Pink Bunny Robe Sunday...and other things...

It was another Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde weekend as far as the weather was concerned...but we still had lots to do, so we forged on.  Friday & Saturday it was actually fairly nice, and then overnight on Saturday everything went downhill...FAST. 

 

Friday evening we just grabbed a quick dinner at McAlister's before heading home for a relaxing evening.  We played with Elyse's toys, watched a little bit of a movie with Elyse & then Hubby & I watched Parenthood before heading to bed.  Oh how I love that show, even if I always end up teary-eyed at some point during the show. 

 

Saturday morning Hubby headed to work & Elyse & I went to Zumba.  Oh how this girl loves to "BUNZA" with me.  She loves to dance with the girls, and she loves to dance up front, and she loves to help my bestie lead the cool down at the end.  And for all of you who wonder who she looks like...I'm totally seeing how she looks just like me in the picture below! 

 

She even has her own fancy Zumba pants for getting her groove on! 

Oh how I love this girl, and I love even more that she wants to BUNZA with her momma! 

We met up with my in-laws for a quick lunch on Saturday.  We were having a belated birthday celebration for my SIL and Elyse was thrilled that she got to see her two cousins, Hunter & Jackson.  Elyse was in a crazy mood...which meant, no pictures.   However, those quick lunch outings with my family or with my in-laws are such a sweet reminder of how blessed we are to have family nearby. 

 

Saturday afternoon we just relaxed at home while Elyse took a long nap & then we headed to a special event for my brother.  During his senior year of college my little brother set the NCAA record for ALL DIVISIONS for the number of receptions in a single football season...145!!!  The record still stands for Division II, but for that one year, he had caught more passes than any other college football player...ever.  On Saturday evening, he was inducted into the Southwest Baptist University Hall of Fame for his tenure as a player there...and of course we went to support him.  I failed at taking practically any pictures, except for him giving his acceptance speech. 

 

Congrats little brother, your big sis is so incredibly proud of you!  Not just for football, but for the man you have become!

Sunday we woke up to lots of frozen stuff falling, but not enough to cancel church.  So...we got up & around & planned to leave for church in plenty of time.  However, with a two year old...things never seem to happen as you hope. 

First up...Elyse needed a bath, so Hubby tackled that job.  Only to be treated to a lovely present in the tub....yup, Elyse pooped in the tub (for only the second time ever).  I finished up her bath in our master bath while Hubby took cleanup duty. 

Sidenote: Later at breakfast I pretended that Mickey Mouse was on the phone when Elyse said it was for me.  Mickey & I pretend chatted for a bit before Elyse took the phone back and proceeded to tell Mickey..."Mickey, I pooped in my bathtub."  I guess confession is good for the soul. 

Elyse really wanted to put her jammies back on so I compromised by suggesting she put on her pink, fleecy, bunny robe that she had NEVER worn.  I honestly thought I'd have to fight her to put it on, but she very quickly became attached to Rabbit.

And thus...The Pink Bunny Robe Sunday was born. 

We ate breakfast in our robe. 

We went to church in our robe.

 

We cooked at our kitchen in our robe. 

We ate lunch & colored with Daddy in our robe. 

We watched Sheriff Callie's Wild West in our robe. 

 

We took a nap in our robe & woke up to continue some light reading our robe.   

 

And we played in the kitchen stacking cups in our robe.  

The robe was NOT coming off.  Until I finally convinced her that we should take it off for dinner so we didn't get Rabbit dirty.  She then carried it around as a blanket for the rest of the evening and cuddled with it as we wrapped up the night with a little bit of a movie. 

 

I texted a picture of us on our way to church to my mom & MIL...stating that this was first true pick your battles experience.  My dad asked what battle I won...and it was that she wore clothes under the robe to church.  Hey, everyone at church thought it was adorable and it just wasn't worth the fight.  Plus, she was the cutest pink bunny I've ever seen!  

 

Pick your battles...I mean, what's so bad about wearing a pink bunny robe to church?!?

