Day of Summer

Summer is doing all the wonderful things to my life that I had hoped it would through those rough, and never ending, Winter months. The wait? It was so worth it! We play in the little blow up pool, weed our mini vegetable garden, swing, swing, and swing some more on our finally completed swing set. It's amazing. Mad and I have hot, crabby, tired days but more often, as she adjusts to the heat of Summer and learns that drinking endless cups of water helps, we have hot, fabulous, happy, days.

We gave Mad her first hair cut.

We took Mad to the Utah Hogle Zoo.

 

We clean and we nap. We laugh and we play. It's beautiful really. Already I find myself counting the days left of Summer. I wonder to myself how long the warm weather will stick around. Will we get an extra few weeks of shorts and sunshine? The year Mad was born it went from HOT to COLD so quickly. Before I knew it we were bundled up with the heater blasting and not one NOT ONE pair of adorable baby shorts were worn. Tragic really. I'm trying to focus on the now. To enjoy the time in the sun we have while it is here but it is so easy to get distracted. I want to spend every night out in the yard swinging and chasing around in the yard. That's my goal. Now. Unofficially. Maybe it's just a few minutes before bed or eating outside together as a family before the wind and rain pick up (on hot but rainy days) but I will make sure when the cold does come we are filled with the warmth of Summer for as long as possible. Now I'm off to make some simple syrup so I can have a mojito while I enjoy each evening!

But Oh oh Those Su UH mmer Nights

Somehow the Summer has flown by and here we are mid-August just weeks away from Autumn and just weeks away from my little baby's birthday. I'm not ready for either. I have a feeling that my little sun lovin girl isn't going to be too pleased when there is snow on the ground. If she is anything like her mama and daddy she will prefer bare toes and the sun on her skin all her life (no winter sports for us, unless you count bubble baths a sport).

For the last few months I have not been able to find my camera cord to upload pics so mostly this is a completely pointless post of image overhaul. I have no idea what order I uploaded these in (wish Blogger had a better photo organization system....) but mostly they are pictures of Mad, she's easy to spot! Wish that having a baby didn't put me into such a writer's block. I've lost all my humor and wit (did I have any before?). I may not be a deep philosophical writer like my sister or father but I always thought this blog wasn't too awful to read. Now, ugh, unless you love pictures of the same person (and a damn cute person at that) and hearing me rant about how disorganized my home is (STILL!!!) it has turned rather blah. Someday I'll work on that by getting my life more exciting.











This last one is of Mad and her Uncle Bri. It's pretty much my favorite picture of the day.

All the Fish in the Sea

Since having a baby and leaving my "job" 9 months ago I've more or less been stuck in gloomy Utah weather. That means that Baby Bear and I have exhausted every toy option in the house multiple times a day. I always told Mr. Bear that when Summer came I was going to get a season pass to 7 Peaks (local water park) so we could swim every day. To me that was when the stay at home parenting perks really came into play.

I suppose when I originally thought this plan through I didn't realize how hard it would be to go to a pool with a baby so frequently nor did I imagine that I would still be struggling to drop my baby weight at this point, making my desire to hit the pool a lot less enthusiastic. Needless to say I do not have a season pass to the water park nor do I have the energy to take Baby there every day. But, although Summer has been slow to hit us, as the warm crept up my skin began to itch for some vitamin D.....and I really wanted to get good use out of the adorable swimming suit The Bear bought for his baby girl whilst still a little lump of love in my belly. Last week I buckled down and searched Land's End for a suitable bathing suit for myself (as much as I love sea horses and chubby baby bums in spandex my chubby bottom can't quite pull off such a style). Thank Zeus himself for tummy control skirt bottoms and halter tops tankinis.

After dreading what I'd look like sporting my new style out in public, white as the stuffing of an Oreo cookie and as chubby as someone who just ate a LOT of them, all last weekend, I sent my sister a text suggesting the Baby Bear and I join her and the kids at the pool today. And ho boy was it worth it! Baby was in HEAVEN in the water watching all the kids play and swishing her legs under the water, comfy in her new water float. At one point she reclined in her seat, letting her legs float up to the top of the water, as she bobbed around the busy pool. All she need was a Corona with lime to confirm she really IS my daughter. We spent a few hours playing today and if she wasn't so tired I'm sure we could have stayed until the sun went down. I even got some sun....but sssshhhh The Bear will be very upset if he knows how red my back and shoulders are. OUCH! Baby is still a lovely shade of creamy white thanks to thick layers of sun screen, I just didn't do my own skin the same justice.



We might not make it out more than a couple times a week but this is the parenting perk I've been needing. As much as I love to do laundry and make beds it just doesn't compare to spending a day in the sun. After a BBQ with my parents I dropped my sister and her kids off at their house. I rolled the window down and yelled out to my nephew, "are you sure you don't want to come live with me and let me be your mama?", "as soon as my mommy doesn't tum home I will!" he yelled back, and then added, "and when she doesn't tum back I will det her phone!". Oh man I love that kid; his big sister too. Best Summer day thus far.

This post is dedicated to my sister Amy for sharing her kids and her pool with me...and also to tummy control swimming suits.