Our Weekend

We had lots of fun this weekend!

Starting with Friday, Ella and I went to Discovery Place in the morning (pictures to come)! And then we went to the pool after her nap!

All of that swimming made her tired!

She insisted on walking back to the car like this:

It's still too early for the Terrible Twos...right?!?!

Saturday, Trav had to go into work, so Ella got to attend her very first baby shower for our friend Leah! It was a golf theme, which Ella appreciated and didn't stop saying "gof! gof! gof!" the entire time we were there.

Ella also said "auntie" for the first time...Auntie Kaffy was so excited!

Apparently, baby showers are exhausting too.

Or maybe my child is just narcoleptic? Who knows. 

Good thing she rallied to take this cute pic!

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Yesterday, after the golf-themed shower, of course Ella wanted to watch golf with Daddy! She was obsessed with this commercial. Every time she heard the song come on (which was pretty much every commercial break), she would stop whatever she was doing, run to the tv and start clapping and dancing. It was the funniest thing!

We also had our friends over for dinner last night. Ella loves her boyfriend, "Eeese" (Rhys) and gave him lots of hugs. Can't wait for their wedding ;)

This morning, I actually got off work a little early, so I managed to spend a small fortune at the Lilly sale!!! YAY! (And don't tell my husband please.) 

I got 2 shirts for me, and 2 shirts for Ella, plus a swimsuit for her to wear next summer. Fun times!

Five on Friday

Happy Friday friends! Ella and I spent this morning at Discovery Place...so much fun! I'll post some pics of that next week! In the meantime....

1. Its back to school time! 

Everyone has been asking me if it feels weird to not be going back. This is the first time in over 25 years (!!!!) that I am not buying school supplies and getting ready for an upcoming school year. Yes, I technically didn't go back until February this past year, but I still went in August to help my long-term sub set everything up.

The short answer is: Yes, I will miss helping kids and pinning great ideas, but I know being home with Ella is exactly what I am supposed to be doing at this time in my life. Basically, there is a lot that angers me about the current state of our public school system, and it's just not worth time away from Ella to continue that frustrational journey. I thought about doing a post allllllll about this topic, but I don't really want to bring that much negativity to this normally happy little space of mine. Email me if you really wanna know and I'll tell ya all about it. ;)

Instead, I'll leave you with a few articles that pretty much summarize my exact thoughts, and this ecard:

What it really means to be a public school educator today

1000 teachers resign from Charlotte area schools

Survey calls North Carolina the worst state for teachers

A warning to young people: Don't become a teacher

2. Moving on! 

Poor Ella has some mysterious stomach bug yesterday. She had things coming out both ends, (sorry, tmi!) and it was pitiful. There was a lot of Sesame Street and Daniel Tiger watching going on yesterday. 

Thankfully, I think it was just a 24 hour bug, because she was much better last night, and even better this morning! 

3. The Lilly Sale is coming!!!!! 

Apparently, it will start Monday morning. Annnnnd of course I have to work Monday morning. Anyone want to be my personal shopper and cart some stuff for me?!?! I hope it's not all gone by the time I get around to look!

4. One recipe I wanted to share with you! I made this last night and it was really good!

Asian Jalapeño Chicken

My husband likes anything spicy, and he was literally licking the sauce from the pan. He also mentioned we should make the sauce again, as it would be a great marinade for flank steaks or something like that to grill! 

5. Baby shower planning for Kathryn is underway! 

If you follow me on Pinterest, sorry I'm not sorry for the abundant baby shower pins that have appeared on your feed. I am going for a "golden safari" theme (still figuring out what that really means, ha!) and here's some of my inspiration:

Also: I have never thrown a baby shower! Crazy, I know. So if you have any tips or tricks (especially on how to save money since I always like a good bargain), please pass them along to me!

Have a great weekend!!! 

And if you are a teacher, best of luck going back to school!!! I admire you! :)

Travel Bucket List

Naturally, as I'm stuck at my house waiting for the air-conditioning repair guys (FINALLY), I've been thinking of all the places I would like to go...

Katie posted her list last week and it inspired me to make my own!

{Capri...one of my most favorite places!}

Tahiti

Thank you, Real Housewives, for making me want to go here. Not super pumped about the long plane ride, but it looks like it might be worth it?

Paris

Because, duh. Sad day that I won't be able to see the bridge with all of the locks on it, but I still want to go!

London (and all of England)

Ella is going to marry Prince George one day, so we probably need to visit his country! And I want to see the castle where they film Downton Abbey!

Hawaii

I can't believe I've never been to Hawaii. We must fix this immediately. 