5 on Friday---Another Round of Catchup

So here it is, another Friday, and another chance to dump some pictures/videos in from my phone from throughout the week. It's been a pretty uneventful week around here...thankfully, my household is basically all healthy & so we've just been enjoying the fact that we all feel better. 

 

1.  This week marked the end of the regular season for our Missouri State Bears. We have season tickets with my parents & my in-laws also attended several of the games as well.  We had a game last Saturday practically right during naptime...but that didn't keep Elyse was catching some Zzzzz's!  The hilarious thing is that we moved her from my mom's arms, to Hubby's arms, to the car, and then to the bed and she still slept for another hour at home!  Sleepy girl!   

We normally take Elyse's jammies to the games with us so we can change her before leaving for home. So...she always ends up cheering for the last little bit in her adorable fleece, footed jammies! 

 2.  Hubby & I came to the realization last Sunday that Elyse was spending WAY TOO MUCH time in front of the television.  Elyse loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Doc McStuffins, and has a new found love for Sheriff Callie.  All of these programs are fine in moderation but it had gotten a little bit out of control.  And she completely disengages when one of her shows is on.  So...we made the decision to drastically cut television this week and you know what, it wasn't bad at all!  Sure, there were a few fits but we were typically able to distract her with other activities.  She still gets about 20-30 minutes in the morning while we get ready, and she also gets to watch a little on the iPad...but nothing like what it had been! So...a nice big pat on the back for us!  Parental Success!

 

 

 3.  This will definitely receive it's own post when I can edit all the pictures, but we started swimming lessons with Elyse last week.  She has been exposed to the water plenty of times in Florida & at my parents' pool, but we want her to completely comfortable around it.  She is doing really well, and will probably soon move out of the Babies & Me class (where they have all children under 3 begin). 

 

4.  Her ability to learn & memorize never ceases to amaze me!  She is now able to "read" aka recite from memory 4-5 different books that we have.  Hubby & I were treated to storytime the other day as we drove home from work. 

5.  And for my only non-picture, non-Elyse related item...I had a first on Tuesday night before the last Bears' game.  We made plans with my parents & in-laws to meet up for dinner at a local sports bar beforehand & we placed our order a full hour before the game was to begin.  After 45 minutes of waiting, all 7 of us got up and left as we explained to the waitress we just couldn't wait anymore.  I've never actually walked out of a restaurant due to lack of service...but they definitely deserved what they got! 

 

Head on over to join in with all the other ladies' who participate in 5 on Friday!

 

Five on Friday~Sick Momma Week

And...once again it's time for 5 on Friday...my weekly brain dump, iPhone dump, and all around catch up on this good ole blog.  

1.  It's been a little bit of a rough last couple of weeks.  Elyse started out with a cold that she ever so lovingly decided to pass on to me, which she has now passed on to her Daddy.  I'm on the mend, but still can't breathe well, and the coughing attacks hit me right as I'm going to bed.  You should have heard Hubby & I last night, we were like a coughing symphony.  

2.  This week in our area, a indescrible, horrendous tragedy occurred as a 10 year old girl was kidnapped and within only a few hours we also learned of her death.  From everything the authorities are saying, it was a completely random act, and that certainly doesn't help things in this momma's brain.  There is lots and lots of judgmental discussion taking place on social media, but all I can keep thinking is that her momma won't ever get to hold her again.  And so yesterday as Elyse & I headed out for a momma/daughter day, I couldn't help but be overcome with the fact that God chose me to be Elyse's momma.  Hug your kids a little tighter tonight...and if you think about it, flip your porch light on this weekend in honor of Hailey Owens.  Facebook page here...

3.  One of our tasks yesterday was to visit a local boutique.  They were hosting The Silhouette Man.  My SIL had these done of my niece and I just loved them, so when he was coming back to the area I jumped at the chance to have an appointment with him.  Aren't they just beautiful?

And they are the perfect update to my gallery wall in our entryway.  

4.  Yesterday when Elyse woke up from her nap she had the messiest ponytail ever, with her little hairs flying everywhere! Looking at her in all of her innocence with a messy ponytail, a lunch-covered shirt, and a sweet smile while watching Doc McStuffins just made me fall in love with her even more, and makes me want to soak up every single moment.

