Tuesday, July 31, 2012

For the love of a cat.

The Blaylock family has expanded by 4 furry feed. We are proud to introduce Manny to the world! E has been asking for a kitty for MONTHS! Let's be real though, I may have introduced the idea to her. I feel really strongly that a home isn't complete without fur children. And, while we have two rather large pooches, we needed a kitty around to keep it real.

Besides, a cat is a more manageable size for E to love on. And not get knocked over by. He has a huge head, but a rather petite body. And, there has been a huge advantage to getting an older (5) kitty because we avoid all the annoying kitten traits.

We're already totally smitten. And, the dogs, while they are curious, seem to be respecting Manny's boundaries and have avoided a nose swat thus far.

Already, Manny has brought joy into our family and made this mama really happy. E is more interested in playing with him than watching movies or TV. We have spent a lot of time introducing him into our home. Time that had previously been spent with our lazy butts on the couch watching TV.

Tube time had begun to worry me. Even with myself. I went to bed exhausted, even though I had accomplished NOTHING that evening. I haven't been sleeping well. But, last night we watched just 1 hour of TV and spent the rest of the evening organizing our pigsty house.

I put together a piece of furniture (with Manny promptly hopped into to sleep) and colored with E on the living room floor (while Manny tried to bat the crayon out of my hand).

Minus a rather large, smelly accident IN MY BED on his first night, Manny is an ideal cat. In his defense, he was kinda trapped on our bed by two anxious dogs sleeping in front of the door.

I look forward to sharing all things Manny with you moving forward. Prepare yourself for cuteness!








Monday, July 23, 2012

The things I want to tell you about...

Blogging from my phone since I'm not even sure where my computer is right now...
The weekend was our big move- big disastrous move from hell in 100 degree heat. I promise to post pictures and share its full story...
I'd also love to tell you about emery first dance class and how amazing it was. And how it took everything in me not to cry the entire 45 minutes because I was so proud.
But for now I'll tell you that we ape t our first night in our new home... And that ginger already figured out how to dig under the deck... And I'll share my first piece of decor in our new home...



Friday, July 20, 2012

For the love of a box

Jason and I decided to start packing tonight. Why? Because we move tomorrow, the movers arrive at 1030am, and we hadn't actually packed anything signifigant.

So, while we were packing...


E decided that she was going to take over one of our ready to go boxes as a fort. She discovered box forts last weekend at a BBQ and has wanted once since. So, now, she has got herself a fort. We'll get her a bigger box once we unpack at the new place. Maybe we can decorate it too, paint the outside, give it a window...who knows. But for now, good old fashioned fort.




Nothing more old fashioned than a fort made out of a box. An entire room full of unpacked toys and she goes for the box... It really it just the cutest.

How should we decorate her new fort when we get unpacked?



Monday, July 16, 2012

Wait, we're moving?

We are just 5 days away from moving day and moving into our first home. We will officially be home owners. I should be excited, right? Think again.
Typically, I have things packed and ready at least a week before any move or vacation. I'm all about making lists, setting a timeline and getting it done. Not this time, ladies and gentlemen.
In fact, I'm avoiding it like the plague.

Do I want the space that our home will offer?
Am I dying for a yard for my doggies?
Do I have dreams of amazing family memories on our new fab deck?

Yes, of course.

But am I excited for all the things that come with home ownership?

The extra expense of plumbers.
The stress of a mortgage.
My desperate need to make my house pinterest appropriate.

No way, Jose!

We looked for like 3 years in CA for a home. And we feel so incredibly blessed that the move to CO has provided our family the opportunity to buy a home in a safe neighborhood, with enough room, and amazing schools near by. But, as someone that is anxiety prone, I'm heading into a stress tailspin that will certainly last until I get my first glass of skinnygirl into my body while sitting on my deck. (ok, let's be real, until I get the whole bottle in me) 

So instead of packing this weekend we...

We had a dance party...
Hung out with adorable dogs available for adoption, like this one, Hank.
Had cuddle time while watching Disney movies (on repeat)
Oh yeah, and packed a few boxes... while just making more of a mess than we had before.