Australia

Another long plane ride, but I'm dying to see koalas and kangaroos in their natural habitat!

Argentina

This one's kind of random, but I have heard it is very similar to Europe! And I love anything similar to Europe and Spanish-speaking!

New England states

I've never been to any states north of New York, and need to visit in the fall. How gorgeous! 

Turks and Caicos

Another destination we can thank the Real Housewives for!

Obviously, this is not an all-inclusive list, but these are the top locations I need to visit!!

And now I want to go lay on that chair in Turks and Caicos....but instead I'll just wait for my air conditioner to get fixed. #reallife.

Our Weekend

Oh heyyyy! Remember how I said I was going to be better about blogging and then didn't post for almost a week?! Whoops.

Anyways! 

This weekend was super hot for us because our air conditioner (yes, the one we just replaced last summer) keeps freezing up. So we have to turn it off every couple of hours to let it thaw out before we can turn it on again. It's a really fun time. 

So most of Friday was spent waiting for the air conditioner repair guy! Woohoo.

I did manage to sneak away to a consignment sale, and Ella helped her dad work out upstairs. She decided she wanted to go for a run. 

Since Ella was in such good hands, I continued my shopping at my friend Anni's. She just started her own business, Tender Love and Cloth. She makes the cutest monogrammed stuff! She is making me UNC and Panthers dresses for Ella, just in time for football season!

Saturday morning I went to another consignment sale! (Ha, I did a little shopping this weekend.) Tis the season! (Charlotte people, I went to Weddington Friday and Moms of Multiples Saturday.)

Here's what I got from Friday and Saturday!

Yep, that's 3 pairs of leggings, a pair of tights, 2 outfits, 7 pajamas, 2 sleep sacks, a dress, 2 collared shirts, a cardigan, a sweater, and 6 shirts! Not included: 3 books (this one, this one and this one) which Ella is OBSESSED with. 

We also managed to get the car cart at HT again!

Saturday night, I went to my friend Leah's house for drinks and wreath making! I promise I do not normally leave Ella this much, but am so thankful that Travis is the best dad and loves spending time with her!

My wreath still needs to be finished, whoops. I need to add an F, some ribbon and maybe some flowers?! Idk. 

Big shoutout to Kathryn for basically making my wreath for me! All of the videos we watched made it look so easy, but as someone with borderline OCD, I just could not make my loops perfect and it was killing me. 

Sunday we went to Kathryn's country club pool! And Ella got to go down the water slide! She loved it!

We wrapped up Sunday by eating sushi (since it's too hot to cook in our house!). Ella got rice all over the floor, proving that she is getting more and more difficult to take to a restaurant!

Hopefully our a/c will get fixed in the next few days!!!

Ella Grace {18 months}

Dear Ella,

As of yesterday, you are 18 months old!

It's a little bittersweet to think we are now closer to your second birthday than your first, but you really are a big ball of fun right now! I know I've said that pretty much every month, but I'm for real this time! You are a trip, girl.

We were supposed to go to the pediatrician today, but they had to reschedule our appointment...for SEPTEMBER {insert angry mom face here}. Totally ridiculous, so I tried to weight and measure you myself. I think you are 26.2 pounds and 31.25 inches tall! Getting so big!

You are still wearing 18 month clothes, with a few 12 month dresses sprinkled throughout your closet. You are also rocking a few 24 month/2T outfits, and I'm trying to buy mostly those sizes for your fall and winter clothes. Still wearing size 4 diapers.

You are obsessed with things that move, especially choo-choos. I can bribe you to come pretty much wherever I am in the house if I tell you there is a choo-choo where I am standing! You also love cars, trucks, buses, boats, planes, motorcycles...basically anything with a  motor! 

Along with that, though, you also love your "bow bows." When we get you dressed in the morning, you know your outfit just isn't complete without a bow, and when it falls out over the course of the day (which it does, multiple times!), you cry until I put it back in. I'm so proud of you for no longer ripping the bows out of your hair!

Your gross motor skills have really taken off (remember when I was so worried about you not walking?!), and you are now running all over the place...and you are quick, chica! I also love watching you try to jump; it cracks me up every time. You think the staircase is a playground, (news flash: it's not.) and you've fallen down the steps a few times. But, when holding someone's hand, you can walk up the steps with only one foot on each step, and you're getting better and better with going down the steps too (although we still have to help you with that one)! You love twirling because you discovered how dizzy you get from it, and think it's hilarious when you fall down! And the stretching...oh let's talk about the stretching. I have absolutely no clue where you picked this up, but you are constantly stopping to stretch out your arms. It is so funny! 

