lucy goose

My good friend Lacey took some darling pictures of Lucy the other evening - this is just a sampling (some of my favorites) of the cute shots she got of a feisty little red head who was rambling on and on about Cinderella, running from Lacey saying "I'm done" and pretty much being the fastest moving model ever. I did not envy poor Lacey trying to get Lucy to do something other than her princess pose which is this weird point-face-scrunched-up-shoulders-squinty-eye look that has shown up on almost every picture taken this summer.

Lacey has been such a good friend to me over the years and I feel like she'll always have a bond with Lucy and me. I work with Lacey and she was one of the first people who knew I was pregnant (because of my vomiting in the office episode) and she was such an amazing support through my entire pregnancy and Lucy's NICU stay. We've shared so many emotional moments and I'm thankful for all of the mommy advice she's given me. Lacey's darling daughter Kylee is such a sweet, smart, talented girl and even though she just started 6th grade Lucy will call her "Lacey's baby girl". Cute!

Thanks Lace - love them!

by the way...where is my baby girl?!

kittens

We're dog people.

But this weekend we had a fun little gathering at my grandma's house and my cousins brought over five baby kittens. They really were so tiny, cute and playful. Lucy loves kitties but we'll never have one. These little kittles all are named and Lucy particularly loved STELLA. My aunt Sandy taught her the way you have to say it!

Lucy said she'd take care of it and it could sleep "in my cute little room".

Too bad Luce - you're stuck with pups!

Thanks for a fun afternoon girls - you made Lucy's day!

(and mine...of doing nothing!)

halloween hoarder

Yama hama.

That pretty much sums it up.

I've laughed, been horrified, felt sad for many people on that hoarders show but this weekend I felt like one of them.

I've blabbed on and on about my love affair with all things orange, fall, halloweeny, etc for years. I know I've accumulated quite a collection of "fall bins" but this weekend was kind of a sad wake up call. The other day I found some fab treasures at Home Goods (who knew! what off-beat fun halloween things they have) and then picked up a few new must-haves at Taipan. Well on Saturday I thought it would be good to take an inventory of what I have because I don't have 5,000 sq ft to play around with or anything - this decor needs a plan (two months in advance, i know, i know).

Well, one by one Blake brings out bins from the garage. Giant bins. Then I remember some big bags I had stashed away inside. It all came out. And I am certifiably a halloween hoarder.

This might be half of it. It was funny for a minute so I thought I 'd take a picture but then it became a little...awkward.

Blake was mowing the lawn and I felt completely exposed...skulls, black and orange ribbon, pumpkin faces, spider soap dispensers. It had no end.

You know on hoarders when the people start making excuses like "well, what if I ever have a party (said by social misfit) and one of my guests has one arm and...they need this plate that holds a glass" or some bizarro remark that would never happen. Well, in my head I became that hoarder I've laughed at. "Well, I might have a costume ball and these little witch card holders would be great for prize certificates."

Yeah, hoarder.

I managed to unload a few things but really I just rearranged them in my totes because you never know what you'll need.

I'm not going to be too hard on myself though because I probably only have half a tote of Christmas and well, if I run out of room to decorate inside I have a full yard that I can branch out in.

I did however, empty my online shopping cart of pottery barn halloween goodies.

(except some more skull heads)

happy hoarding halloween!

gruesome twosome

After I had a long day at work last week Blake offered to give me some time alone and volunteered to take Lucy golfing (such a sacrifice). I thought it sounded nice to have an hour or so to myself and Lucy couldn't get out of the backyard fast enough - after making a point to put her hand up to me and say "you're staying here mommy." Uh, yeah, I know.

These two headed out on their merry way and I felt a mix of joy and sadness...knowing this is their hobby and their time.

She really enjoys golf and Blake says she has a good swing.

(she dresses herself for golf outings)

Lucy twirling down the driveway...because as she puts it "i'm a dancing golfer."

what a twosome...I always knew Blake would have a golf partner!

