Tuesdays

Last Tuesday, when I got to work, this happened:

And my super supportive friends were there for me again:

And then this Tuesday, this happened to my 3 week old phone:

Why is it always the Tuesdays?

This Weekend

The weather was beautiful again this weekend.

On Friday Olivia had a carnival for her school. We're switching back into the halfday program in June - so she will be back with her friends! In the meantime, we will rely on playdates and carnivals. 

We took a selfie while on the train ride, which clearly didn't turn out well. Oh well.

Saturday was the first day the pool opened, and we were there right away. The entire baby pool / splash pad is fenced in. Olivia can walk this year - so Dan and I sat back with a drink while the little one played and made friends. I could get used that!

First day at the pool last year and this year. Same judgey face. 

In her Lilly swimsuit! Aunt Sam and Uncle Jason really dress Olivia well. 

Olivia insisted on the clashing pink sandals. Until Dan told her how uncool it was to be the kid at the pool with shoes on. She took them off. But she wasn't too happy about it. 

When she got in the pool a kid came up to her and said "If you keep that up, Jack, you will have to get out immediately!" Apparently Jack's parents say that a lot.

On Sunday we finally went to Hall Family Farm for some strawberry picking. Olivia could have stayed all day. She cried "mo mo" the entire way home, poor girl.

The sweet people there let me borrow some sunscreen. I was too busy being mom of the year to remember the diaper bag, or sunscreen. 

They have toys, tricycles, slides, playhouses and a giant sandbox. Along with strawberry picking and strawberry donuts. All of which we enjoyed.

There are signs everywhere that say "do not eat the strawberries" (ie they want you to buy them instead of sampling). Olivia is all like you have no proof.

This gallon is now about a year's worth of jam. Delicious!

After nap, we went back over to the pool for a few hours before calling it another wonderful weekend. Hope you guys enjoyed as well. And had some good weather for a change!

Mother's Day Weekend

Last weekend we went to the beer bourbon and barbecue festival. My favorite of the year! We waited to see what the weather would be like before buying tickets. It was absolutely beautiful.

(For some reason these pictures are coming in blurry .. but I don't feel like fixing it.)

The real connoisseurs wear pretzel necklaces to 'cleanse' the palate between sips of beer or bourbon. We always thought it was such a great idea to have a snack around your neck! Since Olivia ate ours last time, she got her own this year.

There was live music, rescue dogs, games, funnel cake, and, of course, beer, bourbon and barbecue. 

On Mother's Day, Dan woke us up with cake pops.

Olivia painted me a vase and made a stepping stone for our front yard. I'm such a sucker for her artwork. 

Then Dan grilled dinner and I didn't have to clean! We spent the entire weekend as a family it could not have been better. 

ALL of our pictures look like this. Trying to make Livi laugh.

Painting Little Toenails

So many people have been asking me how I paint Olivia's toes - that their little ones will never sit still. 

Sit still? 

HA.

That's funny.

I figured I'd share my tricks.

Olivia HAS to have her toes painted. And if its chipping she runs to get the nail polish and asks anyone to paint them. Little diva. But she MUST touch them and kick her feet around - things that are not conducive to wet nail polish. So we have a couple tricks.

First of all, make sure your child is not eating their feet any more. Nail polish is made with harmful chemicals, and you don't want your little one ingesting them. Piggy Polish is non-toxic for baby toes, but I've never used it.

Next, strap your little one in the highchair with breakfast, a yummy snack, or something on TV - anything to distract them for just a minute or two. And the high chair helps. If Olivia can't see what I'm doing (because of the tray) she's less likely to kick around.

The biggest trick: Sally Hansen Insta-dri nail polish. This dries in 60 seconds. For real. Unlike the rest that say they dry fast, but really its just faster than others. 

I paint one foot then hold it for 30 seconds. Thats enough time for her to get back to kicking around. Paint the other foot and hold it for 30 seconds. Then wait another minute.

That's it. She's back to running around in circles. 

You're So Postitive

"You're so positive."

I hear that a lot. 

A coworker calls me 'bubbles' because I'm always in such a good mood that it annoys him. I know that it secretly brightens his day, but he'll never admit it.

