if you can read this you're as crazy as me

Yesterday we had swim and no tears!!! I'm hoping we are done with the full melt downs and separation anxiety. I'm not getting too excited but fingers are crossed. I'm not sure if this is helping but I've been really talking about swim to Olive like all the time. We talk about all the fun stuff she did with her teacher Miss Staci and I get her really excited about it and animated when I tell the story. I don't lie I just really embellish the story and keep telling her over and over how good she did and how fun it was when she got the princess toys and when she pushed the water and bla bla bla. Most of the time she will add things to the story and explain how she blows her bubbles or how she pushes the water. I think it may be giving her more confidence about the experience or it was just a lucky day, I dunno.

Anyways on this topic I've been reading a really cool book called The Whole-Brain Child and I love it! I can't say too much yet as I'm only half way through the book but the whole story telling thing was something they touched on in the first few chapters. Before I read the book I noticed how much Olive loved telling stories. Some of her stories are with words mixed in with hand motions but I know exactly what she is saying. She fell and hurt herself last month at the fair and cut her knee up pretty bad. She likes to tell the story over and over and I always help her and add things and make sure I am very sensitive to her. She loves to show how she fell and that Hen (Uncle Evan) was there to help her. She talks about the hugs we gave her and then we talk about how we went to the Rodeo after and how fun it was. She talks about her Dora bandaid as well which is now a big deal cause we are officially Dora obsessed in this house. But at the end of the story she always says she is ok and I always make sure we talk about how we all gave her hugs and she is all better now. She still tells the story at least once a day. I know this may seem silly but its amazing how she goes into details with the story. Obviously its such a little nothing I mean she cut her knee open and its not a big deal but to a almost 2 year old this is HUGE. The point of this is in the book she talks about the importance of retelling stories and not just letting kids forget things or saying it's ok (when they have a scary experience). In the book she uses a much bigger example of a 2 year old who was in a car accident and was totally fine but obviously this is a scary thing. It's just all about not holding on to any fears. Anyways I figured if we told positive stories about swim and built it up then it might work. Are you following? The book makes way more sense than I do and a must read for anyone with a child. I am totally opposed to books that tell you how to parent as every single kid is different and with toddlers every day is different but this is totally based on science and how the brain works. I think most moms with toddlers can agree that toddlers are the most unpredictable critters ever (unless you have one of those good boring kids) and while some days one thing will work it won't necessarily work the next. I guess I want to make sure my mom bag is packed full of ideas and while I help to discipline I'm also nurturing her.

Welp I'm officially exhausted from talking all over the place. Hope you kinda followed along.......

santa ana zoo. snack stop. 

we saw real animals too.

$3.75 for the best grilled cheese ever. fine, this is why we come to the zoo.

painting which lasts about 25 seconds. 

she cleaned everything in the backyard with a sponge. over and over. 

popsicle break. 

bathing suit and wedges while bike riding.

then this happened. 

kyle came for a surprise visit. after they made ugly faces at each other they had some serious playtime. 

preggy clothes and girls night out

First let me say in bold that I AM NOT PREGNANT but that doesn't stop me from looking at cute clothes that I think would be adorable with a belly or without one too. With Olive I bought maybe 3 maternity items and the rest were just big sizes from h&m or target. I don't wear tight clothes normally so 95% of my closet was fine to wear besides my pants. But being pregnant also gives you a little excuse to wear something different, play with layers, and maybe wear something tighter cause hey its not fat its a baby! With fall on its way I've been getting excited about dresses and tights. I know I live in california and fall is just summer minus 5 degrees but I can pretend. Anyways IF I was preggers I would be wearing these three dresses from old navy. Pregger clothes have to be cheap cause spending a shit ton of money for something you only wear for 9 months and then are so sick of and end up never wearing again is just silly. The last four dresses I just love. They are casual and cute and of course could be worn when pregnant. I'm on a mission to find something cute to wear in a few weeks when I go out with two of my best friends hence the random dress post. I know, silly to get a dress for a night out but I really have nothing to wear since I never go out anymore. Plus we're going to LA to my friends gallery show and both of my friends are crazy fashionable and getting a pretty dress is always fun. What to do what to do......   

pbr and champane

I've spent the entire night fake online shopping and I'm exhausted. I'm trying to find a dress to wear to a wedding next month and I'm kinda failing. I feel like the older I get the worse I am at making a decisions. I end up pulling up a bunch of tabs then I stare at them forever and order nothing. Total fail. So instead I will eat banana bread and look on pinterest all night.

This weekend was pretty packed and awesome. Saturday we ended up doing a bunch of work in the backyard which was much needed. We're slowly getting the house together and making it feel like a home. Blake tore up a bunch of gross plants in the backyard and started to prep a pretty large area we are going to make into a garden. It was hot as shit but we managed to get a lot done. Olive swam in her white trash pool while we worked. In the later afternoon we dropped Olive off with Blake's family so we could go to a friends birthday party. It was such a fun night and we actually stayed out pretty late (sorry Robin) but it was just so fun to be out and see our friends. I even met the sweetest girl who told me she reads this blog which pretty much made my life. I obviously write this blog for me but it's pretty awesome when someone enjoys it that isn't my mom or something. I'm a terrible writer but I try and be honest about my life and hope that someone else can relate or at least get a good laugh. I read so many mom blogs and I would say out of the 50 or so that I follow I only actually know 3 of the people in real life. Some people my think this is weird but I think it's amazing that we can get glimpses into other peoples life. I mean is it really any different than watching reality tv? Other peoples lives are fascinating cause they aren't yours and watching from the outside is kinda cool.  Anyways, it was pretty amazing to meet Suzie and I'm happy to have her as a reader!

