Folly Beach, South Carolina

We had just the best time on our family beach trip to Folly Beach, South Carolina. It's actually considered Charleston and is only about 15 minutes from downtown.

I must admit, the two day drive there and back REALLY took a toll on us. We were pretty grouchy by the time we arrived. Blakely was nothing short of miserable that second day of traveling. Luckily, for the drive there we caravan-ed with my parents so Blakely and Stella each got a couple turns riding with G-Daddy and Gommy (bless their hearts!!). We arrived around lunch time that second day and immediately met up with our extended family (my mom's brothers and sister). We had chosen these specific dates in order to coincide with my Uncle Richard's 70th birthday - so it was a family reunion and birthday celebration beach trip!

I have never stayed at a hotel at the beach. Growing up, it was always a beach house and after getting married, it was always a condo. Listen, I can most definitely get on board with a hotel at the beach. Someone to clean up and make up your beds, replenish your towels...and let's not forget room service and the amazing restaurant where you can just order food and take it down to the beach with you. Win, win. The pina coladas  were an added bonus!

The family time was wonderful and I wished we could have extended the trip by at least a day or two. My cousin, Lauren, has a daughter Stella's age and they were FAST friends and inseparable on the beach. My cousin, Michael and Nelson, also have 3 older boys that were just so sweet to the girls. Stella was attached at the hip to Stephen, Jordan, and Rich! Blakely was obsessed with my cousin, Kristin's, husband, Benito, who she fondly called "Ito" - and still asks about him a couple times a week! And then remembers "he lives faaarrr away."

 

  

 

 

 

 

Blake and I were able to sneak away to one lunch together while Gommy and G-Daddy kept the girls on the beach.

We also had some great naps :)

 

We had a pizza party at the pool one night with the whole fam - lots and lots of fun! {Side note: this has become my meal of choice at the pool....so easy, just order pizza, have it delivered to the pool, swim, eat, enjoy!}

 

  

The girls couldn't have been more different in their ideas of beach bummin'! Blakely stayed close to me under the shade at all times and Stella barely left the water! Although Blakely didn't care for the water, she made it up for it in her love of sand! That kid had sand in places I didn't even know sand could get. It made for some intense bathtub scrubbing, but I'm so glad she found her little beach niche!

 

 

 Poor Stella got a sunburn the second day we were there and had to wear a t-shirt and cap the last day! She loved building sand castles, digging holes, boogie boarding and chasing seagulls.

 

The night before we left we had a birthday celebration for my uncle and then family pictures by the pier! I mean, who doesn't love a good family pic with coordinating outfits? This girl sure does!

 

 

 

 

Some love between Blake and Benito!

 

 

And just for kicks - an oldie but a goodie picture of the family!

 
Folly Beach - you treated us right! I just wish you were a tad closer ;)

Check...Check

It's been about 2 1/2 years since I last posted. And on a whim, I went and started reading some of my old posts and had the best time remembering the little, insignificant happenings in our lives. And I'm so sad that I've already missed two years of documenting my girls' lives. So, I have no idea how often I'm going to post, but I'm going to give it a go! I'm sure I'll mostly talk about my girls and my Paleo woes, but after realizing how special it is to look back at, I'm just going to go for it!

Let's hop right in!  We've had the best summer so far. We've already been to the beach in Charleston, SC. It was a family reunion and I'm already aching for more time with our extended family. We were missing 3 other families on this trip and I'm hoping the next time we come together we'll ALL be there!

For Fourth of July, we visited some of our besties who live outside of Austin, TX.

And now for the girlies. Blakely is 2 1/2 and says the most ADORABLE things. She randomly looks at me and says "I love you too" - she ALWAYS adds the "too" on the end, even if she's the first to say it. Also, when I tell her it's bed-time she likes to say "Not me, not me!" And one of my favorite phrases is what she calls her bikini. We call it her "teeny bikini" and the only way she can say it is her "penny tenny."

