these two....

 

Are the best of buds.

 

Are going to be such trouble together one day.

 

Are so different but so alike in many ways.

 

Are so funny when they're together.

 

Are so lucky to live close enough together that they can share a grocery cart ride during an unplanned meeting at the grocery store. (Nothing beats the squeal of a happy cousin when the other is spotted around town.) (Though the continued squeals and yells and side eyes from strangers aren't quite as funny.)

Project deck

You know the blogging is bad when even your mom says she's bored with the Sick Day post.

 

What have I been up to? Decking. That's about it. I would consider myself the project manager and unfortunately, the job doesn't pay well and it eats up all my lunches...when I'm supposed to be shopping and or lunching with friends...I have been at Lowe's and Home Depot and Menards. Ugh.

 

We finally decided we needed a deck. We went back and forth on a cement slab, a low deck etc. and settled on a normal deck. We hired out the actual deck building part, but Dad and Andy did the railing.

 

The project is almost complete and the Miss is going to be so bummed when it's over. She has loved being the number one helper on project deck. And she takes her job seriously, stomping around in "work boots" calling herself "worker man."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sick day

Yesterday, for the third day in a row, my mini me was sent home from school with a fever. And for the third day in a row, she hardly had a temp and was acting totally fine once she was home. A little under the weather but no sickness was keeping her from playing, screaming, running etc. So, we decided to hit the streets. And on a 95 degree day, the streets were in the air conditioned mall.

 

My girl and I, we had a good time. We had some Noodles & Company, checked out every bathroom in nearly every store and threw our monies into the fountain.

Loves the fountain.
New sunnies and headband.
Nothing better than Mac'n'Cheese
and chocolate milk.

 

We picked up Ethan a bit early and headed home to wait for Dad to get off work.

It was a lovely day.

And then, all hell broke loose.

It was like everyone waited until 5pm to have one epic meltdown…after meltdown…after meltdown.  My favorite scream session (arms thrown in the air, body flung to the floor, sobbing) was when I used the wrong color towel on Emmie’s baby doll after Emmie took it upon herself to give her a real bath. She continued bawling as she walked (naked) down to the living room to get the towel she really wanted, threw it over her shoulder and walked back up.

My laid back Mister, he was no better. His favorite game is I Lose My Mind If I’m Not in Your Arms followed by a close second: I Cry Hysterically If I Can’t See You. Awesome. You know, for that thirty seconds in which I was hoping to pee.

And then it was bedtime. And the whole cry it out thing we accomplished a couple months ago. It’s back. Because someone apparently has cry it out amnesia. Seriously, it was so good for a while and then…boom…back to where we started.

Oh and don’t you worry, Ethan’s crying then made Emmie cry. "But mamaaaa, Ethan's cryyyyyinggg!!" Sob. Sob. Wail.

The second Ethan would settle himself down the Miss would start crying. Oh the cycle. Hyena baby, screeching toddler. Andy, it's your turn. Hyena baby, screeching toddler. Crap, it's my turn.

Finally, at 7:45 kids were sleeping. And shortly thereafter, so was I.

WOTY

I’m going to submit my entry into the Wife of the Year competition. I’m sure I’ll win. I don’t exactly know what the prize is, but I’m hoping for some luxurious vacation that includes spas and champagne and sleeping in and such. Now, I don’t think I’m going to win based on my cleaning or cooking skills, however, in home décor I kicked some major ass.

 

So, we know that Andy is a Pearl Jam fan. Let’s reminisce on the Canadian concert debacle.

 

Andy has had a Pearl Jam poster from a Fargo concert rolled up and tucked in a bin with all his others, since 2003. Chances of it actually going up on the wall….probably as likely as me attending another PJ concert in Canada.

 

And then we had a son.

 

And Andy had mentioned once he would like to frame that poster and put it in the nursery.

 

And then, for Father’s Day, I did.

 

And then, I finally hung it on Ethan's wall:



 

 

 

 

E: Mom, why is Paul Bunyan strapped to a semi?
Me: Good question Ethan.

Kids bath craft

The kid's bathroom. It was time to get something on the wall. The kid bath is a hard thing...do you do something super kiddy? Or normal? We didn't have a kid specific bath in the other house.

I opted for super kiddy.

I love these books. I've always really liked this illustrator. And by always I mean the 2.5 years I've been reading kid books.

 And the photos scream kiddy bathroom.

I decided I would take the book apart and make the pages into a wall collage. Should I frame? Should I Modpodg?  What's a girl to do?

And then I remembered I'm a hoarder and kept all of the Styrofoam from the wall hangings above our bed in the old house.

Rip off the paper...cut down to size.

Spray paint the edges with some random silver paint in the garage.

Glue on the pics and hang.

Bath fun at the end of the day.
Laugh, splash, giggle and play.

Scrub high, scrub low.
Squeaky clean from head to toe.

Wrapped up in towels, lovely and dry.
Time to brush, now open wide.

 

 

 

Super kiddy bathroom complete!

The things she says

As the parent of a toddler, you really have to be able to decipher some phrases. And sometimes you get it right, sometimes you get it wrong. Like when I thought she wet her pants, but really she wanted to water the plants.

And then they make up words. That sound a little bit right, but are still a stretch. Like when she asked for rispies:

Me: What?
E: RISPIES. (Because yelling it makes it that much easier to understand.)
Me: Ummm....
E: Rispie sispies.
Me: Are you asking for a rice krispie bar? And when have you had a rice krispie bar?
E: Papa gave it to me.

And then....there are the things I could listen to over and over. This one is new and I almost watered my plants when I heard her say it the first time:

(Spoiler alert, it's fruit loops)

 

4th of July

We were supposed to spend the 4th of July with Andy's mom's family, celebrating his grandpa's birthday. As fate would have it, we spent it celebrating his life instead, he was exactly 87 years old when he passed away.

 

Andy's sister and nephews stayed with us and Emmie was pretty excited to have friends in the house. 

 

It was a crazy busy weekend.

 

The weather was amazing and we showed that Arizona crew we've got sun and fun too.

 

 

Make it rain.
Em and Liv
Snack break with the cousins on both sides.
Bathing beauties. (Never gonna get tan.)

Emmie (2 1/2) Ethan (8 months) Myles (almost 3) Oliver (9 months)