Thursday, July 12, 2012

bubbies. marriage. potty talk

Recently, I've come to realize what amazing conversations I'm having with my 3 year old. She is so intuitive and asks such amazing questions. I'm so lucky. And... so worried as to what types of conversations are coming my way much earlier than I expected. She is already asking why she came out of my tummy... at 3. Oh boy!

So, I'd like to share with you some of our recent conversations. Enjoy!

Bubbies

Breasts are commonly referred to in our house as "bubbies." E likes to talk about bubbies. She talks about mine and how she thinks they are big (obviously she's mistaken....), she points out other's bubbies, and she talks about how someday she'll have big bubbies too. Then, she looks at her little girl chest and says, "I'm just a little girl, I have smmmalllll bubbies."

This evening, however, we disscussed bras. She wants one. She wanted to put mine on, but was disapointed because it was "wayyyyy tooooo bbbiiiiiggggg!" And she asked if she can have her own bra when she's a big girl and has biiiiiigggg buuuubbbbiiiesss! Thankfully, Jason was not home to hear this conversation. He would have died. I'm not sure she has realized yet that he has a daughter. And. NEWSFLASH. She'll get bubbies someday.

Marriage

I mentioned before that E said already declared that when I got married my hair looked silly. She has also said that I was a princess. And she has been asking more about what marriage is and who is married to whom in our family. In addition to our bubbie conversation, we've also had a serious marriage talk this evening.

It's getting deep tonight people.

E really loves my wedding ring. She messes with it all the time. This ring has a really special meaning to me. Right before Jason and I got married my grandma gave it to me. It was her wedding ring with my grandpa. He died a few months before I met Jason and it has always made me really sad that they didn't meet. So, having this ring helped bring my grandpa to our wedding and as a part of our life together.

I always wanted a little girl to give this ring to, to pass along the love that comes with it. My grandparents are the perfect example of a partnership and a fiecely deep love. I am so blessed to have that and hope that it will bring the same love to E some day. I told her that someday, when she is a big girl she'll get married and I'll give her the ring just like grandma gave it to me. She got really excited, then just looked at me.

"What is getting married Mommy?" Seriously, this kid is 3? How do you explain that to a 3 year old. I basically rambled something about love, living together and having babies. Her eyes got big as her little brain processed loving a boy and having her own babies. How much did she get? Who knows. But at this point, she is excited to be a princess, get married and get mommys ring. For now, I'm good with that.

please excuse my terrible nail polish...


Potty Talk

Potty discussion is regular conversation when you have a 3 year old. Let's just go through a run down of regular family potty talk.

"I have to peeeee! I need to go to the potty, it's coming really quick!" - picture her running to the potty with her pants around her ankles.

"My tummy hurts, I need to poop"

"I did a big poop, do you want to count them?

yelling "I'm done!!!! Who is going to wipe my buttttttt!!"


Until next time friends.... I think I've left you with enough of our talking points for now...

Monday, July 9, 2012

Monday Mom Fail Moment

I'd like to share with you why I won't be winning mom of the year today....

It is a bit chilly and rainy out today, so I decided to put E in pants... or jeggings really.

I quickly picked out an outfit and got E dressed without really thinking about whether or not the pants would actually fit.

We ended up with jeggings that are more like crop pants and a t-shirt that is holding on for dear life around her little belly.

Let's keep in mind folks that I got her dressed in jeggings and a t-shirt that are 4T!! 4T for my 3 year old... and they ARE TOO SHORT!! They fit just this spring and now... she looks like a red neck baby.

Here's the deal. It's summer. And has been like 100 degrees, so no, I'm not rushing out to buy her any pants until October. So for now, crop jegging it is. Too bad I just pull out all of her 4T jeans and long sleeve shirts and tossed them in the closet with hopes that the might fit for part of this fall/winter. Looking like that won't happen.

Oh, I should also mention that it is pouring rain now. And E doesn't even have a jacket at school. Just crop pants and a too small tee to keep her dry and warm.

This picture is me tugging her little pants down, making the crotch all low and still not long enough in the legs. And her shirt that is stretched across her little belly. She refused to change and said she LOVED the outfit. Awesome.


