fish.

We are such fish this summer. The temps get hot and we get swimming. Decs is so confident in the water this year thanks to my favorite invention - the PuddleJumper:

We have planned pool days again this Saturday and Monday. Over 90 degrees and humid? No worries, we'll be in the water. 

Isn't summer the best?

summer time, favorite time...

I transferred some pics off of my phone from the last couple of weeks and it reminded me why summer is so fabulous.

Never a dull moment.

Declan and his cousins get uber crazy together. It was stormy tonight and they were stuck inside which equals extra energy! A few notes: 1) watch for Declan to get stiff armed by his cousin Asher, 2) little cousin Evie pushing on Asher, 3) Declan getting a shiner from running in to a chair. Hilarious.

Father's Day 2011.

Yes, we spent Father's Day poolside. It's super hot and humid in Nebraska...can you blame us?

This pool date with our littlest love was followed by a great date night (sans little love) last night complete with sleeping in. Now that's a celebration. 

I'm lucky to be married to such a caring, involved, loving man. He's an extraordinary daddy.  Declan adores him.

My dad's pretty fabulous too. We had the chance to celebrate him this evening as well. Hot dogs + pasta salad + watermelon + bike rides + popsicles + loving family = wonderful evening.

A shout out to my father-in-law who's touring Europe right now. [We're a little jealous, maybe.] He rocks too.

VERY blessed.

squeaky clean

Maybe once a week Declan doesn't nap. He still has "quiet time" in his room where he looks at books in his bed. Over the monitor, you can barely hear anything. This brings us to yesterday's "quiet time" session which, in reality, was "Declan rubbing Desitin all over his scalp" session. 

Dis.gus.ting.

I washed his hair nearly 10 times and didn't make a dent. We were one step away from his first and only buzz cut when I decided to see if Mr. Google had any wisdom for me.  Wouldn't you know it that "how to get Desitin out of my toddler's hair?" had MANY responses. The overwhelming response was to use Dawn soap to cut the grease. Brilliant. They use that stuff to clean off animals after oil spills. I will say the first few washes had me doubting but after about 5 washes it started to come out.

Now, his hair, scalp and fingernails are squeaky clean. Lesson learned.

"What's the problem?"

zicam & watermelon

Today I woke up with a super sore throat and the dizzies. I'd like to note that I haven't been sick since the beginning of January. Shouldn't illness be illegal in summer? It's 80 and sunny here and I'm forcing my energetic son to stay inside. Mommy fail. We did take a brief break outside before the dizzies struck again.

I'm still trying to come to terms with this bad color choice for the toes. In my defense, my feet were really tan when I got the pedicure and I was thinking the NEON green was a good way to go. Yikes. My money tree is running low so I'll have to deal for another 5 weeks until it's time to go again. Oh well. There are worse things like opening a door in to your big toe and losing your nail and having to wear a bandaid for a year until it grows back. Yeah, that would definitely be worse. Ahem. Off to pop another Zicam.

The Acreage Shoot, Interrupted.

The fun part of being a realtor + mommy is that I can take Declan along with me for certain parts of my job. The "cute assistant" as I like to call him. Tonight, we headed South of town to a new acreage listing of mine. After take pictures for the listing, I got the bright idea to do a "mini shoot" with Decs. It all started off peachy:

And then it happened. 

The rumblings of a 4 wheeler in the distance. 

The heart of this nearly 3 year old burst with joy.

Photo shoot over.

Just an Idea...

 

So I haven't hit the nail on the head with this project, but here's an idea for my hubby's Father's Day gift this year. I need to find something more printable, but this draft certainly puts a smile on this mama's face. No worries about ruining the surprise--my hubs does not read my blog. Hopefully he doesn't take up reading it in the next few days.

p.s. - I finally updated the look of my blog, so check it out!

p.p.s. - I know my son is tall but doesn't he at least look 3 1/2 or 4 in these pics? Swoon.

p.p.p.s - I know this alley looks like a tetanus shot waiting to happen but he had his shoes on until right before the "shoot"...I promise!

Community

We live in a city of a few hundred thousand and absolutely love the sense of community that exists- especially in the summer. We love our local farmer's market, outdoor music nights and kids activities. Tonight we headed over to one of our favorite parks (the location of Declan's 2nd b.day bash) to listen to some fabulous tunes. Lawn chairs were scattered everywhere, kids inhaled free popcorn and snow cones and we ran in to people we knew at each turn. It was unseasonably cool--Monday was 100 degrees, today 65 degrees (welcome to Nebraska, folks). Fabulous night.

My precious niece:

First snow cone!

*ignore the grainy cell phone pics.... ;)

32 oz.

Can someone do me a favor and explain to my hubby, even though it's Gator.ade, no 3 year old needs a 32 oz drink? 

We have differing opinions.

Be still my heart.

My sweet baby is a little boy.

There is no denying it. 

He is fiercely independent (I hear "it's Deck-an's turn" all.day.long)

It was time.

Time for the big boy bed! *Breath*

Trust me. We put it off as long as we can. The last few weeks he's flip-floped in his crib for an hour before falling asleep and for awhile when waking up in the morning. We felt he was getting more and more uncomfortable. But- we loved the tented crib. He's safe, secure and contained. :)

Containment no more. The bed replaced the crib and Declan is in L-O-V-E. 

I had a cute, modern theme picked out but my sports loving almost-3-year-old wanted sports, sports and more sports! Shocking, I know. I kept an eye on Craigslist and found a Pottery.Barn quit and sham for about 75% off of what PB charges. It's uber adorable and not too "themey" thankfully. 

Night #1 was very anti-climatic. Declan immediately ditched our one-on-one time in the rocking chair where we sing and pray and cuddle. Nope, no more mommy time...he wanted to go straight to bed. *tears, sniff, tears*

AND...

He went right to sleep! What the heck? What happened to all the horror stories of putting the kid to bed 110 times the first night? We dodged that bullet. I'm anxious to see if he sleeps in like normal and if he naps. If we can hit those 2 nails on the head, we'll feel that the mission big boy bed was a success!! 

Besties.

Declan and Lukie are peas in a pod. Even an [almost] 3 year old boy needs a bestie, right? 

Did I mention Lukie's mom is MY bestie? Score!

Oh Happy Day!

Tonight, family joined us in celebrating the day a judge asked "do you love this little boy"? To read all about it, grab tissue and head over here.

Happy Adoption Day, sweet boy. We love you to the moon and back.

chipity chop

It's sticky hot here in Nebraska so it was time for the little man to get his hair chopped! It's always a hard day for this shaggy-hair-lovin' mama. Despite cold feet late last night, I rallied my internal troops and went through with the spikey David Beckham-ish cut. This adorable kid could pull off anything.

Pre cut:

 juice box + cookie = pretty cooperative

 post cut with his bestie, luke

We've officially welcomed summer. Bring on the short hair, popsicles, watermelon, swimming, multiple baths, late night park play, cook outs, sprinkler runs, bike rides, and more!!!