Happy Father's Day!

California or Bust

I've been super frazzled lately. So much to do, zero time. I'd feel buried even if I didn't have a 12-day trip around the corner, but it certainly doesn't help. I don't like to leave with my house even a little messy. Vacations tend to wear me out, and I want to come home to a nice, clean, stress-free house...So our upcoming trip has added infinite items to my to-do list. Every once in a while, I think,

Well, at least when it's all done I'll be on vacation!

Then I remember that vacations are quite a bit of work with young kids. It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite shows, Modern Family.

At the airport preparing for a trip to Hawaii, a frazzled Claire turns to her peppy Hawaiian Shirt-clad husband and says, "Honey, I'm a mom traveling with my kids. This is not a vacation. It's a business trip." So true!

Still, I'm very much looking forward to our trip. We're kicking it off with my cousin Sara's wedding and related festivities. Then, after a couple of days with family, we're taking a vacation within a vacation...just the four of us. For our final days, a camping trip at Collins Lake! Should be a great trip, but I'm thinking I'll need to take a personal day when we get back to recover. Oh wait....

Eloise is Nine Months Old!

Nine Month Stats:

17 pounds, 11 ounces
27 1/2" =
44.6cm head

Weezy is so much fun. She just started doing things intentionally to make us laugh...so cute! She loves to sing and dance and even "ah-ah-ah"s along when Marlee sings Lady Gaga. Two new teeth have popped through, and more should be not too far behind. She's an expert crawler, of course, and is doing pretty well with the furniture cruising. The bruise on her cheek in these photos is evidence of her inner daredevil when it comes to balance.

Seeee my new teeeeeth?

Okay, Mom. You got your pictures. Can I take this off now?

Happy 3/4 year to our Sweet Sweet Eloise. We didn't know what we were missing until you joined our family!

How Do You Take Your Coffee?

We had dinner at Giggy's house on Monday night. After dinner, I went to pour coffee and asked everyone how they liked it. I repeated back their preferences:

Ok, coffee with cream for Giggy. Coffee with milk for me. Coffee no milk for Jenna.

Then Marlee piped in:

Milk with no coffee for Marlee, please!

Oh. Em. Gee.

This afternoon, while I was putting Eloise to sleep and working on some homemade hotdog buns and sandwich rolls, Marlee asked to play outside with her water table. I thought for a moment and decided that she had demonstrated enough maturity lately to be able to play unsupervised, but within earshot. We talked about the rules.
Put on sunscreen.
Stay on the deck.
Don't dump the water out.

I didn't think I needed to add

Don't take off your clothes, get in the water table, and wash your hair with your underwear.

Mother's Helper

In just a few short months, Marlee will be going to school five mornings a week. You already know that I LOVE her school, and I know she's ready...I'm just not sure I am :) We decided to pass on summer camps so that I can spend more time with her, but I need a few hours a week to do work related to my doula business, errands, and chores. We hired a mother's helper, and she's awesome! She'll be here a couple of mornings a week to play with the girls while I work around the house, watch them while I go out, or accompany us on "field trips" as an extra set of eyes and hands. I don't trust just anyone with my girls, but I knew she was the right choice. We love her, and I'm pretty sure she loves our girls....