Misc. Monday

Another 2 weeks have come and gone and I'm back at it with a bullet point post. 

I am on a roll.

Go me. 

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This weekend we finally cashed in some gift cards we had and went out for dinner at Longhorns.

It's been a while since we've been out to a real restaurant! 

It was delish, as always. 

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Yesterday was my little brother's first ever football game.

I was so nervous for him- worried her would get hurt {Friday Night Lights anyone??}, worried he didn't really know what he was doing, worried that he was doing it more for my other brother and my dad- but he was totally amazing. 

I hate to say we were all shocked...but we were all shocked. 

He scored three touchdowns and two 2 point conversions.

My little brother, the video gamer couch potato, did that.

I was beyond proud of him!!

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If your husband asks for these cupcakes

just.say.no.

Ain't nobody got time for 50 step cupcakes.

Next time I see "premium" I will know that it's not for me. I'm perfectly content baking "average" cupcakes.

Maybe, maybe, in my housewife, newly wedded bliss life I would have been more enthusiastic about such things.

Four years in and with a toddler, the last thing I want to do is line the pan, melt the butter, mix the graham cracker, cover the bottoms, mix the cake mix, put a little in each one- not too much not too little, carefully drop in marshmallow mix-avoiding the sides of the liner, cover the marshmallow mix, bake, frost, sprinkle graham cracker crumbs. 

I'm good, thanks. 

And the end result?

Something you'd love to hear after wasting an hour of your life....they taste like s'more poptarts.

Awesome.

Never making cupcakes again. 

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In other news, this dinner was so yummy!!

I had planned on making pineapple fried rice and while I was at the store I found this sauce for the chicken. 

Can't wait to have it again, it's just what I wanted!

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Tomorrow starts a new link of with some of my favorite blog friends!

I'm looking forward to it! 

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We've been having cool fall weather and it's been wonderful!

Also excited for the fall shows to kick off- Ellen starts today! 

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Adalyn fell at a friend's house and hit the side of head/ear on a coffee table.

Through this we discovered that ears can bruise. 

Probably something we should've known and that is most likely common sense and something we really did know deep down, but initial reaction was a bit surprising. 

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I'm trying to grow my hair out again. I've made it through the dreaded flip-out phase {praise the Lord}, but now I'm in the always-in-a-pony-tail-phase-so-might-as-well-have-it-short-and-cute phase.

But at least her hair is growing fast and I can make one of us look good

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Two weekends ago we finally finished unpacking/cleaning out basement. 

It's not what I envision the end result to look like, but at least for now it's presentable and no longer embarrassing. 

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We are getting the siding done on our house and new windows put in. 

I feel like it's taking for.ever.

In the meantime, I feel "trapped" at home even though we would be home anyways and I'm unusually exhausted because I know I can't nap. It's a bit ridiculous how the mind works.

It will look so good when it's finished and I'm looking forward to putting up the fall decor!

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My first official overnight trip away from Adalyn is booked.

I'm freaking out about on the inside.

And a little on the outside.

I have 2 months to process/prepare.

She's almost 2, I realize this is also filed away in the "Ridiculous" category. 

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I'll finish this off with another Timehop memory- a year ago today Adalyn took her first steps!!

So incredibly crazy how fast time goes by!

Something I think I'll always be in disbelief of. 

join in on the random shananigans:

Misc. Monday

Apparently the only way I can blog these days is in bullet point form.

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Not gonna lie, I've been struggling with what else to write. I've been distracted multiple times and I can't think of what to say.

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Tonight at dinner Mr. B asked me what my plans are for tomorrow and I said "I need to buy some laundry detergent".
How's that for a busy day?!
Try not to be too jealous.

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Speaking of, what detergent do you use?
Here's the thing...once you go pod there's no turning back.
Am I right, or am I right?
All it takes is one time using a pod and suddenly pouring detergent into a hole seems like way too much work.
And this is what we call a first world problem.
Like, to the max.

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My laundry is finally put away just in time for more laundry to be folded and put away.
Circle of life. 

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We had our annual little family weekend away at the beach a couple weekends ago.

It was perfect. 

I'm still catching up on pictures, but I got some keepers. 

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I'm still not pregnant. Bring on month 4...

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I'm thinking about starting a fertility facebook group again if anyone is interested! I've received a few emails {sorry for not responding yet!} from other ladies who have been struggling.
Knowing you're not alone on this stupid roller coaster is so helpful! 

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We took the siding off the house this weekend.
And by "we" I mean Mr. B, our dads, my brother and a friend. 

And the new siding isn't being put on for 3 weeks so...that's attractive. 

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Everyone loves to be the classy house in the neighborhood that's wrapped in paper.
Especially one where the paper is upside down on half your house.
I think we get bonus points for that?

  My dad and brother aren't attentive to details and Mr. B and his dad are.
I'll let you guess who did the top half and who did the bottom.

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Projects like these always make you realize how awesome family and friends really are though! 

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Tonight I made a delicious and super easy dinner- courtesy of Pinterest, of course!

