weekly snapshots

                                      

black & blue

Last night we had a bit of an incident.  I was sitting on our bed and Dafney came running in {as she normally} does.  However, this particular time, she tripped over Hannah's dog bed and smacked her head on the base of our metal bed.  She instantly started to scream and I about had a heart attack.  I quickly picked her up and ran to my Husband & made him look to see if there was any blood.  Thankfully there wasn't...but there was a nice big bruise forming.  We tried to put a little ice pack on the wound, but she kept saying "ah, no, ah, no".  

When she woke up this morning, she looked like this:

Her eye was totally swollen and I'm thinking it looks worse than it really is {call it wishful thinking}.  Oddly enough, when I called daycare today to see how she was doing {yes, I'm THAT mom}, they said she hasn't even been phased by her eye.  She was running around "like a crazy girl" all morning.  Phew!  

Hoping her eye heals up and she's looking "normal" in no time at all!  

water babyyyy!!!

We are finally enjoying some nice, warm, summer weather here in the Midwest ;)  So, much in fact that it's {dare I say it} down-right HOT!  Over this past weekend, I took Dafney to the new St. Louis Park Aquatic Park.  It just opened this past June and it's got a little something for every age!  

They have a really nice zero-entry pool...which is perfect for sloooowly walking into!  For the first few minutes, Dafney just hung out with just her feet in the water.  Soon, she was playing with the water fountain type things in the pool!

I even took her down the little whale slide!  She loved it!

They also have large slides, drop slides and diving boards for the bigger "kids"!

But, Dafney thought the BEST part of the whole place was their large sand box.  There were TONS of toys {buckets, shovels, watering cans, tractors, etc.} for the kiddos to play with as well as some contraption that shoots water out for the kiddos to play with!

On Sunday, we went to my parents house...and they have an awesome in-ground pool!  It took her a little while to get used to it, but once she did, she really enjoyed herself!

Our little fish loved her water time this weekend!  And, I am thankful we finally have weather to accommodate our water loving child!  

happy {belated} birthday America!

Happy Birthday America!

America celebrated another awesome birthday!  We celebrated it in style!  A few weeks ago, we went garage sale-ing and found this sweet FIVE DOLLAR purchase:

Yes, we found this gem for all of $5!  It's in great condition and we've already gotten our money's worth!  So, on the fourth, we took Dafney to a beach that's a few miles from our house.  We packed up a picnic lunch & our beach gear and biked to the beach!  It's actually a really nice beach and we found a nice little spot in the shade to set up camp :)  We enjoyed our picnic lunch and then played around in the water & sand!

  Dafney even gave me the "royal treatment".  She took the sand and ever-so-gently rubbed it on my back and shoulders...isn't she just the sweetest!

We spent a couple hours at the beach and then headed home!  Sweet little girl fell asleep on the ride home ;)

After a much needed nap, we were back at it again.  We had some friends over for a BBQ.  

And, it wouldn't be the 4th of July without an ice, cold popsicle treat!  These are the best popscile's - they're "Mighty Mini's", so they are about 1/3 of the size of normal popsicles...perfect for kiddos!

We even got a family photo (minus Hannah)!  It was a perfect day spent with the ones I love!

foodie penpals - June edition

I know, I'm just posting my foodie penpals June post now...better late than never, right?  

For those of you that aren't participating in Lindsay's Foodie Penpal program yet, SHAME ON YOU!  It's a fun program and it involves food.  Seriously, who doesn't love to get food packages in the mail?!?  

This month I received an awesome package from Pamela over at Brooklyn Farm Girl.  Her blog...amazing :)  She sent me a box full of goodies!

• Pretzels...seriously, a fave snack of mine!  
• French Fry "chips" - my daughter and I ripped into these and they were gone in 2.5 seconds.  No lie :)
• Apricot and Cherry Fruit Roll Ups - these took me back to my childhood.  They are fruity and chewy and just plain DELICIOUS!
• Raspberry Jam - OH.MY.LORD.  AMAZING!  I may or may not have been eating this out of the jar by the spoonful...don't judge :)  It's been my favorite addition to my morning breakfast.
• Cookies - they are chocolately and delicious!
• Gluten Free Pasta - this was corn pasta and it was freakin' delicious!  I will definitely be purchasing corn pasta in the future!
• LaMedina Brown Sugar Cubes - these are perfect accompaniments with a nice cup of tea!

Thank you to Pamela for the amazing package!  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jealous and want to join??  Here's how:

What is the program all about?

- On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email.  It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal & get their mailing address & any other information you might need such as allergy or dietary restrictions.

- You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail.  On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!

- The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats.  The spending limit is $15.  The box must also include something written.  This can be anything from a note explaining what's in the box, to a fun recipe...use your imagination; the possibilities are endless!

- You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size & how fragile they are.  *Don't forget about flat rate boxes!*

-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers.  If you're a reader & you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received.  If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for the month.

