- Back to school! -

Yessssss, it's that time again: back to school! Time to grow 'dem brains! Woot! After studying the different education options in town, we decided to keep Harper enrolled at the daycare's 3-year-old "preschool" program this fall instead of pulling her from a familiar place and sending her FIVE! full! days! a! week! to the public preschool. Oh, the horror! I'm nowhere near ready to say goodbye to her full time yet...

SO, long story short: dos dias a week a la daycare is perfecto for us and our work schedules/childcare needs, and we've been working on some tracing/drawing and some shape-/color-/number-/letter-recognizing activities at home, too!  She's been rockin' and rollin' with this dry erase book, and I'm pretty proud of her work. 3 going on 7? I'd say so. :)

We snagged a 10-color pack of dry erase markers in the "clearanced school supplies" aisle at Wal-Mart last week, so now she's even more excited to dominate this book!

Sweet Scarlett has a renewed interest in learning, too...

Also! We're still loving the library:
...and outlining each other with chalk to "make families" on the driveway:

...and mixing primary colors to make secondary and tertiary colors: 

...and and and and! These kiddos are total sponges, and I love watching their little minds learn and grow and discover and blossom!  Wooooo! Keep up the good work... Momma knows you girls are going places! :-* :-*

- Seven months young! -

Oy veyyyy; she's over the "hump" and on the downhill slide into her first birthday... 

SEVEN MONTHS! It was the best of times, it was the worst BEST of times.

...Truly the very best of times!

Daddy's chomping at the bit for you to be mobile and on the go go go, but I'm googly-eyed in love with you at this stage, Scarlett! I'm pretty sure I gush over my kiddos every month of their lives, but 6-10 months really is my favorite age and so! I'm soaking soaking soakinggggg in every sweet second and definitely not taking any of these days with you for granted. You aren't crawling yet, but you are rocking on hands and knees and lunging forward to snatch whatever you have your eye on. .....Incluuuuuuding all of Harper's prized possessions, which has caused some sweat and tears [for example: yesterday she was working diligently to finish her favorite Minnie Mouse puzzle and was looking all around for the last piece...........only to find it spit-soaked and torn in half between your chubby fingers...and THAT did not end well. I fear this not-fun sister rivalry is only just beginning!] In shorter words: you're into anything and everything and so interactive and fun and smiley [though again, the sober face shines through on your monthly chalkboard photo!].  Due to the lunging/log rolling/scooting/spinning, we can no longer plant you in the middle of our bed and trust you to kick back and hang there unattended for a few seconds! You're a little stinker with your food and only really want oatmeal for every meal. Every now and then I can sneak a small spoon of peas into your mouth, but sweet potatoes and green beans and applesauce are immediately an absolute NO!  First ear infection this month. Boo. Boo. Double boo! Your porcelain skin and big blue eyes melt our hearts, and I just know you're going to be a little spitfire when you are a little older!

Happy 7 months, cute girl. We heart you!

- They get/got it from their momma... -

What's that you say? Yeshhh, even though Scarlett wasn't treated to a full blown photo shoot in her momma's 1980's swimsuit, I still couldn't stop myself from throwing together another side-by-side comparison of these precious [hah] pictures!

Unlike her big sis, Scarlett was much more fortunate to inherit my pale skin, double chin, big ears, and RBF. Lolzzz, God love her. At least we know she's mine! 

...It's actually pretty incredible that the suit's elastic still stretches without crumbling and the purple material hasn't faded to white, but! 29 years and still going strong gives me a hue of hope that this heirloom miiiiight just hang around to meet MY grandbabies in a few decades! 

We'll juuuuuuust have to wait and see... Stay tuned! ;) :) 

- Spotted: ZOO ANIMALS here, there, and everywhere! -

Today was Scarlett's first trip to the zoo, and -- womp womp -- I didn't even realize it until we had already been there for a couple of hours. And even after I realized it, I still didn't notice at the time that 90% of the pictures I was taking were just of Harper and her sweet friend Caroline... [...#secondbabysyndrome ...#westillloveyouscarlett ...Just lol'ing because 'tis a super sharp 180-degree turn from the way I anticipated and photographed and delighted over Harper's first zoo visit.......and Harper's first everything, at that.] But! Scarlett absolutely loved the adventure and she rode along all day with the big kids like a champ...

...until she couldn't ride no mo'. What kind of infant can sleep on a janky/rackety/jerky train? Oh, Scarlett: bless you, sweet child.

The weather was beautiful and the crowd was sparse and it really was the perfect day filled with tons of fun, fun, FUN for everyone!

Thanks again, Shannon, for inviting us! Not sure how it's been 2+ years since we were last here together, but I'm so glad it worked out again today! We must get the babies together again soon before another huge chunk of time passes by! :)

...And for now? Seems like it's totally time to 1) rejoice in the fact that I made it back to the car alive after pushing this boat around the zoo all day then uphill x 2 miles back to our parking spot, and 2) let the girls continue the nice long snooze they started on the ride home, and 3) hop in the shower so Brian doesn't get home from work and think he's married to a zoo animal!  

