Father's Day Continued

In the afternoon on Father's Day we went to Cole's Aunt and Uncle's house to celebrate with family and friends.  There were so many people there and it was wonderful having a relaxing afternoon with family. 

 

The girls!  Angie, me, Tina, Dani, Jessica, and Brianne

 

Don't be fooled by that face..she was loving spending time with Cole's cousin Tony

 

Grammy and Tave

 

The kids absolutely loved playing up in the mountains and spending time with their cousins.  They were pretty much just running around the whole time.  It was hard to keep track of them!!

 



 



 

 

 



We were happy to get to see Cole's stepdad Randy (Pop) and Grandpa Mally.  Two of the best Father's we know :) 

 



 



Both my Dad and Cole's Dad were unfortunately out of town so we weren't able to celebrate in person with them.  I'm hoping to see my Dad later this week and maybe do something fun to celebrate.

  

Look at that beautiful view!!

  

Such a Daddy's Girl!

What I Wore Sunday

 

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!

 

Holy moly this was a crazy, busy day...and a crazy, busy weekend.  I'll try to write more about all of that tomorrow, but right now I am linking up with Fine Linen and Purple for What I Wore Sunday.

 

 

 

Dress:  Maurices

Cami:  A gift..not sure what brand

Wedge Heels:  Charlotte Rousse

Jewelry:  Charming Charlies (no surprise!)

 

Oh hey there!

 

After church we grabbed breakfast from qdoba (they sent Cole a buy one get one coupon!!) and then headed to the park.  It was a beautiful morning and we figured the kids would enjoy playing outside for a bit.

 

Happy Father's Day, my love!  You are the BEST!

 

Somebody is having a great time!

Two handsome guys!

That completes the morning portion of our Father's Day.  In the afternoon we headed to Cole's Aunt and Uncles house to celebrate with a bunch of family and friends.  I'll have to save that for the next post because I am exhausted!

 

Hope you all had a wonderful day celebrating!

 

Oh, and if you haven't already, consider this:

 

 

7 Quick Takes Friday: Hubby Love

Today, Friday the 13th of June, is my wonderful husband's birthday!

In celebration of the wonderful man he is, I figured I would give you 7 things I absolutely love about him.  I will also include some of my favorite pictures :)

 

1)  I love how funny Cole is.  That is one of the first things I found super attractive about him.  It isn't just that he is funny, it is that we also have the same sense of humor.  We are always laughing at silly things together...even if nobody else is laughing!

 





2)  I love that he is such a hard worker and always puts so much effort into supporting our family.  Everyone at his work always acknowledges what a hard worker he is and it makes me so proud of him.



 

3)  I love that Cole is an optimistic, easy going guy.  Yes, sometimes it drives me crazy, but in reality it is definitely the best thing for me.  He is a great balance to my craziness and I love knowing he can always see the good in everything.



4)  He also sees the good in everyone, which is another thing I love about him.  And everyone sees the good in him, too!  I have never met someone who is so likeable.  I joke all the time with him that it must be nice being loved by everyone :)...but I'm actually not joking!

 

Playing with the kids after riding his bike home from work

 

5)  Cole is hands down the most amazing Dad I have ever known.  My children are so stinkin lucky!  He is invested in their lives and definitely carries his load when it comes to the kids.  They love being with him and playing with him and he is so sweet hearted in all of his interactions with them.  He is great about giving me breaks too and telling me to take off so I can have some "me" time!

 

 

 

6)  I love that Cole is an amazing man of Faith!  He is a wonderful, practicing Catholic, and I love knowing that I can trust him to lead our family towards Christ.  He is a great example for our children.

7)  And, I really love that he loves me with all that he has.  He is so good to me.  I love that he actually loves the craziest parts of me the most.  When I am at my spunkiest or silliest he loves it.  He prefers no make up, he says he thinks I am the prettiest when I am sleeping in the morning, and his favorite pictures of me are ones where I am making the most ridiculous faces.  And when I freak out because of a white hair on my head...he tells me with absolute sincerity that he thinks I will be beautiful with gray/white hair.  It is good to have a real life prince charming!

