One last summer hurrah!

For Labor day weekend we headed down to see family, we haven't been there in awhile and I was really missing them. :(
Traffic on Friday was HORRENDOUS! It took us twice as long to get there as normal. The girls ran off some energy from being trapped in a car and then we had pizza, a little hot tubbing and bed.

I love my Mom and Randy's yard

A little peace of heaven

My big girl, when did she start looking so old!?

The girls always love the sandbox and it's the perfect size. My Mom's dog Sammy, LOVES fetching so the girls have fun throwing the ball for him. We are still trying to teach Reese to throw the ball past him, not AT him.

The hot tub is always a big hit with our little fish

"Um, Brian, stop goofing off and help your daughter!" ;)

Saturday morning we went to see my Dad, Anna, Abby and Cassidy. The girls were a little shy at first (so weird!) but warmed up eventually and got crazy goofy.

Abby and Reese playing

 My Dad whipped up some delicious breakfast for us and we sat and ate and talked and cuddled and played.

She loves her Grandpa!

Finally it was time to get dressed in our OSU gear and tailgate!!!

Yaya with her little Beaver Believers!

Love my cheerleaders!

We had two tailgators that we bounced between, just like always. The Bauer's (Nate's family) and the Tegner's. Fortunately they aren't far from each other so we can walk back and forth if needed.

It was HOT!

 The Bauer's are always so welcoming, especially with the girls.

Uncle Nate giving his girls cookies

 After spending a little time there we went to the Tegner's and hung with the family.

The toe head stare down

Oh Jax, those eyes!!!

Squishy face!

We are a little obsessed with this guy :)

 Grammy came by the tailgator and when Reese saw her she immediately went to her and then passed out. That is the sign of a great and successful tailgator! ;)

 The famous Buell boys stopped by the tailgator too, my family was so excited to finally meet these precious little boys!

BFF's

Brian attempted to take Bria in the game but about 10 seconds after they sat down she said it was too loud. Her sensitive ears, poor girl. So we went to check out the new book store and see my bro. Then walked through campus to our car. It was a walk down memory lane for Brian and I and it was surreal to have our little girls there. I hope they become Beavers!!

OSU!!!

The weekend still wasn't over, but this post is. I'll be back later :)

She cut it

About 2 weeks ago Bria said she wanted to cut her hair to her shoulders, ever since then I ask her almost daily if she still wants to. I am all about her making the choice and honoring it, but my biggest fear was that she would immediately regret it and start sobbing. 

So we made sure it was what she wanted to do. 

Last night after Brian got home I asked her again and when she exlaimed, "Yes!" I decided to just go for it.

And we did.

 Do you think I cried when she cut off the last of her super blond hair? Or when I looked down and saw perfect little ringlets laying on the floor that were once attached to Bria's sweet little head?
I didn't! I smiled. She looked so stinkin' cute and grown up and this is what she wanted.

 We love it. She kept saying, "Mom, I just love my hair! Is it short now?" or "Does it look like Amanda's now?"

We just did it last night so I haven't washed it since (they didn't wash it at the hair cutting place either) and I think her curls will still be there a little bit but we'll see. 

Hiatus

Apparently blogging for a week straight wore me out and I took a little blogging hiatus.
Brian was on a business trip for a few days and I always go a little crazy when he's not here. My poor girls were probably wondering what the heck was wrong with me, I was tired and plum out of ideas for ways to teach and entertain the girls.
But he's back now and all is well :)
Last year I started working on our family photo albums through My Publisher and I absolutely adore them, I completed 2009 and 2010, started 2011 and then went on a hiatus. I guess that's my MO. But a few days ago I finally picked up in 2011 and I have been going full steam ahead. That was the year Reese was born so it's been really fun to go back and see that time in our life, almost made me want another one (ALMOST Lanie, don't get any ideas!). I have to finish November and December and then the book will be complete, then I wait to order it until they have a huge mega sale. And I'm hoping I can get 2012 done before I run out of steam :)
Some random pictures from the park:

Last weekend I jam packed my schedule in preparation for Brian being gone and one of my outings was having dinner and drinks with two girls that were my absolute best friends in middle school, Rhandie and Katherine. Most people don't think fondly of the middle school years, probably because we are all going through awkward phases and have braces and our hair is hideous and we have no boobs...those might all be specific to me but I'm sure some can relate. Anyway, I actually look back at middle school with the best of memories and it's all because of those two girls. They were my very best friends and we did everything together, a majority of it included laughing hysterically and acting ridiculous. We would walk down the halls and purposely trip each other just to laugh. Yeah, we weren't popular, at all. But we could care less because man did we have fun!
Sadly after middle school we all went to different high schools, darn our parents for moving! So we lost touch completely and then through the magic of Facebook (and a chance meeting between Rhandi and Katherine at the Zoo) we made a date.