5.  Yesterday I also bought a few things to spring-up my burlap wreath...this has seriously been the best Pinterest idea ever.  I simply change out the flowers and ribbbons with the seasons and have a cheap front door update!  Come on Spring, you know you want to come on and visit us!

Head over to hang out with all the other fabulous ladies who are participating this week!  

Breaking the cabin fever...

Praise the Lord, the frigid temperatures have gone away for at least a brief time, and they've been replaced with some warmth & sunshine!  It's definitely not HOT outside, but it's definitely an acceptable temperature to at least be outside with a light jacket.  

With Elyse & I both fighting off this lovely cold, we armed ourselves with lots of Kleenex and headed outside to join the rest of our neighborhood for just a little while.  After being couped up in a sicky house, it was so nice to just get outside and breathe in some fresh air.  

Elyse quickly wanted to break out the sidewalk chalk (which is honestly on it's last legs--I need to stock up before Spring really does arrive), and the other kids joined in.  They apparently were all about drawing portraits of Elyse...I mean, can't you see the resemblance?  Ponytail and all!

This was apparently the life-size/monster Elyse...please don't ask, when 7-9 year olds break out the sidewalk chalk, you never know what kind of artistic masterpieces are going to show up!  

Elyse also grabbed onto one of our neighbors scooters...not sure she quite understood the concept, but she was having  blast riding with her Daddy!

Yesterday it was nice and warm again so after Elyse's afternoon nap we headed back outside.  Elyse was loving the slide and I am already so excited for Spring to officially arrive so we can be outside more!

Playing ball with Bogey 

Momma...I need toys!  She was really wanting her water table, and I'm not sure she quite understood that it was still too cold outside to break out the water!

When we came in last night, I knelt down and kissed the top of her head...and then had to pause for an extra moment to take in the outdoor smell.  Even with a winter cold, I just loved the smell of outside mixed with all the "little girl" smells...come on Spring, I'm more than ready for you to arrive!  

And this morning, Elyse took her first official selfie..."Momma, I take picture of Elyse?"  I showed her the button to push and there we go...definitely not the most flattering, but pretty stinkin' cute that she wanted to take pictures of herself!!

Valentine's Day Deja Vu

So...this year our Valentine's Day was eerily similar to this one from last year...

Elyse developed a low-grade fever and some congestion on Tuesday evening and was down for the count all day Wednesday & Thursday.  Down as in basically the only movement she had was from my bed, to the couch, to the bed, to the changing table.  We watched LOTS of movies, and LOTS of television.  She never seemed to get much worse, so we voted against taking her to the doctor for the dreaded "it's a virus, you just need to wait it out," diagnosis.

Even with a low grade fever and a stuffy nose, a hooded towel can make any little girl look darling!

#TBT...the top picture is from February 13, 2014, and the bottom one is from February 13, 2013...both taken of a sick little girl who just wants to cuddle with her momma!  

While Elyse spent lots of time napping and watching Disney movies, I was able to whip up some yummy chocolate cupcakes and also put together some quick Valentine's gifts for Hubby & Elyse.

A boxed mix, with homemade chocolate buttercream icing

A Daddy/Daughter Date night bag from Elyse to her Daddy...Double Stuffed Oreos, a Wendy's gift card for nuggets & fries, a McDonald's giftcard for hot fudge sundaes, and a copy of The Jungle Book (which was just released and was one of Hubby's favorite childhood memories!)

My gift to Hubby, a bag of fun treats with cheesy, corny, romantic sayings..."I'm bananas for you" "You're the apple of my eye" "You are one hot tamale", etc., etc., etc.  (Free printables found here)

*Not picture are Elyse's gift, which consisted of a new box of Duplo blocks to add to her collection, and Little Golden Book versions of Monsters, Inc. & Monsters University for those times when she MUST HAVE Monsters!  Hubby also got me some beautiful roses, which I failed to take a picture of, and a new dress which will most likely be worn in July because that's as soon as it will be warm enough to wear it!  ha!  It'll be a great addition to my Charleston trip wardrobe!

