Freebie Friday: Hello, Summer!

The table in our entryway has a little frame that we can swap out the picture to have different quotes for different occasions. Operative word being "can." Doesn't necessarily mean that we do that. Which is why it currently still has a Fourth of July design....

So I put together a little something, born of wishful thinking. Take me back to Hawaii, please.

There's a horizontal and vertical option. I recommend the vertical... I think I may have to mess with the resolution on the horizontal one. That's a problem for Future Erika.

Download (jpg)

Download (jpg)

Have a great (summery) weekend. Hope yours is on the beach!

Love list: New tricks, new kicks, new hair

1. Very serious "Come here"
This is one of those instances where I didn't realize she was paying attention until she started mimicking me. I guess I do this to her a lot! But when I'm trying to get her to come to me, I give her a look and beckon at her with my finger. She has started doing it, chin down, kinda glaring at your from under her hair, very stern, and crooking her finger. Now she knows it makes us laugh so she does it just for the laughs. It's hard to catch on video so this is the best we've got!

2. Reading to mommy and daddy
Or just to herself. She has started picking up books, opening, babbling, going to a new page, babbling, and so on. We love it!!

3. Big girl toothbrush
She LOVES brushing her teeth. Weird baby. We used to have a rubber one that goes over your finger, but she had too much fun biting. So we got a big girl toothbrush. Now she asks for it by opening her mouth and going "AHHHHH!"

4. New running shoes
I've been using Pegasus 29 for a while now. I can't even remember when I got them. But I've been noticing some weird aches lately (Repeatedly in my Achilles' tendon and lower back) and my godmother suggested it was the shoes. I switched things up with these Pegasus 30s. I love the colors, but I've only been on two runs with them so far so the jury's still out.

5. New hair (?)

Not sure if this one makes the love list. It was cut yesterday and I loved it then. I think. She rolled it under as she blow dried it and I hated it so I asked for different styling. She curled it a bit and I really liked it.

Then I washed it and blow dried it myself. And I'm not sure I love it. It's very... blunt.

But I have NEVER done anything to my hair. Seriously. It's always just been long and straight. I wash it. I don't even blow dry it. Heck, I barely brush it. It's stick-straight, thick and smooth. I went to Ulta yesterday and bought a curling iron and some products based on some recommendations from the woman there. I made my first attempt tonight...

Guys. I feel like crying. I hate it! I look like an angry chipmunk. It just keep getting so.... fluffy! At the bottom. The top stayed the same. What the heck?

I want this... or this....

 

 


Someone please, please, PLEASE help me figure out how to do my hair! Save me from myself. I really want to love this hair cut, but I just need to know how to do with it. Help!!!

Thank you is not redundant

Today's message is short and sweet: Thank you is always good to hear.

In Relief Society this week we were discussing how sometimes we feel that our prayers can become too routine. One woman commented that she sometimes tries to vary her prayers so she's not just reciting thanks for the same things over and over again.

But then another sister made an excellent point. She said that motherhood has taught her so much about our relationship with God as our Father. She said that there are things she does for her children every day, like make them dinner or fold their laundry, and how even though she does those things every day, it makes her feel good whenever her kids say "Thanks, mom, that dinner was really good!" or "I really appreciate you washing my clothes." Her point was that it's not a bad thing to be redundant when it comes to expressing gratitude. There are things we can be thankful for every day and all days. Just as it makes us feel good each time someone expresses thanks to us, it surely makes Heavenly Father feel good each time we express our thanks to him.

Love this iPhone wallpaper from That Little Spark... she also has matching desktop wallpaper!

I don't know about you, but I am truly blessed. And it was a great reminder to me to express my gratitude to my Heavenly Father more freely (and redundantly!) for all that he does for me. So get to thanking!

Ch- ch- ch- changes

Wow. What a week.

One week ago my younger brother moved in with us. It's kind of a long story but it involves self-employment, state income tax, and student loans. We are still adjusting and it's taking some time - it's a big move and so many things to get settled! Not much fun for Punkito but she's handling it well.

Already, there's been some adventure. The second day he was here I was shocked to find a rather large snake in our garage. It completely freaked me out - it was maybe three feet long and fairly thick around. It had gotten its head stuck on one of those super sticky roach strips that our bug folks put in the garage. Josh earned his keep by hacking it up with a shovel. He has pictures, but I'm not posting them because I don't want to have to look at them. Ask him if you want to see.

There's also been a late night ER run. Here's what you need to know about Josh: He's accident prone. When he was a child, our parents were on a first-name basis with the nurses at the ER because he was there so much. Fingers slammed in doors, bruising from running into a parked fire truck, stitches from standing on a basketball, stitches from diving from the toilet into the tub - and those are just the highlights. At 18, he managed to shattered his foot in something like 20 pieces while jumping in a moon bounce. So on his third night here, he christened Austin ERs after a mishap at the gym. Luckily just three stitches this time.

