thank you mr president

So, I'm sitting here watching tv (important stuff: The Bachelorette! Remember? I got hooked on the first episode and its kind of like crack...) and up pops a screen that says that my show will be seen in its entirety after the president talks. I am grateful for this little break so I can update my blog. ;)

We had a fun little evening at home. No plans, just playing! I did get caught up on some reading. I needed to know what really happened with J.Lo and Marc! (Because everything we read is TRUE!)

Since we had a little break in the humidity, I decided to play basketball with the kids. Um, lets just say Levi really misses his daddy! Ha!

He was trying really hard to include Maggie and get her interested in playing...

...but she just wanted to play with the straps on the stroller!

And, I got a makeover tonight!!! Levi has found his new calling! (excuse the blurry picture from my phone!!)

He is going to be a hairdresser. The finished product!!

Lovin' my kiddos!!!!!

maggie squared

Saturday night, I called my friend Lisa on a whim and was glad that she didn't have any plans! She and her two girls came over as well as Jill and Janie. We did an impromptu little playdate and ordered pizza. Lisa's youngest daughter is named Maggie, too! They are 6 months apart and we refer to them as Maggie 1 and Maggie 2. ;) After pizza and brownies, these babies needed a bath, so we threw them in the tub together. It was hilarious!!
I was glad for some fun girl time. It helped pass our evening without a paci!! (BTW, Mags is doing awesome! Saturday and Sunday night, she has laid down and gone to bed with NO TEARS! Nap time is a little harder, but we are getting there. WOOT!)

gone

Maggie is paci-free folks!

I decided earlier in the week that on Thursday, I was going to cut Maggie's paci. I figured if I didn't do it now, I would need to wait until she is 2! So, just in case I needed to cave in, I had extras on hand!!!! Ha! Funny story: I snipped it right after her nap. Levi heard her fussing in the living room so he went to check on her. She would put the paci in her mouth and then get frustrated and throw it down. He tried handing it to her again. She threw it down. As I walked into the room, he was getting into her diaper bag to get her a different paci. He said, "Here Sissy, that one is broken. Use this one." LOL!! I guess I needed to tell him we were doing this on purpose!! Such a good big brother!

So, that night, I put her in bed (she didn't want to be rocked any more which made me S U P E R sad!!!!!!! I wasn't prepared for that!) and she cried for 16 minutes. Longest 16 minutes EVER! But, she was out and slept till 8:15 the next morning! Friday, at nap, she fussed about 3 minutes then fell asleep. She only slept an hour and a half, but I'll take it! Last night, I laid her in bed and seriously, I don't think she cried more than 10 seconds!!!!! I mean, can it really be this easy??? She slept till 8:30 this morning. She hasn't really been fussy during the day without it. I keep waiting for the bottom to drop out! She even took the "broken" paci and threw it in the garbage last night and waved bye bye! She didn't want anything to do with it! I am sooooo thankful that it has gone smoothly! I miss her cute little paci-face!!! :( But, I'm glad to be moving on!

like old times

So, my bestie has been in town this week, which has been awesome. :) Yee haw! We've gotten to see each other several times. I never take that time for granted....just kind of soak it in. One of the things we did is take the kids swimming on Thursday. We did this pretty much every day last summer! We liked to pretend that we were at a resort (at my moms pool) and that we had a cabana boy! Ahhhh, good times! The kids swam their little hearts out (despite the pool water being pretty warm!) and it was nice to just relax.

JLL and her adorable boys came over too! Lovin' Cameron's float!

Maggie was having a mini meltdown, so I just took her clothes off, sat her on a towel and let her work it out! ;)

BUDDIES!!!! :)

Hope wanted to join in too!!!!!! Love these kiddos!

Sweet, sweet summertime! I will be sad to see it go. So many changes in the fall!

NKOTBSB

Oh.my.goodness. Probably THE biggest concert of the year and it was so.much.fun!!!!! Have to give a shout out to JLL for setting this up and being the coordinator! It was an awesome night. Ok, so here we are, acting like school girls. Like we are 13 again! "What should I wear?" "Are you taking a purse?" "Wonder what they will sing?" "I can't wait to see...." fill in the blank. This time around, it was a little different. I am a lot older. 23 years older, isn't that crazy?!! This time, I drove myself and my mom stayed home. ;) This time, I sat before the concert texting to find out how my KIDS were doing. Such a different feeling now, but it was so good to see them in concert again!

