Insta-matic July

Some of my favorite pictures from instagram this month.
There were a few others, but they disappeared from my phone.
As always, obsessed with my little lady.

Rainy moving day in Charlotte - hooray for movers!

Sweeping the empty house.

Finding our happy place - Target - in Cincinnati.

A rainy day at The Capital Grille.

Getting her dance on.

Falling in love with 'Dun-dah' at IKEA.

Hot & sweaty after our first trip to the Cincinnati Zoo.

Current favorite book.

Finding bracelets at Home Depot.

Being social on our afternoon stroll.



She's a little obsessed with her Sophia magnets.



 

Fresh strawberry ice cream.

 

Slowing Down

We have been in our hotel suite room for a little over three weeks.
This weekend we get the keys to our rental and start the unpacking fun.
Aside from a few small errands and story time, we have nothing planned.
Lots of walks, dancing, playing, and napping are in order.
I couldn't be more pleased.

 

I hope she will always want to hold hands.



Squirrels, slides, and squeals!

I'm not good at staying home (especially when we are living in a hotel room with two large dogs) but I am trying to find time to appreciate the little things.

On the way to the grocery store I spotted squirrels (large fiberglass ones) and a little playground so Sophia and I stopped to play before shopping.

She loved this blue slide. She wanted to walk up it and slide down it 999 times while holding my hands.

 

 She didn't last long on the whale...it was "hhhhhaaat"

I wish I would have recorded her happy noises while she was swinging. Such joy.

Sophia loves the little things - the air blowing through her hair, swinging, sliding, shrieking - and I am trying to take the time to soak it all in.

It's Potty Time!

I am not Potty Training Sophia
{mainly because I have no clue what to do!}
but I did pick up a potty a few weeks ago.

She has started bringing me a diaper when she wants to be changed
and I just wanted her to get used to having a potty.

We sit on it each night before bath time.

She likes it, but she tries to push it around and ride on it like a car.

This morning I told her I was going to the bathroom and she followed me,
trying to take off her dress and diaper at the same time.
After stripping her down, she settled in on the potty.
She alternates the way she faces and hops on and off constantly.

I walked out of the bathroom to get her a fresh diaper and when I returned...
there was pee in the potty!!
I think I scared her a bit with all of the praise I was giving her!

New milestone: First pee on a potty July 26, 2013.

Now, to learn how to potty train an almost-seventeen month old.
For the record, I think she is a little too young, but we will continue to sit on the potty.

Children's potty from IKEA.

Five on Friday

I'm linking up with A. Liz Adventures for another Five on Friday...cheers to the weekend!

One

Sophia has reddish hair. I am not sure if she will stay a redhead, but I love it!
{I will admit to choosing filters on instagram to make it a bit redder}
I love how her hair can start great conversations with others about their connections to redheads.
Something I learned about red hair -
in order to have a redhead, you have to have redheads on both sides of the family tree.

Two

Two nutella recipes I am very much looking forward to trying:

Nutella Swirl Ice Cream

I saw this on A Beautiful Mess and I can't wait to unpack our ice cream maker and try this out!

and

Nutella Sugar Cookies

I saw this recipe on Pinterest from this site and I think it will work with a gluten free flour blend.

Three

I got a little caught up in the Great Kate Wait. I was betting on a girl - wrong.
I thought Kate and William showed such grace when introducing the prince to the world.
There is no way {even with help} that I would have been camera ready 24 hours after giving birth.

via

HRH Prince George - I know a sweet little American commoner if you are interested :)

Four

I had the best green smoothie at Whole Foods thanks to the Vitamix demo man.
Can't wait to unpack my blender (which is NOT a Vitamix) so that I can try to replicate it.
I wish I had asked for the recipe. I know it had pineapple, lime, and spinach.
Who knew I'd like spinach in my smoothies :)

via

Five

I am no longer living and teaching in North Carolina but after reading this article I am worried about education in the state. I won't get on my soapbox but so many amazing educators are leaving the profession. No raise, phasing out tenure, cutting even more teaching assistants - North Carolina you have done a disservice to the profession.

This is my 100th post!

Weekend Fun

This is the last weekend that Dave will not have to work for awhile. We enjoyed some quality time, but it sped by!

 

We met with our landlord and toured the house again. There is a lot to be done in the next weeks before we move in. I didn't take a single picture, but we learned quite a few interesting tidbits about the house.

 

Since we were in the area we stopped by the restaurant so I could take a few pictures of the almost-finished outside.

We had our first trip to Skyline Chili. None of us ordered the traditional 3-way (spaghetti topped with chili and cheese). We need to try Gold Star before deciding where we stand on the Cincinnati chili battle.

Dave had to pick up some items for the restaurant so we headed to Home Depot. I entertained the little while he shopped. I think she also entertained the fellow shoppers.

I was hoping to check out Riverfront Park on Sunday but due to a Red's game it was crowded with little parking. We drove a little further down the road to Friendship Park and took a sweaty stroll down the paths.

Sunday was National Ice Cream Day.  To celebrate we visited the Aglamesis Brothers ice cream parlor - which has been in Oakland for 100 years. We ordered peach, fresh strawberry, and black raspberry chip (which was AMAZING).

 

 

 Overall it was a relaxing weekend but I am glad we explored our new city a little more.