Two weeks

Two week catch-up.

Although not a lot has happened the past two weeks we've done a few fun things that have added to a great summer. I don't want snow but I can say that I'm fine with summer winding down. For only having one child we've kept pretty busy running around this summer and I'm personally ready for a cozy, long fall.

One thing that this fall will probably be lacking is preschool. I've felt like a failure of a mom the past week after finding out Lucy likely won't move out of the realm of the preschool wait list. I guess this is one of many of my clueless mom moments that I missed the memo that you have to register for preschool like really far in advance. I thought calling in April might be early enough but I was sorely mistaken. And now I have a three year old begging to go to school and not much to offer her. I'll hold out hope until the end of the month and then I'll just resign myself that it wasn't meant to be (how's that to ease my guilt) and do a make-shift-home-pre-pre-school. I know my daughter is brilliant ( :) ) and doesn't need preschool to get an edge up on her class of 2025 mates but we really wanted preschool for the social aspect. Lucy's no social misfit but she just needs other kids to express her fun personality with. So if anyone is up for a play date this fall - just let me know - I'm compiling a list of activities.

I may not be able to get our girl into preschool but I can get her into a pretty fun concert! We went to the Sandy Amphitheatre to see ARRIVAL (ABBA tribute band). It's been said before, Lucy is obsessed with the movie and music from Mamma Mia! so we knew this was a must. She danced the night AWAY and was asleep fifteen seconds after her car seat was buckled.

dancing queen!

We had our favorite boy Crosby over for a couple of hours of coloring, snacks and sandbox time. We're so excited to meet his little brother coming in a couple of months!

At the end of the month we went to my company's summer party. I'm really lucky to work for such a great law firm and they know how to put on a great party. We had the entire zoo to ourselves in the evening when it was nice and cool and quiet! All of the animals came out after a cool rain and Lucy could run and see everything without creepy, bruiser kids and parents in her way. My sister was one of the party planners and she did amazing! One highlight being a front and center bird show.

My good friend Lacey and her darling daughter Kylee. Unlimited carousel and train rides!

Last week Lucy and I had a mommy/daughter date and saw Ramona and Beezus. It's a super cute movie and Lucy sat through the whole thing. We had a minor argument before the movie because I made her wear...pants! But as long as I let her take this unicorn purse and let her apply her own lipgloss she agreed to go to the movie with me.

The next day was a different story.

I didn't think this would happen so soon - I was hoping I'd have a few more years but on Saturday I was given the title

"the worst mommy EVER!"

I'll admit my transgressions:

shorts (not a beautiful, magical dress like she requested)

denim shorts (even worse)

t-shirt (a boy t-shirt according to Lucy although it was purchased in the toddler Gap girl category)

ponytail (I thought this would be a cute new look. Lucy said it made her hair look short like a boy. I guess she couldn't see the cute curly pony in back).

(that is her pouting at her bed after she gave me my title)

Whatever.

Moving on. I started a chore chart for Lucy a couple of weeks ago. I thought it would a be a great way for her to start to help out and keep control of her crazy messy room. I explained if she did all of her chores we could pick out a princess prize. So far she's only committed to brushing her teeth.

But when Blake comes home she's more than willing to help out.

In the end Lucy knows I'm the queen of the pushover moms (which I'm working on) and if I somehow stand my ground there's always Gammy (who we met at Toys R Us today because we just had to check out the Princess buy one get one 1/2 off sale!)

Lucy really is such a good girl. If our biggest issue is that she wants to dress like a girly princess we're not doing too bad. She's done so well with her potty-training this summer. She's 100% underwear except for night in pull-ups. She's such a giggler lately and is following my footsteps of an exaggerator and story teller. Her vocabulary and conversations are so funny. Today she said "gosh, just use your imagination mommy" uhh, well I'm driving...

She's our favorite thing in the world. And even though we might not be in school this year - lucky (for both of us!) dance starts in a month!