state fair...again

i had to post a few more pictures from the state fair.
enjoy!

sara and jayden's first fair ride...
look who's missing in the next picture.

sweet sara had a major meltdown and had to be taken out of the boat... so sad. but thankfully we got our tickets back.

howdy folks!

we went to the state fair a couple of weekends ago with ryan's family... and last week... and this past wednesday! it was fun to be able to go several times with sara. she loved it!

she has not stopped talking about the animals, the dancing dogs (yes, we saw a canine freestyle dancing show...and it was as hilarious as it sounds!) and big tex (she calls him big texas or texas). here are a few pictures from our trip with ryan's family...

don't you love the way sara is pretending to "feed" the bunny?!

rewind

due to my lack of blogging over the past months, i felt the need to share a few pictures of our summer adventures. bear with me as i catch up...

did i tell you that we were switching rooms around here? or better put... my sweet husband switched the rooms? and now i am trying, in my 34th week of pregnancy, to put them back in order. hopefully by next week... right?!

oh yeah, following up on new bed news...
many good naps taken... few missed and one that is being avoided by the little toes that are sticking out from under the door as i type

big day

look at what was delivered (and assembled...thanks to land of nod and their great delivery service!) yesterday. sara got her very own big girl bed. isn't it the cutest little girl bed?!

she was quite happy to see this in her new room.

i think she is more excited about playing under the covers then the actual sleeping idea.

can you tell how sleepy her eyes are... she never napped because the guys came during her nap time... she fell right to sleep!

after a little of "holding" daddy time!

but naps are a different story...as i type away, i can hear a little one trying to open a door. we'll see how this goes. good thing the crib is vacant.

soon i'll show you what i have been making for the new room.

thanks pawpaw for the great birthday present! she LOVES it!

giveaway... finally!

i took a last minute weekend trip to see my sweet family before the little kicker comes. so, it has taken me a few days to get to the giveaway. but this afternoon i had a little helper who picked two lucky ladies to get a new fall flower broach!

isn't my mom's new bedding beautiful and dreamy!

my little helper hands!

yay for kath and amy!

have a great weekend!

Happy Birthday Mom! ... and a giveaway!

Happy Birthday to the best mom and Gigi in the WORLD!

mom, it has been amazing to walk through these past years with you. you have always been an encouragement and a blessing to me and my family. especially in those first days/months of being a new mom. you were always so willing to listen to my complaining! and then encourage me to be who i am created to be. you are, by far, the bravest and strongest woman of God I know. this year has given me a new appreciation for your strength and your beauty. you have always been honest, vulnerable and willing to let me be apart of your process. thanks! we love you and miss being able to hug you everyday! hope you feel loved and cared for today!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!



in honor of all the birthdays (my sweet mom and i share the same birthday...fun, huh?), i'm going to have a little giveaway. leave a comment by next wednesday september 16 to get your name in the hat and you might be the lucky winner of a fun, fall-ish flower broach.
good luck!

a top for sara

i have been eying this top tutorial and never found the energy or time to make it. not that i had the time the other night, it was 10:30ish when i pulled all my stuff out. but, i knew that if i didn't make this top now, i never would... i was pretty happy with they way it turned out ...although, i think next time i will move the sleeves in a little closer towards her neck.

hope you are enjoying the week!

sara and jayden... they love each other! don't they look so grown-up?

starting our "school"

did you feel the change in the air over the past few weeks? school starting. i was able to spend a few days down at the school helping my sweet friend Renee. this time reminded me of this post and how nervous i was this time last year. (i can't believe it has been a year!)

being the nerd i am and missing the school environment, i have decided to start a little school of our own. really it's no school by any means but just an excuse to buy supplies and spend scheduled one-on-one time with sara. i know with baby boy coming i will be home in the mornings and wanted to find something that sara and i could work on and kinda "force" me (you know, keep me accountable) to spend a little time focused on her.

so, i looked around and was VERY inspired by many blogs... but kind of overwhelmed. there are endless resources available, endless ideas for toddler-ish activities and endless amount of "stuff" you can buy! so after realizing that i would have a hard time starting and staying organized, i bought the first month of the itty-bitty bookworm curriculum to try out.
all this to say that we are on a very loose 2 year old schedule. i dont think it is important for her to "learn" much by the end of this time. i just wanted something fun and easy with some sense of direction.

basically, we are focusing on a color and a shape each month. the itty-bitty stuff uses 2 books per month and have several suggested art-ish projects to go along with them. I don't know if i will buy more months... not sure if i'm ready for that much of an investment. maybe when sara is three or four. i hope to get in a groove and just use the books we have and the wonderful world of the internet... who knows.
i wanted to share with you guys some pictures of our "school times"...

for this project we sorted and crushed up fruit loops, then we "painted" with glue and a Q-tip and added the colorful "sand"

the end product...
for this project we colored "circles" (coffee filters) with markers, then used pipettes to drip water on them. it made a kind of tie-dyed effect...

i'm learning that it is all about the process for a two year old... not so much about the product.



also, we have this chart hanging on our fridge reminding us of the color and shape of the month. she has enjoyed seeing them and moving them from row to row.
the cards are from this great website... montessori for everyone and the chart was a dollar bin find from target

nine weeks

have you ever had one of those weeks when you blink and it's over? this has been one of them for me. "where did the day go?" was asked multiple times by bed time on many days. i don't know if it's trying to hold on to this time before it changes that makes it feel like it is going by too quickly or an unrealistic idea of what i should be getting done in one day. but anyway, it's going by too fast!

nine weeks...
that's all that is left of my sweet time with only sara.
nine weeks...
of having only one child to plan a day around.
nine weeks...
to prepare for a sweet new boy.
nine weeks...
left to dream about what this little kicker looks and feels like!
only nine weeks...