Kenley has spent this last month putting words together,
which is so fun to watch and hear.
She is really into personal possession: “mommy’s coffee”, “daddy’s beer”, “Kenley’s water”, etc.
Last night, she went around the table saying “mommy’s eating, daddy’s eating, Kenley’s eating.”
This started a couple weeks ago when she would all of a sudden say,
“shh…Emmy’s sleeping..or Corbin’s sleeping…or Caleb’s sleeping.”
This is because our darling daughter only naps for one hour each day,
so she often was awake at school while her friends were sleeping.
Some of our other favorites are:
How are you? …Good! (Answering herself)
Baby down!! (When baby falls on the floor)
Come here.
Kenley’s house.
Almost there.
Buckle in.
I love you!

If the girl could be outside all day long, she would.
She loves running around, playing in the sand, pushing her Cozy Coupe,
playing with bubbles, riding in the wagon, and finding rocks.
When we go to the park, her favorite thing is the slide.
She loved the splash pad the first time we went,
but has been luke-warm about it the last two times.

Her favorite song right now is Muffin Man. Hands down.
As soon as we get into the car, she asks for it.
Frankly, I have no idea why. It puts me to sleep!
She also likes Ten in a Bed, the ABCs, and the Wheels on the Bus.
The Itsy Bitsy Spider and Twinkle, Twinkle are still fan favorites too.
She had been singing something that resembled the Barney song for about a month now,
I love you, you love me, we’re a happy….. then it kind of trailed off.
So, I had to ask her old teacher if they listen to that at school because
I could not figure out where it was coming from. Turns out, they had a musical book with the song.
Definitely Barney. I’ve even sang it back to her a few times, against my will.

She is doing well with her ABCs, she can complete her ABC puzzle all by herself,
and can say the ABCs through J… then she picks back up with Q, R, S, then it’s jumbled again.
Her numbers are usually jumbled, and colors are hit or miss.
Everything is blue, then occasionally she’ll get the right color on the second guess.

For summer camp, Kenley just moved up to the toddler room and we love it!
The class has a lot more structure than her last class and she’s already learning new things.
I was worried about the transition since she is well aware of the location of her classroom,
who her teachers are, and constantly talks about her friends (most of which are not in the new class).
After just a few tears on the first day, she has been great.
Her teachers said there was no transition period at all and she just jumped right in.
Hopefully I come back and re-read this when it’s time to transition again, so I don’t worry as much!

Kenley is officially down to one nap a day. We have been teetering in between for months and months now,
and I can safely say that she can take one nap and be fine until bedtime. With that being said,
she really only naps for one hour a day, which is not much for a busy toddler.
We can’t complain though because she is a rockstar sleeper at night.
During the week when school wears her out, she will go down as early as 7pm.
She is to the point where she knows she is tired and will say “night, night”
when she has had enough. We won’t hear a peep from her until right about 6am.
Like clockwork, she will start moving around in her bed anywhere between 6-6:15am,
then she’s up and at ‘em by 6:30am, ready to take on the day.
This works out well during the week when we need to be out the door…
but she doesn’t know that she can sleep in on weekends yet! Darn.
The toddler bed is working out very well.
Only occasionally do we have random visits from her after bedtime.

There you have it. 20 months. I know I say this a lot, but each month gets more fun!

a long day at work meant i was in my pjs by 7pm, actually more like 6:30pm, but who’s counting?
i also came home to my birchbox this month, which was fun to go through, as usual.

we did some major work on the house this weekend (greg mostly), but here is your sneak peek.

breakfast is not complete without your baby & a backpack.

we had an all-american dinner on saturday night including
hot dogs, mac & cheese, watermelon, and corn on the cob.
you can tell it’s summer and this girl loves it.

playing outside between rain showers.
we love bubbles.

i told her to smile (show me your teeth) and this is what she gave me.

happy father’s day!

***

where did the weekend go? we had a good time celebrating father’s day
and getting some housework done…there were also some naps taken in there, too.
how was your weekend?

It’s funny to read that I was only in maternity clothes for a couple weeks at this point last time,
since I’ve been wearing maternity clothes for about 9 weeks now.
I really wish I could wear these maternity leggings every single day. They are so comfy.
I put them on as soon as I walk in the door each day.

We are making some progress on the nursery, but it’s a much slower process this time around.
It seems like we’ve been bouncing back and forth between different projects & rooms,
making it hard to focus on the nursery. Plus, it doesn’t help that I think I’ve decided on
something, then I change my mind two days later and want to do something totally different.
It was much easier with Kenley’s room, I knew exactly what I wanted and had a clear vision.
I’m hoping to share some inspiration with you soon!

I’ve become bored to death with regular water, so I’ve been trying some new things.
The Arizona Arnold Palmers are delightful, but I’ve also discovered the citrus flavored sparkling water from Whole Foods
thanks to being a little bit early to my doctor’s appointment this week.
I’ll be stopping there from now on when I go for my checkups.
I’m still eating anything and everything in sight, with exceptions of Amy’s Burritos.
These used to be my go-to for quick lunches, but since the first semester nausea, I’ve been totally turned off by them.
Hopefully my love for them will return, but at this point, I’m not sure.

