ten smile tuesday

since i missed "smiling" last week...i figured i better make up for it this week...so i'm getting my ten smiles post up before i take my nap--because, really, that is the only way its going to happen! :) so, in no particular order, here are some smiles from the last couple of weeks....

1. dinner and lots of time for chatting and catching up with some friends friday night. we planned to play games, but apparently we were too chatty and ended up skipping that....in fact, mike and i were up later than we've been up in a LONG time...after a storm rolled through, delaying our friends departure, we got caught up in conversation and didn't realize what time it was until after midnight....definitely a late night since we tend to be early birds...but well worth it.

2. celebrating birthdays...we have two wonderful friends who actually share a birthday...mr. brennan (my dear, sweet friend jill's little guy) and miranda (elizabeth bestest friend...my "cousin" of sorts, daughter)...one saturday we celebrated brennan's first birthday with a fun-filled cookout...lots of laughs while watching the birthday boy down his frosting cake, good times with great friends, splashing in a backyard pool for the girls, and more...and then the next saturday we celebrated miranda's fourth birthday with another cook-out...more good food, fun catching up with family that we don't see often enough, splashing in the pool fun for the kiddos, and watching kate cover herself in chocolate icing (smart girl!).

gotta love the matching backsides...and the chocolately kater gator

3. celebrating daddy...we have a fabulous one! we didn't do any big, but we did enjoy a lunch out at our favorite mexican restaurant...long afternoon naps...and then some time hanging by the inflatable pool followed by a bike ride to visit the ducks...low key...but special to all be together, nonetheless!

4. beating the heat with our inflatable pool. saturday and sunday the temps reached almost 90 with crazy humidity...and i must admit, the only way prego me was going to survive any outside time was with my feetsies dipped in the cool water. kate was a fish...trying to float on her back...drenching her hair....jumping in...and elizabeth...well, she equally had a blast...though a bit more tenatively...and her obsession with the floatie swim ring cracked me up...as if the pool was 6 feet deep instead of 6 inches! :)

funny faced libbers

kate, trying out a back float

creating a whirlpool

cheese! mama, i could stay in here ALL day!

and, of course, a hooded toweled graham cracker muncher...

5. some quality time with my sweet friend, lora, after Bible study last week...lunch at el rodeo, good conversation, catching up...good times.

6. dreaming about baby....as posted here and here...i'm at 30 weeks now! WOW!

7. the reality that teething is almost behind us with kate...sweet girl is cutting her molars right now...hence the fact that she has spent much of the week with her hand shoved ALL the way into her mouth. teething has been rough on this sweet girl...with each tooth...and the molars are proving no different...but, hooray...there is a light at the end of the tunnel (and with the fussing comes an increased desire to simply slow down and snuggle mama!)

8. this crazy little dancing monkey...for real, elizabeth has been SO into "shakin' it" lately. and, you've gotta love her insistence on wearing these HOT, fleecy, footie PJs around all morning during 90 degree weather. what a riot!

9. coffee wipes...my dear friend jill (or as elizabeth would say, miss jill!) gave me some of these back a couple of years ago...and they saved the day yesterday when kate decided crayon would love fabulous on our microfiber ottoman (and i mean HUGE streaks of dark blue crayon)...i was at a loss for what to use that wouldn't ruin the microfiber fabric, and voila...these did the trick instantly! :) THANKS JILL! :)

10. precious moments...like two little girls having an "ice cream party". i put kate down for a nap and then came downstairs to find that libs and miranda had comandeered the empty costco boxes to use as "chairs" for their party. elizabeth was reading "giggle, giggle, quack!" to miranda while they intermittently licked their imaginary ice cream cones...love it!

11. lunch at our favorite china buffet with some good friends...two mommies, six kiddos...a much needed chance to get out of the house and have some adult conversation on a rainy day...not to mention, the kiddos had LOTS of fun as well...and ice cream.

12. bargains...bargains...bargains....5 packs of pull-ups for just $1.50 a pack after double coupons and a rebate deal at k-mart (and kate's piqued interest in potty training....now mommy just needs to get equally motivated!)...cheap bottle nipples thanks to k-marts double coupons....and a huge haul at CVS...all for FREE thanks to gifts cards from transferring prego prescriptions and ECBs....20 soyjoy bars for mike, 2 packages of fig newtons for me (gotta love the iron), one pack of bottle nipples, almay foundation and eye-shadow...ALL FREE! woo-hoo! :)

13. some great garage sale finds...remember this post when i mentioned elizabeth briefly swayed and decided she wants a sister instead of a brother (by the way...she has since come back to her original stance that the baby should definitely be a boy). well, below are the shoes that incited the switcheroo to wanting a baby girl...elizabeth felt the pink sneaker-ish ones were "awfully cute"...so our baby needed to be a girl to wear them. i scored these for $1 a pair...hence the fact that i bought them even though we don't know gender for sure...i figure they will either make great shoes for our baby OR a great gift for someone else! and really, who can resist robeez, see kai run, and pedipeds for just $1...especially when most of them look to have been worn maybe once or twice! the same sale had the JACK-POT for kate...who wears a wide...meaning we have to shop at stride rite in the priciest section...both of these were like new (kate has worn out the sandal-y ones on the left more in the past week than they were when we bought them for a dollar!)...i question whether the sneakers were even worn, as they are spotless...not a common condition for shoes worn by a two year old! and the sneakers should fit her all winter...meaning we can hopefully avoid shelling out the cash for new tennis shoes!

and then, here's brand new-still in bag with price-tag--pottery barn kids shower curtain we scored for the girl's bathroom (which has been crying out for decorating for three years!)...i snagged it for just $5!

and then, the girls most recent pre-occupation...though it just might be beyond both of their age levels...the fisher-price laugh and learn house....for $5...original retail $79.99! my intention was that the baby would like this eventually, but honestly...the girls have already gotten $5 of fun out of it...which is priceless in this HOT weather than is keeping us inside (compliments of my rapidly swelling ankles).

14. the iron supplements and change in diet seem to be increasing my energy level a little bit...which is a welcome change! but no worries, i'm still taking advantage of naps and resting...

15. we took kate to the pediatrician about her speech and language development, and the doctor did refer us to first steps for further evaluation. thanks for all of your sweet comments and encouragement....the pediatrician was in agreement that kate is a little behind, but she wasn't overly concerned since she is the second child (and has a sister who NEVER stops talking!). i am relieved to be getting her evaluated...and thankful that in the past few days she seems to be trying to do more communicating (go figure!). but, what a blessing to have first steps available for free should she end up needing it...and the fact that they come to our house is like icing on the cake!

16. and alas...now i am smiling because i'm finished posting...and off to take a nap!