oh hey, friday!

So stinking excited for this weekend! Here's a quicky of a post for your Friday...

{ONE}

My bestie and her little girl are on their way down to stay with us for the weekend. We can't wait to see Kelsi and Harper. Gracyn has been asking for Harper to "play in my room?" all day. Get excited, Harp! I'm sure Leighton will be army-crawling behind trying to keep up.

{TWO}

Speaking of army-crawling, this little girl wants to move so. bad. She's take a few legit "crawls" up on her hands and knees -she's getting so close!


She's also perfected the art of lounging...

hottie with a {baby} body.
{THREE}

We had family pictures taken when we were up in South Dakota over the 4th of July. Once again, Ashley worked her magic! LOVE the ones of the girls in this little tent she had set up. So sweet and perfect. I'll post more next week, duh.


{FOUR}

You guyzzzz. The Move Your Booty Challenge ends TODAY. I didn't think I was going to hit my goal of 200,000 steps in July but I totally did it. Barely. Like, my total will be 201,000. Sad, I know. But, still. I did it. Now, please give me the dollars that I'll be winning... ;)

{FIVE}

IT'S THE WEEKEND! Did I mention? I'm excited.


Linking up like I do...


Gracyn Says...



First. These pictures. She's stunning and I am in awe of her.

Second. Like every parent, I find my own child to be hilarious. Like, the funniest kid ever. It's getting better and better every day, too. The things she says, the looks she gives. She's starting to tell jokes and use sarcasm. It's the best.

Here are a few convos we've had within the last month or so...

After hitting her head on the bannister...
Me: oh, are you OK?!
Gracyn: it's ok... i'm brave.

While checking herself out in the bathroom mirror after brushing her teeth...
Gracyn: oh, hey babe!

In the middle of giving Justin a check-up McStuffins-style...
Justin: what are you doing?
Gracyn: it's ok, i'm a doctor.
Justin: but...
Gracyn: shhh...

After realizing Justin wasn't in the room...
Gracyn: mom, where's Justin?! 

Protesting bedtime and my singing of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star"...
Gracyn: i want Justin!!!

(let it be known that I find it hilarious that she sometimes calls Justin by his first name. Justin? Not so much...)

Helping me get Leighton up from her nap...
Gracyn: mom! she's soooooo cute!
Mackenzie: *heart literally explodes*
Gracyn: she's so preeeeety!!!
Mackenzie: *puddle on the floor*

After accidentally knocking herself in the head with a tube of diaper cream...
Gracyn: hey, hey! easy. easy...

Randomly at the table during breakfast...
Gracyn: i'm super cute!
Mackenzie: yes, you are super cute.
Gracyn: and Leighton's super cute, and daddy's supper cute, and mommy's super cute!

Coming downstairs after nap...
Gracyn: this is my room, and mommy's room, and Leighton's room!
Mackenzie: yep, this is our house.
Gracyn: i know, it's amazing!

At the park...
Gracyn: follow me, mom! don't be scared. i'm your best friend.

After I handed her a plain bagel, not toasted or anything...
Gracyn: oh wow! I love it...

While playing with play-doh...
Gracyn: make a cow, mommy?
Mackenzie: well, I don't know if I know how to make a cow...
Gracyn: oh of course you do. you can do it..

Anytime I ask her to get or do anything...
Gracyn: i'm on it, mom!

Gracyn :: 2.5 Years Old


Age: TWO and a HALF

Stats: 32-ish pounds. 37-ish inches.

Clothes: 3T tops and shorts/bottoms. We can still get away with 2T dresses but they're a little short.

Favorite Foods: Cereal. All day long. Sometimes with milk, sometimes without. Mama's proud. (I could eat cereal for dinner every night). Truth be told,  she's getting pickier and pickier the older she gets. Recently, her biggest meal of the day is breakfast - last Saturday she ate 3 bowls of cereal, toast and a banana - and it kind of tapers off throughout the day. It's a struggle to get her to sit still and eat a decent dinner. She'd rather sing and dance and not listen when we ask her to sit up at the table and eat. She'd take fruit over veggies any day (strawberries and grapes are big). Her favorite meat is sausage (seriously) and she has a new found love for cold pepperonis. She prefers milk (she get it from her mama) over water and thinks it's pretty great when she gets to have juice.

Favorite Toys: We've reached the stage where she'll ask for a toy or point something out when we're at the store. I caved one day and bought her a Doc McStuffins doctor kit and Lambie doll. We now "go to the doctor" every day, checkups for everyone. She'll have us take a deep breath and tell us to be brave. She runs around yelling "diagnosis!!!" It's pretty funny.

She's become quite the little hoarder and is very particular about the toys in her room (what can and cannot be in there) and we'll find quite the collection of trinkets jammed under her covers each morning. Still loves her blankie and baby. And Butch. Most days.

Words: Full conversations are happening with this girl. The second Justin gets home from work, she runs to tell him about her day. She can remember things we've talked about days (or weeks) ago. She asks us "why, mom?" or "why, dad?" approximately 2342341422 times a day and when I turn it around on her and ask the same question, her answer is almost always "hmmm...because." I'm waiting for the "...because I said so." part next.

I feel like she's grown and changed SO MUCH these last 6 months. She's just big now. Too big. We're starting to work on potty-training. Some days, she's really into it, other days she requests diapers. To be honest, I'm not in a huge rush so we'll get there eventually. Gracyn is still the best big sister to Leighton and the baby absolutely adores her.