She's her big sister's biggest fan. Blakely is my cuddle bunny and wants to be in my lap or right next to me. And I don't mind one bit. She calls me "honey" a lot, and I have no clue where she picked that up, but I'll take it! She has fun doing my hair I fake cry to her just so she'll rub my face and tell me "no crying" or "all done" in her sweet little voice. She started things later than Stella did - Blakely didn't walk until she was 14 months old and didn't have near the vocabulary that her big sister had. But, boy has she made up for it recently. She's crazy flexible and will probably be more athletically inclined (she definitely doesn't get it from me!). Her hand-eye coordination has been amazing since she was around 6 months old (again, that's not from me either). We started her in swimming lessons this week and she screamed bloody-murder the entire time....such a delightful little thing. We still have 6 lessons to go, so we'll see how she progresses!

Stella is our sweet and sassy and spicy girl. Her momma is her best friend and she loves her alone time with me. She has periods of sweetness and protectiveness with her little sister and then periods of not wanting anything to do with her. Her room is her special place and she spends lots of alone time in there playing with Barbies, stuffed animals, ponies and all things girlie. Stella turned 5 at the very end of May and after much prayer and careful consideration we've decided to give Stella one more year before she starts Kindergarten. So, we have big plans this next year of spending our Friday's together, just her and me...I'm thinking matinee movies, pedicures, and some good ol' lazy days. Anyone who meets her is instantly endeared to her. She can talk to anyone and make friends with everyone. She has a sensitive heart and a (typically) unfiltered mouth - we're working on that one! I've been saying lately that Blakely is difficult in all the ways I expect children to be difficult, but Stella is difficult in ways I never could have imagined! They're lucky they're both cute ;)

Two special, very different little personalities!

Here's to hoping I can keep this up at more regular intervals!

Iced In and Cabin Fever

We're going on day 4 of being iced-in and although we have gotten out of the house twice, I'm definitely ready for schedules to resume as normal! I am one girl who loves my routine. Stella's preschool is closed tomorrow since the ISD it's located in is delayed until 10am. We've watched lots of Christmas movies, eaten some yummy comfort foods, and had very lazy days, which really has been nice.

I had my sonogram last week at 31 weeks and Blakely is looking perfect. She put on quite the show for my mom and me. She was opening and closing her mouth, stretching her arms and then pulling her hand to her face, kicking everywhere…which is not surprising since I cannot imagine her being any more active! I am feeling her all the time! She weighed 3 lb 15 oz! She was head down and her little booty was up against my right rib cage and her feet at my left. It was such a ray of light in my week to see her! From the blood work at my 29 week appointment (yes, I'm already in my bi-weekly appointments -eek!) I was anemic, but I fear taking iron…so I'm pretty much walking around pretty tired. The indigestion has gotten awful, but other than that and a few nights of insomnia, I'm feeling pretty great!

We had to cancel my baby "sprinkle" this past Sunday because of the ice and the roads would have just been too dangerous. We decided to reschedule until after Blakely gets here and do a Sip and See…so I'm really looking forward to that. My "sprinkle" was going to be Christmas themed and I was just so excited about it - but nature didn't ask me my plans :)!

Stella is just a hoot these days. My favorite things she's saying/doing - which both are only cute after she's been corrected and I can laugh by myself about them - are asking me to "put my hairs down" and when I'm getting onto her she'll tell me "I'm the lost princess." So, as for the hair, she absolutely cannot stand for my hair to be up in a pony tail. She wants my "hairs down" and will actually cry and nearly pitch a fit if it's not down. So….we're working on that, especially since hair is kind of low on my priority list right now and its just a heck of a lot easier to wear it up! The "lost princess" thing is a bit much, I'll admit, but it's taken my so long to figure out what she's been saying! You may remember her obsession with the Disney movie, Tangled (i.e. "Punzel" as she called it). At the end of the movie, after Rapunzel has found out that she's the lost princess and is standing up to the woman she believed to be her mother all these years, Rapunzel says in a defiant tone "I'm the lost princess, aren't I, Mother?" Well, apparently little sponge brain picked up on that and after I correct her or have to get onto her about something she tells me she's the "lost princess." So, now I'm having to correct that, too! But, I am secretly laughing about it! And, hold up, that makes me the queen mother, right?! :)

That's about all there is here - we're really enjoying this Christmas season and looking forward to a few fun outings that we have planned. I'm almost done with Stella's room - just a couple more things to put on her walls and I'm waiting for her bed rail to be delivered! So, she should be in there within a week or so! And just 8 more weeks until Blakely arrives…unless she decides to make an early appearance!