"How do you stay so positive?"

"Does anything shake you?"

No, it doesn't. Well ... it hasn't. Fingers crossed. 

A sorority sister of mine has a 10 month old who underwent brain surgery this morning. 

Brain surgery.

Her first hair cut was the surgeon shaving part of her head. The lock of hair for the memory book. Cut by the brain surgeon. 

You spilled coffee in your lap this morning? You had bad traffic? Your boss said something mean? Your toddler was being a toddler and demanding today?

Brain surgery.

A ten month old. 

I just have this entire perspective that as long as my family is healthy, we can get through anything.

Losing a job, losing our home, a fire that destroys all of our material possessions. A plate knocked over at dinner time. A raspberry smashed into the white carpet. A sprained ankle.  Buying the wrong ice cream at Harris Teeter. 

Pales.

Pales in comparison to the struggles that some people are dealing with. 

Brain surgery.

Pales in comparison to the struggles that others are dealing with. Some would give anything to be in her boat. To have the baby who needs brain surgery. To have hope. To hope that brain surgery would resolve everything. That it could bring their child back. 

I just can't imagine ever complaining about anything that is going on in my life, while my child is healthy. 

And while others aren't so lucky.

At work, people have said, when asked, you should never say you are 'good.' You should come up with something more honest. Something that better describes you.

We've got a lot going on at work these days. "How are you?" I'm good. "Are you really?" Yes. The environment around me might be in shambles. But I'm good. 

Work isn't everything. Family is everything. 

My 18 month old daughter is healthy. She is here. I can't imagine anything greater in my life. 

Everything else that happens is just a funny story. A punchline. Ammo for some small talk. 

Shit happens. Shit will always happen. But you can do this. You can get through this. Always look at the bigger picture.

Hope you aren't the one supporting a child through brain surgery.

Hope you aren't the one begging to trade your problems with the one supporting a child through brain surgery. 

I'm good.

I'm always good.

I hope to never have to answer otherwise. 

Five on Friday

1. I started and finished a 12 week workout routine (without skipping a single one - and loving every single minute .. well .. maybe just the minutes that I wasn't working out.) - maybe I'll tell yall about it - but I'm convinced that's where my blogging time went. I'm not any more busy (maybe a little with work) but the blog posts haven't been coming nearly as often. I'll blame working out. 

Old picture. Still my favorite shirt.

2. I took Olivia to Chick-fil-a and let her play on the playground. There was a 2.5 year old boy there. She was looking at him, squealing, running while looking behind her so he'd chase her, just flirting like crazy. His parents said "alright bud, gotta go" and as he started to leave, Olivia started blowing him kisses. His dad looked at me and said "she's gonna be trouble." Oh, sir, you have no idea.

3. I took Olivia to Walmart the other day and we walked past a nailpolish end cap. She starts getting really fussy, takes her shoes off, throws them, whining, yelling. She gets like this when she's tired, been in the cart too long and ready to go home. I figured we needed to leave. She gets louder. I hear you, I'm grabbing some stuff and we'll get out of here. She lifts her foot high in the air. Points at it. Points at the end cap. Back at her foot. Yelling. I realize, she is telling me "See that nail polish? I don't have any on my toes. I need it NOW." I literally had to paint her toes in Walmart (I found a more secluded aisle) for her to calm down. She looked at them. Smiled. Held them up. And patiently let me walk all around Walmart. 

This girl... Could she be more girly?

Yes.

We went to play outside after and I said "let's put your shoes on." She adamantly shook her head back and forth 'no' and pointed to her toenails. That said, "Mom, I just got my toes did - if I put shoes on, no one would see my pedicure." D.I.V.A.

4. When we ask Olivia to smile she scrunches up her nose tight, closes her eyes, and laughs on the inside because she knows this is a crowd pleaser. We can't teach her what smile really means, because it's just too funny.

5. This is really old - but in March we took Olivia to Soul for dinner. Dan ordered a Moscow mule, and, in typical Olivia fashion, she wanted his alcoholic beverage. The waitress brought Olivia a water in her own copper cup. She was so thrilled! And thought she was super cool with her Moscow Mule.