We have a couple busy weeks coming up, so I will be trying to rest any chance I get,
but we’re really looking forward to our little babymoon that is right around the corner!

school was closed on friday, which meant kenley was home.
we celebrated by running errands and stopped for a donut to celebrate
national doughnut day! yum!

saturday morning, the big ten network was replaying the iu/kentucky game from 2011.
we caught the end of it and explained to kenley exactly where she was
and what we were doing when watford hit the game winning shot.
she is really getting into all things indiana and i couldn’t be more happy about that.
the red shirt was a coincidence. she’s really wearing her christmas pjs. awesome.

we celebrated margot’s first birthday later in the day.
it was adorable, and so fun!

kenley and kyler reading books together at bedtime before their mini-sleepover.

most of the weekend was spent painting and organizing the office / my craft area.
i’m excited to share the updates… boy, what a difference a little paint makes.

ready to hit the road for sea world!

this is as close as we got to the penguins today.
hopefully, we’ll try again next weekend.

***

we had a good weekend and my love/hate relationship with painting continues,
but this weekend i’m actually loving it.
i did not, however, do much resting, so that will be the goal this week.

how was your weekend?

We went into the ultrasound planning to not find out the gender,
and even after a minor freak out on my part, we stayed strong.
Greg made a good point that it would be silly to make a last minute decision
in the moment that we may regret later. If we decide later to find out, then ok,
but we were not going to find out yesterday. Decision made. Shew!
Turns out, baby was in on it too. Our doctor doesn’t even know
because the little booger’s legs were crossed the entire time.
As of now, there is no risk of anyone mistakenly revealing the gender to us.

I am feeling so good right now and I am so thankful for that.
No food aversions at all… actually quite the opposite. I will eat anything and everything in sight and I have no problem doing so.
I am off the juice kick and have still been chugging water because the “dying of thirst” continues.
I have minor aches and pains here or there,
but overall, I’m really loving the second trimester, just like last time.
I appreciate all the comments and “welcomes” to the yoga community
and I am happy to say that I’ve been to two Hatha mix classes since my last post that I really enjoyed.
Unfortunately, I’ve been put on pelvic rest, low activity & no lifting, etc.
for at least 5-6 weeks, so yoga (and many, many other activities) are off the table.
Major bummer. 

friday, we hit up the new wawa near work for some lunch.
as a midwesterner turned floridian, i often questioned my east coast friends to why they eat at a gas station,
but i am now a true believer. it was damn good.

after some housework on saturday, i got myself a pedicure.
as i got pampered, i caught up on blogs & pinterest.
it. was. glorious.

saturday night included watching the pacers beat the heat
and his + hers ice cream.
mine = mint chocolate chip, his = chocolate chip.

we hit up the splash pad early sunday morning.
the girls were iffy about it. they loved it when the water was low,
and hated it when the water was high.
oh the troubles of a toddler.

they enjoyed playing in the tunnel a lot more.

and going down the slide.

after nap time, we hit up tijuana flats for lunch.
the girl loved her quesadilla and chips. just like her momma and daddy.

we tackled some painting tonight…need i say more?

***

we had a good and slightly productive weekend,
but i’m going to keep it real here and say that after this weekend,
we are never refinishing another piece of furniture again,
and i’m about 2.5 seconds away from hiring painters for the remaining rooms in our house…
which is a lot.
if only my husband would let me.

how was your weekend?

More importantly, for the last week I have been able to feel baby G2 moving around in there!
I don’t remember exactly when I started feeling Kenley move, but I don’t think it was this early.
A couple nights ago, I swear I could have felt a little kick from the outside, but no such luck yet.
I am excited for more movement to come!!

I am still feeling good and no crazy food cravings these past two weeks.
Kenley and I have been eating a lot of pickles though.
The girl loves them, just like her mama, but only the zesty (slightly spicy) ones…
NOT the bread & butter flavor.
They were buy one, get one free at Publix last week and we’ve almost polished off two jars of them. Yum!

I went to my first prenatal yoga class last week and I really enjoyed it.
Confession, it was actually my first yoga class ever!
I am much more of a cardio person, so if the activity doesn’t cause me to sweat profusely,
then I don’t think it’s much of a workout. I think I may start becoming a yoga person though,
if nothing else, for the stretching alone, which I am very bad on my own.

More next week! Happy Wednesday!

friday night we headed down to grammy’s house after work.
we pulled into town right as the sun was setting over the water,
what a great way to start the long weekend.

having a snack outside in our swim suits.
still envious this suit doesn’t come in my size. i can’t get enough of it.

after our snack it was time to take the boat out.

heading out into the blue water. amazing.

after nap time, we headed down to the beach.
we have approximately 24 cloth diapers at home that double as swim diapers…
and we didn’t even pack one on the trip. #fail

regardless, we had fun playing in the ocean.

jumping into the pool with daddy!

i enjoyed my zero proof cucumber ginger jasmine-tini at dinner saturday night.
it probably wasn’t as good as a real martini, but it was sure yummy.

sunday we headed to the rays / yankees game in probably the sickest seats we’ve ever sat in.

kenley loved that the seats were all-you-can-eat too. and she did!

i didn’t mind seeing evan longria that close.

sporting her new rays watch too.

after the game, we headed out on the boat one more time.

once we got back into town, we headed over to the jenkinson’s for a memorial day cookout.
the girls had fun being silly.

in true memorial day fashion, kenley loved the corn on the cob!