Peeps, we didn't even skip a beat. We were laughing and making the same stupid jokes and loving it. It felt good to be with gals that knew me way back when :) What is so funny to me is that we are actually kind of different in a lot of ways, but I guess we are the same where it counts.

Me, Katheirne, and Rhandie back in the day

Me, Rhandi, and Katherine today :)

I'm telling you, we are incredibly random, and super hilarious :)

 Now that we are in touch again we're going to try and stay that way, Rhandie actually lives up here in Tigard and Katherine is in Salem which is an hour south, but she is hoping to move up to Portland soon. Such a small world that we may all end up in the same area after all the years, very serendipitous.

Friday

*Eeek, this weekend started early Friday and was crazy busy so I didn't even have a chance to post my Friday daily journaling, so here it is a little late!

I'm glad I do this journaling but I'm not going to lie, I'm tired of actually doing it ;) But today is the last day, wahoo! I'm sure if you aren't a Mom you are surprised at the monotony of our days, I think in the beginning of Motherhood I was as well. But now I love our days and routine and every once and awhile we throw in random beach trips or something like that. Usually though, this is what our days/weeks look like.

6:30-7:15-Bootcamp kicked my booty and I liked it.

7:25-9 am-Come home and hear Reese calling for me so I go and get her, Bria gets up at the same time and we go wake up Daddy :) I make coffee and we start our day with the normal: see Brian off, breakfast, and then get ready for the day. Bria starts the very sad cry about missing Daddy so we call him.

9-10:30 am-I am in a mood where I feel we need to be creative so I get out paper, glue, random objects, stickers, and stamps. The girls create for awhile and when they are getting bored of that I take our big roll of paper outside and all our paints and we paint. This is Reese's favorite activity, when I ask if she wants to paint she yells so happily and loudly I'm sure the neighbors think I bought her a pony.

10:30-11 am-I get Bria ready for swimming with Tracy and we drive over to the gym to drop her off. She starts crying about missing Brian again and I feel horrible. Normally I'm impatient about that kind of stuff, but it's such a sad cry I feel so bad for her. But I know swimming will get her mind off of it.

11-11:30 am-Take Reese to Starbucks and we share a chocolate chip cookie. She is in heaven and I keep thinking how adorable she is, I'm that annoying Mom ;)

11:45-12:30-Reese gets my undivided attention at home, we do puzzles, 23 different games (she loves matching the cards to board games like Candyland, Memory, etc.), magnetic letters, and then I tickle and chase her until I'm tired. She watches a little bit of Daniel Tigers Neighborhood while I catch up on emails, blogs, and facebook then we head off to get Bria.

12:45-1:30-Pick up Bria (she had a blast of course) and go home for some lunch. Then it's nap time and quiet time.

2 pm-I hear the front door open and am thrilled that Brian is home already! He goes into Bria's room and she is ecstatic. She clings to him and doesn't let go. They watch tv together while I nap (this bootcamp thing is exhausting!) and then go to the mattress store to exchange ours (Brian needs a firmer mattress).

4 pm-Reese is up from nap time and we start getting ready for our friends to come over (Jimmy came up with the kids because Erin was doing the Portland to Coast) and then we asked the Buell boys to come over (Amanda was working) so Bria just had a bunch of boyfriends over ;)

5-8:30 pm-We eat pizza with our friends, play loudly all over the house, walk to the park, come back home for more running around craziness and then finally put the kiddos to bed.

Yay, I blogged for a whole week! Now we will return to normal bloggingness :)

Thursday

6:30-7:15 am-Boot camp baby!!

7:20-Come home and get a cup of coffee, heavenly. Bria is upstairs in our bed while Brian is getting ready for work.

7:30-Reese wakes up and her and I snuggled on the couch, she drinks her milk, I drink my coffee, and we learn about manatee's from the one and only, Cat in the Hat. Shortly after, Bria comes down and we say goodbye to Dad as he heads off to work. Each girl demands hugs and kisses from him, and there are big meltdowns if they don't get them...I may or may not be included in this ;)

8 am-Get breakfast for both girls and myself.
8:30-9:45 am-Put a movie on for the girls and go shower and get ready for the day, then get the girls ready and head off to Target for some essentials. Stop at Fred Meyer on the way home for produce (our Freddy's has the best produce)

11am-We are finally home and after some thorough hand washing (shopping carts gross me out) we do lunch (apples for Bria, greek yogurt for Reese, and turkey/cheese quesadilla for all of us)

11:30-12:30-After a delicious lunch we count the money in Bria's piggy bank...she has been wanting a Merida doll (she has the Barbie sized one but she wants the doll sized one, she is so deprived ;) for awhile and saw it and Target so I told her we would count and see how much she has. She is about $7 short (I didn't count the nickels and dimes though) so I told her she needs to continue saving. We play and then look at our family albums (the girls love doing this) then it's on to nap time and quiet time!

12:30-3-Bria does quiet time and I try to take a snooze but she keeps making random requests to stall her quiet time. Eventually we come downstairs and color together.