Maybe it's because it is summer, or maybe it is because you are an Aquarius, but you love water! Anytime you see water, you yell "Pool! Pool!" and you are constantly grabbing your puddle jumper and asking "swimmy swim?". You even try to swim in the bathtub! You have absolutely no fear around the water, which definitely keeps me on my toes when we do go to the pool...good thing I used to be a lifeguard! 

This month, we've started to let you watch a teensy bit of TV (even though I know you're not supposed to watch TV until you're 2, blah blah blah...shhhh don't tell). You love to grab the remote and yell "show! show!" until we turn on the TV for you. Your favorite (and pretty much only) things to watch are Daniel Tiger, Chuggington and Sesame Street. 

You have a new infatuation with Elmo, because you've discovered he is also on your diapers (yes, I still buy Pampers...they are the cheapest using Amazon subscribe and save! And now I can't stop because God forbid, Elmo isn't on the diaper!). Through those wonderful diapers, you have also learned about Cookie Monster (if we ask you what he says, you go "ommm, ommm, ommm!") and Oscar the Grouch, which you've consolidated into "Ouch." 

You are constantly picking up new words! On Sunday, Daddy and I made a list because we were curious how many you actually knew. I alphabetized them so we could easily avoid repeats.

Whew!! That's a lot of talking!! We also didn't include a few things that we know what you're saying, but the general public probably wouldn't (for example, "Mah-mah" = banana; "woof"=dog). 

You can also (kind of) count to 6. I say 1, you say 2, I say 3, you say 4, I say 5 and you say 6! Basically, you're a genius!

Thank you for another fun month, sweet girl! Can you stay this age forever?!?!
We love you so much!

Five on Friday

Happy Friday friends!!!

1. If you read a lot of blogs, you probably have already heard that Leslie at A Blonde Ambition passed away on Monday. 

I have never met Leslie personally, but I enjoyed reading her blog and linking up for her fabulous "Confessional Fridays." The saddest part of all is that she leaves behind two sweet girls under the age of 2. Sooooo sad that these girls will never get to know their mama. I could cry just thinking about it.

While this is all super tragic and sad, it does inspire me to blog more and continue to share lots of "Life with Ella" -type posts on this space. Leslie's girls are lucky in the fact that they can always look back on her blog and read about the memories their mom shared with them. Life is just too short. 

2. Moving on to something more upbeat! (Almost literally.) Yesterday, we discovered the BEST kept secret in Charlotte! Our friend Anni invited a bunch of us for a play date at Sky Zone. I was a little apprehensive about it (I wasn't sure what exactly Ella was going to do there?) but they actually have a special Toddler Time on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10-11! No kids over 5! And it was only $6 to bounce....for an entire hour!

Ella LOVED it! At first, she just kind of sat there....and I was worried I had spent a whole $6 for my kid to sit on a gigantic trampoline. 

But then, she saw what the other kids were doing, and she jumped up and down and all around for the rest of the hour! And took a fantastic nap later. So we will be heading back there every week!

3. Before we headed to Sky Zone, we had to meet with our landscaper to pick out some shrubs. I don't think I mentioned it on here but wayyyy back in April, we came home from California to find dead bushes. They have since been ripped out and almost 4 months later, we are finally getting some new stuff planted!

The bushes in the back row are the exact same of what we already have planted. The smaller, lighter green plants are what we are putting in! Ella was not a fan, but she'll come around I'm sure. 

4. Something else Ella was not a fan of this week? Getting new shoes. What. the. heck. girl. Are we even related?! She pitched a fit the entire time we were in Nordstrom. She wouldn't let the sales person measure her foot, and when she brought out the shoes, the only ones Ella wanted to wear were her old ones. 

I basically had to bribe her to take this picture with the shoe box. She threw it on the floor 3 seconds later. Toddlers are fun. 

Of course, later that night when Daddy came home from work, she ran to her closet, got the shoe box out and said "flah shooo, flah shooo!" (flower shoes, flower shoes; in case you don't speak Ella). Oh well. At least she likes them now. 

{PS-These are the shoes we bought!}

5. I'm thinking--key word: THINKING--about doing Whole 30. 

Yes I am probably crazy. But I feel like I eat SO much crap. Just complete garbage crap. And now that I'm 30 (!!!) my metabolism is slooooowing down so I can't eat whatever anymore. Sad face. 

I don't like diets, so that's why I am not jumping on this bandwagon just yet. If you've done Whole 30, let me know what you thought of it...and if you gained weight after you went back to eating normally!?!

Time for me and fav girl to hit up the Nature Museum! Have a great weekend!