Happy Friday, friends! I am finally nearing the end of my solo-parenting endeavor, and it's an amazing feeling to see the light at the end of the tunnel. This has been one of those times where everything has just fallen apart with everybody as soon as Alex left. I guess it's Murphy's Law. Anyhow, we've had a pretty low-key week just trying to keep cool (both our attitudes and our body heat). I made these awesome watermelon smoothies that were so easy. We first had watermelon smoothies in Thailand, and Alex and I both wondered why they aren't more popular in the US. I used stevia instead of sugar, and they taste just as good. The kids were obsessed. And I have a sneaking suspicion that vodka would be an unbelievable mixer. You know, for medicinal purposes.

Some other faves on this rainy, Summer Friday morning:

These pineapple studs are THE CUTEST. I would wear them all Summer long! Speaking of awesome studs, I just snagged this iridescent pair that I am obsessed with. They're pretty large studs, but still come off as understated, while also remaining eye-catching...if all that is possible in a stud earring :) Best off, they go with just about anything!

I'm looking forward to making this avocado soup soon. I love avocados, and they're one of the few fruits/veggies I can eat without sending my bladder into a miserable flare. It looks like a perfect Summer soup!

ohmygosh, I'm dying over this adorable knot front dress! I'm almost 30 (thirty), so I am kind of personally past the point of belly baring and showing too much skin. I believe in being cute, but skin-flashing is just not sexy on toddler moms, sorry. There's a point where tube tops and things like that have just seen their day in the sun. And I'm there. But this dress is perfect. It has just a smidge of belly to show at the knotted front. So I think the sleeves and the modest shape/length of the dress keep it tasteful, so the little bit of skin showing comes across as fun and flirty instead of girlfriend-take-it-to-the-house. I especially love the teensy stripe on the top; it would be adorable with a good pair of wedges and a straw tote. This may be something I consider spending my secret birthday fund on (shhh). 

I am also really aching for a high-waisted bikini, since the retro-inspired look in swimwear is big this season (and I, for one, could not be happier). I love these striped bottoms. They're really classic in print and silhouette, so they would go with any color top you wanted to put them with. They'd be great with red or an emerald green top, fun with an aqua, or minimalistic with a black top. 

I just got Vivi this jeweled bow necklace, and she LOVES it. It's so sweet watching her toddle around wearing it (no worries--she only wears it with my supervision and for short spurts of time). I love what a girly girl she's turning into!

I'm into pineapples right now, and this printed shirt would be so cute on a little boy tot. It's loud, but that would be fitting for my loud boy-tot. 

These chocolate banana pops  may be a way for me to get Bobby to eat bananas again. I think I'm going to give it a shot! He never turns down chocolate.
 

And the thing we are most excited about: Daddy comes home tomorrow night! Woohoo!!

  Have a great weekend, friends! XO

Red, White, & Blueberries

Well, yesterday was the day that consisted of four meltdowns (from me), three outfit changes (per beastie), two gallons of water dumped out of the bathtub when I had my head turned, and one early bed time. But we survived! I went to bed saying some serious prayers to Jesus and telling myself "Tomorrow is another day!" Any day that I can quote Scarlett O'Hara wasn't a total waste. 

fact.

Today is already much better, as Bobby is enjoying his first day of summer school, while Vivi and I do some hard-core relaxing at home. I have cried all the tears I have left in my body, have re-grouped, and have decided that the rest of this week is going to be great. Then I started thinking about the past few days and how ONE bad day out of two weeks isn't really that bad. We've had a lot of fun the past couple of weeks with our friends, and we have been keeping ourselves busy busy. 

ruffle chambray bloomers

The other day we went to Seaside for the morning for some frolicking. Seaside is the quaintest little beach spot in the whole state of Florida. They have an awesome farmer's market, but best of all--the FOOD TRUCKS. Honestly, the food trucks were the entire reason for the drive over there. I ate from the grilled cheese truck, and my bacon-and-Brie grilled cheese sandwich was to die for. I washed it down with a creamsicle soda, and I didn't even regret it later. 