***

we had a great long weekend away and enjoyed our extra day off.
today we remember and thank those who have served our country so we could have such a great weekend.
how was your weekend?

Moving into the house, this is what the laundry room looked like.
If you would have seen the before-before pictures of the house, you would have
seen a washer and dryer in there… somehow in the process of the bank fixing up the house,
those did not make it. We think someone just took them… along with the fridge,
which we were way more bummed about, but I digress.
We were so excited that there was already a sink and cabinet in there, which saved us some moolah.

Things that needed updating in the original laundry room:

1. Open wire shelf. From our last laundry room, I already knew that I wasn’t a fan,
so when my mom and I painted the room over Christmas break, I didn’t let them put the shelf back up.
I thought this would force us to actually do something with the room, but here we are 5 months later…
We had to replace it with something and tossed around the idea of getting cabinets, but opted for
a shelving unit we found in the As Is section at IKEA for a whopping $25!

2. The fluorescent light. No further explanation needed.

3. Our $10 stand up, folding drying rack that I have had since college. It sat right in the
narrow laundry room, making it hard to open and close the front loading machines.
It was a royal pain in my arse and I swear I hear angels singing the day we installed our new drying racks.

4. Color! Fun fact: this was the first can of paint we bought for the house.
The laundry room… I told you I was excited about it.

5. Paint the cabinets. I originally wanted to do them in white, but I didn’t want to buy the
entire kit for two little cabinets, so I was going to settle with the Espresso that we had purchased already.
But, then it dawned on my to ask Sally to borrow some of her extra grey from when she painted her kitchen cabinets.
It worked out perfectly, and I love the grey!

6. Decor. We really liked the decal we had in our old laundry room so we decided to get another one.
We actually purchased it before we were officially house hunting, due to an expiring Groupon,
but the decal works perfect in the space. I also looked on Pinterest for some fun artwork,
and found the awesome laundry cheat sheet that I printed for free.

7. Store the detergent in style. We already had one large glass jar that served as a gin bucket,
so I got a matching one so we have one jar for diaper detergent and one for laundry detergent.
I made the chalkboard labels from our leftover chalkboard contact paper on the pantry door.

What we still need to do:

1. Get a matching washer to the dryer. Here’s the story.
Somehow during the moving process, the dryer was damaged beyond repair.
After a costly service call, we had to get a new one. It’s sad that the washer and dryer
do not match at this point, but I don’t care enough to go buy a new washer.
We opted not to go with the front loaders this time around, which was kind of a
spur of the moment decision, but we aren’t in love with our washer now,
so I am still very happy with that decision. I would love to get the new washer soon,
but we will use this one until it dies…and that may not be too far away.

2. We would love to eventually paint the counter top too.
I have no idea what color, but something other than what it is now.
It works for now, but I certainly don’t love it.

Source List:

Paint – Valspar Araucana Teal
GRUNDTAL Drying Racks
PRESSA Drying Rack
Shelf Unit – HEMNES Wall/bridging shelf (AS IS section for $25!)
Storage Baskets – Threshold Global Small Milk Crate
Detergent Jars – Target
Laundry Cheat Sheet – Print / Frame
The Laundry Room decal – Dali Decal (purchased with Groupon)
Pendant light – MINUT pendant downlight
Cabinet Paint – Rustoleum Cabinet Restoration Kit in Winter Fog
Cabinet Hardware – Handles / Knobs

kenley had a doctor’s appointment late afternoon friday, which put us home a tad early.
which meant, more time for a wagon ride before dinner!
no matter how many times i told her that that was “mommy’s water” she *had* to hold it.

we stopped by kyler’s house for a little piano playing action.

saturday morning i took pictures at our friends’ son’s soccer game. a team full of 3-5 year olds.
we got a glimpse into our future in a couple years. sheer chaos i tell you.

i was about ready to kill the fed ex guy who obnoxiously rang the doorbell as soon as kenley was asleep,
then i saw what he brought and i forgave him.
yes, i have my snacks delivered to my door. amazon prime for the win.

thanks to the jenkinsons who set up the fun waterpark in their backyard,
the girls got to beat the heat on saturday… which felt like the hottest day of my life.

kenley and i visited daddy at work and watched some of the cirque du soleil show quidam.
we didn’t get to stay for the whole thing due to an antsy girl, but what we saw was good.

since my husband wasn’t home to feed me dinner, our sweet friends stepped in.
kenley had fun playing with charlie and margot too!

between fighting nap time and some teething tantrums today,
kenley loooooved playing with her new baby and stroller.
i have a feeling she’ll be a great big sister…minus chucking the baby across the room.

***

we are so so so happy to have daddy back this week at a decent hour
and are anxiously waiting a much needed, long weekend getaway coming at the end of the week.
how was your weekend?