first haircut, father's day & other ramblings

Monday, Schmonday....here we are again! I've got nothing to complain about though because 1.) It's SUMMER. 2.) We're going to the beach this week! Woooohoo! I wanted to pop in and post a little update before we leave though :) We had a fun weekend in Abilene with our families!

--I had a hair appointment Saturday to get some fresh highlights, so Jaqs came along and got her first trim, too! I really didn't know how it was going to go, but she was such a good girl!! She just sat on my lap and munched away on her graham cracker. I was very proud of her, and her hair looks so cute! She, of course, didn't need much of a cut, just enough to get the scraggly ends off...it looks so cute! I've been going to Holly since I was TWELVE! She's the best!

--Baby girl has had a blast playing in Grammie & G-Pop's backyard. She mastered climbing up the steps and sliding down her slide on her own...such a big girl! I think she'll be outside most of the time we're away :)

--We celebrated our favorite guys Saturday evening when both mine & Rob's grandparents could join us and had a great time! Yummy food, gifts for our favorite guys, and quality time spent...that's what it's all about!

--We continued on celebrating Rob & my dad Sunday, and just had a fun day spent together.  I'm so thankful for these two and the dads (and now grandpas) they are. Jaqs and I are lucky girls to have them!

 --Jaqs made her first foot craft for part of G-Pop's gift, and I think it's safe to say it might have been one of his favorite gifts ;) There's not much sweeter than baby feets!

 --We had to do it big because G-Pop will have Jaqs by himself for the first couple days we're gone. How many grandpas do you know willing to do that? I think it's pretty great!

--I also want to wish my big brother the happiest of birthdays today! He became a daddy just a few weeks ago, and he's already rocking at it, but that's no surprise! I look up to him in so many ways...one of my very favorite people! He keeps us laughing, is one of the smartest people I know, and he rarely gets his feathers ruffled. He loves all of us unconditionally, and has always been a source of encouragement for me. 

I love you, KB!!

--I've got a few guest posts scheduled for this week, so I hope you'll check those out and show some love for the awesome mama's posting on my behalf! I'm so excited to do this for the first time!

--Hope you all have a wonderful week, and I'll see ya next week! Don't worry...I'll soak up some sun for you ;) Can't wait to park my hiney on the beach with my hubby and our besties!

a taste of summertime...

We got a taste of Summer this weekend, and it was nothing short of amazing! Ahh, I can't believe it's over already, but now I'm just that much more excited for a few easy weeks with my family & friends.

Rob came home with flowers Friday afternoon, so there was no way it could be bad, right? Surprise gestures to say 'I was thinking about you!' are so my love language.

We went to watch one of our favorite kiddos play some baseball Friday evening, and it turned out he had an entire fan club in the stands that night! Can you tell these guys work together?? ;) Blue shirts, gray shorts...all day, errrday.

Parker even got the game ball that night! His team spanked their opponent...atta baby!

We went to eat with everyone afterwords, then Cassi & I had to do some last minute prep for our garage sale the next morning. We've been talking about needing to do one for months, and we decided to just DO IT last week. We were feeling a little crazy doing it so last minute, but when it was all said and done, we were glad to have our garages cleaned out. Bonus that we made some bucks on all our junk with no advertisement!

We had lots of good junk, though ;) But her daughter was selling the best stuff at this sale. Homemade chocolate ice cream with mexican vanilla...oh my, heavenly!

Once we were done with our sale, we made a mad dash through the grocery store, went home to round up the troops and get ready, then we were off to the lake for the afternoon/evening. Jaqs LOOVED swimming in the lake despite the fact that it was cold!

 I think it's definitely safe to say we'll be spending a lot of time in this lake this year :)

I had a blast, as always, with my girlfriends! 

Jaqs had only had 1 nap that day, so she was a little cranky by the end, and don't even get me started on the ordeal that was the life jacket, BUT overall, she had lots of fun! Maybe by the end of the Summer she'll learn to catch a cat-nap on the go ;)

We came home Saturday night and CRASHED. I don't think any of us moved all night!

On Sunday we did our usual house/yard/grocery chores, and Jaqs got a pool for our backyard! Rob set it up during her afternoon nap, and when she spotted it out the back door after she woke up, there was no keeping her in! We just let her swim in her diaper, and she had an absolute blast! We sure have a water baby on our hands, and that makes me so happy because there's nothing I love more than floating in a pool ;) I can still do that right? Daddies do the playing while mommies do the sunning, riiight?!

