Life Lately

Summer is slowly winding down here, and we're making preparations for the new school year! I have always loved the beginning of a new school year--as a student, teacher, & now as a mama. I'm so excited for the girls as they embark on their new adventures in Kindergarten & preschool, but I'm also nervous about the adjustment to the new routine. We decided to stop letting Shelby nap in preparation for Kindergarten. Here's how that conversation went with Shelby ;)
Me: Remember how I told you we might have to stop taking naps once Kindergarten started?
Shelby: I know, I know b/c I'm going to go to Kindergarten all day and won't have time for nap.
Me: Exactly. So how about we start doing Quiet Time in your room in the afternoons instead of napping?
Shelby: Weeeeeellll, how about I just have nap for two more days and then we'll start Quiet Time?

So we napped for two more days, and then Quiet Time commenced! We're still trying to figure out how to get the girls to bed early enough so they can wake up on their own early enough the next day. I really don't want to have to wake them up in the mornings if I'm already taking their naptime away--that just feels like too much! We've been doing 7:00 bedtimes this week, but that hasn't been early enough. It may be 6:30 bedtimes next week!

Today we had our back to school hair cuts! :)

And here's a fcw snapshots of what else we've been up to lately.....

The Goins sent us a play school set-up, it's been a BIG hit!

 

At the library!

Hadley's artwork from the library & the first time she's written her name without any assistance!

New donut float from the Goins...can you tell Shelby was excited?!

First time trying out the new float! :)

 

More playing school :)

There aren't any Chick-fil-a's in Las Vegas (I know!!!!), so McDonald's are the equivalent. It feels weird to go to McDonald's with the girls b/c we're clearly CFA people. But when it's over 100 degrees & you just need an easy outing with an indoor playplace, you go to McDonald's. This was our first attempt!

Entertaining themselves ;)

Shelby said this was her Barbie's "Olympic outfit to run hurdles." ;)

Trying out a new indoor playplace!

Trying to get a "selfie" of our summertime evening routine :)

Brady snoozing one evening when we took the girls to the splash pad/park :)

Shelby worked VERY hard to master this piece of playground equipment!

Smiley baby ready to try out a new church this past Sunday...finding a church is no easy task!

Our first poolside dinner was enjoyed by all! :)

Second McDonald's attempt :)

The girls were thrilled they each got their own water bottle with their Happy Meal ;)

The only chicken nuggets our girls enjoy are CFA nuggets, so this was Shelby's first attempt at a hamburger ;)

Watching the Olympics :)

Children's Museum :)

After a rough day with a fussy baby who couldn't settle down to nap....baby-wearing for the win!!

Puzzles galore!

Yesterday was a hard day for me mentally. Brady wasn't napping & I felt like the girls weren't getting enough attention from me. Derek had to stop me when he got home from work and remind me that I was being too hard on myself--the girls had fun on our trip to the children's museum, I somehow managed to make dinner, and everyone was still in one piece. It really wasn't that bad of a day, but man oh man--mama guilt is something else!! I'm so thankful Derek helped me step back and see the bigger picture, and I'm so thankful for a new day today! The four of us have had such a great day together today! I'm currently snuggling on the couch with the girls watching a move they checked out from the library while I finish this post & Brady naps. Then when Derek gets home, we're headed out back for swimming & leftover pizza!! Life certainly isn't easy right now, but it's good!!!

Happy Hump Day to you! :)

My Life in Memes

I feel like my Facebook newfeed is always full of random memes, but lately they have been describing life pretty much to the T.

This one made me want to laugh out loud & cry simultaneously b/c it's SO TRUE! How does one fill out the emergency contacts portion of the school paperwork when you know literally NO ONE locally?!

We purged sooooo much before our move to Las Vegas, but one thing that I can never bring myself to purge is my T-shirt drawer. Oh heavens, my T-shirt drawer is borderline insane. From old soccer tournament shirts to Peachtree Road Race shirts to the Hard Rock Café shirts I've collected from cities we've visited....how do you get rid of them?! But I really and truly only wear like five. ;)

This is me in regards to almost every single aspect of my life currently..with the exception of my hair. ;) I still have to shower & dry my hair every day or else I just feel disgusting. But make-up? Please. Who has time for that right now? Gourmet dinners? Nope. We pretty much eat the same rotation of SIMPLE meals b/c I have no time for cooking. Grocery shopping with 3 kids? Not even attempting it yet. Thank goodness for a hubby who continues to encourage me to take more & more off of my to-do list (b/c mothering 2 kids + a newborn is enough on my plate for now...even though I have to remind myself of that constantly) and does so much to keep our household running smoothly.



