Tuesday

My second favorite day of the week is probably Tuesday. I'm almost always off on Tuesdays and it's the perfect day to catch up on things around the house and spend time with Madeline just the two of us. 

I don't want to alarm anyone, but I can no longer sleep late. For real...I don't know if its from working day shift and being up so early on work days or the Florida sunshine, but I never sleep past 7 anymore. Tuesday I could have sworn I had slept until 9:30 and rolled over to see it was 6:21 and I was wide awake! I got up washed all the sheets, cleaned the house, put away laundry, and made breakfast by 8am. haha So after breakfast when Madeline asked to go to the beach, I really had no reason to say no! 

I made these for breakfast...

Pineapple muffins...honestly not my favorite. I love pineapple but only fresh and by itself. These were super easy though and Madeline liked them. 

It was gorgeous at the beach Tuesday...

Madeline was rocking her mismatched bathing suit and sunglasses! 

She pretty much lives her life with 50 spf sunscreen on and she is already SO tan!

Total ham for any camera these days!

She likes for me to count to 3 so she can see how fast she can run down the beach....

After the beach, we stopped at the nail place so I could get my eyebrows waxed and Madeline got her toes painted. I am loving this little nail place by our house...they are so good to Madeline. They did tell her she was gonna have to do some work for them for getting sand everywhere! :) 

After that we ran to the grocery store for just a couple of things and we made these blueberry lemon bars which were delicious. I need to find a hobby besides cooking....haha

Soaking up these sweet days with my girl. I am really loving this age...she's big enough that doing stuff is more fun than it is work but little enough that she still needs me! 

Today's Post Brought to You By the Letter B....

AKA...This post is a hot mess of life lately! :) 

Backyard BBQ....Terry's family came over Sunday afternoon. We grilled and they brought all kinds of delicious salads. The kids swam until they could barely hold their eyes open at 7pm. haha For my new Sunday recipe I made strawberry shortcake with homemade sour cream pound cake...I gave it away when they left so I wouldn't eat it all! Again I failed at taking good pictures but I did get three! hah I love Sundays!!! 

Blooms...we planted a magnolia tree in our front yard and it's been struggling. It got some kind of fungus so we've been spraying it with some special spray and making sure it gets plenty of water. I don't get really passionate about plants and trees but I love Magnolia trees. I really was bummed thinking it was gonna die, but when we got back in town last week, this was waiting for me! 

Boy....our dogs sleep in their kennel, except for Polly who sleeps with Madeline. Somehow this sweet boy made it into my bed. He was not happy when I made the bed and he had to get up! 

Bottom...when we first filled the pool, Madeline was a little apprehensive about swimming. I think part of it was because it was kinda cold, but we were a little worried. She had just started swimming at the end of last summer, and I was hoping she would pick it up. It took her a couple of weeks, but she is like a fish now. She touched the bottom this week, swims all over without her floaty, and is getting pretty good at treading water with her head up. Sunday I made her put her floaty back on because she was so tired, and she got so mad at me that she just got out of the pool. Even though we were in the pool with her, she was making me nervous plus there were so many people here. Guess it won't be the last time she gets that mad at me! 

Beauty...I've never been good at any kind of beauty regimen, but lately I feel like I am aging fast! haha I went to Ulta and they recommended this line since I still have trouble with keeping my skin clear and am 31 (aka getting wrinkles!). So far, I love it. I also bought some eye cream for bedtime. #officiallyold

I also have been using this foot cream for about a year now. I am on my feet the majority of my 12 hour shifts at work, plus I love wearing flip flops. However, I can't stand crusty feet so I bought this and it's the BEST foot lotion ever.  I actually like the foot balm  better than the heel repair but they're both amazing. My feet love me for it. It also helps after a sunburn...Twayne loves it too! :) 

Bugs...I know it's not official on the calendar but in my book summer is here. So are the bugs...mosquitoes, gnats, love bugs, you name it. And unfortunately Florida has the nastiest roaches of all time - please don't call them water bugs - they are ROACHES! Thankfully, we've only seen one but that's enough for me. I do think the plague of frogs helps keep the bugs down but I just forgot about all the bugs here. I don't use the term frog plague lightly...they really are everywhere. I opened the grill Sunday and saw this...