We cooked out Sunday night and basically spent the whole evening outside...it was perfect. Now if only we would stay around 90 like we have been rather than getting temps up to 105+. Oy, the only downside to TX summers.

Hope your weekend was fun, too! This is our last week of Spring football with a 3-day weekend in sight, so I just don't see anything bad about that!

weekend lovin'

Hey y'all! How was your weekend?? Ours was, as always, TOO SHORT. Yeah, yeah I know I'm a SAHM and all, but I still look forward to the weekends when our family of 3 is complete!

Last Thursday, Jaqs and I went to play at the play-place in the mall because the weather was cool and rainy. We had the place to ourselves, and she had a BLAST running around like a crazy girl. I always thought those things were a germ-fest (and they probably are) before I had a kid, but now I understand that cabin fever sets in QUICK with an active toddler. By the way, I still refer to her as a baby 9 times out of 10. Anyway, definitely eating my words on the whole mall playground thing! Isn't the first time, and won't be the last, I'm sure.

G-Pop decided kinda last minute to come hang out with us this weekend because my mom was gone, and what's the fun in spending the weekend alone?! Jaqsy girl LOVES playing with her GP! She pretty much has him wrapped, and I think she knows it ;) Hehe!

She even helped him with a little home-improvement project that I'll share with y'all this week!

The Pea was too worked up from all the fun and playing to nap well, so she was exhausted by bedtime. I woke up in the middle of the night Saturday to see her SLEEPING like this:

Silly girl! She is a CRAZY sleeper. I watched her for a few minutes, and she eventually just toppled over.

Dad left early Sunday, so we caught the late service at church and decided to take Jaqs to the nursery for the first time. It was kind of sad, but we know it will be worth it in the long run! Thankfully, we had no tears with the drop off, and our number didn't pop up on the screen to go get her. When we picked her up, she was sitting in one of the girl's laps eating graham crackers. They said she was fine, but got a little fussy towards the end. I'd call it a success! Hopefully she'll have fun in the Sundays to come!

We were soooo getting the stink-eye when we picked her up. She might have been a little mad at us for leaving her, but she got over it pretty fast! Funny girl.

J had her vaccines 2 weeks ago, and she is COVERED in a rash right now which I can only assume is related to the MMR vaccine. Poor thing. It doesn't look that bad in the picture, but she's covered. We tried to perk her up with a trip to Target & PetSmart followed by a popsicle after dinner! She was pretty excited about all of it!

The girl loves popsicles now, so we may have created a monster with that one! Oh well, Summer's coming, and Lord knows we'll be eating 1000s of them to stay cool.

Linking up with Sami's Shenanigans

major milestone & a meal

Yep, a major milestone was achieved in the G house yesterday: baby's 1st ponytail!

Jaqsy's hair has gotten so long, and it's always hanging in her face since she won't keep her clippies in, so I decided to pull it into a little pony! Surprisingly, she kept it in all day!

 She looks a little too old with her hair like this, but it made me giggle every time I looked at her. My little pebbles baby...so precious!!

*******

Switching gears here, but I had to share this delicious meal with y'all! We're pretty healthy eaters (most of the time) over here, but sometimes I find myself getting bored with the same ol', same ol'. I've been trying to get creative lately, and this one was a winner!

Honey Mustard Salmon:

Saute 2 salmon fillets in coconut oil over medium heat for about 5-7 minutes on each side. At the end of cooking, add 1 T each of honey & whole grain mustard. Combine and let it caramelize over the salmon.

Roasted Veggies:

Chop up carrots, sweet potatoes, & brussel sprouts & season with olive oil, salt & pepper. Spread out on a lined cookie sheet & roast for 30 minutes at 400 degrees.

Coconut Rice:

Cook brown rice according to package directions, but sub coconut milk for water. For extra coconut flavor, add a couple teaspoons of coconut oil.

I think I could eat this every night! It was tasty!

8 months!

Jaqs! Just what do you think you're doing turning EIGHT months old?? You have changed a lot this month, and people are even starting to say you're looking more "toddler" to them. I adore watching you grow and learn, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss your baby snuggles. Nonetheless, this month has been the most fun! I wish I could even begin to describe the love I have for you, angel; you are such a gift!

sweetest smile

have you seen my shoes?!

enough's enough...i've got some crawling to do here!

watch this, mom.

At EIGHT months old:

• Your sleep schedule is still the same. You go to bed around 7:30-8 and sleep until 8 or 9. The reason for those night wakings we were experiencing last month turned out to be teeth! 
• You're still napping twice a day, usually totaling 3-4 hours.

i'm up! come get me!

