Anyway about the party. The kids had a lot of fun and it was great for a really wide age range of kids. Instead of serving cake, the kids got their choice of ice cream sandwiches or popsicles. Bailey won’t eat ANYTHING even close to a sandwich so we told her it was an ice cream cookie treat. She loved it. She still talks about it and it makes me so happy to see her try new things. They also had hamburgers and brats and typical barbecue food, and two big tubs of water balloons, and a small kiddie pool. Everything was really well done but just laid back and casual. One of the best parties we went to this summer.

And of course, pictures-

As the evening went on, she got better at climbing up this ladder. At first it really took her a while and some of the older boys were just climbing over her.

Splash! I love this one… caught the moment perfectly.

Eating the beloved “ice cream cookie treat” with Daddy.

(Did I mention Taylor was there too?)

Okay so I just saw this picture and it occurred to me… the kids were supposed to choose either ice cream sandwich or a popsicle. I guess Bailey decided to have one of each and it didn’t even register with me at the time. Oops!

Trying to keep cool… I think I changed Taylor into his swimsuit about five minutes after we arrived!

Bailey thought she was really cool getting to drink lemonade with a twisty straw!

And the last picture I took was Taylor checking out the exersaucer/walker inside!

After that most people started leaving. We did stick around to see Ella open her presents. Bailey insisted on sitting IN the chair with Ella. She really has no concept of personal space. I am glad we were able to be there for Ella’s party and that the kids had so much fun though!

It was a really hot day, but we waited in line to do the bumper boats first thing. I think the girls asked when it would be their turn at least fifty million times!

Bailey is still at the age where she thinks she is playing all the games and we don’t have to put money in. I will be sad when she outgrows that. In the meantime I just can’t send her to an arcade with her Grandma or I know she will pay for her to “really” play the games. Kinda like she busted me on calling the ice cream truck the Bell Truck. But that’s a story for another day.

Ella wearing her mom’s sunglasses- too cute!

I love when Bailey hangs out with Ella. They have such a great time together and can find fun in just about anything. They were having a blast playing on the doctor’s table together. I am thankful for their friendship.

And both of my cuties in front of the elephant fountain… this is like a landmark for Bailey now. She loves seeing it as we walk into the zoo.

We love the Zoomagination Station. It’s an indoor free exploration/classroom/play area. You can pick up free tickets to visit for an hour during the day. They don’t let more than like 20 people in at one time, so it’s never crowded. I’ve also discovered it is the perfect break in the day to feed the baby and cool off a bit. Bailey was having fun with the sea creatures at the water table.

We rode the train all the way around the zoo, and I think Ella is now obsessed with the train like Bailey is. We really can’t visit without going on the train. And I have to admit, I like it too!

And this last picture- Bailey’s new “thing” is getting a map at the zoo and consulting it after each exhibit that we visit. Only she looks at it for a LONG time, turns it different directions, etc. It’s really cute and kind of funny!

It was also Taylor’s first party. He did really well- he always seems happier when there is a lot of commotion and stuff to watch. I have lots of cute pictures, so I am just going to upload them as a gallery and you can click on individual pics if you want to see them bigger.

Just wanted to share a few pictures I took last week when they came over. You know it’s a good friend when your kid can wear her jammies for a playdate…

The only thing that bugs me about having playdates here is our furniture. We ended up getting more of a modern furniture style and so the coffee tables and end tables had sharp metal/glass corners. They are all packed away downstairs and so there’s nowhere to set a drink etc in our living room now. But someday our kids will be grown and we will have real furniture and I will probably wish for the days when we had little kids…

Getting Ready

Reception

(Clapping as the bride and groom are introduced)

Can you tell she was getting really tired?

Here she was about two minutes into the car ride home and already falling asleep!

We enjoyed a Wendy’s stop on the way home. I miss Wendy’s since all of them around here closed

Congratulations and Best Wishes to Faith and Bryan. It was so good to see you guys. And Bailey has been playing “wedding” since we got home, with my bouquet and her flower basket. It usually starts out, “Mom, let’s play wedding! You’re Uncle Bryan and I’m Aunt Faith!”

The car ride was fairly uneventful. There was a light rain for about the first two hours of the drive which always sets me on edge. Thank goodness Jonathon loves to drive because I hate it. About the last hour of the six hour drive, Bailey started yelling, “Help! I’m trapped in this chair! Somebody let me out!” we were trying so hard not to laugh!

She was beyond excited about staying in a hotel room. It was the first time that she was really old enough to enjoy it, and there was an indoor pool so we got to swim several times. We had a suite with a separate area where we put her bed (we brought her toddler mattress from home). It worked out really well and she was much more comfortable sleeping in her own bed/mattress on the floor. She ran around the room like a crazy girl for about the first half hour after we arrived.

The first night we were in town, I went to the bachelorette party/lingerie shower. It was a fun and relaxing girls night at her house. I was glad to be able to just put my (extremely swollen) feet up and hang out and catch up. Faith is the type of person who blushes and gets embarrassed easily so it was fun to watch her open the gifts.