However, with all the cuddle time, someone else was inevitably going to come down with her lovely cold...that someone was me.  So similar to last year, Valentine's Day consisted of 1 1/2 of our family being sick (Elyse is on the mend so I figure, she gets to share in my misery)!  To look on the bright side, at least it's just drainage and some congestion, but it still doesn't make for a very pleasant experience!

The best I could do with our matching sweatshirts...another one of those perfect photo-ops that doesn't always go as planned!

Thankfully we truly didn't have anything spectacular planned and I had already whipped up some yummy Valentine's Day cupcakes before the sickness attacked me.  So...last night we grabbed carry-out from McAlister's because soup & a baked potato will make anyone feel better. Elyse was feeling quite a bit better so I got to be entertained by she & Hubby as they built huge Duplo towers with her new blocks.

A night when I don't feel well and also don't have to cook is a pretty great present for me! 

Check out those eyes...still not feeling 100% for sure!

Elyse has learned to LOVE her blocks...which is a huge joy for her Daddy who LOVES Legos even to this day!  

To wrap up the evening, Hubby popped some popcorn and we treated Elyse to her first viewing of the Lion King.  After we got past the initial frustration from her of us NOT watching Monsters University or Planes, I think she's a big fan!

I guess I should also add that no one should feel TOO sorry for us.  Monday night Elyse spent the night with my in-laws so Hubby & I spontaneously planned a date night that served as our Valentine's celebration.  We had dinner at a great place in town and then we found a theater that was still showing Catching Fire.  We were the ONLY ONES in the theater...a pretty great way to celebrate this wonderful man that I get to do life with.  Whether that includes a date night out at a fancy restaurant or carry-out with a movie on the couch, life is pretty amazing since I get to be by his side through it all!

A Quick Family Roadtrip to STL

So on Friday morning, we loaded up my mom's car (which we borrowed because it has an in-car DVD player) and headed off on a quick 36 hour family road trip.  Let's be honest...this trip was like 5% for Elyse & I and about 95% for Hubby because he was ordering new golf clubs at this great golf shop that's about 3 1/2 hours from our house.  We didn't really have a great option for an overnight sitter so we just decided to make the best of it and take Elyse along for the ride. 

 

And let me just say...packing for a quick roadtrip was A LOT easier when I didn't have a two year old who had three additional bags just for herself...diaper bag; car bag full of toys, snacks, & movies; and of course her suitcase full of clothes, diapers, & sippy cups!

We headed out and let Elyse watch Finding Nemo until we stopped for lunch.  We probably stopped a little too late, and lunch took a little too long...and the rest of the driving portion was a chore.  We wrongly assumed that Elyse would nap well in her carseat...I think I got about 30 minutes out of her and that was after I wiggled my way into the backseat while driving down the highway (don't judge) and she finally dozed off with my arm draped across her lap & my head resting against her carseat.  Silly girl! 

 

We dropped Hubby off at his club-fitting appointment and made our way to Target to stretch our legs and waste a little bit of time.  The only movie Elyse has been talking about recently (that we don't already own) is Planes.  I have no idea why she loves it so much...but she does.  So...after a quick trip to Target for a movie, milk, and M&M's and momma not really being in the mood to chase her through other stores...I plopped us both in the backseat of my mom's car & we proceeded to simply watch Planes in the nice warm car while we waited on Hubby.  I might have treated myself to a visit to Sonic just for surviving the last 2 hours of our trip!   

After Hubby was finished, we had planned to have a nice family dinner at Maggiano's...kind of our Valentine's Day dinner as a family.  However...after such a long afternoon and Elyse spending WAY too much time in the car, we decided to cancel our reservation and go to the nearest mall that also had a Cheesecake Factory.  This gave Elyse some time to run around & burn off some energy after being couped up in the car. 