I used red potatoes, green beans, carrots and 3 chicken breasts. Put it all in a pan, I used half a packet of italian dressing, 1/2 stick of butter and drizzled some olive oil. Covered with foil, baked at 375 for 45 minutes. I added some feta and voila! We all loved it! Next time I'd add more veggies though, it seemed like a lot at the time, but the after it cooked it didn't seem like that many and we definitely could've eaten more. 

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I finally conquered the craft area of our basement today.
It only took me 9 months.
 Because who wants to waste their time cleaning the basement during nap time??
Not me.
But it had to be done.

It's all mismatched and not the prettiest, but at least it's clean! 

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Mr. B is getting a new car and I'm jealous. 

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I've been loving my time off from Captured. It was definitely the right decision! 

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These back to school things keep getting me all emotional.

Thank the Lord I still have time!

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I'm obsessed with Timehop. If you don't have that app., get it.
It's so bittersweet, but I love it.
Love it. 
Especially for someone who has a terrible memory and who is beyond behind on the good ol' baby books.
A year ago yesterday Adalyn had her first little piggies!

That's insane.

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What's more insane is she just turned 21 months.

3 months until the big T-W-O.
Ridiculous. 

Keeping it real...

These vibrant flowers are spicing up our dining room. 

excuse: too cheap to buy the good ones. too preoccupied to throw them out. 

These are "hiding" on the side of my couch. 

excuse: I'm going to sell them... {almost 2 months and going strong...} 

{PS. Be careful when you sign up for a free trial with the honest company!}

Almost 9 months in our new house and we still have no curtains up. 

in our bedroom. Living room. Bathroom. Dining room. Kitchen. 

excuse: curtain rods and curtains are expensive. next month...

This has been sitting on our floor for a week. 

excuse: pure laziness.

Our main bathroom/ex-laundry room looks like this. 

No blind since we moved in, let alone curtain! 

excuse: I'm going to get wooden blinds....

 and something special to put in that space... {1 month and going strong..}

Our microwave has no glass plate.

excuse: who shops in the microwave glass plate section and do they even sell these in stores?

But bonus points that it's semi-clean...

Like mother, like daughter....because of mother.

Sitting in her room since Saturday. 

excuse: laziness and going on vacation soon so it's easier to find things this way...

Awesome pinterest worthy bow holder. 

excuse: i need to fix her bow holder. easy nap time fix...{9 months and going strong...}

Beautiful welcoming wreath.

excuse: going to make an easter wreath. going to make a spring wreath. going to make a summer wreath. going to make a 4th of july wreath. going to make a fall wreath. Seriously, I am...

Since Saturday...

.....

excuse: laundry room is in basement mixed with mommy brain. 

Roxie's nails are like eagle talons. 

excuse: i'm lucky if I can keep up with Adalyn's talons. 

I've eaten more of this dough than I'd like to admit. 

And that's as real as that statement is getting. 

excuse: fatty mcstuffins mixed with boredom, mixed with perfectly tempting bite sized pieces, mixed with no self-control.

Haven't posted in 2 weeks and figured why not go through my house and take pictures with my phone of a few of the many examples of "it is what it is"/borderline lazy/mom of a toddler life. 

It was certainly an easy post and enough of a filler until I can think of something else that is hardly deemed worthy of posting. 

Potty Pointers.

Right when Adalyn turned 20 months it was put in the books that she was officially potty trained {during awake hours}. 

And when I say put in the books, I mean put in my mind.

And by put in my mind, I mean the place that forgets everything. 

And guess what?

It's a big ol' pain in the butt.

It's nerve wracking.

It's inconvenient.

It's bittersweet.

It's exciting.

It will eventually be easier.

Since it's been official I've gotten a few people asking how I did it, how she is potty trained at a fairly young age, what are the tips/tricks. 

And the fact of the matter is, I have no idea!

The only thing I keep saying is she was ready.

And I think that's key.

This is one of those situations where we, as parents, have little to no control. 

I've heard good things about the 3 day training method.

But in the summer that's just not ideal for us. 

We are never home 3 days in a row. 

Now, if we were doing this in the winter we could do the 6+ day training method.

Winter = Pj/no pants... for days. 

Wish I was kidding.

But not really because it's pretty awesome.

She was definitely ready before I began to make it official, but we had a few trips planned that I knew would be easier if we just held off a little longer.

But a few things that I think helped her get ready:

- Poop on potty. It's hard to tell when they are peeing, but most of the time it's very apparent when they're doing their business. Since she was about 6 months old I've put her on the potty {real potty} to poop. It seemed ridiculous, but when we started on solid food she got constipated quite a bit and it took her awhile to poo. So when I could tell she was straining...

{this is technically her peas face}, I signed potty and brought her to the potty. Making a 20 minute event a 2 minute event. Much easier for her and much easier for me. 

By doing this she quickly caught on and therefore became comfortable with the potty. 

I would joke that she would be potty trained with poop before pee and it's usually the other way around! I honestly don't even remember when she became potty trained with poo, but it's been a good while and was closer to the year mark. 

- Pull ups.  We switched to pull-ups a couple months ago mostly out of ease/sanity/patience.