- Foodie Penpals is open to US & Canadian residents.  Please note, Canadian residents will be paired with other Canadian residents ONLY.  We've determined things might get too slow & backed up if we're trying to send foods through customs across the border from the US to Canada & vice versa. 

If you are interested in participating 

 ​for July

  , please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form & to read the terms & conditions.

You must submit your information by July 4th as pairings will be emailed on July 5th.​

♥18 months♥

I'm constantly finding myself in disbelief that my teeny-tiny precious little baby is now a {gulp} TODDLER!  She is 18 months old today & I love her more and more as each day passes!  She is turning into a funny, silly, affectionate, sweet, smart, adorable little girl.  

Dafney is now in the Toddler room at daycare and has been for about a month now.  I saw immediate changes in her vocabulary & actions, which is really fun!  It took her a little while to adjust to her new room, teachers & fellow comrades, but she adjusted and is doing great!

They keep her so busy in "class" now that she's in the Toddler room.  They do more art projects than I have room on my fridge ;), they have a "theme" each month (this month is water) and learn everything there is to know about that specific theme {okay, they learn as much as a toddler can}, they get to play outside on the playground, they start to form {long-lasting} friendships and so much more!

Dafney talks up a storm now {clearly she gets that from her Father}!  Most of what she says we can't understand, but she does say a plethora of actual words: 

• more {& she does the sign for it as well} - she has perfected this one & has been using the sign for it since she's been about a year old.
• "uh-oh" - okay, so maybe Webster doesn't consider this an actual word, but it's been a big part of her vocabulary for months.  Everything is privy to an "uh-oh" and we're trying to teach her the difference between an actual "uh-oh" and intentional doings.
• hi & bye - probably the cutest things she says!  She loves to say "hi" & "bye", especially to babies & puppies :)  She gets all excited and giddy and waves along with her words...seriously, beyond cute!
• baby - for a while, everyone/thing was a "baby".  But, we're slowly teaching her the difference between a baby and a puppy and a "big kid" and an adult.  For the record, it's not going well; everyone/thing tends to be a "baby" ;)
• puppy - she used to do really well on identifying a puppy, but now she calls any & all dogs "baby"!  It's a work in progress!
• mama & dada - ♥ melter's, let me tell you!  The firs time I heard her say "mama", tears came to my eyes!  It was the coolest thing and it was like sweet, sweet music to my ears!  Sadly, she's much better at saying "da-da" and she tends to point to herself and say "mama"...
• no - this was the opposite of a ♥ melter...it's practically like saying a swear word for a child.  For the most part, she knows what the word "no" means {even if she doesn't listen to us when we say it} so when we ask her questions, she will say "no" if she doesn't want to do something or will shake her head "yes" if she does {she hasn't perfected the word "yes"...yet}.
• all-done - {which may or may not sound more like "ah-da"} and she will do the sign for this, too!  She knows to say this when she's done doing, well, whatever she's doing.  *Cute story alert: I went to pick D up at daycare and I happened to get there as they were eating their snacks.  She saw me, stood up, ran to her teacher and loudly said "ah-da, ah-da" {while doing the sign} and waited for her teacher to say it was okay for her to be done at the table.  Seriously, could she be any cuter?!?
• milk - {which comes out like "mi"} and boy, will she tell you when she wants her milk!  
• cracker {which comes out like "cacka"} and will point to any cracker in her sight.  I'm a bad mom and let her eat crackers & chips...hey, the kid could stand to gain a few pounds!
• nigh-nigh - she's just started saying "nigh-nigh" and walking up to her room when she's tired at night.  It's so much easier than guessing if she's tired :)
• Dafney can also identify her nose, ears & eyes...she's a genius :)

Dafney loves, loves, LOVES to climb on furniture!  We recently got her a new chair and I think I can count on one hand how many times her butt has actually sat in the chair.  More often than not, you will find her standing on it, dancing on it, or trying to climb over it...I think we have gymnast on our hands :)  She also loves to play with her babies!  She is an unbelievably nurturing little girl and loves to give them hugs & kisses as well as putting them to bed {and yes, she will "shhh" you if you are being loud when she's trying to put her babies to bed}!

Since we don't have our 18 month Dr. appointment for a couple more weeks, here are some stats on our sweet girl:

Pants - still wearing some 9 month, but mostly into 12 month pants/shorts {even though they are a little big in the waist}

Shirts - still wears some 12 month shirts and starting to wear 18 month shirts

Onesies - 9-12 month

PJ's - 12 month

Dresses - 12 month

Shoes - Size 3 {she was gifted small feet like her mom}

Happy 18 month "birthday" to the sweetest, funniest, most adorable little girl in the world!  I am beyond blesses to be her mother ♥♥♥

weekly snapshots

I swing like a total PRO :)

National Donut Day...yum!

Sweet girl loving the golf cart ride!

delish

perfect night by the fire

Family pic: 2013 - at Grandma & Grandpa's camper!

D getting ready for the "Easter' egg hunt" :)

Found one!!

I love finding Eggs ♥