Slice of Life – June 8th, 2016

I know that life doesn’t stop during deployment (heck – I’ve grown two babies during them!), but now that Jamie’s home I feel like we’ve hit the “play” button. Life is good right now.

Here’s a slice of our lives from the last week-ish before Jamie’s homecoming and the couple of days since. 🙂

Because we’re not melting in hot, humid summer weather yet, the girls and I have gotten out of the house to walk the neighborhood, walk a nearby trail with friends, or head to the park for a playdate most weekday mornings. Getting fresh air first thing in the morning starts my day off on the right foot, and even when I’m feeling less than motivated to get all of us dressed and out the door, I never regret doing it.

A couple weekends ago my in-laws and I had a lunch picnic at our local city park and then headed to break in the splash park! Hadley was timid for the first 10 minutes or so, but once she became comfortable with getting wet she had an absolute ball! I don’t see myself bringing both girls to the pool this summer during the day (because I can’t even fathom how to juggle that), so I think the splash park is going to be our #1 summer activity.

Hadley became obsessed with singing songs after having music time at her preschool in Alabama, so I started letting her watch nursery rhyme youtube videos on her Kindle Fire. She hardly watches regular TV anymore because she’s so obsessed with watching the “music videos” for her favorite nursery rhymes! Now all the girl does is sing! I’m loving it!

I couldn’t wait to reach the six-week postpartum mark and hit the pavement! I haven’t ran more than 1.3 miles at a time yet, but I’m satisfied taking it slow. If you’re looking for motivation to start running, one of my biggest suggestions is to download a bunch of new music and make a playlist! I love getting out there and getting “lost” in new music.

My Monday nights are perfect again now that The Bachelorette is back on! I snapped this picture of Chad last week because I think he looks so much like one of my Army girlfriend’s husbands (except he’s totally not a jerk like Chad!).  If you’re watching this season, what do you think of it?!

Sadie loved getting to know her Papaw (Jamie’s dad) better during his long-weekend visit over Memorial Day!

Last Wednesday Hadley had her first official gymnastics class, but sadly I had to cancel her summer enrollment. I found out at the first class that I won’t be able to wear Sadie in a baby carrier on my chest like I was planning to due to the rules of the “Mommy and Me” class, so I’m pretty bummed about that. She will be old enough in the fall to do a class without me, so we’ll reassess in a couple months if we want to re-enroll her. She’s already signed up for her first dance class though (yayyyyy!) that will start in September, so I’m leaning towards sticking to the “open gym” time at the gymnastics center. We’ll see!

How precious does she look in her leotard?! Thanks, Tonya!

Almost every single late afternoon/evening lately we’ve spent a few hours out on our back deck. It’s shaded by the house, and Sadie loves being outside in her bouncer (it’s one of the few times during the day that she doesn’t demand to be held.) Hadley strips down and splashes around in her baby pool and water table, and I’m usually enjoying a glass of wine. I’m loving this new routine and I think we might just keep it for the summer. 🙂

Last week my biggest girl had her 2.5 year check up, and thankfully she’s healthy as could be. She shot up in height according to the percentile chart (90%) but went way down in weight (17%). I adore her pediatrician, and he knows how much I struggle with getting Hadley to eat. We had another long conversation about her poor eating habits, but he reassured me that she’s getting what she needs. He did give me a heads up to expect her to continue being an extremely tough eater for a few years to come since she’s kept it up this long though.

I snagged Hadley’s cute little sandals at Marshall’s a few weeks ago, and on the morning of Hadley’s doctor appointment my MIL and I were talking about how we wish they made her sandals in adult sizes! Less than two hours later we were browsing a few boutiques downtown when my MIL screamed “Erica, LOOK WHAT I FOUND!” With a price tag of $22, I obviously had no choice but to buy them. 😉

Does anyone else have kids who love snapchat filters?! Hadley can’t get enough of them and cracks herself up every time!

Check out Hadley’s school picture that she took in Alabama back in April! Dying! Sometimes I look at Hadley and can’t believe I’m old enough to have a child as big as she is.  I don’t know how in the world these photographers get two year olds to pose like this, but I’m sure glad they’re good at it! 😉

Last night was SO MUCH FUN! A few weeks ago I snagged Jamie and me tickets to the “Taste of Downtown” annual food tour here in Manhattan, and we brought the girls along since I’m not comfortable getting a sitter yet for my seven week old. Thankfully Sadie slept almost the entire time in the stroller and Hadley enjoyed nibbling on most of our food. We were dying from the heat by the end of it, but it really was such a fabulous family date night. We will go next year without a doubt, but we’ll have a sitter lined up this time. 😉

Hope you’re having a beautiful week, friends! XOXO