You know those days?

You know those days when you've just had enough?
Enough of the toilet paper roll being unraveled.
Enough of the food purposely being thrown on the floor.
Enough of the meltdowns and crying.
The kind of day when you start nap time early just so you can have a peaceful minute to yourself.

C'mon mamas, we've all had those days.

Now, don't get me wrong. We usually have really great days, but I have to say, yesterday was not one of them. It's probably partly me and partly her, but wow, was it ever getting to me today.

I was trying to fold laundry, and she helped to unfold every item.
I was trying to read her a story, and she was kicking me in the face.
I was trying to eat lunch, and she was throwing hers at me and the floor.

It was that kind of morning.

But, last night, Palmer had a sleepover at Nan and Grandpa's house while Mitch and I headed out for a much needed date (aka beers and grown up talk).

And this morning, I'm going to start my day off with a nice breakfast and cup of coffee, solo, as Palmer is still at Nan and Grandpa's and Mitch has headed to Montana for golf. Then, I'm planning on heading out for a run with my best dog. Check out Becky//The Bex Factor later for my #sundayrunday recap!

Hope you all had a great weekend!!-

Mornings Like These

The mess of toys on the floor.
The dishes in the sink.
The sticky floors.

 But, I don't care. When I get to spend my days off with my sweet Little Palmer, I don't care about those other things.

 Will they get done? Eventually. But for right now, in these moments, I am all consumed with Palmer. Her imagination and silliness. Her creativity. Her inquisitive faces, soaking up everything around her like a sponge.

These are the moments I love.

These moments spent with her are the best parts of my days off.

I love mornings like these.

Playdates

Finding time for play-dates is difficult for us. With the majority of my friends being shift-workers too, and me being full time, I find it is hard to arrange a time to meet up.

Yesterday, we were fortunate enough to be able to be outside enjoying the hot sun while having a play date with two sweet girls and their mamas (both of which also do shift work). These girls are just the cutest together! I'm hoping there will be many more outdoor summer fun with these ladies.

(Photos courtesy of Tawnya)

Today, while its not so hot out; in fact, its raining again today, we were able to get a morning indoor play-date in with another friend of ours. It would have been nice to be able to get outside, but I know there will be many more chances for that this summer!

I find that with Palmer going to the day home most days, she is very easy going. She knows how to share and play with other kids. She's not too shy and warms up to people quite quickly. I think interaction with the other kids there has had a huge impact on her. Its' nice that she has interaction with kids of various ages and I find Palmer plays so well with other kids (except yesterday when she pushed Little S! Sorry! ). allowing Palmer to be social with other children will help her so much as she grows. It's so important for kids to interact with other kids, that's why I'm grateful for the little friends Palmer has. Although getting together and making plans can be challenging at times, the outcome is so worth it. Watching Palmer play with her little girlfriends (and the handful of boyfriends) just melts my heart!!!

Mom Lovin' Hop: Guest Host

Hannah//Joyful Life, Lena//Root & Blossom, and Amy//Keepin' Up With the Smith's have been so kind as to allow me to be a guest host for the Mom-Lovin' hop this week! I have been following along with this hop for awhile now, and am happy to be a part of it! It's been a great way to find and follow new blogs - I always love finding new blogs to follow!!
Thanks ladies for another week of the Mom-Lovin' hop!!

Yay For A Week Off!

Yesterday at 3:15 pm marked the beginning of a nice stretch of days off of work. I don't have to go back again until Tuesday - when you work full time, 6 full days off is nice! Palmer and I will spend our time outside, enjoying the beautiful summer weather, hit up a park or two, maybe even the splash park. We will meet up with some little friends and enjoy the sunshine and watch the kiddos play.

M y next 6 days will consist of this....

Unfortunately, Mitch still has to work but he does have the weekend off, so I'm hoping to get in some quality family time then. Last weekend, he was working all night Friday and the whole entire day on Saturday. He left the house at 4:30 am and got home from work after midnight; 19.5 hours of work!! So Saturday was shot. Then Sunday I had to work at 3 (as a traded shift to get my needed time off), so we didn't get any time together as the 3 of us.

