2017 Holiday Season

Thanksgiving came and went, and Christmas is fast-approaching. This Fall in Iowa was weird. It stayed warm for a long time, so there wasn't much Fall weather before the bitter cold set in. And the wind! Good grief, it has been windy. June loves looking at people's lights and lawn decorations each time we're in the car. She talks in full paragraphs now, which is both amazing and crazy. The other day we were driving by a house that has big light up stars in front of their house. She said, "See the stars, mama? I sure do like stars!" She likes to talk about snow and says she's excited to play in it. We'll see how that goes!

June likes to go to stores to look at the holiday decorations. I needed some stained glass supplies so we made a trip to Hobby Lobby one evening. June insisted on carrying the basket. There was a roll of solder in it, which is not light. She likes being my helper (well, sometimes)!

We had a nice Thanksgiving, visiting Justin's aunt and grandma in Muscatine, IA for lunch before returning to Iowa City for dinner at my parents house. So much delicious food!

Thanksgiving selfie. June loves sticking her tongue out. 

On Black Friday me and Justin traveled to Chicago for a concert, leaving June with my parents for the night. Then, the following day, we took June to Sesame Street Live in Cedar Rapids. That was an interesting experience. Ever since she was tiny, June has been--oh, I guess I'll say--skeptical of new people and new experiences. We have learned that she does not jump into most new things quickly. She needs time to become comfortable and decide, on her own timeline, that she's ready for the experience, ready to participate, ready to talk to a new person, etc.

I suppose I should have anticipated June would not be enthusiastic about the Sesame Street production right off the bat. She was freaking TERRIFIED. Covered her eyes, shrieking, begging to leave the arena. We took her out to the foyer to calm down, and then began the process of letting her decide when she was ready to go back in. After about 20 minutes we were in our seats and she was devouring popcorn. After she was comfortable she had a lot of fun, and it was good to see her embrace the new experience when she was ready.

Intermission at Sesame Street Live. Again with the tongue!

Say "cheese!" Hahaha!

June came down with a yucky cold and pinkeye this past weekend. We got her a nebulizer this summer when she developed allergies and mild asthma. She's such a trooper, she will sit and hold the mask all by herself now. 

                                         

That's all for now. I'll post again after Christmas. Happy Holidays, everyone!

We're still here!

How have four months passed since my last post??? Ugh. Sorry, all. Me and Justin are busy with work and June is busy playing and being a precocious 2 1/2 year old. This will be a catch up post with some pictures from the past few months.

We found this big chicken sculpture after dining out one evening. June wanted to sit on it.

Our first trip to Wilson's Apple Orchard

First pigtails. These lasted about 30 minutes :P

How cute is she? <3

First trip to the Iowa Children's Museum

                    

My world

June loves caring for her dolls

Playing with water beads. Water beads are awesome!

Hanging out at Barnes & Noble

First time sitting on a booster seat. Well, she sat sometimes!

Music and Trying to Interpret Toddler Language

June loves music, which makes my heart really happy.  I have many memories of listening to music in the car with our family growing up, of learning the songs, and eventually singing them.  Hearing those songs as an adult takes me back.  Most of the music June hears is when we are in the car and is a mix of music I like and an I Heart Radio kids station I put on when I’m desperate. 

She also gets to listen to music at Nana’s house, and sometimes gets to watch the music videos, too.  One day, a few weeks ago, June was jumping on our bed and said, “I listen to Uptown Funk at Nana’s!”  Turns out they watch the video and listen to the song.  Since then, she has started watching more videos and has started talking about what she wants to listen to. 

At first, she asked for Uptown Funk in the car every time we got in.  Man, do little kids love repetition!  She has started asking for more songs, which is great…but when she hears them at my mom’s house and then doesn’t know the actual title it can take some collaboration and detective work to figure out what the heck she is asking for. 

Here are some examples:

Actual Title                                    What June Calls it
Uptown Funk - Bruno Mars            Uptown Funk You Up

24K (karat) - Bruno Mars               Carrots in the Air

Photograph - Ed Sheeran               Baby Song

Sugar - Maroon 5                           Woman Song

The only one that was clear to me without help was Uptown Funk.  After we listened to that the other day June said “I want carrots in the air.  Carrots in the air, mommy.  CARROTS!”  I'm wracking my brain trying to think of a song I've sung or we've heard that has carrots in it.  I sent a video of what she was saying to my mom, who wrote back, “she’s talking about 24K Magic in the Air.”  Ahh. Karats!  Ok, got it.  

The “Baby Song” is because the video for Ed Sheeran’s song Photograph features pictures of Sheeran growing up.  Good thing I’ve seen that video otherwise I wouldn’t have had a clue.  On that same vein, the other night she was sitting in her high chair and she said, “Oh. My. Gosh.  SO ADORABLE. SO ADORABLE.”   I was like, what?  Two year olds don’t just say things like that on their own.  Again, I asked my mom and that’s something my mom has said when they are watching the Photograph video.  Damn, the kid doesn’t miss a beat.

June’s request this morning really threw me for a loop.  I was driving and she said, “sing the woman song, mommy!”  I told her I don’t know the “woman song” and could she sing it?  She said she couldn’t. She repeatedly asked (let’s be real, demanded) that I sing the woman song.  I had no effing clue what she was talking about.  Fast-forward to daycare drop-off when I mentioned it to my mom.  Turns out she was talking about “Sugar” by Maroon 5 because there are women in the video.  Mmm-kay. 

I love watching her learn to sing new songs and am amused by her take on songs and what she remembers and articulates. I look forward to introducing her to more of our favorite music.  