 

Our one parenting fail...showing her the cheesecake case.  There was a slight wait for our table so we showed her all the yummy goodies, only to have her lock her eyes on the Strawberry topping.  NOTHING would do but for her to have strawberries...and NOW!!!  Thankfully we were seated quickly, had a gem of a waitress who has a 2 yo & a 4 yo, and Elyse proceeded to have a meal that consisted of 3 kiddie plates of strawberries & some bread.  You know...you gotta do, what you gotta do!  We had NO idea how much those strawberries were going to cost us, but at the time we didn't care at all!  Thankfully we just ended up with 3 $2.50 charges for the berries...SCORE! 

 

We headed back to the hotel and after playing for awhile, we put Elyse down in the sleeper sofa and Hubby & I cuddled up to watch the Olympics Opening Ceremonies...on MUTE for fear of waking up Elyse after such a long day!  ha! 

 

Saturday morning we woke up, had a quick breakfast at the hotel and then headed out for a few shopping stops before heading back home. 

 

This is our current "cheese" face...cute huh!?

Our first stop was Trader Joe's where Elyse had an absolute ball with the mini-shopping carts, and only managed to take out one gentleman in the checkout line. 

 

We made a fairly quick stop at a mall and then stopped at a local pizza joint for lunch.  Dewey's Pizza was a great recommendation by my bloggy friend Sara & we'll definitely be stopping there again on our trips to STL. 

We loaded back up and hit the road again...PRAYING that God would grant us the gift of a little girl napping.  And nap she did...for almost two hours! 

We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out at Hubby's parents house before heading to our church for a Valentine's Day Banquet put on by our church.  I failed to take a SINGLE picture, but they had a photo booth setup and we'll get those pictures back next week so I promise to share! 

 

Yesterday after church we spent our afternoon resting, recovering & recouperating from the roadtrip...we all needed it! 

 

And of course today...in true Missouri winter fashion...it's snowing again.  Or it snowed again.  At least a big warm-up is finally in the forecast, 50 degree temps this weekend and I'm going to think about wearing shorts!   

5 on Friday--More Snow!

Besides being my birthday week, it's just been another cold, snowy, below normal temps week which means lots of time inside and even more dreaming of warmer Spring temps.  I think most schools in our area have now missed the total number of days required by the state in order to not make any more up...ughhh...winter I think it's time for you to go back where you came from and send some Spring temps in your place!

Enough moaning about winter...how about another five on friday?!?

1.  With lots of snow still on the ground and below-freezing windchills, Elyse & I were at home all day on Wednesday with no plans. She stayed in her jammies for most of the day & we had quite the snow day tea party.  Mike, Sully, Jake, & Pink Kitten were all invited...notice Mike is sitting on Jake's lap.  She is cracking me up these days with her imagination!

  2.  For Christmas, Elyse & I got two different gift certificates for swim lessons at a local aquatics center.  We were supposed to start up on Wednesday night, but with the crummy weather they were pushed back to next week! I'm super excited for Elyse to be back in the swimming pool & hopefully she'll have some serious skills by the time that summer finally decides to show back up!  I have a feeling she's going to have come a long way from the little girl that was in the pool last year!

3. The Biggest Loser wrapped up this week, and while there was certainly some backlash surrounding the final results...I'm just super proud of Marie Pearl!  She was attending our Zumba class back in the Spring before she headed off to the ranch (and has been back a few times since returning home) & I couldn't be more excited for the life-changing experience she just had! In fact, she actually surprised us all by showing up to class last night...she looks amazing and is such an inspiration to us all!  Way to go Marie!

Photo from Marie's Facebook page!

4.  We're heading out for a little family getaway tomorrow, all 3 of us...and I'm super excited.  We're gonna be gone less than 48 hours, but I'm just excited for some alone time away from home...in a hotel room...eating out on some yummy food...with my two favorite people in the entire world!  

An oldie for sure...but one of my favorite pics of them ever!

5.  I might have caved and bought Elyse & I semi-matching hoodies to wear for Valentine's Day....I'm not normally obsessed with matching her, but they were too cute to pass up! 

Head on over to April's blog to see all the other fabulous ladies who participate in 5 on Friday!  There's a ton of us!