May 2018 in Photos and Short Stories

6.04.2018

First things first. It has come to my attention that blogger comments are acting up, and I missed email notifications from most of the comments on my previous post! If you commented and I never responded, I wasn't ignoring you. I'm actually glad to have a legitimate reason for noticing a drop in comments and wondering if everyone banded together and decided to abandon the blog. Turns out it's not me, it's blogger.

That said, I would understand if you did decide to jump ship, seeing as how I can't get my act together lately to write a post. But it's not for lack of things going on. In fact, I'm having the opposite problem and have too many things. This is only the beginning. From two weekends ago through the end of June, we have something scheduled every weekend, and to top it off, the next two weeks I'm taking R to swim lessons at the community pool in the evenings after I get off work. AND I picked now to try and start waking up early to hit the gym for a workout and shower before getting the kids up for our morning rush to daycare/work.

So basically what I'm saying is it was nice knowing you, goodbye.

Also, due to the fact that I keep adding things to the kitchen wall calendar, if you happen to stop by the house, please don't judge the Amazon jungle that has become my front landscaping. Somehow weeding is on a constant rotation to the back of my list every single day and never gets done. It's straight up thick grass and dandelions at this point, and I'm contemplating just setting fire to the entire area if it weren't already 100 degrees outside and consequently a major fire hazard.

Before my list of things to recap on the blog gets any longer, I thought I would do a quick run-down of events/happenings for you! If for nothing else than to get some of these photos to see the light of day and so I can remember what May 2018 looked like for us.

Mother's Day was the best kind of day because I got to spend the whole day with the kids. I can't relate to requests for alone time on Mother's Day, and all I wanted was for us to be together. I also wanted a nap, and Jordan was kind enough to oblige me on both counts! After J woke up from his afternoon nap, the four of us went out for ice cream at a new shop that recently opened. (R refuses to nap on the weekends anymore although she still naps daily at daycare, but it's fine and I'm totally not bitter about it even though she still needs a nap and by the evening she is a hot mess and a half. But that's beside the point here.)
The following day was May 14, our 7th anniversary. Since it was a weekday and things are more complicated with daycare dropoffs and getting to work, we postponed our annual anniversary breakfast at iHop for the following Saturday. I don't even remember how or why this started, but we have gone to iHop for breakfast to celebrate every single anniversary since the very first. Our little family keeps growing every year, and I love it.

A few weeks ago I took off work early to bring R to the dentist for her first checkup! They normally don't see kids until age 3, but I have some leftover flex spending money to use up, so I made her an appointment a few months early.
She did SO amazing, and I was honestly dumbfounded by it. Jordan and his family have been going to the same dentist and hygienist since they were all little, and Stacy is the best. She did such a great job talking R through all the instruments and explaining what she was doing. She asked R if she wanted to sit in my lap or sit in the chair by herself, and R said, "I sit by myself." She climbed right up and did not make one single peep the whole time, just nodded along and did whatever she was asked. Such a big girl! And she got a clean bill of health for all 20 of her teeth!
One of my best (and oldest) friends from Illinois came to visit me over Memorial Weekend. We went to high school together and played in the orchestra (her, viola, and me, violin). We hadn't seen each other in FOUR years, but as it happens with good friends, it was almost like no time had passed. 

I picked her up from the airport on Friday afternoon, and she stayed until Monday morning. We went to an outdoor food truck park, the arts festival, the farmer's market, grilled burgers, went to church, and watched a lot of New Girl. Love friend time! R loved having her around too. Although I don't think J cared either way ;)
On Monday after I dropped Hilda at the airport, I took R and J to the splash pad! It is now open for summer, and I'm so excited. R was having a blast running around, which is a huge difference from last year when she was so timid about the water. J took a while to warm up but seemed to enjoy himself by the end. I bought that cute little hat off Kidizen, by the way! Check it out if you haven't yet with my referral code (theladyokie) and get $5 off your first purchase (within 30 days). I've made 4 sales on it so far of my own stuff, which is kind of fun!
So Hilda flew back to Illinois on Monday, and on Tuesday I left for a work conference in Kansas City. Kansas City is only 5 hours away fro OKC, so I drove up with 2 coworkers and then flew back late Wednesday night (they were staying another day) and got home around 11 pm. I was technically only gone for a day and a half, but it felt like so much longer. I was in the same meeting room from 8:30am until 4:30pm, even for lunch! It was a long day, but on the positive side, I got to wear my new shirt from the Loft Outlet that I'd bought the day before. It's so comfy but business casual enough and was great for traveling.