Our Little Helper

If you follow me on FB you have probably heard about or seen pictures of our big backyard landscaping project.  I will eventually post pictures here of the before/after. A big part of the process is that we (mostly Justin) bring loads of rock to the driveway where Justin sifts out the dirt and other crap using this contraption he built.   It's a lot of work, but it gets the job done.  After her nap this weekend June wanted to go out to the garage to get her broom to help daddy.  So here she is, helping :)

That pile of stuff behind her is the mountain of dirt, pine needles, and tiny rocks that fell through the grid. As you can imagine from the size of that pile, Justin has sifted a, pardon my language, shit-ton of rock.

On Sunday afternoon me and June ventured to Target.  She wanted to read Go, Dog, Go in the car on the way home.  I handed it to her, got in my seat, turned around, and she was sitting like this.  I don't know what it is about the crossed leg that makes me feel like she looks so grown up.  I love this girl to pieces.

June’s Room Remodel

This post is a few months overdue, as the work was completed in March.  When we moved into our house last June the majority of the house had been painted in neutral colors, which was great.  The one exception: the room that would be June’s.  It was formerly shared by a pair of little girls, and the room was very pink. Now, I’m not categorically against pink, but it’s not my preference as the primary color.  And this pink was really not my favorite.  The “before” picture doesn’t quite do it justice.  

The room that would be June's (picture from the home listing)

All moved in and not a fan of the pink walls

I loved the way June’s room was set up in our old house.  Initially I thought I would paint the whole room grey, but then I was inspired by a picture a friend had posted that she saw on Pinterest.  My parents took June on a Saturday morning, and I got to work.  

I spent that whole Saturday applying two coats of paint to the walls.  When June came back home and went into her room, she just spun in circles, taking in the new appearance.  

Before and After

It took me a couple more months to get pictures framed and hung.  A sweet work friend is a whiz with a Cricut.  She made the decal, which looks awesome.  I look forward to teaching June about the important, brave and powerful women who adorn the wall above her crib.  

Pinterest, for the win! And not sure if you can tell, but June is "measuring" the wall with a tape measure :)

4th of July Weekend

We had a nice 4th of July weekend.  Our garden is going gangbusters right now, and we have more lettuce than we know what to do with.  Hence this lettuce tower we cut on Sunday morning.  I mean seriously, the thing was over three feet tall.  It started out looking like a normal head of leaf lettuce and then went nuts.  Justin has quite the green thumb!

Justin bought a riding mower about a month ago and June got to take her first (very slow) ride.  She loved it!  It also gave us a chance to have her wear the new earmuffs we got before taking her to the fireworks.  

We spent a lot of time in the yard this weekend. June loves to be outside.  I've got more freckles this year than I have for many years because I usually hide  inside or in the shade during the summer. June saw me laying on the slide so she had to try it out.


June had one morning of willingly climbing the ladder and going down the slide at our house.  Now she wants nothing to do with it.  But she does like to try to climb up the ladder.  Little goof!

She likes to snag my sunglasses and feels very special when she gets to wear them.  I usually don’t let her since they are prescription and not cheap.  Since I have such a small head they fit her pretty well :P  This weekend when we came in for a potty break she left them on.  I was amused. 

Monday night Justin stayed home with June and I met my family at a park for a free concert.  Tommy James & the Shondells played.  It was a lovely evening, and fun to hear their classic songs. I got to hold Miss Julia which was a special treat!  

We had a busy 4^th of July.  We went to Menards first thing to buy some pavers to set up a flower bed.  Justin spent the morning dealing with our backyard landscaping project and I took June to a 4^th of July parade. It was June’s first parade.  I knew the parade route, as the beginning of the parade was right where I lived with Katie for several years, so we found good parking and set up at the beginning of the parade route.  June liked seeing the horses, fire trucks, and Herky.  It didn’t take her long to notice all of the kids lining the street with open bags.  She said “what the man giving away, mommy?”  I told her it was candy.  Eventually someone chucked a dum dum sucker far enough into the crowd for me to snag one.  Sour apple, my favorite!  I gave it to June, told her to lick it, not bite it.  She licked it a couple of times, looked at me and said “what is this, mommy?”  I told her it was a sucker.  She said “I like it!”  It was so cute. We don’t give her candy so it was a huge treat for her.  

We decided a few weeks ago that we wanted to take June to the fireworks.  But there’s no way she would have been able to stay up until 10:00, so we put her to bed at 7:00 like normal and told her she was taking a nap and that we would wake her up to go see fireworks.  She was out cold when I went in to wake her at 9:00. Eventually she roused and was in a good mood, which was awesome!  June loved the car ride to the park, since she’s never up in the summer past dark.  She loved seeing the tall street lights and lit-up signs, and a fountain that was lit up as well.

We met my mom near the park where they were lighting off the fireworks and we waited.  We told June some of the fireworks would be loud but that they couldn’t hurt her.  Once they really got going we put her earmuffs on and she took turns sitting on Justin’s lap, then mine, then my mom’s.  I don’t know what I was expecting her reaction to be.  She wasn’t scared, but she did seem overwhelmed.  She mostly just stared at them, and then wanted to look at the cars and motorcycles driving by. All in all, it was a success.  No fear and no tears.  Yay!  

I hope you all had a great 4^th of July.  I for one will be glad to be done with the neighborhood fireworks for a while. The people in our neighborhood are ridiculous.  

The Past Couple of Months (in pictures)

Just another day sitting in traffic on the way to work

So excited to have her own cup

Her tolerance for selfies is short-lived

Our big two-year-old <3

Say cheese!

"I blow bubbles myself!"

"Daddy want some fries?"

Easter 2017

"I cut it myself!"

June, can you wink?

Epic Morning Hair

I mean, seriously.  It doesn't get much more epic than this :)

Fun with Bubbles