What's New?!

 Time to empty out the brain!

• Feeling guilty for not blogging more often.  I feel like I'm really going to regret not writing more about the happenings going on around here every so often.

• Weather is finally HOT here.  Like, hot hot.  Presley has been loving her little pool.  I keep trying to talk Tony into getting one for all three of us to at least sit in (like this one)!  So far, no luck.  I think he has the right idea, though!  We've been spending lots of time outside these days as a family between our fun bike rides to local parks and spontaneous happenings like the Greek Festival!  It's never a dull moment here and I live for times as a family.

 

 

 

 

• Presley got her first molar - up top on her right side!  It was poking through her gums when I checked the other day... but I'm not sure of any of the others because she absolutely hates when I fish around in her mouth.  I know they're all very close, though.

• Oh, and while we're talking about some of Presley's firsts... let me just mention she pooped in the bath tub for the first time.  That was definitely interesting!  She is such a good kid... handled the whole thing great.  And thankfully, so did I.  I just kept repeating to myself, "I love being a mom... I love being a mom..."  ;-)

• Last week I went to a "Vino Van Gogh" night with my friend Jess.  We painted our versions of the Eiffel Tower which was really neat but so much harder than I thought it would be!  I was definitely happy to spend some time with Jess, too. 

• My big sister, Amanda, & my niece, Anne Marie, will be visiting towards the end of next week and I can't wait to see them!  It's always such a happy occasion to get together!  We will have several family members in town to celebrate my cousin, Brett's, graduation from college and my Uncle Chuck's retirement.  It should be a great time.  However, it's definitely bittersweet since my little sister, Ashley, will be missing (and her fiance Jonathan as well as Amanda's husband, John).  It's great when any of us can get together... but there is nothing like a full-on sister reunion.  Life is just complete with my sistas.  Even more complete when the six of us (well, EIGHT now that we have Anne Marie & Presley plus our significant others!) can get all together.  And an even better time?  When all the cousins and all of our significant others & kids get together.  That is a RARE occasion but always a wonderful time.  I just wish that was happening this upcoming weekend!!!

• We have much to do around here before we have visitors!  One of the things on my (random) to do list is to finally finish Presley's 12 month picture frame.  It's so cute - it's got a space for monthly pictures from birth to 12 months and I've been DRAGGING my feet about putting the last two photos in there.  I guess I am in denial about it all?  Anyways, the last photos are ordered and will be getting picked up tomorrow.

• She is walking so great these days!  Also doing an excellent job of feeding herself.  We've slowly been trying to incorporate utensils at mealtime, but she still sees them as toys.  Presley also thinks brushing her teeth is HILARIOUS and loves "brushing" her own teeth each night.  So easy peasy at bedtime and still going through this phase of throwing her bedtime buddies out of the crib.  She usually seems to do this in the morning if I don't get her out of bed soon enough - she doesn't get mad or anything, just does it as a game, I guess.  And sometimes she'll do it after we tuck her in and leave the room if she's not totally sleepy yet.

• I feel like it's been a while since I did my own Marriage Monday post.  To be honest, I've been enjoying these guest blogs so incredibly much - I hope you guys are as well.  Is there any specific marital topic or issue you'd like to see discussed in a future Marriage Monday post?  I'm hoping to get a marriage-related post written from a male's perspective here soon... so if there are any takers out there or any wives who would love to volunteer their husbands, shoot me a comment or e-mail and we'll set it up!

• Had a GREAT Father's Day weekend in Milwaukee visiting my cousin & her beautiful family!  Tony got to drive a Ferrari around a race track and we went to the Milwaukee Zoo as well.  I think my favorite part was staying up to talk and laugh soo much with Breanne, Dustin & Tony Saturday night.  At one point I was laughing so hard I was definitely crying!  It was great - we absolutely had a blast.

 

 

 

 

 

• Presley and I went swimming with my friend, Ashley, this week who is 38 weeks pregnant and just absolutely gorgeous.  I am so excited for everything lying just ahead of her and Jake!  They are expecting a baby boy and you better believe there will be a post once he arrives!!!  The swimming experience was the first time Presley has been in a big pool since she was just a few months old and she did really great.  You could tell she wasn't too sure about the situation, though.

And that's what's been happening with us lately!  Hope you're enjoying the summer as much as we are - gotta soak up the sun while we've got it.