She's the sweetest little girl and our lives will never be dull with this gal around, that's for sure.

i can't even.

Leighton :: Seven Months Old


Happy S E V E N months, baby girl! I feel like we've really turned a corner this month - mostly all good things! It's almost like we have a different baby on our hands.

EAT | Girlfriend likes to eat and rarely misses a meal. She takes a 6-ounce bottle every four hours and usually gets solids at breakfast and dinner. She's usually napping when Gracyn and I eat lunch otherwise I'm sure she'd be happy to chow down on a sandwich at Noon, too. She seems to love everything we've given her so far. Puff cereal is her jam along with chicken, ground beef, blueberries and black olives, surprisingly. I swear, she ate as many black olives as I did during taco night. That's my girl. We're doing mostly baby-led weaning but we do have jars of baby food in stock in case we're in a rush or out in public. BLW is supermessy and 95% ends up on the floor or on her person so we spoon-feed when we're in a pinch. She's still perfecting her self-feeding skills.

She went from zero to F O U R teeth in a matter of weeks. All on the bottom. Her top front two are rearing their ugly heads, though. She woke up at 6:45 this morning and refused to nap until 1:45 PM. She was a mess but I could tell those toofers were bothering her. I drugged her (baby Tylenol) and she's finally resting. Amen.

PLAY | She want to crawl SO BAD! She scoots across the room in no time and she can go from laying on her tummy to sitting up. We lowered her crib the other day when we figured out she could do this. She'll rock back and forth on her knees so it's only a matter of days before she's fully mobile. She's even trying to pull herself up. Slow your roll, girl. 

And she's still Gracyn's #1 Fan.

SLEEP | By far the greatest thing on earth was when this little bitty started sleeping through the night. Not even just STTN, but we can now lay her down in her crib at naps and night - AWAKE! - and she'll just roll over and go to sleep. 

Seriously.

It's like a whole new world around here. And really, it happened overnight. As soon as those first two teeth came in on Father's Day, our lives changed for the better... ;)

Within a couple of days, she got her first two teeth, stopped nursing, started solids on a regular basis, upped her formula intake, and started sleeping like a champ.

Well, except for last night and today I guess, but I can't complain. Teething is a total bitch so I know she has a good reason for being crazy today. But we'll get back on track.  So proud of this girl, though.

We love you, sweet girl. Thanks for keeping us on our toes and gracing us with that sweet smile of yours every day. You're the best.


oh hey, friday!

I hate when short weeks feel like long weeks, you know what I mean? I had Monday off work as we traveled back home after the July 4th holiday but this entire week just seemed to drag on and on. And on. I'm tired and ready for a relaxing weekend.

But first, five random things for your Friday...

{ONE}

Justin and I officially have TWO kid-less vacations planned in the coming months. One to Jamaica in September to celebrate my 30th birthday - our besties Alyssa and Brian are coming with. SO EXCITED. We also have one planned next April to Mexico with my friends from high school and our husbands to celebrate their 30th birthdays (since I'll just be old balls by then and basically 31...)!

The last big trip we took was 5 years ago on our honeymoon so it'll be nice to get away. Even though I'll miss the girls like crazy...


..and both places just look terrible, right? ;)

Also, we probably won't take another vacation for, like, another 5 years so the cash-money spent will be well worth it!

{TWO}

To prepare for said vacations, I've been participating in Karli and Amy's Move Your Booty Challenge which has been damn near impossible but I'm trying and that's all that counts, right!? RIGHT?!?! Yes.

10k steps a day is a lot when I'm plopped in front of a computer working every afternoon. Justin finally set up my rusty treadmill in the dingy basement and even though I have 10 seasons of Friends to watch while I'm trotting in place, the getup doesn't scream motivation. BUT I'M TRYING, OK?! I'm also still eating oreos... so there's that.

Totes won't win the pot of gold at the end but I'll get as close to 200k steps in July as I can!


{THREE}

Leighton turns SEVEN months old next week. What the what. Too fast, mama. Too fast. She's - dare I say it??? - sleeping through the night and napping like a champ. Holla!


{FOUR}

Gracyn will be TWO AND A HALF later this month. Again, what the what!? Like the typical mom that I am, I think she is the funniest kid I've ever met. She's getting better and better every day.


{FIVE}

Can you believe summer is half over? I cannot. I still have a lot of things to do on my half-assed summer bucket list. These include a pool day, museum tours, a brewery tour, and possibly Worlds of Fun to ride some roller coasters because, duh. So much to do, so little time...

Ta-ta for now! The weekend awaits!

Linking up...




4th of July Photo Dump

We had the best time up in Sioux Falls for the 4th of July holiday. It was exhausting, but good. The whole family was there which made it even better. I love getting the cousins together. It's loud and messy and wonderful. 

Leighton slept progressively worse each night we were there (teething, I'm sure) so we were ready to be home and in our own beds again by Monday. The girls were tired and cranky pretty much then entire drive home but we made it back. And everyone slept soundly once we were home. Amen!


Breastfeeding Diaries

I'm guest-posting over on The Girl in the Red Shoes today sharing my breastfeeding stories as part of her Breastfeeding Diaries series. I know, talking about my boobs again. Go check it out!