 They're a step closer to big girlhood and are so much easier than diapers!

 Once you start these, there's no going back!

- Look for opportunities. #2 was taken care of, but we had to find ways to connect #1 with the potty. We started bringing her after she woke in the morning, before nap, after nap, before bath, before bed.

There really wasn't much "training" for Adalyn- for the most part it just happened, but tips that helped:

- Candy. For mommy and potty-trainee. Mini M&Ms are like gold. 

- Big girl undies. The ultimate potty training necessity. And these suckers are a little on the pricey side, but just convince yourself to think of the $$ you're saving by not buying diapers. We went to Target and bought 3 packs - Dora, Little Mermaid and My Little Pony. She was so excited to put them on. 

- Draw attention to accidents. It only took a few accidents in the undies for her to put two and two together.

I mean, why bother going to the bathroom when you can just move to a new spot and continue playing??

-Travel/Little Potty. Consistency is KEY. A couple weeks ago I finally bought a little potty. I prefer for her to go on the big potty, but I realized that it was hard to be consistent without one. It was hard when she was telling me she needed to go potty, but there was no potty around. I was sending mixed messages and I imagined it was probably pretty confusing! So I bought a little bjorn potty that I keep in my car- so far it's been primarily used for the pool and the boat and it's been great! 

Once trained:

-Bite the bullet and go do life in big girl undies. 

How's that for a motto?

And for the record, I didn't see that on Pinterest- I came up with it all on my own. 

{first outing in big girl undies!}

- Find the bathroom right when we get to the store and I excitedly ask her if she wants to use this store's potty. Of course, it's a yes. 

Get her bladder empty, shop in peace- ha, that's a lie. shop with less fear- ask a few times if she needs to use the potty, use the potty before leaving the store. 

{Day 2 of errands in undies complete! 6 stores, 2 potty times, ZERO accidents!! So proud!}

- I use her stroller or cart cover as often as possible- in the {rare} event that she does have an accident in public- so it won't be as embarrassing or noticeable. 

- Pit stops if necessary to avoid accidents. There are times when she asks {and asks, and asks, and asks} and there are times when I just bring her because the time/location is convenient and I don't want to risk an accident. 

{1.5 hour drive to the lake- the first time we ever stopped at the rest stop!}

- Pay attention. I try my best to be fully aware the first time she says "hottie, hottie, hottie!".

 Lord knows how much time we have to make it to the hottie before it's too late! 

-Patience. I'm trying hard at this one, but it's getting old fast. There are times I bring her and the second we sit down she's telling me she needs to go again. I want to encourage her to tell me when she needs to go.....but mommy wants to eat her Chick Fil A before it gets cold, darn it! 

There are times I think -and know- that she is using the potty as a way to get out of eating her meal. 

It's no coincidence she just so happens to need to use the potty 5 times during dinner. And guess what? She's not crying wolf- she will push out every last drop.every.single.time. 

She will find ways to make drops. 

Very rarely do I bring her when she asks and she doesn't go. 

It's a bit annoying. You seriously just went. 

So I'm praying for patience and I'm praying this will be a short-lived phase.

Please, Lord Jesus. 

But at the end of the day, I am so proud of my big girl! 

She was ready and she made it so easy. 

Just another way of her telling me she's growing up-whether I like it or not!

Thursdays Thoughts

Yesterday we celebrated 4 years of marriage!! 

It feels much longer- in a good way!

We ordered take out from one of our favorite pizza places and snuggled with our favorite girl.

I love living life with these two and I wouldn't want to spend our night any differently. 

Okay, that a little bit of a lie.

But I do love living life with them!

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I'm not pregnant. Again.

Happy Anniversary

On to take 3.....

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Adalyn recently turned 20 months!!!

You better believe the party planning has started and I may or may not have already made some purchases. 

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Adalyn is officially potty trained, with the exception of night time. 

I will write a more detailed post soon, but she was ready and made it easy! 

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It's ridiculous how fast summer goes by. We only have a couple more times to enjoy the lake.

I'm thankful for seasons, I feel like they come at the perfect time. 

With the exception of winter. 

That's last wayyyy too long. 

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We love Puddle Jumpers. 

Best floaties. ever. ever. 

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I don't feel like cooking, but there's chicken in the fridge that will go bad if I don't.
Lame.

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We had fun blueberry picking this morning. 

I enjoyed it so much more than strawberry picking.

Like, tons more. 

It was a little cool out and the perfect reminder of what's to come.

But not yet. 

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I never update my phone and the other day I finally did. 

And of course, now one of my lifeline favorite apps isn't working. 

If it ain't broke....

And now, Instagram is stuck on waiting. 

I've seriously tried every.thing. to fix it. 

Next up is to restore my phone to factory settings. 

In the meantime I feel like my life is stuck on waiting. 

I feel lost. 

I feel like everyone else is probably lost, too. 

No one knows where we are, what we are eating, what Adalyn is wearing...

Not sure how they're surviving, because I'm struggling. 

More than I should be....

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I love that my parents have farm animals- feeding the goats with Mimi is something she looks forward to. 

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I'm in love with her and this picture

the end.