She got a really cool set of products from her sister in law. There were all different bars of soap and bath oils and fizzies and stuff. Apparently everything was natural and preservative free. Her sister in law was telling us all about the company and I might have to go check them out. They even have something with top fat burners in it.

On Friday morning, we got up and went to the church to help decorate and set up. Bailey met the other little flower girl who was NOT friendly at all. There were a few other kids there for her to play with, though and she stayed pretty busy with the toys she got from the nursery.

Bailey also got to see Faith for the first time in about two months. She was so excited. On the drive there, she told us, “I can’t wait to see Aunt Faith! And Uncle Bryan! He’s her cousin!” More like fiance, but anyway…

Friday night we had the rehearsal at the church. We all sat and introduced ourselves. I was getting ready to introduce Bailey when it was her turn but she spoke up and said, “Hi, my name is Bailey. I’m a flower girl!” She always surprises me- I mean she’s really outgoing, but I didn’t know she was capable of making an introduction like that to a group of people!

Bailey cooperated for the most part. She took her job of walking down the aisle very seriously and practiced twice. The other little girl started crying, so Bailey walked down by herself. At first her flower basket just contained some Little People…

She was given a Dora house for her flower girl gift. She carried it around with her all weekend and then ended up losing Dora. So we are currently looking for a small (like two inch tall) replacement Dora figurine, if anyone has one or knows where to get one. She’s about the height of Little People, but thinner. You know, to fit through the narrow doorway in her house…

I’ll try to get the pictures from the actual wedding posted soon! Need to go make some Avon phone calls now.

We went to Gymboree to do some shopping (also way too crowded but I got some really cute stuff) and then to Barnes and Noble. I just love buying books for Bailey and looking at books. I didn’t even get anything today though. We just hung out in the kids area and let the girls play at the train table. The cutest thing happened when we were leaving. I commented to Emily that I needed to find a bathroom. Bailey heard me and immediately walked up to some random 12 year old boy and said, “Excuse me, Boy. Where is the bathroom?” I was so surprised that she would approach a stranger to ask for directions. I was also so proud of her that she took the initiative to ask someone for help. And how sweet of her to want to help me. It was just such a good mommy moment.

Bailey also did a pretty good job of staying next to me in the mall. I brought her stroller, but really I just used it to carry the diaper bag and our purchases and my chai latte. We had lunch at Chick Fil-A, my favorite place to eat with a kid. They gave us plastic placemats that have adhesive to put on the table, wipes, extra napkins, and then we traded in Bailey’s toy for an ice cream.

The girls had so much fun eating ice cream together. They interact so much with each other now and really talk to each other. I’m glad they’re friends too, because then Emily and I get to spend time together!

I am officially 32 weeks pregnant! I have been feeling so good. The swelling that I have is really minor compared to my pregnancy with Bailey. I will have to look back at my blog to see when that got worse. I have not had heartburn since around 22-24 weeks…. except for the night I thought I was invincible and ate chili. Baby Boy continues to move a lot and I enjoy seeing my belly wiggle when I’m laying on the couch. My doctor’s appointments have all been fine- no concerns, nothing out of the ordinary. Got my rhogam (sp?) shot at 28 weeks and I am going every other week now. No contractions yet (at this point with Bailey I had already had some). I found out our pediatrician goes on vacation March 11th so I am hoping this little guy is here on time so she can see him in the hospital!

We were at Sarah and Ryan’s house the other night and she got a few belly shots of me. And of my extra chin. Yikes.

And a cute one of the girls playing together-

I feel like I have finally settled into a good place with a lot of my friendships. Sure, I wish I had more time. I wish I had that one really close friend. (If you didn’t know, my closest friend since college graduation recently moved to another state and our contact is much much less than I would like… but I will be standing up in her wedding in several weeks and hopefully once that busy-ness is behind us we can work on carving out a new track for our friendship). I have been making an effort to catch up with the people I care about most and honestly have let some other relationships slide. It was time to do that. I don’t have time for everything, as much as I wish I did. And in two months, I will have a new breastfeeding baby who needs mommy time much more than my feisty and independent almost-three-year-old does. Or at least on a different level. On an Oh My God I Can’t Leave This Child level.

This week has been so busy/will be so busy on the social front, but I am really filling an important part of my life right now. I feel like I need to connect with these ladies before we drift too far apart. And apparently I feel the need to ramble about it on my blog.

In the past week or so I have gotten to spend some quality time with Jen and Renee. Yesterday Emily and Ella came over to play. They really reassure me that I will survive with two children and that I will, in fact, love my second child just as much as Bailey. Today we had a playdate with Kim and Mackenzie. Where Bailey was not exactly on her best behavior… sorry Kim… On Friday we are getting together with Casey and Addison, which I am really looking forward to. It has been way too long since we’ve hung out. We used to see each other at least once a week and that’s a friendship I regret letting slide as much as it has. Then over the weekend we get to have dinner with Sarah and her hubby and cute little girl Claire. These people are all so important to me and I am glad that I am taking the time and energy to be with them. It’s also way too easy to be a lazy pregnant woman, not make plans, and sit home and feel lonely and bored. I need to stay out of that funk because I will have plenty of time at home after the baby is born!

