day one and two

We've really been enjoying our time so far with grandma Charlene.  She got in really late on Tuesday night (didn't get to the house until 1am).  Avery surprised us all the next morning by sleeping in until 8:15am!  It was so nice!  Eric made us all scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast.  Then we headed out for our day.  We made a HUGE Costco run. 

Avery and I at Costco (please excuse that nasty pimple on my face, I'm breaking out like a 15 year old).  And Avery snacking on some pumpkin bread... who doesn't love samples at Costco?!

After our Costco run, we had to run everything back to the house and unload it.  The entire back of my Explorer was full, including two big coolers.  Yes, in Texas you bring coolers to the stores because it gets too hot in your car.  Then we went over to Waterloo for lunch. 

Avery wanted to walk up the stairs like a big girl. 

Avery enjoyed chowing down on her grilled cheese sandwich and fruit.  The rest of us enjoyed our lunches too.  Eric and I got burgers and Charlene got a salad. 

Avery stuffed a big piece of grilled cheese in her mouth and just let it hang there!  She is too much sometimes.  I love her. 

Walking back to the truck all full from lunch.

We got back to the house around 2pm and it was time for Avery to take a nap.  She ended up sleeping for a couple hours.  We just hung out around the house and relaxed.  When she woke up, we decided to take a quick trip to the park before dinner.  She had a blast swinging and going up and down the playscape. 

Today we spent most of the day around the house.  Eric and Charlene wanted to tackle the massive job that is our backyard.  We've had a decent amount of rain here this past month.  It has also been really warm.  And that means in the great state of Texas, your yard becomes a jungle of nasty sharp huge weeds.  With Eric being so busy working and in school, there hasn't been much time for yard work.

While Eric and Charlene worked outside, I got dinner prepped and started in the crock pot.  I also got some laundry started and a little cleaning done.  Avery loved being outside and mastered going up and down the steps out back. 

The Lancaster Jungle. 

Eric and Charlene stopped working at lunch time.  We all ate sandwiches together and then Avery went down for a two hour nap.  Eric had to go to a doctor appointment, so Charlene and I ended up taking short naps in the living room.  Once Avery woke up, us girls headed over to Super Target to pick up some groceries. 

We all enjoyed some yummy spaghetti for dinner tonight.  Eric is working over night, so it is a girls night!  Tomorrow Charlene and I are heading out to do some shopping.  I'm looking forward to an afternoon out!

Have a great night!

here comes the sun!

After staying home the past two days because of bad weather, Avery and I ventured out to Super Target this morning.  The rain had stopped but it was still cold out.  Avery loves snacking on her goldfish while I shop. 

We picked up a some groceries and a few other random things.  I picked up a new pitcher because the one I have has become part of Eric's beer making supplies.  I've been craving having some sweet tea in the house lately.  Avery thought the new pitcher was her new toy!  She loved playing with it.  I had to pry it from her to make my tea, but I gave her another old small one to play with.  She is so funny. 

Mmmmm... delicious sweet tea! 

When Avery went down for her afternoon nap, I decided I wanted to make some chocolate chip cookies.  Eric mentioned the other night he wanted cookies, so I thought surprising him with some cookies today was a good idea. 

Who doesn't love some warm chocolate chip cookies? 

Avery was pretty happy to wake up to a cookie snack after her nap. 

The finally came out this afternoon and it got pretty hot out.  We went for a nice long family walk though the neighborhood.  Once we got home, I got Avery her dinner and bath while Eric put together our dinner.  I wanted fettuccine Alfredo with shrimp and broccoli.  It tasted so good! 

It's been a nice Sunday.  We are really excited that grandma Charlene gets in Tuesday to see us!  Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

beauty products part 2 and other stuff

Well first things first on a gloomy and cold Friday morning... lots of COFFEE!  I can't start my morning without a cup.  I have a wonderful relationship with my Keruig Coffee Maker.  We had a cold front move in last night after lots of wind and some rain.  It is 44 degrees out with a high of 49 today! 

Over the past few days, I've been trying to get on track with eating better and going for daily walks.  I'm using a website that has an app called My Fitness Pal.  I have a set number of calories I can use a day.  It is super easy to track your foods and you can even scan barcodes to import product information.  It also keeps track of any exercise you do from walking to cleaning house. 

I did a post a week or so ago with some of my favorite shower and face products that I use.  I wanted to follow up to that post with my favorite hair styling products and make up products.  Here are the hair styling products I have and use often.

I love the Pantene Leave In Spray Conditioner.  I've been using this for years.  It smells so pretty.  I don't really use conditioner much in the shower because I feel it is too heavy.  This stuff is perfect for a light condition!  I have wavy medium to long hair.  I have to work at my waves and curls.  I use a diffuser attachment on my hair dryer to make that happen.  I use Garnier Fructis Spray In Gel before diffusing.  This stuff sprays evenly over hair unlike heavy gel out of a tube.  After diffusing, I finish it off with some John Frieda Volume hairspray.  On days when I don't have time to wash my hair (or you know, just too lazy to care) I have this Suave Dry Shampoo.  It is super cheap, smells great, and works!  Use it in your roots and go! 

