Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

Not bad as far as Friday the 13ths go! After a short(ish) day for me and kind of for Kyle, we embarked on our Fathers' day weekend kickoff adventure! We ordered/picked up dinner at the Coop (a new restaurant in Winter Park) then had a little picnic in the park. After that we headed to Alfond Stadium to watch the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs game. It's a wood bat college league so the price is right and the baseball isn't half bad. It was dog night to boot, so Cort got to come too! Nora made it until half way through the 5th - about 8:30 and then she was done checking out all the dogs in the stands and Dawgs on the field. It was a really fun summer Friday! Look at us being adults and doing things outside of the house as a family!

Outside the Nest

Work day for me, work day for Kyle, play day for Nora. We all went our separate ways this morning, Kyle was on drop off duty and I had pick up from daycare today. I kept my excitement in check for a few extra seconds and snapped this little pic in the entryway on my way to pick up my mini. Her "report card" says she had a great day and the first thing anyone said to me when I walked in was "She is so friendly!!". That made me even more excited to scoop her up! Same thing tomorrow.

Wear Your Colors!

Nora was an artist today! She created this work of loveliness on the light pad and then

created this work of loveliness on her belly! Surprise - her next stop was the bath tub!!! Our artistic day ended with some dry erase board coloring (which also involved some unique belly art.) I like a girl who isn't afraid to flaunt her fun!

Pleasant Surprises

Look who came home for lunch! Nora was super excited to see her daddy walk through the door just in time to belly up to the breakfast bar with her. We all ate then Kyle and I plugged the hole in the SportWagen tire and he headed back to work. A little later this afternoon I got the call from Florida Hospital offering me an internship position for the fall! It isn't going to be easy but I'm excited to know I'm one step closer to finishing what I started 5ish years ago.

The Big Picture

This morning Nora woke up cranky and I woke up short on patience...not a good combo. Things kind of stayed that way all day. I did my best to come up with activities to keep her busy and occupied without whining and she did her best to be a toddler and push my buttons. I posted a picture on instagram of her happily playing outside on her light pad in her peppermint water beads - it was great - but I'm not about to pretend it was all clean and contained. I spent a good amount of time picking up beads from all over the patio and getting frustrated doing it and I'm pretty sure she was entertained by it. It's easy in a blog called "snapshot" to just hit the highlights - you know the highs and the light stuff (and there were those today) but that's not an accurate representation and overall, today I felt like I lost and Nora's natural toddlerness got the best of me.

Then, I sat down to do tonight's blog and I looked through the pictures from today and well...there were plenty of moments when I felt frustrated so I specifically stopped and took a picture (already having my topic in mind). But, looking through all those pictures while choosing one for tonight I realized, that at those moments when I was feeling frustrated, specifically this one - beads were ALL over the patio and toys were everywhere and Nora had just finished whining and being "mean"...but at this moment she was back to playing in her beads after having already played with them for a half hour. She was busy and happy and enjoying the activity I put together hoping for those exact results, knowing it would result in a mess of sorts. I was so busy focusing on how I felt like I'd "lost" that I didn't realize I had accomplished my goal - I had won (that "round" anyway). So here I am, exhausted after a hard fought day and learning lessons about the big picture...just one more thing my toddler has taught me.

Feeling Blue

Play Doh in church?! Some might say I'm brave, other's that I'm crazy and others might be appalled and think I'm ridiculous...but, before you judge, you're looking at a one year old antsy girl playing independently, being quiet and sitting still in her own seat about 20 minutes into an almost 30 minute long sermon this morning! BOOM! Today was our best church day yet, Nora was great the whole time and I felt like I'd won a race at the end! I think we're figuring out the right recipe for keeping her engaged/occupied while we get to pay attention some. In addition to play doh, that recipe may or may not include a slinky. After we putzed around the house some this afternoon we went and checked out another house for fun and then we went to the pool.

Nora and I have been riding our bike to the Y on a regular basis during the week to play at the pool and work on her swimming. Today she got to show off her skills and progress to her daddy for the first time! Our "Nora, Ready, Go" technique has been working really well with going under and she's totally starting to love going underwater and wiggling around. Kyle's still pretty apprehensive about being the dunker, but I think it's fun to watch her come up looking surprised at first and then immediately be proud of herself! After the pool it was a family trip the grocery store, then time for bed! So despite having a lot of blue in it - today was pretty great!

Skort Stuff

After a lazy day (on my part anyway) of watching a wide variety of sports on TV while wearing the same clothes I happened to sleep in last night, I finally put myself together around 7pm. Just in time for a late evening trip to Jeremiah's! With a gelati trip on my mind I decided, what better way to celebrate a lovely summer evening than to zip into my florescent & tropical Dockers skorts?! I dropped the ball on wearing my Keds tonight, but I won't be making that mistake again! Look out Summer here I come - skorts and all!!!!