The only downside to the venture was that it was SO hot. Miserably hot. But the kids didn't seem to mind. Bobby spent most of the outing flirting with the lady at the blueberry stand and scored lots of free blueberries, while Vivi did a lot of digging in the dirt. And girlfriend ate half of my grilled cheese sandwich; she gave the bacon-and-Brie two thumbs up. 

We have been sporting our red, white, & blues already because it's just so fun and classic to wear at this point in the Summer. There is only a little bit of time until the Fourth, and we are dying to hit the beach soon! Here are a few other Patriotic duds I have my eyes on for the bebes and myself. Those Melissa flats are to die for!

 hello stars tank // anchor shirt // bomb pop shirt // wingman tee // moccasins // eyelet dress //  flag beach towel // melissa stud sandals

 These felt Summer popsicles are also the cutest addition to any little kitchen! 

And then what would Summer be without a floating beer pong barge?

Here's hoping that the rest of the week is smooth sailing! We are looking forward to dinner with friends tonight and my mama stopping by tomorrow. And cheers to Summer School! Woohoo!

XOXO

About This Morning

I do my best to take the beasties' antics in stride and laugh about them instead of cry into a pillow, but this morning. Oh, this morning. 

Bobby's sleep regression is FINALLY getting better, but now we are in this phase where he wakes up at 5:45am shrieking. I would normally let him cry it out in there, but that backfired the other morning when he woke Vivi up, too. The only thing worse than one pissed off toddler is two pissed off toddlers. So I've been trying to nip the ass-crack-of-dawn wake-ups in the bud by going in his room at the first hint of a scream. I'm just in survival mode right now. Usually he will calm down and go back to sleep if I lie on the floor by his bed. So I did that this morning. Except he wanted to listen to Led Zeppelin on his record player, and he wouldn't take no for an answer. Now don't get me wrong, I'm glad that my child appreciates Classic Rock and the Best Band There Ever Was, but I'm not usually keen on rocking out before the sun has risen. I figured letting him listen to it was the lesser of two evils, though, so I turned on "Rain Song" for a bit, and he calmed down and went back to sleep. Go figure. 

Except I couldn't go back to sleep because I had to pee. So I tried to quietly sneak out of his room and return to my room, but the beast caught me in action. More tears. Rinse and repeat. 

I finally found myself being awakened by a toddler with an unsavory diaper sitting in my face, ripping off my eyemask, shrieking, "Mama! Mama!" He had somehow gotten MacGyvered himself out of his baby gate and had gotten into Vivi's crib with her and awakened her. So now she was screaming in her crib, and I had beastie butt all over me. I looked at my phone. 7 am. Okay, I'll take it. 

I got them both up, changed them, and we went downstairs for breakfast. As I was preparing breakfast, Bobby opened up the freezer by himself and wouldn't let the frozen sausage go. He needed this frozen sausage so badly that he was literally eating it frozen, and it was a fight for me to even cook it for him. I sat him down, gave him the cooked sausage, and he wouldn't eat it. Because it's disgusting when it's cooked.

I put on my gym clothes and went back down to get them ready for the day. Bobby had a doctor's appointment at 10am, which gave me very little time to get to the gym, work out, get the kids loaded up in the car, and drive to the appointment on time. Doable, but a very tight schedule for the morning. Of course, this is the morning where my kids decide to dawdle and cry over spilled milk (literally), wasting valuable time. Bobby ran from me and dodged my advances to dress him. Then he pooped again. In the meantime, Vivi rammed a can of hairspray in the toilet, rendering it useless. I cleaned that up and had to fight Bobby to get a new diaper and his clothes on. In the meantime, Vivi pooped. I had to clean that up. During all this, I missed Alex's phone call because Bobby was elbow-deep in Vaseline. I called Alex just a few minutes later, and he was in a car full of other guys, so I was unable to have a conversation with him. I got off the phone feeling like tears were going to well up, but I tried to push past. 

