You Know You're A Mom When...

You forgot what it's like to shower without having to say...

"What was that loud banging sound?"

"Why are you crying? Are you bleeding? No? Ok then you're fine."

"Umm, why don't I hear any noise?"

"Stop terrorizing the dog with your bat!"

Showers are a race again time when you're a parent.

Fab 5 & Photos

1. church prayer time with some ladies last Wednesday morning

2. play date with Melissa and Connor at Monkey Joes!

3. my hair appointment with Tara - great convo, relaxing "me" time and LOVE the new do

4. visiting Felicia at Texas Women's - my friend is 33 weeks pregnant with twins and is on bed rest at the hospital (yuck!!) PLEASE pray for her babies to stay in until 34 weeks and pray for Felicia to stay positive and stress-free. She has SO much on her plate!

5. the ENTIRE Sunday! we went to breakfast and the museum with my Nanny for her birthday! then we had a wonderful church rally that night!

On to photos...

The boys at Monkey Joes

Babysitting Katie, one of O's best friends, while my sweet friend Rachel has her check-up (she's 8 months preg!)

It's so hot we were only outside for a few min

wink!

This girl LOVES her some yogurt. Rachel - she sat there for 30 min eating :)

O'Ryan focusing on TV

Do you see it???

We stood there in amazement of the pouring rain. Thank you God. Didn't last long though.

Dogs & O unsure about the rain storm...it's been a while, lol.

Getting a smoothie with my mom!

Haircut!

Before our date Thursday

This is my new fav shirt. I got it at Old Navy (forgot price) and also bought a coral one. 

Not sure if you can tell...but Brett got my car detailed :) It felt amazing to have a crumbless, dustless car!!! LOVE YOU B!!! Thanks :)

Sugar coma after a red snoball

Out to eat with my parents on Saturday. O'Ryan is a blur bc someone (not me!) fed him a fruit roll up before dinner. Bad idea.

Half way through dinner Brett kindly switched spots with me and delt with our hyped-up son. Yes, Brett was the one who fed him the fruit roll up...so seemed fair to me :)

Haha. This makes me laugh. He discovered stickers.

Taking pics before church is my favorite.

We caught a cute one!

JOY!!!!

Our Day

We started out at the SC Playscape with friends and successfully wore our 2 year olds out. 

Then...

We headed to Katy Mills after lunch with daddy (so rare!) and I bought O a fleece that was on sale :)

He was promised an m&m cookie for going potty so well

Taking a late nap around 2:15pm on the way home from Katy

Andddd he's up...eating a snack while watching Mickey

Love my pups but they follow me EVERY where all day

Woo! Daddy's home - swim time before dinner

Check out our backyard - do you think we have enough toys and junk??

One of O's favs...spaghetti O's

Yes, more TV... hey - don't judge! Mickey & friends taught him how to count to 15 :)

Probably wondering why I'm following him around with my iPhone today

Oh, and I was surprised with THESE TODAY! Love ya B. You're the best at surprises and making me feel special. 

Overall a TERRIFIC day. 

I feel extra blessed today. Lately I have heard of so many terrible things going on around me and people who are suffering a lot. I've been praying so much but feel down about it all. It does make me extremely thankful though for what we have - our health, happiness and each other. 

That's plenty enough for me!

Best Buys As Parents

Despite reading websites, books and talking to mom friends, I was SO clueless about what to buy for my baby. Looking back I see that many purchases that books said you had to have were completely useless. For what it's worth, here's a list of some of the best purchases we made as parents. Some are pricey, some are cheaper. What do y'all think is your best buy?

1. Jeep Jogger Stroller

I do not jog/run/sprint. Ever. But I walk a lot (except during summer) in the mornings with my son. This stroller has held up very well. I started putting O'Ryan in it at 2 months old and it was really comfortable for him. It reclines, has great storage and has a place for your iPod to plug into!! There's speakers for you and your baby. Me being a person who doesn't like to have headphones on while walking (dangerous!), this was a perfect stroller. 

2. Britax Car Seat

I researched car seats a lot when it came time to move O out of the infant carrier. We made the move earlier than most - 8 months or so. He just got too heavy to carry around and WAY too long. There is no question in my mind that Britax is the best. It's extremely safe and well-built. Pricey - yes! Worth it - very!

3. iPad

This purchase was actually made for me last year for my birthday, but it has proved to be EXCELLENT for toddlers. The iPad has so many uses... During flights, long car rides, dreadful waiting rooms, to help your little one to fall asleep in a new place. I could go on and on. You may not want to entertain your toddler or kid with games, shows, etc. but I DO when needed! It's saved me from several break downs on airplanes while traveling alone with my son. 

4. Push Car

BEST. TOY. EVER. My mom gave one to O'Ryan his first Christmas when he was just 9 months. It helped him learn how to walk and gave him much-needed freedom to move around! I think O'Ryan has 2 of these and a mini stroller. They are the best because sometimes for an hour he will simply move a group of toys from one to the other and push them all around the house. Love it!