They still had their moves!!
And they also were cracking me up with their 639 wardrobe changes!!!!! LOL

Here is Gretchen busting it out for us!!! Oh, and notice the glasses so she can see that far away! Lol, I bet she didn't wear her glasses back then! ;)

Jami - the anticipation of hearing Joey sing was KILLING her!!!

This girl cracks.me.up!!!!!

Be still my heart.....I used to dream about this boy!

JAMI, this is for you!!! He blew Jami a kiss after he sang "Please don't go girl......it would ruin my whole world....." Ahhhhhh.....

Holla!!! This is for you, Alicia!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, I love these girls and we had such a good time. It is nice pretending for a few hours that you are back in middle school and have the biggest crushes ever!

Until next time!!!! Ahhhhh....

a great day with a perfect ending

This morning, we were lazing around and Levi mentioned (for the millionth time) that he wanted to try and ride his bike without training wheels, so Eric said "Let's go!" and we loaded up and headed to my parent's house. They have a big, flat yard (perfect for falling...) and Eric felt more comfortable with him practicing there.

First stop: McDonald's for breakfast!! :-)

Maggie was a little jealous that Levi was getting TONS of attention, so she distracted us by being cute on the tractor.

Levi did AWESOME!!! Eric jogged with him up and down the driveway twice, but Levi was very steady.

Levi was off! Just like that. No falls, no bruises, no broken bones....he just did it like a champ! Of course, on top of his helmet, we had him covered in knee pads, elbow pads, gloves....none of which he ended up needing! Go Levi! :)

Dad even took the kids on a little ride in the big red truck. Fun!

After Maggie's nap, we headed back to my parents house and they cooked out for the whole fam! It was SO yummy! Ribs, chicken, sausage, burgers, dogs, yummy cheesy potatoes, green beans, corn on the cob and hot fudge sundaes for dessert. I'm still stuffed!! The kids got to ride their bikes some more and then swim after dinner. Plus...bonus!!! A wagon ride from Papa.

No, Maggie didn't go! She was just in the picture for a cuteness effect! ;)

After we finally got home and got all settled in, I got some cuddle time with Levi. As he drifted off to sleep, the last words I heard were "I love you, Momma." Perfection.

we can't own real animals

This is what I found when I walked into the kitchen tonight after putting the kids in bed. And Eric thinks we should get a dog!!! Uh, no thank you. ;-)

keeping with tradition

In February, my cousin, Robin and her family moved to Texas (her husband got a job there). :( She was from Indianapolis and I haven't seen her in 6 months!! Sad. She brought her kids to Indy to stay with my aunt and uncle for the month of July! They came in on Tuesday to swim at my mom's. I couldn't meet them to swim, but we all met for dinner at Pizza King! Yee haw! It is tradition for Noah (Robin's oldest) to eat there any time he is in town!


This is my awesome Aunt Gail and my favorite Mom!! (They would ABSOLUTELY kill me for posting this picture! I think it is cute given they'd been at the pool all day, but I'm sure they would disagree!) I love how close they are. They are pretty much best friends and talk and text all.the.time.

Easy E was chomping on a breadstick!! Next to him is my cousin, Robin. Such a sweetie!!!

And the kiddie table! Levi, Griffin, Noah, (can't really see) Emmy, and Abigail

I adore my family! I'm so blessed. :-)

house

Fun in the sun!!! That's exactly what we had. :) I had so many pictures to upload!! I only picked the best ones but it still filled up 5 different posts!!! I wanted to remember all the details I could. We went to St. Simon's Island in Georgia. My parents rented a beach house and both of my siblings and their families went. There were 14 of us total! It was crazy at moments, but mostly just lots of fun!! (You may have to click on "Older Posts" at the bottom of the page...I think "Play" is the last post.)

the pool


the veranda

the beach house (there were two separate houses and the kids referred to this as the "big hotel" lol)

the guest house, aka the "little hotel"

kitchen and living room

our room for the week

pool

We had wonderful weather all week long! One day, it sprinkled for maybe 15 minutes, but that was the ONLY rain we saw! The kids swam in the pool all.day.long. I loved watching them! I think the pool overlooking the ocean was one of the most gorgeous views we've ever had! It was breathtaking. Maggie enjoyed it a lot, too. She got braver and braver as the week went along.

Levi & Griffin


Maggie & Papa

Levi, Bailey & Griffin

Maggie & Papa

Just to prove I was there!! :)