Our Weekend

Our weekend was going to be laid back and chill. I had to shoot a wedding Friday night and knew I'd be getting home late, so I was looking forward to Chuck being home Saturday and me sleeping in! Then I got home close to midnight Friday and he told me he had to work Saturday. Boo!!! It seriously seems like every weekday I have to wake Lola up by 7:15 in order to get out of the house in time for day care and work. And for some reason Friday through Sunday she is like up and active by 6:30 no matter what. I can hardly complain, because she goes to bed so easy by 7:30/7:45, and doesn't make a peep all night. But is it too much to ask for a real weekend wake up time?? This mama is NOT a morning person. But then I see this face....

Saturday we had a last minute swim session at my parents house with all the grandkids! Lola hasn't been much into swimming all summer, but seems to be warming up. She DOES NOT want to be held in the pool, she wants to go all by herself, and even if we put her in a float, she wants to tip out of it and be free. So maybe swimming lessons should be on our list next summer.

Saturday night I went out on a girls night to celebrate a besties 30th. We were just going to go to dinner, but ended up at the casino playing craps. Home by 12:30, and felt like such a party animal. It is so strange how you become a mom and all the sudden, 9pm feels like midnight, and midnight feels like 5am. But sometimes jammies and a glass of wine in bed with the TV on are routine, instead of your old going out at 9 and not caring what time you get home.
Every once in a while, it feels pretty good to break routine. 

Sundays are usually our family days. Chuck always has Sundays off, so we try to plan something fun. We decided to finally go to the Holden Arboretum and hike the new canopy walk and tower. Other than it being 90% humidity and 85 degree outside, it was gorgeous. We got a family membership so we can visit the grounds all year. If you're in the area, I highly suggest visiting and checking it out. I mean, it's only like 200 stairs, but who's counting?

 

PS- It's almost September, so be prepared for a lot of FALL posts! Because in my mind, IT'S the most wonderful time of the year.

Mom Brain

We have been too busy for our own good lately. Wrapped up an unsuccessful garage sale last weekend, and sold our couch and had to quickly buy a new one to replace it. On top of being so busy, Lola is crawling. Which means our days/minutes are absolutely insane. She's on the verge of walking any minute, and as proud as it makes me when she stands there all by herself smiling ear to ear and just so thrilled she can stand there all on her own, I secretively want to push her down and tell her to "stop it, be a baby!" It seems she is growing at the speed of light. And summer has been SO good, yet SO fast. Being busy during the summer is fun, but exhausting. And I usually can't remember what day it is lately. Mom brain is a serious, and real thing. While I hate to admit any of this, I'm going to share a couple things that have happened involving my scrambled egg brain since having Lola, in hopes all you moms out there aren't on the busy struggle bus right along with me.

1. My husband texted me after he got home from work before me one evening. "You left the stove on." To which I replied, "I didn't use the stove this morning." And it wasn't just my "try and get out of this replies" like when he asked me if I hit the bushes in his moms yard with my car and I said "no?" and he pulled about 6 branches out from behind his back and said "really? cause I just pulled this out of your fender" WHOOPS! This was a seriously I don't remember using the stove this morning reply. But when I got home, sure enough there was the skillet in the sink with left over scrambled egg that I had made for Lola that morning. I'm lucky I didn't burn our house down.

2. Leaving the stove on yet again the next week.

3. Letting the dog out, running back in to brush my teeth, going back to yell for him to come in, waiting too long and deciding to put clothes and shoes on and go find him. Yelling his name about 100 times and searching the entire neighborhood. Start to panic thinking, oh shit I lost the dog. Go back in to get my shit together and make sure Lola isn't awake yet. Start thinking the worst that a hawk picked up our dog and I would never find him again. And the little stinker was curled up under our covers in our bed the whole time. 

4. Ordering 300 new outfits from OldNavy.com for Lola and being so excited to get them, just to realize, you already ordered all of those a week ago and they arrived today.

5. Your husband asking you where you got that giant bruise on your leg that looks so painful, and you honestly can't even remember getting it, but damn it hurts now that you mention it. 

6.  Specifically not making coffee at home, leaving early in the morning so you have enough time to stop at Starbucks. Getting to Starbucks without your wallet. 

7. And last but not least selling your couch and chair from your living room on Sunday, with no plan of a new couch. Getting to the furniture store to look around, and buy a couch without measuring a single thing. Here's hoping the couch fits in our tiny living room, or at least through the front door.

 Sorry for the lack of blogging ya'll. But I'm sure there will be a Mom Brain Part II, so stay tuned! And here's a pic of the cutest little garage sale cashier from last weekend to hold you over.