I got the kids downstairs, and while I spent seven minutes locating both of their shoes, Bobby decided to stick his hands in the wet paint of the piano I've been refinishing at night (to be fair, it should've been dry), and then proceeded to put green wet painted hand prints all over the living room while I chased him down. I put his shoes on him, and then went to put Vivi's shoes on her. As I was on my knees latching her shoes, Bobby was all over me. Can you not just get off my back sometimes, kid? No, I'm serious. Literally GET OFF MY BACK. I finally got her shoes on her right before I nearly succumbed to my toddler's sleeper-hold.

Both kids were running around and screaming at the top of their lungs. Bobby, because he's a wild boy; Vivi, because she was mad about something that her brother undoubtedly did to her. We got to the gym late, but I decided I would drop them off in the children's room and do some quick cardio. Anything to let off steam. The gym here is great, and the kids love going. Everyday but today. Bobby wouldn't let go of me. He screamed bloody murder, which made every other kid in there scream. I tried to just walk out, but I could hear him down the hall, along with all the other kids. I couldn't leave my children in there screaming. I just don't have the heart for that. So I went back in and dejectedly collected my kids and put them back in the car, where they were happy and smiling. I turned on Thomas the Tank Engine on the dvd player in the backseat, and I sobbed. Except it wasn't into a pillow--it was into my steering wheel. In the middle of the gym parking lot. 

And then I immediately felt guilty for breaking down in front of my children. 

This is not something that I would necessarily share with you on a normal basis; I know it doesn't make me look good. And I promise that 99% of the time, I am a good mama. But today I was not. The diaper rash/sleep regression/clinginess/whining/puking/incessant poops/separation anxiety that I've been dealing with from two toddlers for two weeks has finally come to a head. 

And it occurred to me that I am NOT the only person who has ever done this. I'm not the only woman who is just so tired and worn down that she needs to sob into her steering wheel. I am not the only woman who is weary from limited conversations with her husband. So maybe you can relate to this and can sympathize. Or maybe not. And in that case--Cheers to you, bitch.

Friday Faves

Hello, friends! It's a beautiful Friday outside down here in Florida. A perfect day to sunbathe topless on Ms. Swan while the toddlers nap. This whole week has been nice and sunny, and we have spent a lot of time at the gym and then taken full advantage of the near-by splash pads. 

After the splash pad, a group of friends and I thought it would be a good insane idea to go eat Japanese food. So it was 4 adults and 8 kids ages 5-and-under. Talk about a shit-show. There was yelling, screeching, bottle-throwing, potty breaks, etc. I think the climax of the event was when the waiter brought out my plate of sushi, and Vivi threw the whole thing on the floor, breaking the plate and sending all of the sushi flying all over the restaurant. Needless to say, we all left big tips. And I think we decided to stick with outdoor dining when all the kids are involved. 

Moving on, here are a few things I have my eyes on this Friday:

For little girls, this colorblock romper would be so adorable throughout the whole summer, but especially during 4th of July festivities. I just grabbed this little star romper for Vivi to wear during the 4th with a red bow, and I think it's one that will last for the rest of the summer, as well. 

I'm a little obsessed with quartz and jade for Summer, so this necklace and this bracelet are killing me. And also these tennis shoes (in the aqua green), if we're being honest.

Pearl is the June birthstone, and--as a Southern girl--I am pearled out. I have pearls for days. I don't, however, have a pearl ring, and this one may be calling my name a little.  

This cereal bowl. There's really no true need for this. But how fun and random would it be to eat your cereal in the morning out of a unicorn? You can't have a bad day when you start off like that.

I tried this chicken/quinoa/asparagus bake, and it was divine. Of course, I added in extra cheese, but I justified it because of "calcium" :)

And lastly, it does not fit into my IC diet even a little bit, but I am dying to make homemade gazpacho. This recipe for peach gazpacho looks too good to pass up!

