Doug and the Girls: September 2013

I swear my story is always the same. "I need more time!!" Seems like I never have enough. Whether it's work, where I feel like I'm always doing stuff but never accomplishing anything and suddenly it's time to go - leaving more things undone for the next day; or at home where I am rushing around in the morning and I just want 5 more minutes to play with Anna instead of pushing her to get ready and stop grabbing this or stop throwing a fit and then drop her off feeling guilty that I didn't have enough time to just relax a little bit; or if it's on the weekend when we're working on the house and Anna's napping and we have X amount of time to paint or do projects without interruption and then BOOM she's awake and we still want to play and have fun............ There just isn't enough time. And now summer is over. Where did the time GO? What a funny thing time is. Never enough, but certainly flying by. Seems like just last year I was 26 ;)

Things with the house are going well. We are slowly but surely making progress. Although maybe no one would see it but us, things are getting done. Some blinds being hung. Windows being painted. New light fixtures ordered. More boxes put away and things organized. It will all take time, I have to keep reminding myself (and Doug) - we will paint. We will hang curtains. We will put photos up on the walls. We will feel more at home. Things will look like we live here. It's been a MONTH! We should be proud of what we've done so far.

The first thing I am the most happy about is something we didn't even do! We had these 2 huge bushes in front of the house that were full of BUGS. Anyone who knows me know this just wouldn't do. Every day in and out was like running the gauntlet (with screams and actual running). So, we hired Domingo from the boatyard to come and tear those suckers OUT. Early on a Sunday he shows up with a friend (I'm talking early... Anna was still asleep!) and out they came. In a little under 3 hours they ripped out both huge bushes to the root and all the gross leftover weeds in the stone driveway that the previous owners had refused to take care of. (They were really sweet people.)

The front of the house BEFORE

Another view of these disgusting beasts

and VOILA! The after shot... Amazing!!

So that was a big step. We have to plan out some new planting arrangements up front and get to it before it suddenly turns from nice days to WINTER overnight. Not 100% sure what we want but all I know is it will be a thousand times better than what was there! (Even the plain dirt is better!!)

What else has been going on?
We are getting used to our new neighborhood, taking lots of walks while the weather is nice and playing at the park on the corner. Anna is a big fan of all of that!

Sassy little thing

We have been trying to have some fun with summer when we can. It's been kind of a hit & miss summer with the weather and free time, so we do what we can. Went swimming a couple weeks back at Aunt Jeanie's house and Anna had a GREAT time. Laughing, splashing and running in the yard with their dog Ricky. I have a video of her laughing uncontrollably playing with him and it always soothes both of our bad moods.

Taking a dip

We also made our quarterly journey to Ikea to purchase some things for the house. We being my mom, dad, Anna and I. Doug hasn't set foot in an Ikea since 2007 and plans to remain that way till death. What a dummy, missing that 99 cent breakfast and the hilarious carts and cinnabons. Regardless, we scooped up curtains for almost every room and some other odds and ends - including a new table and chair set for Anna and this little tent that she is obsessed with. The best $19.99 I ever spent!

Man, Ikea is EXHAUSTING!

Testing out her new table & chair set

Baby genius can even write her name already ;)

Us playing inside the tent. We have to get inside with her and we all snuggle. It gets hot.

I also took Anna for her first dentist visit! It wasn't as much of a disaster as I had anticipated. We played while we waited....

They had a fun tugboat toy she loved!

And then we saw the nice dentist (who was probably in his mid-30s) and he couldn't have been nicer. He has a 6 month old son and was so good with Anna. He got her to chill a little, he looked at her teeth, got to even brush all of them and inspect. Says she looks good but definitely has a "crowded mouth", just like mom. I had to get 4 permanent teeth pulled to make room for the rest, and I hope she doesn't have a fate like mine. Crappy bad teeth genes. I need to work on brushing SO much more, I find it to be so hard to fit into a routine, I don't know why. Like I said every morning I feel like I'm rushing and at night by the time I think of it it's like wrestling a greased pig. Not an easy task. Need to get creative. Now that she's getting older maybe she'll not FREAK OUT as much over everything... (side note: HAAAAAAAA).

Otherwise, the Fair Haven Fireman's Fair came to town the last week of August and we had a great time stopping by a few times. It was walking distance away, had lots of food, drinks, rides and people watching. Anna seemed to enjoy it. One night we all had so much fun, we ended up giving a decent helping of ice cream at 7:15pm and we had a FUN bedtime that night.... well after 9:30! As you all know, we don't like to mess with bedtime at our house. And just like that, she popped up before 7 the next morning. Fun times for everyone.

fries at the fair! YAY!

Wait... you took me to the bar... at the fair?

Holding onto Daddy for dear life...going 1mph

Mommy's having more fun

We also finally broke down and took Miss Anna to the beach. I had been "dreading" it all summer, as the beach is "my place" and I love to go, sit and relax and unwind there. The possibility of not doing any of those things along with the idea that she could flip out and want to go home after 10 minutes was just not my idea of fun. But I decided I'd had enough of this scenario in my mind and we were GOING. Armed with snacks, toys, blankets, more snacks.... we were going to have a good time dammit!

The Sunday of Labor Day weekend we packed up early (although someone slept in till 8:45!!!) and headed for Sea Bright. Even though it was overcast, I thought that was best - rather than blaring sun/heat. We had snacks, played, ran in the water (which she absolutely LOVED!), played in the sand and lasted more than 2 hours. The sun started coming out and she was having fun but staying any longer would have led into tantrum time. I took advantage of her being afraid of a wave, picked her up and gave her some blueberries while we packed it in. She didn't protest or cry. Finally, something I love, that I hoped she would love and she DOES! There's hope for mac and cheese yet.

Having our morning yogurt at the beach!

Playing in the water and absolutely loving it!

Daddy instructs how to make sand castles

Little Miss goes to town

Just a super cute and funny pic of Anna in her sunglasses - she actually kept them on for a full walk. So cute.

My parents headed to Bermuda on their cruise (so jealous AND happy for them), and on their first day home they had volunteered to watch Anna so we could go to a wedding. I think they were both in the mood for Anna time, and she was thrilled to see them so even though it stinks leaving when she is so cute and happy, I knew they would have a great time (and they did!)

We had Billy & Carolyn's wedding in Red Bank and Lisa came up from Virginia to stay with us Saturday. We had gotten our nails done, did some catching up and then headed out. It was a great night, a gorgeous day/night, a wonderful couple, lots of fun.

The girls & beautiful bride!

trying to get a good pic... thanks Todd

After the pickup on Sunday, we went for our first family bike ride. We had gotten Anna a helmet earlier in the week, outfitted Doug's bike with the carrier and were ready to go. Unsure of how she'd take to the helmet, she ended up loving it and we had a great time. Rode all around, ended up at a big new park, she played for 20 minutes - the weather was absolutely perfect and we were all so happy to be out and about. It was really a kind of perfect afternoon. I like when those happen.