State Fair and Birthday

Yesterday was my 29th birthday. One more year to go before I am 30!! I had an awesome birthday. Justin and I went out with some friends on Sunday night and I got to just relax yesterday. I actually took 2 naps, which is crazy for me because I can never fall asleep during the day. Justin helped Lucy make me the most adorable card. Loved it.

Today we went to the state fair. It was so much fun. The weather was gorgeous - a little warm at first, but cooled off and was perfect. I have written in the past about the CRAZY food that is at the fair, and this year did not disappoint. We ate at least a bite of all of this - corny dog, chicken tenders, fried banana pudding, tamales, french fries, fried pb&j, fried avocado chunks, cotton candy, and chicken fried bacon. I know you are throwing up, don't worry, I am as well. I am sure that the chicken fried bacon is really getting you. We would have never gotten that, but it was rated the #1 new fair food this year, so we had to try it. It was so gross we all took one bite and threw it out. Oh yeah, just so you don't think that it was just Justin and I eating all of this, we were there with Steve and Christy. We would each pick something and then share it. I get really grossed out by most of the food after a short while and cannot really stand more than a bite. Lucy was really only impressed with the corny dog and cotton candy. We will be going back again because we did not get to try the fried S'mores. Lucy rode two rides and won 2 prizes. She was so UNimpressed with the rides. One was a little boat ride and she sat completely still in her boat and never moved or changed expressions the entire time. We were all cracking up because it was so funny. She seemed to enjoy the swings a little more, but not much. She is so serious. She LOVED the petting zoo. It was definitely her favorite thing.

Pictures from our big afternoon.











Check out Christy's chicken flying through the air

Happy 2nd Referral Anniversary

Two years ago today we received our referral. I can remember it so clearly. It was so strange to go from one moment of not being a mom and not knowing when you will be a mom to all of the sudden having the pictures of an 8 week old baby and knowing that she is supposed to be with you. We were both just instantly taken by Lucy. You can read her referral post HERE. Click HERE to see my post with pictures and a video of her from last year. I am continually floored by how quickly time has passed since we have seen and known Lucy. It feels like time stands still when you are in the adoption process and then all of the sudden it moves so fast I can barely hold on. Lucy, you are the most amazing child. No matter how hard some days are, you always make me smile over and over again. I cannot imagine life without you. I don't ever want to imagine life without you. Every day brings more and more joy and happiness into our lives. Every day your dad and I look at one another over and over and laugh as you do something new, cute, or sweet. Thank you baby girl. We love you more than I can ever describe. There are no sweeter words than hearing you say, "I yuv you too, momma and dada."

For a fun activity today, Lucy and I decorated these mini pumpkins with glitter. I saw this on the Martha Stewart show two years ago. I bought all of the supplies and never did the project. I thought it would be fun for Lucy and me to do this morning. And it was. Lucy loved it and the end result is fabulous. We are going to do a few bigger pumpkins as well. I will post a picture once I figure out what I want to do with all of our pumpkins. I just still don't have it figured out yet.







The finished product

Favorite TV Show??

My question for the week is what is your favorite tv show?? I am so excited about all of the shows premiering this week and next. We really missed out last year with the writers strike. I am not very original on this one, but I am definitely most excited about Grey's Anatomy. I also love Survivor and am a fan of Private Practice. Project Runway is one of my faves, but it has been going for a while now already.

I don't have a whole lot to say about Lucy. She is doing GREAT! We have really managed to get the whining under control and the sleep issues are slowly getting better. Still a far way from perfect, but much, much better. I will take what we can get. She loves school and giggles and smiles most of the day.

I am very annoyed with how hot it has gotten here again. I really thought we were over the hump and moving into the fall. I was wrong. Mandy and I went to the Farmer's Market this morning and were so hot. It was too hot to focus on how excited I was to get pumpkins and other fall decorating stuff. I am going to take Lucy sometime soon and let her pick out a few pumpkins. They have an awesome selection at the Farmer's Market. I am very most excited about the pumpkins being out at the Arboretum. They put them out last Friday. We haven't been yet because I want to dress Lucy in fall clothes for pictures and it is way too hot for that at the moment. We are still going to try and go one morning next week.

Here are pictures from the park today. This is Lucy's friend Jadie. They had a big time!




This is Christy, baby Ava's mom and one of my best friends! She is Jadie's aunt.

Update

Make sure you go and enter Laurie's great giveaway!

Thanks for all of the great comments on the last post. I am glad to know that I am not alone with my guilty pleasures!!