3 pm-Reese wakes up and is in a pretty good mood, we all play dolls together and then around 3:30 to our surprise, Dad comes home! I am LOVING his coming home early thing :) The girls play in Bria's room together, I put away laundry that has been clean for a couple days now and Brian does more work. Then the girls bombard Dad and request he smell their feet:

Why? I have no idea, don't your kids do that?

5-6 pm-Brian puts pot pies in the oven, we eat dinner (the girls devour it) and then play. We do some concerts together, scare each other, and even skinny dip in the pool in the back...the girls do anyway :) Also, we pulled two carrots from our garden and they weren't half bad. Not the huge carrots I was hoping for but it was our first try.

Look at our little guys ;)

6-7 pm-Watch AFV (America's Funniest Videos) together and eat popcorn. Then it's off for bedtime routine. I'm chatting with my Mom on the phone so Brian does it all and I get to cuddle Reese and sing to her before putting her down.

Popcorn with my girls :)

Now it's 7:30 pm and I'm really wanting a glass of wine but trying to be good and only drink on weekends...I'll let you know if I stayed strong ;)

Wednesday

6:55 am- Bria comes in our room to wake us up (no boot camp on Wednesdays, sad, but it was nice to "sleep in"), we tell her to go back to her room until her clock glows at 7:05 am, she reluctantly does.

7-8 am- Girls wake up, Brian gets ready for work and we do breakfast

8-8:30 am-Sit on the couch with the girls and watch Super Why

8:30-9:15 am- Get ready for the day

9:30-1 pm- Playdate at the Buell's! Haughton's and Briley's are there too and Bria is thrilled to see Kenzie as always. After some adorable pleading, Bria convinces me to go back home and get our swim suits so we can go swimming at the Buell's neighborhood pool with them.

Reese taking a break from all the chaos to watch Tinkerbell

1-2 pm-Swim and swim and swim. We start off in the little pool that's only a foot deep, perfect for a little warm up :)

Then we headed to the big pool. Bria has been going with Tracy and Heather on occasion to swim and WOW, she is a serious swimmer now. Backstroke, front stroke, head under water and all. Super fun to watch her. Reese is comfortable in the water and will swim freely with her life jacket on, she also enjoys the back float.

2-3:30 pm-Bria does quiet time and I take a snooze.

4-430-Brian comes home early, yay! We watch tv and I get ready (date night!)

4:30-5:15 pm-Reese wakes up, Brian rocks her for awhile (she has a hard time waking up from naps) and I give Bria a shower then do dinner for the girls. I'm embarrassed to admit it's cereal. Don't feel bad though, our girls have my unhealthy obsession with cereal so they are ecstatic. Heather arrives and we head out the door (we are BEYOND lucky to have her here and willing to watch the girls so often!)

5:15-9:45 pm-Date night! We go and see The Butler with Scott and Randi. Highly recommend the movie, it was so good. Very sad, but wonderfully done. Arrive home and chat with Heather.

Cintetopia is the only way to see a movie now!! Best seats in the house.

10:30 pm-Crawl into bed, gotta get my beauty rest for Boot camp in the morning!!

Tuesday

7:30 am-Get home from boot camp, Bria is eating breakfast and Brian is bringing Reese her sippy cup of milk (she was apparently in our room throwing a fit because Brian wasn't holding her)

8-10 am-Finish breakfast, get ready for the day, get the girls ready, cuddle on the couch
10:30-1 pm- Play at our friends house! Believe it or not we didn't take any pictures, which is totally not like us. But the kids were busy having fun and we were chatting it up. Amanda made lunch for all the kiddos (Gracie and Roxie came too!) and then we headed home.

1:30-2:30-Bria has quiet time in her room and Reese plays in her crib (what is happening?! this is a first, she ALWAYS takes a nap, my theory is she was overtired)

3 pm-I think Reese finally falls asleep, Bria watches a movie on the iPad while I rest, check email, blogs, etc.

3-4 pm-While Reese finally naps, Bria and I hang out, I sew some of her pants that had holes in them (that's what I get for buying $1.97 yoga pants at Fred Meyer clearance sale) and Bria helps. She makes a necklace from thread and a needle threader and is so proud of herself, I'm still wearing it :)

4-5 pm-Reese wakes up, we go out back to swim and that lasts 2 minutes, we come back in and play. I start dinner.

5:15 pm-Brian comes home and I head out right away because I scheduled a blood donation at 5:30 pm.

Notice my super cool necklace :) And yes, I have my swim suit on.

5:30-6 pm-I donate blood, eat some snacks while they make sure I'm not going to pass out, then head home.

6-7 pm-We go for a family walk to the park then head home and hang out on our front lawn for awhile, we're random like that.

My phone totally warped our heads haha!

7:15 pm-Start baths, have family cuddle time on Bria's bed, read stories and lights out for the girls.

Now it's time to sit our butts down on the couch and have quality tv and relax time :)