I also loved my hotel, which had a fun bar in the basement. On Tuesday night I had an hour before meeting some coworkers for dinner, so I went to the bar by myself. I rarely drink and never know what to order from a bar, so I asked the bartender to make me something. I don't know what it was, but it was delicious!
I don't know if J even noticed I was gone, but Jordan said that R kept saying, "Dada and J and R at home. Mama at work." I didn't get to sleep until midnight or so on Wednesday, and then J was up during the night a few times per usual, and then it was up at 7:00 for work again on Thursday! When R woke up, she ran right to me and gave me a huge hug and shouted, "Mama, you're back!" It was SO incredibly sweet.
On Friday (yes, Friday of the same week as Memorial Day and my work trip; as in, this past Friday), Jordan and I both took off work to drive to Texas for my cousin's wedding, which was Friday night. I hope to pop back in soon and share a recap of the weekend and photos from the day! Everything went really well, and everyone from our side of the family was able to come except for one person, so it was basically a family reunion and so much fun! Everyone loved seeing R and J. 

But now I think you can see why I don't have much time to blog right now! All of our weekends in June are booked AND that doesn't include my sister-in-law, who is going to have her baby any day now! It's crazy how many things we have going on. But it's all good and there's so much to be thankful for. I hope you all had a great weekend, and a great week ahead! Thanks for reading :)
Rachel Emily said...

Whew! You all have been really busy! I feel like if I tried to do a life update (since whenever the heck I did one last) it would look pretty similar. Enjoy this sweet age and season with those babies!! The blog will be here :)

Unknown said...

Oh goodness girl! You are BOOKED solid. So fun but it can be so stressful too. I know the feeling. I can't get over how old our sweet babes have gotten! So bittersweet.

Unknown said...

I'm in the same phase of life right now- I have so many blog post ideas but no time to write. I will never jump ship! :)

AnneMarie said...

Wow, what a whirlwind! These are such fun memories, thanks for sharing stories from your life with all of us. Your anniversary tradition is so cute!
Also, I am thoroughly annoyed with the Blogger comment glitch thing, and I REALLY hope they get it resolved soon!!!!

Jen said...

These are amazing memories! The anniversary tradition is the best!

Kristin said...

I just love that you guys have an iHop anniversary tradition! Sometimes the low key things are the most fun and most treasured. Other than that - wow, your schedule is packed!! Congrats for managing to squash in time for an update among all the rest!

Michelle said...

I am addicted to Kidizen. It’s so fun! I’ve gotten Gracie some awesome dresses from there I’d never find anyhwhere else. I also started listing a few things this week. I don’t think I’m supposed to have this much fun with it.

Callie said...

Something about June! It’s always crazy over here too. This year I think it’s because I put off so much in May because of vacation, now I have to catch up!

Rach said...

Good gracious! SO much happening! And so much more to come. I'm so glad you had such a sweet mother's day with your babies and that your work trip went so well. Cute top, by the way! R's response when you got home was just melt-your-heart-precious! <3 Good luck with the coming busy! Be sure to come up for air sometime soon. ;)

Audrey Louise said...

Oh my gosh, that week was insane!! So sweet that you guys got in some Mother's Day time, an anniversary breakfast celebration, friend time, AND family time! June start off with nothing on the calendar but now EVERY WEEKEND IS BOOKED. Sheesh!

Rachel said...

The blogger comment situation is a bit annoying, I hope it resolves itself somehow because I hate technology. Love your new shirt! Glad you're having the "fun" sort of busyness at this season. We are also particularly busy, mostly because of visiting family and I love having family to visit!!

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