Rawr, hiss, growl!

Bye now! 

- Lavender Life Hacks -

{Re-posting from my Facebook page for the sake of being able to find/share this info again!}

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I burnt my middle finger on the grill while making dinner tonight, and after a few applications of lavender totally took the sting/pain away from the bubbled-up blister, I thought I'd give a little series of shoutouts to this bottle I/we literalllllly can't live without! 

And so! A gift from me to you: 5 days of our favorite ways! 

Lavender life hack #1:  Goodbyeeee, burns! Oven/grill/exhaust pipe burns (I can attest to the first two, Brian to the third!) ...sunburns ...even razor burns! We use a drop of lavender right on the burn for a small area or diluted with a quarter-sized glob of coconut oil for a larger area (like a full body sunburn, which my pale-@$$ is sadly accustomed to). Sweet relief be ours! 

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Lavender life hack #2:  It's the prime ingredient in my favorite zzzzzz mix! We diffuse 2 drops lavender + 1 drop cedarwood overnight (make that EVERY night in Harper's bedroom!) for some extra restful sleep. Sweet dreams!  

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Lavender life hack #3:  Keep the lavender + cedarwood combo going strong by adding one drop of each to a new tube of mascara. Your lashes will thank you... Mine sure do! As Harper says, "Mommy, can you put some of 'dat oil makeup on my boot-iful eye-washes too?!" 

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Lavender life hack #4:  Juuuuust made it home from a 12-hour shift on L&D and contractions! babies! triage! hearttones! running my butt off here! there! and everywhere! Legit three seconds away from kicking off my Danskos and massaging a drop of lavender into the soles of my feet; it's wayyy better than a relaxing bath in my book. What's that they call this -- Sunday Funday? 

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Lavender life hack #5:  Lastly but very not least-ly is my fave oily hack to date...because who doesn't love a nice set of wool[y] balls topped off with a drop of lavender?! I'm talkin' 'bout LAUNDRY DAY, yo'! Toss those toxic dryer sheets and grab a set of wool dryer balls on Amazon; your health and your wallet won't argue! #win #win #winning

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Annnnnd that's a wrap!  I will hook you up if you're ready to getchuuu some!  #oilylife #youngliving

- Scarlett's first food! -

Wellllllll this literally went down about 2 full months ago...

...but in my book, it's always better late than never! #letnothinggoundocumented 

Blah.

Way back when, we steamed and pureed some peas and threw the finished mush on a golden platter for Scarlett...

...and -- shocker -- she liked it! Harper fed her her first bowl of veggie before polishing off a bowl of [regular/whole] peas for herself. 

Peas here... Peas there... Peas everywhere! 

Most anti-climactic post ever? Mebbe. Meh. ...GO SCARLETT, GO! Grow Scarlett, grow!!! :) :) :) 

- Pigs and queens and rides...OH MY! -

A full Saturday dedicated strictly to deep cleaning this dump of a house set us three seconds away from going completely STIR CRAZY...

...so we threw in the towel [literally] and headed for the county fair! Booyah, baby!

Brian took Harper to the fair's rodeo earlier in the week, and she came home talking a mile a minute about how, "'Dis ONE cowboy falled off his cow and got his jeans ALL DIRTY, Mommy! And Kate weared her boots to 'da row-dee-oh. But it's too wow'd [loud] for Sissy's ears 'dere but me and Daddy will take you 'dere when her is older. Ok, Mommy?" Ok, baby...it's a date!

But Saturday evening brought family fun for everyone! There were trains and race cars...

...pigs and cows and livestock of all shapes and sizes [and smells]...

...carnival rides [the swings were Harper's favorite this year]...

...beautiful queens...

...and much more!

It's true what they say: there are activities and food and fun for everyone.  We love this fair and it's so fun to watch our kids love it, too.  

So! Keep it real until next year... :)  

We'll be back!  

- Family pics [again...]! -

The girls' teachers at school [AKA daycare] have been asking us to send a family picture to hang in their classrooms for a few weeks now, so -- instead of printing a copy of our last decent family photo -- I decided to throw down an impromptu Saturday evening mini-shoot!  We went to Mass and dinner with the rentsies and then convinced them to swing by the park for a "night cap" to help get this session accomplished. Thanks, Dad, for snapping some pics of the four of us; and double thanks to Mom for jumping around behind the camera like a clown to get the littles to face forward and [sort of] smile! And Brian, per usual, pulled off his "hair fixing and skirt fluffing" job like a pro! :)

BTW -- matching "sister outfits" [again] compliments of Grammy Resa! I adore them!