I thought I would do an short update on the happenings in Lucy's little life. The biggest change in the past few months has been sleep issues, which is not a fun change. I have touched on this before, but right before her 2nd birthday we moved her to a big bed, per her request. We were going to do it right after her birthday anyway, so that was fine. It took a little getting used to, but she did and it was fine. When she woke up, she would just go to the door and knock until either Justin or me came and got her. She was sleeping through the night and all was well. Until about 3-4 weeks ago. It started right before she started school, so I can't blame it on school. Now, she is not wanting to go to bed. She will get out of her bed over and over before finally going to sleep. She says that she wants us to lay in bed with her, but she won't settle down and when she finally does, if she hears us move she is right back up and shouting, "Mama lay down!" So, that wasn't working. I started the process of getting her used to us not being in there when she falls asleep last week. The first 2 nights were absolute hell. She was up and down a zillion times. She was very upset. Every time she got up, I would go and get her, tell her goodnight again, kiss her, say I love you, tell her that it was time for bed and put her back in bed. Needless to say, we went through this routine about 50 times. Finally on the third night, she had a break through and she had no tears or fuss about going to bed. It has not always been that easy since, but it is a million times better. One funny thing, I always go and check on her once she has been quiet for about 15 minutes. Several of the nights she went ahead and got out of bed and was playing or in her rocking chair. I have found her passed out in the middle of her train set 3 times and in the rocking chair once. It cracks me up and since she is easy to move, it is no big deal. I can deal with that. I hate how stressed out we both were getting when the process was going on for 2 hours. Now if I can just get her back to sleeping through the night, we will all be happy. The past two nights she has woken up around 3 or 4 and been wide awake. She was wanting to play in the middle of the night. I had to put my foot down with the playing in the middle of the night. I honestly wish she was still in the crib, but it was time to transition her out.

We have not started potty training. In fact, we are just putting it off for the time being. We have a big trip coming up and I don't want to deal with a potty training toddler when traveling. Just not an ideal situation. She does not want to sit on her potty anyways. She has gone in it many times, but she is really resistant towards it right now, which again, is fine with me. When she does decide she wants to do it, she is going to be so easy. She wakes up dry a lot of nights. She is usually dry after nap. She never goes while she is at school. Basically, she can hold it for a very long time. She tells us almost every time she goes to the bathroom. Yesterday, I was getting ready in my closet and she walked in with a diaper and two wipes and said, "Poo poo mama. Change it please." Ha. I got a kick out of that.

She is in the stage where she says "Whyyyyy?" all of the time. I am serious, she says it all of the time. She says it in the most adorable, drawn out way and it really is so cute. She is usually satisfied with the answer I come up with, but if not, I keep getting why after why after why until she is satisfied. She wants to know how everything works and what everything is. She is so inquisitive.

She is making huge strides in how she interacts and plays with other kids. She is doing so well lately. Not nearly as possessive and doing much better about sharing. Her whole demeanor around other kids has changed, and I know it is because of school. Yeah! I have been so proud of her. Her teachers brag on her every time that we go to pick her up. They said that she is so great at following directions, minding, and listening!

We have had some really great days with her lately. Days where she barely whines or fusses and she is giggling and smiling the whole day. It has been so much fun and I love watching her like this. She is such a little ball of energy and happiness. Maybe the really nice weather is making her feel better. I know it has helped me drastically. We have been able to go back to the park and the zoo. I LOVE fall.  Those days that are filled with whining and crying will really take it out of me.  This is such a nice change.   One that is obviously very welcome and hopefully here to stay.  I was starting to get a little worried about the terrible 2s.

These pics are from the park and our driveway yesterday.




This one is for you Seashy

She has no issue at all with laying right down for nap. Naps are so easy at our house. However, she has a problem with staying asleep for long enough. She is often up after only an hour and it is just not enough. Here is the proof that it is not enough.

New Question and Funny Faces

My question for this week is: What is your guilty pleasure? I actually have quite a few here, so I will fess up first. I would say my number one is shopping. And not shopping for myself, but for Lucy. I love it. I feel so happy with myself when I find a "treasure" for her. You know, a dress or pair of shoes that are so cute you can't stand it and you know you will never see another kid wearing. However, I have to say that the clothes at Baby Gap have been so cute lately. I have just been loving their stuff. I know lots of kids will have it, but it is totally okay because it is all so great. Very close behind shopping is celebrity gossip. I can see several of you rolling your eyes right this second. I wish I didn't love it so, but I do. I also LOVE mindless tv. The Hills is without a doubt the dumbest show ever made, but I really like to watch it. It is the kind of show that I have to watch just to see the awkwardness. I completely agree with those of you who find it completely ridiculous that these random wealthy girls have a tv show. And a successful tv show at that. But I don't care. And last but not least, I LOVE these monster cookies that my mom makes. I find myself eating a lot of them whenever she makes them. My justification is that they are small, so it is okay to eat 5 in one sitting. Ha. They are so yummy. For those of you who have never had monster cookies, they have a little of everything in them - chocolate chips, m&ms, oatmeal, peanut butter, etc. My mouth is watering just thinking about them. So fess up, what is your guilty pleasure?? I can't wait to hear your answers.

We went to the park this morning. I have noticed how much more coordinated she has become lately. She has always been really coordinated for her age, but for the first time, she was climbing up jungle gym type things and I was not constantly worried that she was about to fall. She was also swinging from the bars. Lucy had an awesome time and I caught some pretty hilarious faces. I know it looks like she is really mad in the attitude pictures, but she really wasn't. She gets really dramatic when she is telling me about something. Here she was talking about the big bridge that she was about to cross. It was a very serious discussion between her and me. I do see this face when she is annoyed, but this was not one of those times. It cracks me up though.

Oh the eye brows. Can you imagine this look when she is 15?? Uh oh.


I think she must be thinking to herself here, "That kid really should not be doing that." It just looks to me like she is disappointed in someone and she is letting them know it!

Can I help you?