Angela sent this to me shortly after I had Brady. ;)

But in reality this is my perspective on childbirth. ;)  Never in a million years did I plan to have a baby without an epidural. Why would I want to do willingly do that to myself?! ;)  Brady just had other plans!

Finding Our Groove

The girls & I are slowly finding our groove in a new city with a new baby. The past couple of weeks, we stayed home a lot more than is usual for us and then the girls caught little colds that forced us to be completely home-bound for a few days. By the time their colds cleared up, I knew we just had to get out & reclaim our normalcy. So, we did! And it was like a breath of fresh air! It was the most like myself that I've felt in weeks.

Yesterday we had our first Las Vegas playdate (yay for people who go out of their to way to welcome you--another mom at storytime recognized us from visiting their church the Sunday before, and she introduced herself to us. I forgot how much I'd been missing interaction with other friends/moms during the day!!) at a new to us playground, then we all went to storytime together. Sure, it made me nostalgic for our days spent at Igo Library & Bonnie Conner Park...but the girls & I had so much fun! And it felt normal, such a good feeling. Then we came home for lunch & naps...and apparently Brady got the memo on naps & he took his first mega long nap at the same time as the girls....HALLELUJAH!!!! Then today we went to the museum and met up with our friends from the playdate again. It's a little tricky getting out the door with a newborn in tow...but I'm so grateful that we're finding our new rhythms and getting back to our old selves.




Playing in the water exhibit today at the children's museum...so thankful they provide little raincoats for the kids so they don't get soaked!!

 

Brady snoozed throughout the entire museum until I woke him up to nurse while the girls ate lunch, such a good easy-going little brother :)



Lunch break :)

This guy was all smiles after I woke him up to eat :)

But of course, we're finding our summertime groove just as summer is beginning to wind down. We only have 2 full weeks left of summer before our Shelby-girl is off to Kindergarten, then we'll be working out new routines yet again. Much to our dismay, Shelby will be attending a full-day Kindergarten...so there will be a lot of adjusting for all of us! Her school hours will be 7:50-2:10, and we will be walking her to/from school. Due to the dismissal time, this may be the end of weekday naps for our big girls. As sad as I am for her to be starting Kindergarten, I know she is ready & is going to have so much fun!! It will be bittersweet for sure. Then after Labor Day, Miss Hadley will be starting her very first year of preschool! I think the hardest part of this summer has been the lack of routine, so I think this back to school season will do us all a world of good! But until then, we'll enjoy our slow mornings, fun outings, afternoon naps, post-dinner swimming (the girls' current favorite pastime!), and letting the girls stay up a little later than normal to watch the Olympics!

Happy almost Friday to you!!

Brady: One Month Old!

On August 5th, our sweet Brady-boy turned one month old!!! He is such a sweet, snuggly, easy-going baby. And thankfully, he doesn't mind being smothered in love....because he gets a LOT of love from his two big sisters! I thought after being a month into this whole baby thing, the novelty might have worn off a bit for the girls and the crying might have gotten to them..but nope, they're still absolutely smitten with their baby brother!

In the past couple of days, Brady has started to interact with us a teeny bit & we've heard our first coos and seen our first smiles. So far, the smiles & coos have been reserved solely for Mommy....but the girls are DYING to get him to smile for them!! ;)  The past month definitely hasn't been easy (ahem, settling into a new house + sleep deprivation), but it has been oh so sweet, too. I hope I never forget the feeling of Brady burying his head down on my shoulder when I'm burping him after he nurses, and I hope I'll always remember the sound of the girls' voices as they talk to their little brother. The newborn days are certainly trying, but we're trying to soak up the sweetness as much as we can because we know this phase will be gone in the blink of an eye. We love you, Brady!!

Top Five Friday!