At least she is excited about it...right?!



Sunday, July 8, 2012

summer lovin'

We've had some pretty crummy weather the past few days. Monsoon thunder storms and flash flood warnings in the neighboring communities that have been affected by recent fires.

But, in the past few weeks we had fully embraced summer and all that comes with it... the pool, the outdoors, bikes, the parks...


Our girl has developed a LOVE for photoshoots. This was just one of many pictures taken, each with a different pose. She is such a ham. And such a girl with her sassy poses.


And, the new bike. She loves this new bike. She keeps talking about her big girl bike. How much she loves it and wants to ride it.

We hope our crummy weather of the weekend will clear up soon. We are dying to get back to the pool and park.

Friends, what else can we do with our sassy girl this summer?

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Things that are awesome... and E's boyfriend.

I love having this blog as an opportunity to share with friends and family that are not in CO what is going on in our every day lives. I have found that it is so easy to stay up to date on the big happenings in our lives, but we lose the day to day things that make us laugh and keep us just a little bit crazy.

So, enjoy another installment of things that are awesome and those that are not...

Awesome....

1. We just about two weeks into living an entirely diaper free life.... with NO ACCIDENTS!

2. Our family has totally embraced our neighborhood pools and rec centers. E loves to swim, and with our 100+ temps lately, they make life a lot more awesome. Plus, you can end up with cuddle time like this from last weekend!



3. E has graduated to a big girl bike. Her school does regular "bike days" and I had become really embarrassed sending her with her tiny tricycle that was clearly too small. So, we caved and bought her a big girl bike! She loves it!



And, those that are less awesome...

1. I made beef stew last night. First time ever. It was awesome. But, what wasn't awesome was that E wouldn't eat anything in it. Mostly because she said the carrots looks like hot dogs. I can't say that I disagree. Take a look...



2. We move in 18 days. That is awesome, but that fact that I haven't even begun to think about packing. Or getting ready to pack. I have visions of me just kinda tossing everything in my car and winging it. Not sure how that will work with our large furniture...

3. Tonight E asked for Ben (a boy from her class) to come over and watch Cars with her. I asked her who Ben was and she said he was in her class. The conversation proceeds something like this...

Me: E, is Ben your friend?
E: Yes, I like him.
Daddy: E, do you think Ben is cute?
E: Yes!
Me: Do you hold hands with Ben?
E: Yes! He likes Spiderman. I like Spiderman too!
Daddy: E, is Ben your boyfriend?
E: Yes! Ben's my boyfriend. I like Ben.

Isn't 3 a bit early to be "liking" boys. I realize that we are clearly reading too much into this, but a part of me can't help but giggle a bit at the fact that this is the first boy in her preschool she has befriended. And, it makes me want to meet his parents. Strange right? It totally breaks my heart to know that this future is truly upon us. And that my girl is growing up. And I can't stop it...


Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Why I love the 4th of July

Happy 4th of July friends!

The 4th of July has always been a really fun holiday in my life. I have always spent the holiday surrounded by friends and family, good food and fun fireworks.

I love the opportunity to celebrate our country and the freedoms we have by being here. I look forward to sharing the history of our country with my daughter. And, I love 4th of July outfits.

Four years ago, the 4th took on a new special meeting for Jason and I. Four years ago, on the 4th of July we found out we were going to be parents. We had plans to spend the day in San Diego with our friends. It gave the day so much more to celebrate about. In fact, turned out that we joined two other good friends that were expecting too. We ended up with 3 little girls 4 months apart.

Having been a military wife, I continue to be thankful for what so many families give up to keep our nation safe. We are so lucky.

There was never a little girl that was wanted more than E. We are so thankful that we got pregnant so easily and had such a beautiful, perfect little girl. So, now we get to celebrate both our country and our famly on the 4th. And because I love to show off my girl with her adorable 4th of July outfits from the past.... a few pictures from the past...


E's first 4th of July, just 4 months old.


4th of July 2011 spent in Big Bear with friends

Hoping all our friends and family have an amazing 4th of July celebrating the freedom of our nation and the families and friends that we are all so thankful to have.