Today was my friend Katie's baby shower and it was pretty fun considering I didn't know anyone besides my friend and one other girl I've met once on a mommy playdate. I tend to be ok in awkward social situations and of course the champagne punch helped too. The shower was sweet and all the details were pretty amazing. I'm usually opposed to second baby showers but this was a really cute one and instead of gifts we were asked to bring a onesie that represented us. The onesies were hung up on a line and Katie had to guess who brought what so it was pretty fun. We were also asked to bring diapers which I thought was a good idea. Blake was down at the beach with Olive and I was going to meet them after the shower but I decided to come home and enjoy some alone time. I melted on the couch for an hour and then I was totally bored. I ended up doing some laundry and making banana bread. Seriously how boring is that? I was just so exhausted and a tad hung over from the night so it was probably for the best.

Oh and we officially planned Olive's birthday and we are doing a family dinner at the house on her actual birthday and then in October we will all take her to Disneyland with the whole family. Today I asked her what she wanted to eat for her birthday and she straight up told me cake. When I asked her what color she of course said pink. So pink cake it is! She is talking so much now and actually combining a few words. I love that when I ask her something she gives me a real answer or has an opinion about things. Well except getting dressed. Uggg. It was so cute at first when she picked out her outfits but now its like a battle everyday to get dressed. She makes me lift her up and we go through her entire closet till she finds something she likes. I'm cool with her choosing a shirt but she insists on wearing pants lately and its been like 100 everyday so pants are just not a good look. When I try to explain to  her that it's hot out she gives zero shits and freaks out till she has the pants on. Ya it's bratty but I've also learned to pick my battles and what she wears isn't going to be one where I win.

I need to figure out this week. I stress out if I don't have plans and nothing to look forward to. We can do one day a week at home but thats about the most Olive and I can both handle. Luckily the weather is supposed to cool down so maybe we can get back to the park or doing little things outside.

And onto the photo overload........

we had some rough patches on friday. 

ikea. we upgraded our frat coffee table to a newer frat coffee table. 

Dave's birthday bash. 

Aimee, Evan, and Dave.

husband.

uncle ross and a sleeping olive waiting for us to get home. 

katie, kylie and a baby on the way

banana bread.

fly swatter.

trex

I just had one of the hardest workouts in months and tomorrow is not going to be pretty but damn I feel good. Today was pretty insane with Olive and I just needed to get out and away and kickboxing was perfect. As soon as Blake walked in from work I was out the door. Some days that just needs to happen. We had a wonderful day with Kat and Sonia and the Natural History Museum. Such an amazing place and the kids loved it or they loved running around. Either way they were happy. Olive was WILD and loud and her and Sonia just roamed around checking out all the critters and touching everything. They crawled on the floor, they made loud noises, and they stopped for lots of hugs. It was the cutest. It was exhausting but fun. I thought when we got home she would pass out but she refused to take her nap. I depend on her nap for my sanity. The 2 hours or whatever it is she sleeps totally revives me and I feel like I'm a much better mom. It doesn't matter if I'm doing laundry or lounging on the couch the alone time is great and when I don't get that we both suffer. I let her play with my ipad while I lounged, not the best mom move but you do what you have to do. We played for a bit then I made some dinner. She helped for half the time then decided she would play by herself. Usually she is really good and I check on her like every 2 minutes but somehow in that time she managed to draw all over the wall in her playroom. She even came in the kitchen and asked for the sponge for her mess. I didn't think anything of it as she does that all the time and usually just likes to wipe everything down. I didn't realize the mess was the wall. Errrr. Thank goodness for Resolve. I swear I keep that company in business. 

So many photos as usual........

naked rock throwing with tamar. 

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gavin and olive.

dress up shoes. 

dress up. 

dinner. 

waiting for the watermelon tour to start. 

olive and kylie carrot tasting. 

the crew. 

watermelon tasting. 

yellow watermelon. 

amelie and olive checking out the melons. 

the moms and babes. 

avocado pesto. first meal after juice cleanse. 

san pedro. picnic. 

date night and a shit ton of sushi. 

i made homemade pita bread. super easy but took forever. 

testing out the hummus. 

hummus bowl licker. 

toddler meal. tabouli quinoa salad, pickle, plain quinoa, pita, falafel, and hummus. 

this lasted about 2.5 seconds and then she was over the pool and  lounging. 

too hot to go outside means you turn the crib into a trampoline. 

soup face. 

hanging with stella.

zza zza and olive. 

on the train. 

animal shoes.

relaxing lunch with olive. 

grandma (zza zza) was in town so purple dresses were bought. 

hugs. 

girls night out. julie and natalie sandwich. 

olive and charlie. 

olive and max. i have a feeling these two are going to be good friends one day. they share a wild side. 

she wanted to wear her hat and gloves in the 95 degree weather. 

pesto tester. 

we spend at least half our day swinging. 

bbq pizza. one of my most favorite meals. 

blake has been shaping surfboards. olive is very excited about this. 

no nap day 1.

quick park stop.  also where i always dreamed she would go to elementary school. sadly she will not be going here. super boo.  

mostly just my boobs. self portrait on a bike=fail. 

punks. 

moms and babes bike ride. 

so excited to go in the water. 

natural history museum. 

waiting for the butterflies. 

relaxed. 

seriously???