...this...

I'm hoping with this nice weather we can get out for a bike ride, or go to get ice cream, or just a nice family-of-4 walk. I would even like to have a little date night, just Mitch and I - it seems like the time we have had together lately is few and far between. After not seeing each others faces for more than an hour last weekend, and both of us working full time, a nice little dinner together with a fun summer activity would be fun!

What do you like to do with your days off in the summer?? What do you do for a date night?

Our days off have already started out well! I was up at 8:30 while sweet Little Palmer continued to sleep. Its a good day when your little sleeps in past her usual 7am! Little things like this just make my day!

and hopefully this...

Positional Plagiocephaly Update: 6 Months Later

When Palmer was just a few months old, we noticed a flat spot had formed on the back of her head. You can read all about it here:

Part I | Part 1.5 | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII

Since having her helmet off for the past 6 + months, I really haven't even thought about her little head too much anymore! It use to be so visually and mentally prominent. After wearing her helmet, we noticed a big difference. And now that Palmer's hair is growing more, I really don't notice a flat spot at all anymore. You can see it a bit when her hair is wet, but I think with time, it won't be even a little noticeable anymore.

Looking back to the beginning, from noticing the flat spot, realizing how it was formed, and the steps we took to correct it, I wouldn't have changed it. I think we took the best steps necessary to correct the positional plagiocephaly. I wouldn't have wanted to risk not getting the helmet. Although expensive, totally worth it. The amount of money paid was far outweighed by the benefits of shaping her head. Who knows what her head may have looked like if we didn't decide to get it.

Knowing that as Palmer grows older and that we did all we could to correct the issue of having a flat head, she will appreciate our efforts, because like I said, who knows what it may look like had we not tried to fix it!

Like I said, at times, her flat spot is still slightly noticeable to me, but its not even an issue anymore. Soon, her hair will grow, and there won't be any sign of it at all!  

I do have to say though, she was awfully cute in her helmet!!

Fit Kids Run: June 21, 2014

Palmer was invited to join a bunch of other kids for a mini race today. It all started because there was suppose to be an actual race for the kids today that ended up being postponed due to all the rain and flooding we recently got, so some of the girls decided to organize one of their own. Palmer wasn't actually signed up for the "real" race, but we were sure excited to be a part of this one!

Now, I kind of knew going into it that Palmer would get distracted by the stones on the path, the grass, dogs, the other kids, and anything else that may have gone by on her "run", but I could tell she liked being around all the other kids.

All the kids were given a race bib and a cute little homemade medal at the end, followed by snacks and juice. I think this was everyone's favorite part!

Palmer was already distracted by something and didn't want to line up with the other kids!

She had to wave to all the other kids passing her by as they hit the turnaround point!

Love that London waved to the camera as he went by! 

Sweet Little Scarlett with her mom and dad!

 Palmer was last, but that's not what matters, right? Of course, she stopped about 30 feet away from the finish line to play in the stones. But, we came into the end with everyone cheering Palmer (and Mr. Elephant) on! Very exciting!

Thanks girls, for a lovely morning!

17 Month Old Palmer

I'm sure I sound like a broken record, but I actually cannot believe that we are at month 17 already! We have a 17 month old! Where on earth did the last 17 months go? When did my sweet little Palmer turn into a little kid? This whole parenting thing is just a whirlwind of adventure!

I don't have a lot of new things to say. I'm mostly just in awe of how smart our little Palmer is. Everyday she amazes me more and more. Everyday there is something new she will do that just blows my mind away. Everyday my heart swells bigger and bigger for our sweet little girl.

I will do a bigger post for 18 months, but for now, here are some photos of Palmer at 17 months!

  

|| headband || shoes (similar) || top || pants ||

And of course, we can't forget her little buddy, #thebelovedmrelephant