I am looking forward to this weekend, as it is the last one before Alex returns! We are planning to have friends over at the pool, visit the Farmer's Market at Sea Side, and eat from food trucks! Can't wait. Hope y'all all have an awesome weekend!

xoxo

29 Things

I turned 29 today, thus marking this the last year in my twenties before giving way to the big 3-0. It's bizarre in a where-did-the-time-go kind of way, but I'm surprisingly not anxious about getting older. I have decided to embrace it, and honestly, I think that people get better with age anyway. This was a really low-key birthday, and I spent most of it doing what I do best: lying on the couch with my beasties watching tv and eating all of the marshmallows out of the Lucky Charms. I only bothered myself to feed my children and to answer the door when the delivery man arrived bearing a lovely bouquet of tulips from my sweet husband. I hate that he wasn't able to be here to celebrate with us, but my family was kind enough to drive down and take me out to a yummy fondue dinner. All-in-all, a good birthday.

I try to keep the blog focused more on the kiddos and motherhood, and I try to not overshare about myself an exceptional amount. But I have seen other bloggers do this, and I think it's so fun to learn random things about people. Sure, these things are always a little narcissistic, but if there's ever a time to be narcissistic, it's on your birthday ;)

29 Things on my 29th Birthday

1.  Good grammar is the ultimate turn-on.
2.  I have veneers. And I knocked all of my teeth out from falling off a toilet one night. Soberly.
3. I have a tendency to knock out teeth right before (but not limited to) really important life events.
4. I actually attended my baby shower missing my front tooth.
5. I don't embarrass easily. (See above).
6. If I had to go back and do things over, I would've probably gotten a degree in graphic design.
7.  I have an irrational fear of automobile graveyards and Marilyn Manson.
8.  I think I would've been a good nurse because I don't get easily disgusted and bodily functions don't freak me out at all. The only problem is that I could've never passed all the science classes necessary to be a nurse. So I will settle for being a mama and dealing with other people's bodily functions for free :)
9.  I really hate saying foreign words in front of people because they always sounds foolish in a Southern accent. I chose Latin as my required foreign language in college simply because it's the only one you don't have to speak aloud.
10.  I have the same reoccurring nightmares several times a month. One is that I've lost all my teeth. The other involves tornadoes.
11. I had pretty severe pica when I was pregnant with Vivi and had an inexplicable craving for mothballs, wint-o-green life savers, and ice. I went through 16 pounds of Sonic ice a week for the last trimester of my pregnancy. And then since the second after birthing her, I haven't craved any of those things.
12.  I HATE reality television.
13.  When I took a writing class at OSU, the professor told me that I was a "cliched Southern Belle" right in the middle of the class. I turned in my final project to her titled "Cliched: Tales of a Southern Belle Prima-Donna." The professor died soon after. I'm sure it's not related.
14.  Pink is my favorite color.
15. During our freshman year of college, my friend and I split our money to buy a chinchilla that we named Johnny Cash. We sneaked him into our dorm, kept him in his cage under my dorm room bed, and nobody knew for an entire semester. I have no idea where that poor chinchilla is now.
16. I purposefully had my children close together. Most people assume it was an accident surprise.
17.  I only drink coffee a couple of times a year. I really need it a couple of times a day.
18.   I'm a terrible driver. I have gotten more speeding tickets than I care to count, and I once had my license suspended for racing a school bus. I try to not do things like that anymore.
19.  I almost got a tattoo of a peach when I was eighteen, and I'm so glad that fate got in the way of that.
20.  My favorite movies are Gone With the Wind and Steel Magnolias. So maybe I am a cliched Southern Belle.
21.  My hair grows so fast that I have to get it colored every four weeks. But I rarely have to shave my legs. Weird.
22.  I love the unsavory black flavors of things- black licorice, cough syrup, and Jager.
23.  I no longer feel the need for constant male approval, and that, in itself, is liberating.
24.  I get all of my energy, inspiration, best ideas, and resolve for the next day RIGHT before going to sleep. I will make a list of all the things I'm going to accomplish in the morning. And then I wake up thinking "effffffff." Every morning.
25.  Biggest pet peeve in the world is when people get crumbs in the butter or jelly jar.
26.  Sometimes I think I would maybe like one more baby, but I probably won't because I'm afraid I would literally go insane.
27.  I fantasize about living in a subdivision with all of my best friends from all walks of life as my next door neighbors.
28. I've had Facebook since it came out in 2004. I remember thinking it was the dumbest thing I'd ever heard of.
29. The older I get, the less I care about things that don't matter.