We love these little people more than words can say!!!

- Six months young! -

And that means...HALF A YEAR OLD!!! Wahhhhhh!

Ohhhhh, sweet pretty Scarlett girl: you are absolutely THE BEST! This month you've mastered sitting up by yourself [I still throw a pillow behind your back juuuust in case you topple over], and you're so happy being plopped down in a mound of toys and reaching and playing and chewingggg on everything you can get your hands on.

You enjoy sitting up in shopping carts now, too [and Aldi carts are the best]!

You tried and loved peas but weren't a fan of sweet potatoes or green beans ...or shockingly, Puffs! Momma's pride took a small blow when you recurrently shut down my homemade veggies [you literally just clinch your jaws shut and put your chin down to your chest every time you smell them warming up...we'll have to work on that!]! Oatmeal is your desired dinner and, well, we usually let you have your way.

You weighed 16 pounds, 11 ounces and measured 26.5 inches at your six-month well baby visit. Your hair is long enough to hold a clippy bow without the stretchy headbands! Yay!

Your favorite person is Harper and I'm pretty sure your entire world revolves around her; you will crane your neck in directions I didn't know necks could bend just to get a glimpse of your beloved big sis. 

You aren't the world's longest napper, especially if Momma isn't holding you [30 minute "catnaps" are your jam], but you're so cute that we don't reallllly mind. ;) ;)  ...The 5am rooster/cry call isn't nearly as cute, but Mommy and Daddy's circadian rhythms are adjusting grudgingly.

^^ The pillow says it best: we'll love you forever! 

Cheers to six months -- your best month yet!

- I don't cry over spilled milk... -

...unless it's breast milk, in which case I cry A LOT!

Last night, Harper was swinging around a freshly pumped bottle and "accidentally" popped the nipple off and spilled FOUR FULL PRECIOUS OUNCES all over the kitchen table and floor and I literally had to take a 5-second deep breath in and walk away before I scream-cried and totally lost my $#*% right in front of her!!! Oh. My. Lawwwwwwwwd. Run-on sentence deluxe, but EFF WORDY EFF EFF.

...But worry not, I eventually swept it under the rug/down the drain and all was swell in our abode a few minutes later. 

And that ^^ was a just a dramatic preface to this:

Rumor has it that this is World Breastfeeding Week [of course I just realized today is the last day of #WBW, but I'm usually almost always late to the game so no big surprise there] and so! Let me just toot the horn and jump on the bandwagon by taking a hot second to celebrate my kids' literal life-saving devices -- AKA my boobies!

(  o  )(  o  )

Breastfeeding is a big priority in this house for a multitude of reasons, and so this #WBW is the perfect chance to get few things off/out of my chest [pun intended?]. While I wholeheartedly agree with the new motto that "fed is best" and it's great that mamas have the liberty to choose what's best for them/their families, I'm alsoooo a huge breastfeeding advocate and get my feathers ruffled a wee bit when I'm on the receiving end of petty remarks such as, "You're stilllllll breastfeeding her?" and, "You're so lucky you are able to nurse her!" and, "I wish it was easy for me like it is for you..." Because hold the phone: in my experience[s], it has never been easy!!! I used a nipple shield .every.single.time. I fed Harper for a full year.  And Scarlett was a beast of her own....... ...Lettttt's just say I'm not a newbie when it comes to a) seeking expert lactation help to correct a bad latch and b) pampering a set of sore/cracked/BLEEDING nipples haaaaaa. :/  Throw in healing up a few clogged ducts...finding time to pump every few hours at work...keeping up with a decent diet/fluid intake + choking down lactation supplements and "cookies" all to sustain an adequate milk supply.......and this breastfeeding dealio becomes a full time job in and of itself! I definitely wouldn't say it's all fun and games, but! In the face of ALL of that ^^, I still immediately say yes to breastfeeding [and would say yes a million times again!] because my struggles/sacrifices so clearly become the girls' gain/benefit. I also adore the bonding time with my sweet babies and truly believe I gave/am giving them the very best!

So yes, although there's absolutely been trials and tribulations and tears along the way, I just wanted to throw it out there that exclusive breastfeeding doesn't necessarily come easy to every new mom out there, but I'm still proud of my decision to push through when it's not as easy or glamorous as it sounds. Breastfeeding is undoubtedly the hardest job I've ever loved, and I already know I'll miss those middle-of-the-night feeding sessions and all that sweet bonding time with Scarlett when she's done [just like I did when Harper weaned!].

Blah blah blahhhh...the moral of my story? Just this: breastfeeding is HARD WORK, so big props to all the women who can and do! Please, let's use this week [and every week!] to encourage and support breastfeeding mamas who are giving it their all! Whether you stick out for a day or a week or a year, I commend you and am cheering for you and celebrating you!!!  

Gotta run......it's snack time! ;) :)