 

See what I mean?!?...this is a ridiculous photo of me dancing at a friends wedding...but Cole loves it!

 There is so much more I could write about, but I'll leave it at that.  Thank you Lord for the gift of Coles James.  He is a blessing to all!

 

This is from our 5th Wedding Anniversary photo shoot.  This is the motto of our relationship!

 Go here to see more 7QTF

 

The Potty Training Miracle and The Girl Who Cried Potty

Big news my friends

BIG NEWS!

Felicity Patricia Eileen is legit potty trained.  Not like half way potty trained.  Not like potty trained at home but wears diapers when we go out just in case.  Not like kind of potty trained but still using diapers at night and bedtime.  No, my friends, not like that...

I am talking LEGIT, 100% potty trained.

And do you want to hear the craziest part about this?

I did absolutely nothing.

Truth be told I'm not really sure how it happened.

It went something like this:

One morning while getting breakfast ready Felicity said, "Mom, I'm ready to go pee pee on the potty"

Oh really?  Hmm...well, ok.  So I sat her on the potty expecting her to do what she had done on and off for awhile, which was sit for approximately 5 seconds, say all done, stand up and clap!  But no, she peed.  And that was that.

This was probably a month ago and ever since it has been eerily smooth sailing.  If any of you know of my experiences with potty training Tavian then you understand that I am baffled that something could be so easy and go so smoothly.  Even in that first week when I was lazy so I would still put her in a diaper when we went out she would still tell me and we would go to the potty and she would go.  Craziness!

I had her little potty set up right off the living room and half the time I don't even know she has gone until she comes over to ask for her treat.  Tavian is equally excited about it because I give him a treat too.  It beats the fights that would ensue, and to be honest, he is her biggest fan always clapping and congratualting her.  It is pretty stinkin cute.

Every time she gets off the potty we all dance and I sing a song that goes a little something like this:

"She did it!  She's my big, big girl!  Yeah, she did it!  And I'm so proud of her!  She did it!  She's my big, big girl!"

She even wakes up from bedtime to go potty.  In two weeks time she wasn't even wearing a diaper at nap or bedtime.  Let me just say that I was totally anticipating a drawn out, horrible experience.  I had told myself I would cross that bridge later this summer because I didn't have the energy or patience yet.  And lo and behold she just took the bull by the horns and did it herself.

It feels great!  I actually only have one kid in diapers.  WAHOO! :)

Now to the second part of this story, and perhaps the only downfall to the whole escapade.

She has started to abuse the potty priveldges in the last week.  I have heard Cole trying to explain to her about the boy who cried wolf and it honestly gives me a good laugh.  She loves to be tucked in ready for bed and then to call for us, and behind a half smirk says

as almost a question, "I have to go potty..?"

She has mastered the art of manipulation.

I mean, what parent is going to refuse to let their child use the restroom?!?

So she sits on the potty...and then nothing happens...and then she goes back to bed....

repeat

repeat

Lol..we can still laugh about it because it has only been happening for a week and because I truly think it will be short lived.  She is just such a little stinker.

Even with this little glitch, I am still so super duper proud of my big girl. She is growing so fast and becoing so independent.

7 Quick Takes

(this was written last Friday about the previous week but I'm just now getting around to posting)

 

Thoughts on this week

1)  Cole was out of town Monday through late Wednesday.  not fun.  Putting kids to bed alone is just a whole lot of work.  it is the evening hours that seem to really drag on.  And with the three kiddos bedtime seems to consist of me walking from room, to room, to room, over and over for an hour.  Someone needs more water.  Someone else needs to pee.  Beckett woke back up.  The list goes on.  Tiring!

Tiring but so worth it.  Look at all that love!!!