5. Mini Recliner

Last summer when O was just over a year I looked into these. I decided on a nicer, more expensive chair because I knew a Toy Story or Cars chair would just get old. I'm SO glad I bought this one (Amazon.com). It matches the rest of our house and has held up great. O'Ryan is constantly in and out of it. He feels special to have his own chair, I can tell. It does get crumbs and water stains, but it's also easy to clean. 

6. Colombia Diaper Bag

When registering I asked a mom friend what kind of diaper bag she recommended. She suggested a back  pack style so you can have two free hands. Awesome suggestion! This great quality diaper bag has been so useful. It's the perfect size (for me) and looks almost brand new despite 2 1/2 years of use. There's a insulated pocket for bottles and drinks and another pocket great for keys, chapsticks, paci's, etc. I always see these at Babies R Us.

7. Safety 1st Bath Seat

This is probably the item that most people ask me about when they see it. When my brother and sister were little my mom had one. So when O was starting to sit up more I headed to Babies R Us to buy one. There were only a few left. Now, apparently they're very hard to find. Several mom friends of mine have searched and searched and can't find one. Guess I just got lucky. I assumed most moms had them, but I guess not. Anyway, we used it for nearly a year. Needless to say, O looooved it and it was very sturdy and safe.

8. Custom Built-ins

My mom had always told me to not put large storage bins or containers in our play room. She made that mistake. Y'all know what happens right? The kids dump the ENTIRE bin out every day. So we thought it was best to have some higher storage with small bins. We wanted the higher storage in order to rotate toys every now and then. If kids haven't seen a toy in a month - it's brand new to them!! The small cubes have worked great. Most of them aren't pictured here (they're strewn across the floor!). They allow us to control the toy mess a bit more.

9. Little Tikes Swing

This was also a gift from my mom to O'Ryan for his church dedication. He was just 5 months at the time but not long after I began putting him in his swing. He would slump a bit, but he absolutely loved it. We don't use it much during the hot months, but when it's cooler O'Ryan swings every day. We were able to hang it in shade too, which is a plus. He, like most kids, could swing for hours. 

10. Skip Hop Diaper Bag

I also bought this off Amazon and have just loved it. I never really used it for a daily diaper bag, unless we do an all-day thing like Seaworld or a long travel day. I mostly use this when traveling to the lake or other nearby trips. It's huge so I can fit a weekend's worth of clothings, diapers, wipes, drinks, medicines, powder, shoes, and more in it!!! Skip Hop makes the BEST quality bags. I highly recommend this brand and this bag!

You Know You're A Mom When...

A sticky floor, 

A messy kitchen,

A car full of crumbs,

and 

5,000 toys scattered across the house

doesn't bother you a bit.

Motherhood teaches you to let the little things go more than anything in this world!

"It's Potty Time, Gotta Get Down Low"

Ladies & Gentlemen...

We've reached a big milestone around here! O is potty trained! Ah, I can't believe it. Mostly I can't believe how incredibly easy it was. I basically just put underwear on him and asked him if he needed to go a lot. Like every 5 minutes. But then the next day I only asked him every 10 min. And today he just tells me when he needs to go. He even uses public bathrooms with no trouble. I'm so proud of him. And I'm so stoked we won't be spending way too much money on those expensive chlorine-free, color-less diapers!!! Ugh.

Summer is wrapping up. O starts school in a few weeks. We're squeezing in as much fun as we can before we have to switch to an entirely different schedule. Speaking of changes... Eric is off at OU now!!! He left yesterday and this morning he moved into his dorm. That whole thing just hasn't sunk in completely. It's been a hard change for me to wrap my head around. Our family is VERY close. We get together at least once a week and have dinner and laugh and usually are (very) loud! It will just be different without Eric. But obviously there are a lot of positives too. He's starting a new chapter in his life - one that will change him, challenge him, and develop him. College was one of the best experiences of my life and I will cherish the friendships I made at Baylor always. I'm fortunate enough to have a lot of them live in Houston!!

Anyway, check out what we've been doing all week...

These guys are good buddies. They always have fun together and makes LOTS of noise :)

During those difficult hours - between when your child wakes up from nap and when daddy gets home - O was entertained by running and jumping off the bed onto the bean bag chair.

We hit up Galveston!

Mommy was SOOO exhausted from not sleeping well but it turned out to be an awesome day.

We met up with some friends and met new friends! 

O'Ryan loved the ocean (surprising to me)!!! He happily sat on our hips jumping in the waves.

Have y'all seen that YouTube video, "World's Biggest Dog Tease" where the dog says "Yeah, Yeah.."? Well that's O'Ryan's face he makes when imitating the dog LOL.

O's other really good friend, Katie! They are sooo dang cute together! Those two were 100% worn out after beach, hot tub and pool :)

See?

And again? The next morning.

These pics are random. I found them on Brett's phone and had never seen them. 

This is back in May when the weather wasn't 108.

Look at that form.

Aren't dogs funny?

O wearing his fireman hat after visiting the fire station today with friends.

We made cupcakes!!!!

Complete with "frinkles!!!!!"