play

It was a fabulous and marvelous and wonderful weekend, my dears!

My parents came up for the weekend and we had a big work event at Ben’s work and an after party and a little visit with some out-of-state friends and burgers with family and other fun things! Weekends…you are truly the best.

We had dinner out with Ben’s brother and his little family at our favorite local burger place on Friday night (seriously, all locals…you gotta eat here), although in all honesty, they had dinner and I fed Ayla in the car, haha. #momlife But it was raining and lovely and I got to eat my burger eventually.

Ben’s work had their annual open house day on Saturday, which is the biggest day of the year for them! It was a great event with fun activities for the kids and barbecue chicken meals for lunch and ice cream and fresh doughnuts and live music. They brought in a hot air balloon for rides, but sadly the wind kept them from being able to take it up. Secretly I was slightly glad since I told Ben I would go up with him in it and I am not-so-secretly terrified of heights and a hot air balloon really freaks me out! But we do some crazy things for the people we love and I was just gonna do it…and knew it would probably end up being super fun and exciting in spite of being terrified of the whole experience. I’ll have to conquer that fear another time since the wind stayed too strong all day for them to get the balloon up.

Sunday was an absolutely beautiful and perfect day. The little miss slept in a little longer than normal and we got up and fed her first breakfast, and then had a long, leisure breakfast with my parents. It’s such fun to have them visiting for a few days, and we love to watch them love on little Ayla. There is something so special and rewarding about watching other people love your child. Some out-of-state friends stopped in for a little visit later in the morning and we had a good time catching up with them for an hour or so too.

The big highlight of the day was a little coffee date that Ben and I snuck away on during Ayla’s afternoon nap….another great perk of having my parents in town, hehe! We don’t expect nor even want our life to be like it was before Ayla joined our family, so of course dates and outings are different than they used to be. But it really was nice to have an hour or so together out on our own! We grabbed some iced lattes at a little cafe and sat by the lake and talked and kissed and snuggled, and then rushed back to our baby because we missed her.

Another highlight was the baby dedication service we had at church that evening. It was such a special time of thanking God for the gift of our daughter and dedicating her back to Him in the presence of our church and family. Ayla slept through the first part of the service (thankfully!), but in typical Sunday evening fashion, decided to get a little fussy for the last half. Like I said, Sunday evenings aren’t her favorite!

After church, my dad wanted pizza so we ordered a large veggie from a place in town and came home and demolished the whole thing. It’s nice having my parents in town, hehe! They are here for a few days yet so we are soaking up the grandparent time!

Here are five things I love:
– this dress
– this recipe
– this to teach our daughters
– this tutorial
– this salad

Have a great week!

What about you: what was the highlight of your weekend?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Another great weekend!

Weekends have always been a favorite (i mean, who doesn’t love them!?), but I think since having Ayla they are even more wonderful. We love having Ben home with us and going out for fun things together with him. There is nothing I love more than watching my husband with my little girl, and it just melts me every time she lays on his chest and is so still and content to be there with him. So when we can have him home with us, we love it!

It was a beautiful weekend with the perfect balance of bright sunshine and cozy rain! We haven’t had rain for several weeks, and it was so super nice to get a good thunderstorm and a downpour on Saturday evening. I love a good thunderstorm!

We went into town on Saturday to do a little shopping for our growing girl and have lunch. Ayla is such a champ and pretty much sleeps the whole time she is in her car seat, although we always find ourselves speeding back towards home as quick as we can in case she wakes up before we get there and needs to eat, haha. She started stirring awake just as we got home, so it was perfect timing! We filled her little tummy, and then I tucked myself in for a nap…and for whatever reason could.not.sleep. We had a short night on Friday night since the little miss was waking up to eat every two hours versus her normal three – four hour night cycle. Growth spurt, I think. I was pretty exhausted on Saturday, but couldn’t seem to find sleep when I was able to crawl into bed. Strange! Thankfully the next night was back to the normal two-wakings, and I was able to get better sleep.

Sunday was our normal day of relaxation at home. The rain and clouds hung around all day so it was the perfect day for naps and reading and snuggles. We had church in the evening and came home to the little miss having another epic meltdown…apparently Sunday evenings aren’t her favorite, hehe. It can feel so helpless to know what to do when your baby is in the middle of those kind of unconsolable crying sessions and won’t go to sleep…but we just take turns rocking and bouncing and singing to her and tell ourselves that the crying can’t last forever! And it never does and eventually she settles down and all is quiet once again. Like I’ve said, Ayla isn’t a fussy baby at all, but sometimes we all just need a good cry, right?!

Here are five things I love:

– this nail polish
– this is wow
– this skirt
– this springy soup
– this album

Have a great week!

What about you: how was your weekend?