Scorpions and Such

Well, I'm going to start this post by telling you that two weeks ago my sweet girl got stung by a scorpion. Scariest moment ever. Blake was out of town at the deer lease for a few days (of course something like this would happen when I'm by myself). And I REALLY like to think of myself as being able to handle these type of situations with a clear mind….but I'll admit, I'm dramatic and emotional especially when I'm seeing my baby girl in pain. She was sitting on the fireplace just playing away with her baby dolls and she started grabbing her foot and crying. I asked her to come here and she just sat there bawling and still holding her foot, so I walked over there and picked her up. I actually saw nothing on her foot or leg that would have indicated anything was wrong, but then I looked at the fireplace right where her foot would have been and saw this…

Definitely freaked out. We ended up going into the dr.'s office and other than her crying because of the initial pain, she was fine. Our doctor said next time, just Benadryl and Cortisone cream will be fine. Well, let's hope there's NO next time, but if you follow me on Instagram our scorpions are well-documented and I'm actually relieved none of us have been stung prior to this. Apparently, scorpions around these parts are just like bee stings (but the ones in South America are much more dangerous…lil fact for ya). I blame it on the trees and especially now that the trees are all coming down because of the gas pipeline, I'm gearing up for more scorpion sitings (wahhhhh).

{At the doctor's office - she looks so pitiful}

We've had a great few weeks. Stella is saying the funniest things. Like when I tell her it's nap time, she'll look at me and hold up a finger and say "Almost!" Sometimes I give in, other times I'm quite ready for a little break. I'm back to being pretty tired and worn out from this pregnancy, so I covet any down time I can get. Stella has also been saying she's "nakedy" when we get undressed….and this is probably my favorite word of hers right now. It's so funny! She likes to negotiate with me about things (especially nap and night time) and tell me, "I'm gonna go lay on the couch some minutes." She's always been a great sleeper and still is, but there are some days where she's dropping her naps. She still goes to her crib for some "rest" or "alone" time, but many times she doesn't fall asleep. Night time is still great and I'm very thankful for that. She's now 2 1/2 and has seemed to hit a bit of an attitude and talking back/being disrespectful. That's been challenging, but I'm just trying to remain consistent.

After Halloween, I've started putting her hair in a lot more pony tails. She'll usually leave them in for way longer than she's ever left any bow in her hair, but if we go to get in the car she'll tell me "it's hurting" - which makes NO sense to me because the pony tail is on top of her head and not at all touching the back of the car seat. But, I just think she looks so stinkin' cute in the pony tails AND it gets all that hair out of her face!

I'll be 29 weeks pregnant tomorrow and I really love this stage of pregnancy as far as looks go (because every girl is a little vain!). I love it because I look legitimately pregnant, but I'm not swelling yet. If this pregnancy is like Stella's, then I have at least 3 more weeks and then I'll resign myself to swelling and no public pictures of myself! On the flip side, this is definitely the stage of pregnancy where pretty much everything hurts. I'm having lots of lower and middle back pain, some groin pain (ligaments), shortness of breath, pottying WAY too often, headaches again, heartburn, insomnia, and just fatigue. But, feeling Blakely move around like a little acrobat is so worth all the pain in the world. Stella still talks about Blakely multiple times a day and I can't wait to see what a great big sister she's going to be. We're at a bit of a stand still with Stella's room because I'm waiting on her dresser and nightstand to be done and then I'm looking for a bookshelf and/or something to store and organize books and toys. But, I'm just so surprisingly laid back about all this that I'm loving my new-found procrastination mode and I'm just going to go with the flow:)

{wearing her sunglasses like mommy}

{shopping the Dallas Sample Sale with my beautiful SIL}

{Playing at Tanner's 4th birthday party!}

{We had to get a new AC/Heater - it was pretty cold in our house that morning}

{It's wheat planting time!}

{Family night - daddy built a fire and fort…and of course we had to make S'mores!}