San Diego Part One...The Hotel

Yes the hotel gets it's own post. It was definitely one of the major highlights of the trip. All credit goes to Mike who obsessively researched for MONTHS and made sure we were staying at the nicest hotel, with the best view, for the best value, in prime location. All I had to do was show up and ooh and aah at the view. It was heavenly. For anyone wondering it was the Manchester Grand Hyatt.

These are the two towers that make up the hotel. We were in the one on the left.

This was the view out one of our windows.

This was the other window. That is Coronado Island in the background.

This is in the lobby that connects the two towers.

So fancy.

Ch-Ch-Changes

Things around here have been pretty exciting and changed pretty drastically lately.

1. Mike and I took a trip to San Diego. It was awesome. I can't really even put into words how much we enjoyed ourselves and how good it felt to spend 4 uninterrupted days together. And Molly had a great time at Gammy and Lumpy's house. We were truly able to relax knowing that she was in such good hands.

2. I turned 30. It was a quiet affair spent at my parent's house with my siblings and their families. It was perfect. I don't really feel any different now that I am "in my 30's."

3. I quit my job and am currently a stay at home mom. About 2 months ago we received word that Molly's daycare would be closing. Mike and I both felt pretty strongly that we didn't think it was fair to put Molly in a new daycare setting after being at the same place with the same kids and staff for almost 2 years and honestly, this is something that has been rolling around in my head for a while now. I feel like the past 2 years have gone by so quickly and a mojority of that time Molly has been in someone else's care. That makes me sad and I want to make things different from here on out. Unfortunately the money tree we planted in the backyard hasn't bloomed yet, so I am working on lining up some part time work.

So, there you have it big events and changes. All good, looking forward to an exciting summer with my "silly bean."

Water table fun

I forgot to add this to my post tonight. She is cute.

Perfectly Perfect Mother's Day

Today was the perfect mother's day. I have never done anything as important, fun, challenging, heart breaking, rewarding, wonderful as being a mom and I feel so lucky to have my family. We didn't do anything too crazy, but the older I get the more that appeals to me. This post might be boring, but I want to be able to look back and remember how we spent the day.


First we went out for pancakes at our favorite place, The Drake Diner. I forgot my camera, but we had a lot of fun and it was delicious as usual.

Then we came home to work around the house. The funny thing is, even a year ago I would have thought that sounded so boring, but I am really digging that kind of stuff these days. Must be that big, bad 30th birthday looming. Anyway, I planted my window boxes and we got some new furniture to create a little seating area out front. I think we will be spending a lot of time in the driveway/front yard this summer because it is where all of Molly's favorite toys and activities are. Molly was a BIG help while planting.

Showing me her shorts. She's a mess!

Oh the hair. She hates having her hair done so most days I just get that one little ponytail on the top to keep it out of her face. Today with the wind and the dirt and the runny nose she was such a mess so I grabbed the rest of her hair and threw it in a ponytail in the back. Thankfully she is too young to be embarrassed of my hairstyling skills. It is so strange because I was an awesome Barbie hairstyler, although to be fair the Barbie's never gave me quite so much lip, nor did I have to pin Barbie between my legs like I was hog wrestling.


I don't even know what to say about this picture.




Our newly created seating area. Chairs and table from Target.

I went to Earl May for the plants and pots and stuff. I asked the saleslady for help and told her my only criteria was something that is colorful and hard to kill. I think they look pretty.

One of my window boxes. I am starting an herb garden because I am sick of spending $5 a week on fresh herbs when sometimes I only need a little bit.

My other flower box has Gerber daisies and Vinca Vine.

After nap it was time to get out the water table. We got this out yesterday for the first time this season and she is loving it. She ends up pouring most of the water on herself, but it keeps her really occupied.

She was 'helping' Mommy by transferring water from her table to my flowers.

Action shot.

I also got a lovely surprise in the form of a flower delivery today. These are so pretty and springy and smell so nice.

Here is the card from my sister and brother-in-law. So nice and a great compliment. Thanks guys, I love you.

So there you have it, Mother's Day 2011. Nothing earth shattering, just a nice spring day spent with my two favorite people.

Sunny Days

We have spent a lot of time this weekend outside and it has been great. It seemed like the dreary weather was never going to go away, although I kind of feel like an ass for complaining about that given what those in the south have experienced in the last week. We spent yesterday morning out at Jordan Creek, (I never know if it is a lake or pond so I'll just use Molly's description, big water). Molly ran around the path and took lots of breaks to toss rocks into the water. It was lovely weather and we think pretty much anything Molly does is cute so we had fun too. She also had her first sucker this weekend, thanks Trader Joes. She loved it. It made her Dad a little anxious the way she was waving it around.

2 visits to Wichita in 3 weeks

We've been down to Wichita twice in the last three weeks because of a Barbershop event for Mike and then Gammy's 60th birthday. It has been really fun to watch Molly and Oliver because they are really starting to interact. Especially this weekend because we had just been there two weeks ago so they were used to each other. It's hilarious to watch them learn to share toys and Gammy and Lumpy's attention. People thought they were twins every where we went. So cute!

I took this picture of Molly yesterday and it is my new favorite. She is getting really hard to take pictures of because she won't be still and the instant she sees the camera she wants to see the picture in the camera. She is just now getting old enough to understand that if she wants to see the picture she has to say cheese first, but she still doesn't get that she needs to look at the camera while saying cheese. We'll get there!

In other news Molly is a little talking fool these days. It is like all of a sudden in the last few weeks she went from saying lots of unrelated words to actually talking. It is so fun to listen to her chattering while we drive in the car or when she is having a conversation with her stuffed animals. I think she's pretty smart (although admittedly I have no frame of reference). She knows all of her letters, but not in order. She knows all of her colors and she can count to 10. She knows how to spell her name, although sometimes she spells it M-O-Y. She likes to recognize letters anywhere we go, last week Mike thought it was funny when they passed Quik Trip and she said Q T. Oh, and she keeps saying something that sounds exactly like "Oh Sh#*" We can't figure out what it is, but don't think that it is. The bad part is we're trying not to giggle in case that is what she's saying we don't want to reinforce it.

There is so much I could say about all she is doing and saying, but she is not amused right now that I am working on the computer so I must go play Ring Around the Rosy.