lately

Here some of my favorites from the last couple weeks...

calling all muggles

if that title doesn't make sense, this post isn't for you, but if you have ever:

• craved butterbeer
• said "That store looks like it belongs on Diagon Alley."
• Wished you could ride the Hogwarts Express
• Thought about going to where the visitors entrance to the Ministry of Magic would be while touring London (I'm serious- I really wanted to do this, Drew said no.)
• giggled at the relationship between Ron and Hermione.
• wished you owned a Marauders Map
• felt like you've lost a friend when you finish reading the series...for a second or third time...
  

Then, friends, you are probably as excited as I am that the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince movie is coming out tomorrow! This is my favorite book of the seven so I can't wait to see the movie. I tried to convince Drew to go to the midnight showing with me, but again, got turned down. He doesn't share my H.P. love.


I must admit that part of my absence from the blog world has been due to the fact that I re-read the entire series over the past month. Just like last time, I am now having withdraws and Drew is ecstatic that its over.

I know this post is super nerdy...I don't care. I just love H.P.

UPDATE: I did get my way and we went to the midnight showing. It was my favorite movie yet. Go see it.

uninspired

I know, I know, it's been weeks since my last post. Not that we haven't had anything going on, I just have not been in much of a creative/inspired mood that past couple weeks. I haven't taken any pictures, I haven't made any new cards, I haven't cook anything new...and, you already know, I haven't come up with any fabulously inspired blog posts.

Things around here have been pretty boring, but it has been boring in a good way. We have all recovered from our fun, but exhausting, vacation and I have gotten over a dreadful cold AND, miraculously, didn't pass it on to anyone.

We have been enjoying the slow pace of summer. I will be back soon, but for now I am just taking a break and enjoying life without doing.

favorite so far

love this pic of trish and adam.

visiting the idaho kids

Having a great time visiting all the aunts and uncles in beautiful Coeur D'Alene. So far we have been to the lake, out on the boat, lots of parks, downtown and all sorts of spoiling by the aunts and uncles. good times.

"home" sick

When Keadryn was only 1 week old, a dear Omani friend of mine gave me this little traditional house dress as a gift. At the time is seemed like it would never fit my little 6 pound baby, but now it does! They wear them around the house all the time and they are made of really light cotton material which makes the 130+ weather more bearable.

Kead has been using it as pajamas and every time she wears it, it makes me "home" sick for Oman and my dear friends. (Kead really wanted her baby to be in the picture...)

solid food

I, like most moms, have a love/hate relationship with solid food. I love that I don't have to think in increments of 3 hours, I don't have to constantly survey every public place for a good/quiet/discreet place to nurse, and it means Drew can do some of the feeding! But that little Sayla is getting bigger and moving into the next stage is not so fun. I know its good and I know I'll love the next stage, but it seems like once solid food comes into the picture it is a rapid change from baby to toddler. Also, can I just say I LOVE the convience of nursing? 7-10 minutes, no cleanup, sweet time with my baby girl and we're done!

Well, whether I want it to happen or not, Sayla has started to wean herself. She L-O-V-E-S food. So far she has eaten everything we have given but squash is her favorite...which brings me to my next conflict with food- it is so darn messy! Look at this picture closely, someone asked me if Sayla had pink eye and I realized she had squash in her eyelashes from lunch!

...and then I won one hundred bucks

Sayla was in rare form on our trip home from Dallas the other night. Very uncharacteristically she wouldn't sleep and was not happy about being in the car seat. We kept stopping for mini feedings, and I was done with her fussing. At one of our random stops Drew, sensing my frustration, bought me a scratch off loto ticket. Since we have been married we have bought maybe three of these little guys and I have never won. But I still love them and, for whatever reason, they make me smile. Drew decided it was a good purchase to make some time pass and get my mind off Sayla, so I played the scratch off bingo game and didn't get a single bingo...bummer.

but, just when all hope was lost- I saw a little "instant bonus" scratch off and (you already know the ending) I scratched it away to find $100! whoo hoo!

I bought a new vacuum with it. That makes me really cool, I suppose.

baby announcements

I have been doing these photo birth announcements for friends (and family) lately and loving it! I just send mama the jpeg and she can get the photos printed wherever is convenient, and then order 4x6 envelopes online. so fun.

(I changed the name and stats for the example, so that little addie's full name and info weren't one here for who-ever to read...)

weekend with the remkes

We had a fun and relaxing weekend with Drew's family and got to do all sorts of celebrating and spending time with family.

celebrating addie's baptism:

little addie with mama, daddy, the priest who baptized her and her God parents, Dan and Grace.

celebrating kead turning two:

great-grandma and grandpa remke got to meet addie (and sayla) for the first time:

Other than that we generally had a great time relaxing and enjoying each others company. Good times.

love this girl

one thing that we hear over and over again with Sayla is "Seriously, is she always like this?" and by "like this" they mean self entertaining, happy and chilled out! The answer is: almost always. Things that make her not as happy include:

cleaning her nose (I would say this is 50% of her crying)
going to bed if she isn't tired
if we don't keep the cheerios coming
diaper rash

...thats about it. Other than that it is a whole lot of chillin and smiles and giggles. What a blessing!

goddess shoes

Kead is very particular about shoes. She is really in love with Crocs and there are only two or three other pairs of shoes that she will ever wear.

SO we decided to go to the Crocs. outlet store this weekend in Dallas to find some more neutral pairs. We were seriously disappointed. There were NONE. No black, brown, tan- nothing (in a kids size 6 anyway). Just as we were getting ready to leave I spotted these at the bottom of a clearance bin...be totally honest- is the gold too much?

Drew's dad calls them her goddess shoes, is that a good thing?

it was a good day

the park, water bottles (one of kead's favorite thing, who knows why...), lots and lots of cupcakes and then a drive to Dallas. :) it was a great birthday and the celebration will continue with granny, pops and family this weekend.

(in case you were wondering- I bought mini muffins and iced them. i hate baking, love decorating.)

celebrating keadryn

...just another post showing kead's personality in pictures, instead of words. I love this kid.

two

My favorite things about Kead at two:

• The way she (and she alone) can get Sayla to giggle and say "dada". Their bond is precious.
• Her logic. She is really putting things together and tries to bargain a treat or park visit into just about everything.
• She is talking up a storm! The other day I drove into Sonic and from the back seat she said "Large coke and large pepper, please" I love how she communicates!
• Her love of climbing (check out this you tube video for proof)
• Her adventurous spirit.
• Her eyes.
• Her passion. When the girl is happy there is no way anyone could be sad (of course, that has a flip side, but let's focus on the positive).
• The way she says "my" in place of "I" ex: "my cookin, mama!"
• Her love of the outdoors.
• The way she dances!
• Her name recollection. She know every ones name, including that mama is Jordan and daddy is Drew.
• How much she loves Hays.
• That she is now at the age where she can entertain herself!
• The way she wants to pray for everyone... including Aladdin and The Wiggles.
• How even though it is going by so fast and she is getting so big, there are still so many sweet moments in which she still seems so little and dependent on mama and daddy to make things right- whether that be a simple kiss on a scratched knee, or holding her when there are too many new faces. She is still our Baby-K.