Keeping it the Family

I painted Nates childhood toy chest an antique white for all of Belles stuffed animals. She apparently thinks its for her as well :)

Hopefully this will be an item that she can pass down when she has little ones running around.... When she's thirty.

One home project at a time. The house still feels pretty empty but I do have a vision for each room. Finding time to execute them all is another story. Especially when we still travel most weekends and still have to maintain what we do have. Thankfully fall is coming around the corner which will give a little bit more time to do outside projects!

Other than that life is pretty uneventful here in the US of A. Which is right where we wanted to be for the time being. I hate to admit that I miss some of the crazy. Just al little bit ;)

Sara

Week in pictures

This week the allergies are still hitting the family hard so here is a little of what we have been up too :)

Drinking water from a hose.

Quiet time with dad.

Drinking a yogurt/apple/kale smoothie that was described as ice cream.

Trying (licking) pickles for the first time with her grill cheese sandwich!

Sara

Driving

Well a fast a furious trip to Tulsa for a friends wedding has left us exhausted and full of allergies! Belle even fell asleep in the car and thankfully because the iPad is out of juice :)

Currently heading back to DFW with fingers crossed she gets a good nap in to stave off 'angry Belle'. Other wise it's going to be a long hard day!

I keep saying that one day we will do nothing on a weekend but pretty sure that's a lie. I guess we should be blessed to be on the go so much as it keeps life fresh and interesting. Boring would probably be the death of our family!

Sara

Merry Go Round

Dragging Belle to the mall can be quite the chore but seeing her smile when she rides the merry go round makes it all worth it!!

Our little family is experiencing the pains of potty training. Well, Nate and I haven't decided to train but rather Belle took the reins! Big girl panties, puddles on the carpet and a few tears have led us in a circle back to not training :) which is technically training. Hopefully next week we will have a clear definition of the stage we are actually in!! Yea for crazy independent stubborn toddler!

Sara

Pillow Fort

Now she is making pillow forts for her babies! What you don't see is Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, and her bear inside!!

Sara

Fort Time

Turns out Belle loves forts just as much as any kid from the 80's!

I have been trying a more hand off approach.... Well at least part of the day. I want her to use her imagination but it can be hard to back away. Imagine my surprise when she consistently discovers ways to entertain herself! I guess the no nap thing has been replaced with free play ;)

Everything is a phase.

Sara

Birthday Fun

Here are a few photos from the weekend birthday fun! I cannot believe Belle is already two!!

We are so blessed to have wonderful family in town and a backyard full of neighborhood friends!

Unfortunately I didn't take too many pictures so I will give a run down a little later :) right now we are all a little hung over on cupcakes and BBQ.

Today really will be a day of rest!

Sara

After a long weekend away with college friends, Nate had to leave on business again and the air conditioner blew out :(

Thankfully I have such amazing neighbors who helped me get some one out to fix it and watch Belle while I dealt with everything!

Now, I am in complete planning mode for Belles 2 year birthday party! There are going to be 13 kids at the house (all neighbors) and 20 adults. Nate and decided to just stick with the neighbors because we have so many we love! BBQ and fun in the morning sun will be the plan.

I also have completed Belles playroom! I will post the pics later today!!

Sara

Sent from my iPhone

Home Improvement

Don't you love it when small home improvement projects turn into large expensive ones? I was trying to clean up the old garden by removing the bricks and random pieces of wood. I wanted to even out the dirt so Nate could lay sod down later in the week.

Once I removed the wood pieces I found missing fence. Of course right?! So now I am cleaning the wood and bricks to be placed back until we decide to really fix the fence.

Oh and I found a really large ant nest... The one we thought we killed earlier this year. The battle continues :)

Playroom

We have been hard at work trying to finish Belles playroom for her birthday! Lots of organizing and building (for Nate). Actually, Belle helped me put together the table and four chairs. She has a little bit of her Grandma and Grandpa in her!

I love seeing Nate have a tea party with his little one. It melts my heart to see him at that table ;) to bad she wasn't in the mood for sharing.

Sara