5. Sour Patch Watermelon

I may never get "pregnancy cravings," but I need sweets to get me through the newborn days & non-stop nursing! Okay, let's be honest--I always eat a lot of sweets, but I'm using this as my excuse for now. ;) For whatever reason, I ate a bag of these right before Brady was born...and lately, they've been all I can think of. I'm embarrassed to say how many bags I've gone though.

4. Mini brooms & dustpans for the girls

So, we have dark floors in this house...and I'm sooo not a fan. I like how they look, but they show EVERY.SINGLE.THING. Dark floors + small children is not a good mix. I'm not even sure I would like the upkeep without small children, but that's a different story for a different day. We have our Roomba, but in SA I would just run it through the high traffic areas once a day or once every other day and that was more than sufficient. Now I feel like I need to run it three times a day, ugh. So to help with the crumb situation & to help reinforce responsibility/accountability, I ordered {THESE} mini brooms & dustpans for the girls on Amazon to clean up the floor under their chairs after meals. It's only been a couple days, so the novelty may wear off...but they are currently OBSESSED.

3. House/Life Progress
The past week and a half or so, we have made a lot of house/life progress...and it feels SO good! Granted, I still feel like our list is a mile long...but we're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel! Since last week, we've gotten our fridge repaired & door to the pool repaired (of course, these each took two separate visits from each respective company--nothing is easy people!!!), two big pieces of furniture picked up by GoodWill (we didn't have room for these pieces in this house, so the furniture has just been taking up space in our garage...we're so happy to have it out of hair now!!), gotten our new car (yay for being able to travel with all 3 kids in one car easily again!!), new Nevada tags on the new car (my first time ever not having a GA tag!), blinds replaced, & Shelby's school supplies for Kindergarten purchased (sniff, sniff!).

First ride in the new car!

Reviewing the school supply list & crossing off items as we found them at Target :)

2. Dawgopoly!

Shelby has been wanting to play Monopoly for a while. I kept telling her we should buy Monopoly Jr for her, but she saw our Dawgopoly game (UGA version of Monopoly) when we were unpacking boxes and was determined to play it! We thought we'd try it one night and then wait for Monopoly Jr. Well, she totally BLEW US AWAY and loves the adult version of the game. Not only does she love it, but somehow she can do all the mental math correlated with the game. We kept trying to help her gather enough money to buy a property or help her make change when someone paid her rent, but she could totally do it all! Derek & I kept looking at each other like "Where did she learn to do this?!" b/c it certainly wasn't from us! But however she figured it out, we're so thankful b/c Derek & I have been having the BEST time playing with her on the nights that Hadley goes to bed early & she gets to stay up late. It's so fun to get that special individual time with her.

1. These Two

At the library

Hadley had just woken up and requested "to read stories ALL DAY." Shelby & I had already been up for quite some time so we were more than ready to eat breakfast. I compromised and said I could read her one short story before breakfast & then we'd read more after eating. Of course, she picked the longest story ever and got very dramatic when I said no. Shelby to the rescue! She sat & read her not one but two Dr. Seuss books while I prepped breakfast.

Splashpad!

Okay, listing these two girlies as a favorite is an obvious one...but I'd be lying if I said mothering was all sunshine & flowers right now. Having a newborn is hard! But the girls have MORE than stepped up to the plate--they have been AMAZING! Shelby wants to hold Brady all the time & she is such a helper to me. I can always count on her to bring me the pacifier or find me a burp cloth when I need it. Hadley has really surprised us in the past couple of weeks, and she wants to help do EVERYTHING for Brady. If I so much as mention Brady's diaper, Hadley is sprinting to get the fresh diaper & peepee teepee out & ready for his diaper change. She doesn't like to hold him, but she always wants to be right next to him so she can love on him. And the thing I am most grateful for is their patience with me. They're used to me being able to help them with everything right when they need me, but I just can't right now with a newborn. And they've totally gone with the flow and been so patient and understanding. They've both grown up a lot in the past couple of weeks, which is kind of bittersweet! But one thing is for sure, they love their little brother something fierce!

Happy Friday to you!! We're excited for the weekend (read: I'm excited to have Derek home to help me with these crazy kids, ha!). Hope you have a fabulous weekend with your people!!