I am not telling you where she learned this pouty face…

But then once we got to Ella’s house she was all smiles. On the way there, she kept saying “I want to see Babytrice” instead of Beatrice. It took her a while to figure that one out.

I loved holding Beatrice. She was so sweet and snuggly and soft. It made me get more excited for our baby to be here in a few months. And Emily looked like she was doing great with both of the girls. Seriously, she had even baked cookies.

The girls were happy to see each other, I think, and they really played well together. They held hands and pretended to go to the grocery store. So sweet!

And Baby Beatrice got some love and kisses from Bailey too. Some of which she liked-

And then she had enough!

Bailey ended up falling asleep just a few minutes before we got home. Thanks, Emily and Ella, for a fun day!

Didn’t Sarah look beautiful in her wedding dress? She is in super great shape because she has been training to do a marathon with her new hubby. She hasn’t done anything like weight loss pills, just lots of exercise and healthy eating. I should look to her for some motivation…. ha ha…

This is my favorite one from the whole day-

Bouquet toss… Single Ladies started playing and Bailey ran out on the dance floor. She lined right up with the other girls and really tried to get the bouquet. That’s my girl!

My little Dancing Queen… she stayed on the dance floor all. night. long. until we dragged her off around 10:15! The photographer took a lot of pictures of her too. Her socks were so nasty from that floor.

Posing for pictures before we left- my little model-

The LONG car ride… We went with my friend Jen and her kids Adelle and Wyatt. I was glad we at least had company since we had to wait like a half hour in traffic around the zoo. Besides, Bailey is obsessed with Adelle (Ah-daw) and Wyatt.

Looking at the gators

Here she is on the train- doesn’t she look thrilled? I think she was getting tired!

But then when I asked her to smile she got really cheesy!

At first she didn’t want to change into her swimsuit. It was SO hot…

But then I convinced her to put her suit on and get in the water/sprinklers and she had so much fun! She also ate a lot of Cheetos!

She liked the sandbox too. I spent the car ride home picking the sand out of her bathing suit bottom! No more swimtsuits and sandboxes together. I am glad she wanted to get in though.

Thank you to Ella for inviting us! We had a great time

Bailey has been seeing an Occupational Therapist for a few weeks now for her eating issues and they are improving. She is also working on movement, like swinging and rocking which she has never been able to tolerate. I have a lot to say about this, but right now I just don’t feel like typing it all out. The therapy is hard, but it is going well. I hope that makes sense. It also gives me a new respect for moms who go to therapy multiple times a week, month after month… it takes a lot out of you. We only go twice a week but I have already discovered this.

Jonathon and I are doing well. We usually are, so it’s not like that is big news, but just something I like to be aware of. I have a good marriage. I met someone a few days ago who just left an abusive marriage and her thirteen-year-old daughter was also hurt. I don’t want to get into details but ti reminds me how blessed I am.

Avon is mostly good. I worked at a career fair on Thursday and then helped my manager with some meetings on Thursday night. It was a long day but I feel like I made some good connections. I am still working hard toward winning a cruise. My numbers are good so far but I need more orders- so if there is anything you want, let me know! You can shop on my Avon site and order for Representative Delivery.

I also had a quick break in between everything and got to run into Gymboree to pick up my holds. I got some great stuff, including this dress and these sunglasses (not to wear together) but I am so excited about them!

Bailey also loves, LOVES her friends. Every day she asks me where we are going and then checks to see if we will be seeing Addison, Kenzie, Ella, and always Gabe. Gabe has been her favorite for a long time. Which is funny because they ignore each other when they are together. Here are a few pictures from a playdate with Mackenzie and baby Tristan. Bailey was obsessing over Tristan again and kept kissing him.

Maybe they’ll be doing this together in 15-20 years? Crazy to think about!

I have a lot of pictures from the party. Sarah- will be getting you cd to you on Monday, I’ll leave it on your door if you’re not there. Bailey had a great time and Claire was the perfect one year old party girl! She enjoyed her cake and was happy to see all her guests, and had lots of fun opening presents. And Bailey even ate about half a cupcake!!

We got there a few minutes before Kenzie and were able to get a few “touristy” pictures outside. Check out Bailey’s grimace in the second one. She’s saying Cheese!

There was a lot to see inside. There were aquariums with live animals, displays of pretend animals, things to climb on and explore, and even a library area. Bailey really liked the fish and turtles.

Here they are in the puppet show area. It was SO hard to get both girls looking out the holes at the same time. And yes, we are inside and she still has her sunglasses on.

We can’t forget Baby Tristan! He was sooo good the whole time we were there. He just slept and looked around, and then woke up toward the end and ate. He even tolerated Bailey grabbing his feet and patting him way too many times. I got to hold him for a few minutes and it’s hard to imagine that Bailey was ever that small. I know she was never that calm!

The sweetest picture of the girls