3 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

So three years ago today, I woke up in a farmhouse on the property we were going to get married at. It was about 6am, and it was gray as gray could be and raining. My bridesmaids woke up and assured me it would be fine. We had planned to get married outside, but had a back up plan to get married in the barn if it was raining. We woke up, had breakfast, finished some last minute chalkboards, and we're getting ready to get our hair done. It had stopped raining and the sun was coming out.

By 5pm it was totally dry and I was ready! I walked down that aisle and we said our vows. I'm sharing our vows here so I always have a place to come back and read them. And three years later, he stills makes my popcorn!

Chucks vows:

 Shannon you make me so happy, everyday I'm reminded about how lucky I am to have you in my life. I vow to love you, cherish you, and support you no matter what it is. I vow to surprise you everyday, and to always make the microwave popcorn for tv nights on the couch. I vow to always be true to you and true to myself. Everyday you make me the luckiest guy in the world and I vow to make you feel like the luckiest most beautiful bride in the world for the rest of our lives, because that's what you deserve and that's who you are. They say, "the biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams", well today my dreams are coming true. I love you so much baby and I can't wait to see where the rest of this adventure will take us.

My vows:

Chuck, I love you because you make me laugh out loud on a daily basis. I love you because I never have to make the popcorn on Sunday nights, and I never have to tell you that one bag isn’t enough for the both of us. I love you because you are spontaneous and always coming up with fun exciting things for us to do, like run 4 miles…. and then get Taco Bell.  I love you because you tell me I’m beautiful every single day.

The past seven years of our life together have taught me what love has to offer. It’s challenging, it’s scary, its happy, it’s sad, it’s exciting, and most of all, with you, it’s here to stay. You have always had a way of making me feel strong, even when I know how weak I am. I am a better person today because you have taught me it is never about how bad things get can, its always about the light at the end of the tunnel.

 From this day forward, I promise to choose you above all else. I promise to challenge you, to help you grow, and to create wonderful memories with you. I vow to laugh and play and dream with you.  Through all the happiness, joys, laughs, pain, the sorrow, the loss, and heartache, I vow to overcome it all with you.

To the next million adventures, baby. I love you.

      

    

 

 

TEN MONTHS

Age: 10 months
 

Stats: Shes so tall and so chubby, and I love it, but I don't know her exact weight or height. Shes wearing mostly 12-18 and 18-24 month clothes, size 4 diapers, and she has 7 teeth!

 

Favorite Foods: This list could go on for days, she LOVES to eat. But I'd say her favorite foods are meatballs, watermelon, mac n cheese, and cheerios. She can shovel scrambled eggs and waffles in pretty fast too

 

Words: "Papa" her version of "hello" that we can tell its hello when she holds a phone up to her ear and says "eyo?" And lately she will hold anything up to her ear, like a stuffed monkey, comb, ball, or cup. So everything is a phone. "Baba" and "Book" and I only know its book when she sits in the rocker and reaches up for the books and says "boo?"
 

Favorite Activities: Her most favorite recent activity is CRAWLING. Girlfriend finally crawls after months of being on the verge of crawling. She loves loves loves opening and closing the door on the nightstand a couple hundred times a day. She will stand for an hour straight at the foot stool and do nothing. Shes way more interested in her ball pit now. And she still adores her daddy more then anyone and goes nuts when he gets home from work.

 

Favorite Things: Clapping, eating, waving "hi", jumping on the bed, chasing the chickens outside, Papa's dog Brady, taunting Louie by holding up his toys for him to see.

Least Favorite Things: Diaper changes, putting on clothes, taking off clothes, rocking when shes overly tired, and being told she can't stand in the tub.

Signature Moves: Trying to get her to clap with you  but she waits until the song is over and you're done clapping first. Waving after you're done waving, staring down judging strangers everywhere we go, and sticking her fingers in your mouth while you're trying to rock her to sleep. She's also been known to smack me in the face pretty hard on several occasions, and then laugh hysterically about it. We're working on that!

In the beginning, time was moving so slow. Those first six weeks, although filled with so much love, were brutal and exhausting. I couldn't wait for her to sleep longer, play with toys, sit up, crawl, talk, etc. We're all still tired even though Lola has been sleeping through the night for the last 5 months. And she plays and talks and crawls all day. I literally don't have a clue where the last 10 months went. I swear I feel like we just went in to the hospital last month and we're walking in the door with our brand new baby girl. I can't believe how much faster time moves once you have kids. I would go back to those first 6 weeks with the knowledge that I have now and snuggle her all day long. 

She is still by far the best baby, ever. She is happy 99% of the time. She eats great, sleeps great, plays with other kids, barely whines or cries about anything,  and gives the sloppiest,cutest, wet mouth kisses any mom would die over.

I thought I was living for 29 years before you Lola. But my life never started until the day you were born. You are the best thing to ever happen to us, and we have so many amazing adventures in store. Happy 10 months sweet girl.