• You sleep with an Aden & Anais lovey, and it's usually covering your face.
• You are still taking 4 bottles of 6-8 ounces a day plus 2 meals of solids. We will work on adding lunch in this month!
• We have also been working on adding in finger foods, but you're not really "getting" it just yet...mostly you like to play with whatever we give you. Playing in your high chair might be one of your favorite things!

• You have tried and loved even more foods this month. At the top of the list of favorites is yogurt! You even eat plain Greek yogurt. I have to say, I'm pretty impressed by that considering I can't even eat it on its own!
• As I said before, you got your first tooth this month! The first one came through, and the 2nd was through about 2 days later, so now you have both bottom teeth! What a big girl! You really took teething very well this time around. You only had one bad night where you were up a lot but were fine otherwise. I hope we can say the same for the next set!

• You are officially ON THE MOVE. As of yesterday, one day shy of your 8 month birthday, you started crawling! WHAT?! You can't get very far just yet, but I'll bet you'll have it down within the week.
• You've been able to roll for awhile now, but you finally realized that it could get you anywhere you wanted to go this month. Keeping you in one place is impossible! This makes changing your diapers and clothes pretty interesting. Much like wrangling a wild pig, I imagine ;)

• You love to stand and can do so pretty well when holding on to the couch or something else stable. You're working hard on pulling up!
• You jabber, screech, and even growl ALL day long! You have so much to say, and you are pretty passionate about most of it. Still no "mamas" or "dadas," BUT you do say what sounds like "Rob" and "Bob" a lot. It cracks me up even though I know there's no association with it! Already on a first name basis with daddy, what are you, 16? :)
• When you're sleepy, you make this really sweet "goy, goy, goy" sound, but only if your paci is in. It's so precious, and we know a nap or bedtime isn't far away when we hear that! Here's a short clip of it...

• Bath-time has been interesting lately...not your favorite thing right now because we don't let you roll around in the tub. Ha!
• You are a total ham for our iPhones! You almost always start smiling the minute I hold it up whether I'm taking your picture or not. Cheesy girl. My big camera or a photographer on the hand? Not so much.
• You still LOVE playing peek-a-boo. You hide your face all the time!
• You are still not a huge fan of bows. If it's on a headband, it won't last more than a few seconds, but sometimes I can sneak the clippies in on you for awhile! 
• You continue to love being on the go, and you always take your best naps after running a couple errands with us!
• You and daddy had your first FULL day of just the two of you! He loved it, and I'm certain you did too. I missed you while I was away and just wanted to scoop you up from your crib when I got home. Oh, and of course he dressed you like the most precious baby boy I ever saw ;)

• You also had you first day of "work"! I subbed for a bit at my old job, and you came with me. You had a lot of fun being the center of attention in an office full of people!
• You get a kick out of the weirdest things: tooting lotion bottles, burps, and bugging our eyes at you will get you every time? Haha
• You have started laying your head down on our shoulders (for a milli-second) when you get sleepy. It's the sweetest, and I love it so much when you "give us hugs." You even fell asleep on me once this month, and I ate it up for awhile before finally laying you down.
• You've also started patting us, but you're not very gentle about it right now :) In fact, there's not much that is "gentle" about you! You love beating on your toys and tearing anything you can get your hands on up. It's earned you the nickname "Brut." Sorry in advance for that one. Hopefully it's temporary!

• Your personality continues to blossom, and we're noticing that you're pretty persistent and strong willed when it comes to getting what you want. No idea where that came from ;) Even though I'm sure it will cause some head-butting down the road, I love your spunk! Never settle!
• You shake your head "no" like crazy! You're not associating it with anything I don't think, but you get on a roll with that.
• You still have gorgeous, blue eyes!

angel eyes

• You have definitely slowed down on the weight gain, but I'm sure that's to be expected with all the busy-ness. You weigh about 18.5-19 pounds (55%), and I think you're about 28 inches (75%) long. Kind of hard to get a good measurement on you right now!
• You are in 9 month clothes for the most part & 12 month sleepers.
• You wear a size 3 diaper during the day and size 4 at night.

Jaqsy Pea, I have no idea how daddy and I ever lived without you! Sometimes it feels like we never did, actually. You bring endless joy and constant laughter into our home. It really is so much fun to be YOUR mommy, and I thank God for you all day, every day. We love you to the moon and back. Ten times.