2)  Speaking of Cole being out of town, the worst part is that I dont' sleep well with him gone.  This used to be totally detrimental because I wouldn't sleep at all.  Some nights I would drift out of consciousness at some point but never really a full on sleep.  It would absolutely wreak havoc on me and I would be feeling the effects for a long time.  Luckily I have come along way and Tavian is a huge help.  He gets to sleep with me whenever Cole is gone and I can't tell you how much better rest I get just having his little cuddly body next to mine! :)

3)  Beckett went swimming for the first time.  He loves it!  We are thankful to have a friend with a pool membership.  We went twice while Cole was gone!

 

 

 

 

4)  I pretty much don't cook whenever Cole is gone either.  The thought of more work to do just isn't appealing...plus the kids don't eat very much anyway so it seems a bit pointless.  On Tuesday night I took the kids to East Moon for dinner.  Am I crazy?  Yes, yes I am!  Everyone certainly looked at me like I was crazy.  But, amazingly enough, they did really well and we all had a great time.  And we ate delish Shrimp Pad Thai and  Kung Pao Chicken.  Yummmmm

5)  Anyone else find it still difficult even after the hubby comes home?  I am still so tired and have used every ounce of reserve, but even though your spouse returns the show must go on and you still have to keep trucking the next day.  It's a bit tricky...and I'm finding it hard to bounce back!

Everyone wanted to be right next Daddy once he was home

6)  Cole decided to take me on a date night Friday night.  It ended up being really rushed for a number of reasons but at least we made it out of the house without the kiddos for some one on one time.  The first time we have done that in 5 months!!!  Wahoo :)  Since we were short on time we settled for Chipotle.  It was nice to reminisce since that is where we went on our very first date...8 1/2 years ago.  Holy smokes!  I love this man!

7)  My Bestie Amy came to town so we could celebrate her Bridal Shower!  Wahoo...she is getting married on August 16th and I could.not.be.happier for her!  I love that all the festivities are starting.  A group of us met for coffee Friday night but since I didn't have a picture from that evening, I will include one from her Bridal Shower the following day!

Lindsey, Amy, Courtney, Elissa, and Me



 

*There has also been a special intention on my heart all week that I would love for you to pray for if any of you think of it...thank you!

What I Wore Sunday

Oh man, we were in a rush this morning.  I'm pretty positive that poor Baby Beckett is about to get his first tooth because he was having such a hard time last night.  And he never has a hard time.

I felt so helpless trying to think of anything that would help soothe him.

He hasn't even wanted to nurse very much lately because it is bothering him so much.

It made for two very sleepy parents and a rushed morning.

We hustled as fast as we could but unfortunately we were still late for Mass :(

A friend at church said that she loved that I was wearing red for Pentecost.  I wish I could say it was planned but I admitted it was a nice coincidence.  Maybe God had it in His plans! 

Enjoying breakfast after church.

So in love with them!!

My Handsome Boy!!!

See?  A beautiful red top for Pentecost Sunday!

Top:  Clothing Swap Item..I think from Old Navy.  Thanks, Ashlyn!

Pants:  Old Navy

Necklace:  Charming Charlies

(if you haven't noticed, the majority of my clothes come from clothing swaps.  I highly recommend you participate in them if you don't already)

Check out more WIWS at Fine Linen and Purple

What I Wore Sunday

Happy Sunday!

We made it to church on time...wahoo :)

That doesn't happen all too often, unfortunately, so we felt extra accomplished!

We took a few photos after our weekly Panera breakfast.

I can't believe how dark my features are compared to hers.  I promise that she is mine :)

Shirt: A wonderful hand-me-down from Courtney.  If you

know her, you know she has fabulous taste, and

I was lucky enough to get some of her left overs :)

Skinny Jeans:  Forever 21

Sandals:  Target

Earrings and Bracelet:  No idea.  That is how long I have had them!

I turned the screen around so they could see...they liked making faces in the camera

"Look, Mommy, I'm riding the dolphin!"

On the way home we bought this fun pool at Babies R Us.  I was excited to have found it on clearance for $5.99.  They were loving it!

Cole is going out of town tomorrow morning for business :(  Boo!

At least we'll have this fun pool to keep us occupied in the meantime.

Check out more WIWS at Fine Linen and Purple.