Now for make up.  I rarely do a full face of make up anymore.  I like to keep it simple, quick, and easy.  I save the eye liner, eye shadow, and foundation for nights out or special occasions. 

I LOVE using bronzing powder.  My favorite is from Clinique, along with the big powder brush.  I've used this bronzer for a long time.  I love Loreal Double Extend mascara in black.  I feel like mascara goes on so much better when you use the white conditioning side first.  I never wear lipstick, and prefer lip gloss and lip balm.  I'm a huge fan of Burt's Bees lip balm and have been using it forever.  I also love the tinted lip balm in Caramel.  My absolute favorite lip gloss is from Victoria's Secret called Strawberry Fizz. 

As I was putting clean clothes away this morning, I had to take a picture of the inside of Avery's closet.  The girl has so many cute clothes!  It's kind of sick how much she has.  And I just ordered her another adorable smocked dress last night!  She is my real life baby doll to dress up and I love it.  

It is going to be pool weather soon here in Texas.  Avery is all set with 3 new swim suits this year.  They are all so cute!  The two on the left are Old Navy and the one on the right is Gymboree. 

Avery sitting pretty in her chair with one of her favorite books. 

Since the weather is yucky, we are staying inside all day.  I was pretty productive yesterday with my cleaning to do list.  I have a few more things to get done today before the house is how I want it.  I love a super clean and organized house.  Tonight I'm planning on making a big pot of rice and beans for dinner.  Happy Friday everyone! 

lake pflugerville and the outlets

Avery and I had a nice full and fun Monday!  After breakfast and coffee, we got dressed, loaded up the truck, and headed up north to Pflugerville.  We spent the day with my best friend Angie and her two kids, Austin and Kinley.  We got up there around 10am.  We let the kids play for a little while at the house, then loaded everyone into Angie's minivan to drive over to Lake Pflugerville about 3 minutes away.  Here are the girls in the van getting ready to leave the house. 

Today was so pretty outside!  Sunny, 75 degrees, with a nice breeze.  It felt great walking around the water!  We put both girls into Angie's double jogging stroller for our walk.  They both did really well! 

Austin got the most exercise since he wanted to push the girls around the lake!  He is always a big helper when we are out and about with the girls.  Angie and I enjoyed going out walking and talking.  We'll have to plan on doing it more often!  I wish we didn't live 45 minutes away from each other. 

A pretty view of Lake Pflugerville.  There is a huge loop around it. 

After our walk, we decided it was lunch time and went over to the Round Rock outlets.  We all got something to eat at the food court.  Then we walked around and hit some of our favorite stores... you know, all the kids stores (except Bath and Body Works!).  We stopped in Disney, Carter's, and Stride Rite before both girls lost it and we needed to get going. 

Kinley fell asleep on the way home from the mall, while Avery was wide awake.  Avery stayed wide awake the entire trip back to south Austin.  She finally went down for a nap around 3pm.  I think she would have just stayed up until bedtime if I let her, but I needed some quiet time.  :-)

After our fun day, I need to get down to some business around the house.  Love my sticky notes all over the fridge as my to do list?

I've been SO lazy about keeping up with house work this week.  I don't know what my deal is.  I'm always an anal organized neat freak.  Hopefully this list gets smaller over tonight and tomorrow.

Today was a great day!  Thanks for having us up today Angie! 

afternoon walk and park stop

This afternoon we got out for a walk since it was a beautiful day of 75 degrees.  We always stop at the neighborhood park towards the end of our walk so Avery can play.  The big brown dog likes hanging out and watching everyone. 

Making her way up the play scape! 

Getting ready to come down the slide. 

As soon as she goes down the slide she runs right over to the stairs to do it all again!

My big girl!  I love this little stinker so much! 

We're looking forward to our lunch and play date with Angie and the kids tomorrow!  Good night!

i've been lazy the past few days

I've been lazy since my parents left to go home.  I haven't really taken my camera out to take any pictures and we haven't done anything exciting.  Tonight I need to get my butt in gear and get our bathrooms and kitchen scrubbed, dust and clean the floors.  I'm usually really good at keeping up with the housework, but when we have family visit my daily upkeep goes out the window.  You should see how big the dog hair balls are floating around our hard wood floor.  Sick.  As far as this week goes, I want to get the house back in order.  I always feel so good when it is nice and clean and organized.  Start daily walks and a stop at the park in the mornings.  Continue to meal plan and have vegetables chopped and prepared for the week (that seriously helps SO much).  I also hope to make some plans with friends so Avery can do some playing this week.  I have a few random returns/exchanges to make at some stores this week.  I also promise to keep up with my blog better and post new pictures soon!  :-)

happy march!

Happy March everyone!  I can't believe it is March already.  This month we are looking forward to grandma Charlene coming to visit us and of course celebrating St. Patrick's Day.  I decided to put Avery in her new shamrock shirt made by Two Sisters Crafting to start the month off right.  Doesn't she look like the perfect Irish toddler with her green gear and red hair? 

Avery is so funny.  As soon as I sit her in a chair to get a good picture, her face goes blank. 

But when I let her run around like a little crazy girl, she is happy as a clam.  This is my normal happy girl! 

Today we are going grocery shopping and hopefully getting out for a walk if the weather clears up.  Have a great Thursday!