An instagram tour through girls weekend

This past weekend was the 2nd annual Girls Weekend!

We had a great time in Kansas City. It was very relaxing and I had a great time being away from home for a bit. I had to haul some extra stuff along with me so I didn't want to add to the load by bringing my big camera and so we have another post full of my cell photos....sorry. Can you tell this is a reoccurring theme in my life lately?

Lots of fun was had shopping, browsing, and eating. We stayed right by the County Club Plaza and it was nice to be central to our entertainment options. Our hotel was also close to the Westport area where we spent Saturday night eating Thai food and singing at a piano bar. We got all loaded up in the car and got the address into the GPS and then we drove to Westport and realized we were only a few blocks away and could still see our hotel!

I tried to drink a beer at every meal....I am terrible!

My favorite purchase was a pair of sandals from The Walking Store. The sales guy was good and totally sold me on them but now that I've worn them non stop for two days I can attest to their awesomeness!


We did lots of eating and my favorite places were Blanc Burgers + Bottles and The Melting Pot. At the Melting Pot we did a cheese course, salads, and then CHOCOLATE. It was so good I had dreams about it that night- I would definitely recommend it! It was so fun to be out and able to enjoy a meal without kids. I do love them but it was nice to have a break!

Now we are back to it with another week already in full swing. Only a few more days until Cyclone football kicks off!

Friday Dance

Come on everyone...do the Friday dance!



(bubbles optional)

I am so happy this week is over! It has been a long haul but by golly, we made it. Today, I had a quick morning of helping a friend out with some lessons, a trip to Target (their fall stuff is out and I wanted to buy all of it!!) and then home again for some lunch and naps. Life is good.



I've really missed my little guys this week. Poor Trace just wants to nurse and snuggle all night long- he is probably afraid I am going to keep leaving him.

Next week things should be back to "normal" and we will be testing out our newer routine. Can't wait! Happy Weekend, all!

Playing catch up

It's official- we are back in the swing of things! School has started and I have the first day under my belt. I think it is going to be a great year but it has made for a busy, busy week (and it's only half over!)

So...I'm catching up today.



We went back to the fair last week to spend some time with my family. The above photo is from our previous visit, but it was too sweet to share! Also...that tractor costs more than our HOUSE.

We got a chance to visit with my grandparents (hi!) and they were doing great. We ate breakfast at the cattlemen's tent and it was nice and quiet. I love being at the fair before all the hustle and bustle of the day gets started.

Michael spent at least an hour (probably more) running and playing in the fountains. We brought his swimsuit and he was just having a blast- yelling and laughing the whole time.

My mom stayed with the boys for two days this week while I was at meetings. Those are long days for everyone and I'm glad she came to help. I think it went well and it paid off because today Trace had an excellent day at daycare!



Our provider said, "Did you say he had trouble taking a bottle?" ...because he took two bottles with no problems for her and then took another one from me when we got home. Yay!! I knew he could do it!



It feels good to be over those hurdles and getting ready for the next. Here's to a smooth rest of the week!

Trace: Three Months

Trace, you are now three months old! Wow!

You are a busy bee and love playing with your toys. You have just started to be able to grab things and you love to kick your legs. You like to "sing" and "talk" and love to smile when people look at you. You are growing like a weed and I love how chubby you are getting. You love to watch Michael when he is playing and I think you will have a grand time going to daycare starting next week.

You are getting entirely too big, too fast and I wish you'd stay little!

We love you very much!

Guess what's blooming?

Without a doubt, these are my favorite. After seeing the state fair garden yesterday, I am planting way more zinnias next year. I even spent a few minutes online last night researching new varieties I can order in the spring. Could you imagine a whole garden filled with them? So lovely.









I have lots of patches of zinnias that grew from where I just threw a handful of seeds on the ground. I wasn't sure if they were going to grow from the seeds I saved from last year so I was pretty careless about it- I will have to be more mindful next year. Also, it appears I only saved pink, yellow and orange seeds! Also popped up in this area was one rogue petunia- do you spot it?

Happy hearts.

Iowa State Fair

Wowzers...we are back home from a long day at the state fair and let me tell you- my dogs are barking! When did I become such an old lady that my feet hurt whenever I spend a day on them?

It was raining this morning when we headed out so I left my real camera at home. So here is the end result- a day full of instagram photos! I think they are fun and something a little different. We had a great time and I'm glad Michael could enjoy the fair more now that he is a little older.

We did the "Little Hands on the Farm" early this morning after the rain stopped and we had the place to ourselves. Michael had a blast and everything was so cute.

My favorite part was the Bauder's peppermint bar followed by a stroll through the garden. They had so many varieties of zinnias and coleus that I hadn't seen before. I think I might have to do some ordering from a catalog or something next spring because I am in love!





Trace did really well and spent about half the time in the stroller and half the time in the carrier. I only fed him once at the fair in the super sweet baby nursing room and then in the car before and after. He was a good baby and got lots of compliments from people!

We'll be back later in the week so look for more updates... I'm now tucking myself in for a nice long evening of resting and putting my poor feet up!

Friday!

Can you believe this little guy is going to be three months old soon? In just 5 days? Wow.

I feel like it took us so long to get to a point with Michael where things actually got easier and here were are again at that stage with Trace. Things are getting easier: he is getting on a better schedule and sleeping better at night. We are still working on the bottle and I am confident he will get it.

Have you ever tried to get a breastfed baby to take a bottle? It is so hard. I'm sure I can't be the only one who has experienced this. We usually try with it for about 15 minutes each feeding session, which adds up to lots of screaming throughout the day. It's hard, and I know it's wearing on Michael too. This week we were in the middle of trying to feed Trace with the bottle and he was screaming and Michael was screaming and then Michael just sunk his sharp teeth into Trace's fat, chubby little leg and wow...the poor wails from little Trace were heartbreaking. It was tears all around- Michael for going straight to time out and me for torturing my poor little baby.

It was not a good morning.

But we're working on it, and there are lots of good moments in there along with the frustrating.



The good....the weather here has been amazing this week. Nice and cool and just perfect. We went to the zoo for a little bit this week and the animals were all up and about. Some animals that I have never seen move like the gibbons were all up and swinging about. It was awesome.



The bad...my least favorite part of the day are the hours between naptime and bedtime. It is hard waiting for Scott to get home, get dinner on the table, and get kids into bed. I've been trying to be a little bit proactive about this and trying to find some activities to do during this time. It seems to be helping. I usually try not to be out and about after 4 because of traffic but sometimes an outing really helps with things, even if it is just to the small grocery store down the road (which actually doesn't get busy with the after work crowd until 5).

Good...I've been trying to take pictures in manual mode on my camera. It is a fun challenge even though I really have no idea what I'm doing.

Good...Michael loves my flowers. Bad....Michael likes my flowers.

In other randomness, I switched out the upstairs toys this week to give Michael a fresh basket of play things and that has turned out to be a good decision. Our toys keep migrating upstairs to our already overflowing toy basket, so I finally took them back downstairs and sorted, put away, and pulled out fresh ones. I even started a little basket of toys for Trace since he likes looking at them these days!

...and there's my little chunky monkey now! Happy Friday!