Now I'm curious if we have anything in common...

When Dad's Away...

...Mama will play!

This was a great weekend. Like a truly awesome weekend. I don't usually have those when my husband is away and I have to fly solo...but that's the beauty of co-parenting! My friend and I laugh about how we "co-parent." She has a boy and a girl around the ages of our kids, so we always end up doing a ton of stuff together, but it hits a whole new level when the guys are gone. Our friendship is at at the level where we are comfortable correcting each others' children, we don't keep tabs on who has spent what because it evens out in the end, and there's not even a little bit of judgement going on. It's liberating to have a great "mom" friend who is a person you know you would have been friends with before having kids. The kids just add in a different dimension to the crazy, and they make things lots of fun. Like this weekend, for example.

 Friday morning started off like this. This is maybe the second cup of coffee I have consumed in 2015. I can't drink it due to my IC pain, so I normally stay far away from it. But desperate times call for desperate measures.

 Last week was not the easiest week of motherhood. Bobby decided to have some kind of bizarre sleep regression, and I was trying re-sleep-train him. The first couple of nights resulted in screaming matches at his baby gate. At one point, he got himself worked up into puking. I cleaned up and made sure he was okay, and then I put him back into his bed and told him good night. More screaming. I put on head phones and watched the Bruce Jenner Interview with Diane Sawyer (always late to the game). I noticed that he only cried about half-way through it that time. Progress! 

So you can see why I would need to mainline caffeine.

 After we got our wits about us, I took the kiddos to the gym with me. I'm truly excited about this new gym and getting into a good routine, but I'm almost just as excited about the child care that they offer. That's huge. And much appreciated. I dropped them off and exercised over-did it for a full hour. Afterward, the babies were happy, and I was feeling great, so we made a grocery run (I literally go to the store 3x a week. Is that abnormal?), where Bobby did the sweetest thing I've ever seen him do to Vivi. He willingly shared one of his m&ms with her. The bar is set pretty low there.The rest of Friday included play time and dinner, and then off to bed so we could rest up for the weekend.

 Saturday morning, my friend and I took all our kids out to eat brunch in Destin, which was ballsy in itself. Brunch is not a meal small children can understand. My kids were famished by the time the meal came, and they killed it; her kids had snacked before, so they didn't eat much at the restaurant. We made the executive decision that babes and brunches don't mix. They get an open invite to breakfast and lunch, but brunch for the under-5-set is no bueno. After naps, the kids and I joined a big group of girlfriends from the squadron out at a community pool over here. I'm not one for public pools, so I had to knock back a couple of drinks before I could talk myself into getting in. We had a great time. Alex got me this inflatable swan float for Mother's Day, because I made a comment once that "that swan is the only way I'll get in the pool." So he Manchestered me, and now I'm the proud parent owner of a big ass swan. And I tell you what, if you want kids to love you at a pool, bring a big ass swan. That'll do it. My kids were surprisingly not as into it as I had expected. The rest of the afternoon and evening included eating and then running every last bit of energy off.

 And then there the matter of getting the beast home. Hey, you know how you fit a big ass swan in a Buick? No, I'm actually asking.

 We started Sunday morning off bright and early with friends at the pool in our backyard. If you were curious, yes, Ms. Swan made the trip in one piece. It was a beautiful, hot day--perfect weather for a little pool party. Popsicles were had, Music blared, and the sun shone all day long. But I think my favorite part of the day is that all three of us (women) wore bikinis shamelessly. We've been in better shape, sure, but we decided to get over ourselves and just have fun with our kids and our girlfriends. And that was SO liberating and nice. Our biggest goal of the day was to wear our kids out so they sleep really well. I think we won that. Those kids played so hard. Mine were in bed by 7:30, which has not ever happened in the history of our family.

I hope you had a great weekend! This week we are looking forward to gym time, playing, baking, and all kinds of fun stuff. Oh, also, it's now officially Birthday Week! Woo. Hoo. It's almost like my kids don't care. Whatever.

Have a great week!xoxo