There was another one on the propane tank...not the best hiding place if you ask me. I'm scared to think about how many I may have grilled already. #ewww

Buddy....Phoebe is our least affectionate dog but since I am home more, she seems to be a little attached to me. I had to run get propane Sunday because we ran out while I was grilling (oops!) and she hopped in the car with me. She is a dummy but she is SO cute! 

Baby...I found this picture of Madeline at my parent's house when we were there and oh my word. Where did the time go? I registered her for Pre-K, and every time I think about it, tears sting the back of my eyes. I cannot believe she is ready for school. It's only 3 hours a day but still...what am I gonna do with myself? (besides catch up on netflix, clean my closet, clean my garage, yard work...maybe I'll find something to do ;) I do plan on soaking up every second of this summer with her! 

Blessed...Terry's dad has his last round of chemo and radiation this week. He is pretty tired but overall doing okay. He'll have repeat scans to check on the progress of things, but so far all signs point to good news. The cancer has been shrinking. Praise the Lord! Keep him in your prayers! 

Boring...it's over now! :) That's what happens when I don't blog for a week! 

Everything is Awesome!

We decided to spend Mother's Day at my parent's house so we loaded up Thursday when Terry got off work and drove down. We went to Legoland on Friday and it was so much fun! It wasn't very crowded and it wasn't terribly hot. My parents have annual passes since its about 5 minutes from their house, and a lady in their church got tickets for the three of us for free. 

*Side note - we are truly blessed by my parent's church - they've thrown us a baby shower, wedding shower, and we've never paid to get into any amusement park in Orlando thanks to the generosity of the people in their church. 

We LOVED Legoland...Madeline is the perfect age for this park! Get ready for picture overload! 

I feel like this should be obvious, but everything is made from legos. It kinda stressed me out and made me excited at the same time thinking about how somebody built every single thing in that park out of legos! 

My favorite...the coffee shop! 

Duplo Valley is designed for little kids. It was adorable, and Madeline had a blast. 

This boat ride was a family favorite...we got soaked but had so much fun! You can shoot your water gun at people in the other boats! 

Madeline is obsessed with this castle. She's seen it a million times from outside the park so she was pumped to get to go in it. It was a real roller coaster, and she was tall enough so we let her ride it. I was so nervous...she rode next to me with Terry and my Dad in front of us and my mom behind us. I was waiting for her to cry or ask to get off but she LOVED it. She still says it was her favorite ride. There's a dragon inside that "blows snot on you" according to Madeline, and she thought it was the greatest thing ever. She squealed and raised her hands the whole ride. Crazy girl! 

Waiting for the dragon coaster! 

Then we walked through Miniland...where they built replicas of all different cities out of legos. It was amazing and it made me really want to travel! hah

The fire truck in NYC really sprays water when you push the button! 

Of course, there was a ton of Star Wars stuff....Twayne loved it! 

If you haven't seen the Lego Movie....here's the theme song. It plays ALL over the park and I'm afraid is permanently on replay in my head! 

It was a good start to Mother's Day weekend! 

Princess

I got Madeline's pictures back, and oh my word! They are beautiful. I made a small mistake by not paying attention to the prices beforehand...oops! Terry was really nice about it though and I really  love the pictures. Madeline thought the day was sheer magic and I love it! 

I have to admit I cried when I saw these. I just thought for so many years that motherhood may not happen for me. Then I see this beautiful miracle, and I am reminded of God's goodness. 

Sundays

Sundays are pretty much my favorite day of the week. I've always loved Sundays, but we've inadvertently started a tradition of Sunday dinner over here. Sometimes we have a lot of family, sometimes its just us and Terry's dad but I look forward to it every week! 

The one thing I keep forgetting to do is take pictures...I just don't think about it until everyone is gone! 

Each week I do a different theme...this week it was BBQ. I made everything homemade and it was so good! It was my first attempt at potato salad and it turned out pretty good. I usually buy it since Terry doesn't eat it but since other people like it, I decided to try it. I got the recipe from a friend, and it was so good! 

The best thing about today is we got to swim!!! They started filling the pool Thursday and it finished Friday night. It took forever! We still have to fix the yard from where they tore it up but we love the pool! 

Her happy place! 

It looks like a party at night! :) It's still not warm enough to swim at night, but I can't wait until it is! 

Church + Pool time + Family + Good Food = the best day of the week!