We did manage to sneak in our Saturday tradition - mural and breakfast. This mural is one of Austin's most famous and it's next door to the dorm I lived in as a freshman. Kinda cool to be taking my daughter back to that spot.

Belly button!

And there was not one, but two, trips to Ikea. Fortunately, she had so much fun there. And Josh kept her entertained in the car.

So it's been a crazy busy week. Lots of fun, a little stressful, and a whole lot of crazy. But we are so happy to have him here. Punkito just loves him and I like having another adult to talk to during the day. Once we get him all settled, it's just going to be 24/7 party over here, peeps. Come join the fun.

Mama Monday: sensory bags and art center

Sometimes I get a little overwhelmed looking at Pinterest. Who are these people, and where do they come up with some of this stuff? A while back, I saw a bunch of "weekly schedules" for babies. What?? It had a very set agenda that included things like "Free play," "music time," "reading time," "tv time," "exploration activity," and blah blah blah blah blah. It kind of overwhelmed me. My idea of schedule is... try to have one outing a day. Oh, and nap. Done and done.

But it did inspire Hans and I have to a conversation about the types of activities that Emma does each day. Most of the time when we are home, she just plays with her toys while I'm doing laundry or making dinner, or I'll get down on the floor and play with her toys with her. But as she gets older, we were thinking maybe she needs some more "structured" (for lack of a better word) activities that help her develop certain skills and aren't just "free play." (Side bar: how do you like all my quotes and made up words? I still need to understand and get comfortable with mommy jargon).

Anyway, we looked through Pinterest and tried to pick out a few small activities to get started with. She loves coloring books so we thought we'd set up a little art center for her. I went to Michaels to pick up an easel and was bummed that they were $60! Womp womp. But then we went to Ikea and found this guy for 15 bucks. Score! It has a chalkboard on one side and a white board on the other, which we will use when she gets a little older. For now we covered it with butcher paper. And she is loving it. Only issue so far? She doesn't understand the easel so much and doesn't understand why she can't just draw on the walls. She looks at me like, "Wait, I can draw THERE, but not THERE?" We'll work on it.

The other activity center we set up for her is in the kitchen, so she can work on it while I'm cooking. I picked up a bunch of small tactile items from Michaels. Anything would work, but I used fuzzy poms, plastic alphabet letters, animal buttons (farm and zoo), and googly eyes.

I stuck them in a gallon size freezer bag and dumped in the cheapest hair gel I could find (LA looks, 20 ounce bottle, <$2 at HEB). I bought two and discovered one was totally enough. If you put too much hair gel it can be hard to see the items and it makes the bag really heavy. You want just enough for the objects to move around in, but not so much the gel all sinks to the bottom. I taped it to the pantry door and she loves squishing the gel, move the objects around, and pointing at the different animals and making their noises. I was really pleased that a couple times last week, she actually brought me the bag to hang on the pantry door so she could play with it. It was a quick, cheap and easy activity to make.

What other activities do you have for your toddler? I have a couple more in mind to try, but I welcome and appreciate all your suggestions!

Freebie Friday: Go Run

Guys. I don't know if you already knew this, but it's hot outside. Just a little.

And the hotter it gets, the less and less I want to run in the mornings. About halfway through this morning's dripping hot run, I realized I had been mentally complaining the whole time, chanting in my mind "No. No, No, No, No, No." It made me laugh at myself (at least I can do that, right?). So I decided to make a little printable to tape to my bathroom mirror to remind myself to just get out there, do it, and get it over with.

And now you can do the same. In your choice of three colors. Enjoy :)

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Love List: More Emma favs

1. First cone 

The other day we went to Chick Fil A and decided to let Punkito try her first ice cream cone. She's had ice cream before and loves it, but not a cone. It was worth the wait - she hasn't grasped the licking concept, but she was having a blast and it was cracking us up!

2. Frog pull toy

We've been meaning to get her a pull toy for a while now but finally got around to it this week. She is LOVING trailing this guy around the house. I just wish he had more than one song...

3. Looks like Mama??

My dad recently found this old photo of me the other day. Normally I think she's a little Hans clone, but in this photo I think we look a lot alike, don't you??

4. This random photo

I texted this to my dad the other day. He wrote back "Context?" and I said "None. It just happened." We were sitting on the couch and I thought... I wonder if she'll let me put these in her toes. Huh. She will. How many will she let me? And this happened. This is our life these days, folks.

5. New plates

It's silly, but I really get excited about these kind of things! I needed more plates for Em and I found these darling ones at Target. Isn't it so cute?