

I don't include brands or links about where to find similar items because I like looking at outfit posts as just idea inspiration and a different take on putting an outfit together. Anyhow here is me and my sweet model who is indulging her mom's obnoxiousness need for taking pictures :)

 

Have a great weekend!