Playing Together

Currently, my little pumpkin is pretty sick. Actually the sickest I've ever seen her. She started running a fever on Monday. She was fussy, congested, did not want to eat or drink, or even play. I took her in this afternoon and she has a really bad ear infection. So we've been doing a lot of cuddling and snuggling this week. 

However, Gogo let Paige play in the pool in her pj's. Apparently when you're sick, grandma lets you do whatever you want. 

But last week, while Sarah and I were in Branson, Paige had a great time hanging out with her cousins.

There was a lot of pool time. Paige kept pooping in the pool, which really surprised me because she doesn't ever do it in the tub. That girl!

Everyone thinks the girls are twins. You would never know they are almost 3 months apart, especially since Paige weighs more than teeny tiny Adelyn. 

My grandpa (mom's dad) came up this past weekend. He saw Paige last year when she was a few days old, but it was time for another visit!

Yay for 4 generations! Here we are just over a year ago.

Look how little that little tater tot is!! oh my goodness she has grown up so fast! 

The best thing to ever come out of girls weekend

Three years ago, before Daniel and I headed to East Asia, Sarah and I had a girls weekend in Fredricksburg, Texas. It was amazing!! And we loved the B&B we stayed at. 

Since Daniel and I are headed back to EA this fall, we figured another girls trip was in order. We realllly wanted to go back to Fredericksburg, but with me in Illinois that made it a bit more complicated. So we decided to go to Branson, Missouri. We both had never been there and we found another cute B&B to stay at. We're a sucker for a good breakfast. 

We stayed at Hummingbird Inn. It had an amazing view and yummy food. Also, probably the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in!!

We drove down Wednesday and stayed 2 nights. The first night we went to The Landing and walked around.

We ate dinner at yummy mexican restaurant and found a few good deals we couldn't pass up. As we were driving home that night, the sun was setting and we saw fireflies as we drove. We both haven't seen fireflies since we were about 8!! 

Thursday we spent the entire day shopping at the outlet malls. We were both giddy about shopping! We found some great deals, and had so much fun!! I can't remember the last time I shopped that much! Which brings us to the best thing EVER to come out of girls weekend....

Sarah kept talking the whole day about how much she loved her new leggings. Newsflash: I have never worn leggings (unless you count my early childhood). I was convinced they only look good on really skinny people, and I just don't understand how to wear them. But Sarah went on and on and on about how comfortable they were. So while were shopping I tried a pair on and let me tell you-I have seen the light! Where have these been my whole life?!?!?!!?

 (more on this pic in the next post)

Random picture, yes. But let us appreciate the leggings!!!!! Oh my goodness a whole new level of comfort! I want to wear them every day. The only problem is I only have 2 shirts that are long enough, something I will remedy quickly. So I need your help-where do you buy shirts for your leggings? Any fave legging brands, especially for shorties like me?

So after shopping all day, we went and got a pedicure then went to a late dinner at Shoguns. The chef guy instantly knew we were sisters and thought we were too young to have kids. Bless him. We have been getting a lot of people saying how much we look alike. But neither of us really see it.

We ate dinner at 8 pm at night and were some of the last people to leave. I asked Sarah when the last time she closed down a restaurant compared to opening it? Having little ones, we usually don't go out too much, and if we do it's at 5pm. It was such a treat having a late dinner out!

I love my sister and loved getting quality time with her. I can't wait to do it again! :)

Father's Day & Weekend Rewind

Friday night was the first night I have slept well in a long time. I won't bore you with the details, but I am one tired girl over here.

Daniel had agreed to get up with Paige Saturday morning so I could sleep in. He was going to take her out to breakfast, but I ended up getting up at 7:30 so we all went to Panera.

We have been having beautiful weather here in Southern Illinois! We've been outside as much as possible. Here's little Paigers playing in the grass.

We just her play in her jammies. The grass was wet so when she walked on the sidewalk she left cute little footprints!

Saturday night we took my dad out for Father's Day. We went to a local mexican restaurant and it was delish!! I'm so thankful we are in the States to celebrate with him. 

I was excited to celebrate Daniel's 2nd father's day. Daniel is the perfect dad for Paige-he is the best at playing with her, comforting her, singing to her, and taking care of her poopy diapers. (and since she wears cloth that is a BIG deal!) I couldn't ask for a better dad for Paige-he is amazing!!!!

Paige made this and I love how it turned out! Paige really enjoyed the paint and I can't resist little handprints!

My dad and Daniel accidentally wore matching shirts today to church, and it made my day!

I dressed Paige in her little OU dress today too. Boomer!

We're watching the Spurs dominate the Heat right now!!! GSG!!!  Sarah is coming up with the kiddos this week and we are going to Branson, MO for a 2 night girls getaway. I cannot wait!!! We've both never been to Branson, so we are open to ideas of what to do and where to eat!

Happy Father's Day!

Sudden Quick Trip

Last Sunday I was talking to my sister on the phone and we were lamenting the fact that we haven't had tons of time together while we've been in the States. We started talking about me flying to Houston to just hang out and spend a few days. It was one of those things that we were half serious half kidding. It felt a little crazy and short notice to fly to Houston, especially since Sarah will be coming up to Illinois with the kids next week. But Daniel and I were talking it out, and big picture, I don't get to see Sarah that often, and when we go back to Asia this coming September, I know opportunities to see her will be very few and far between. 

(i love this picture because paige looks like a little rag doll)

So the day was seized and I bought a ticket to fly to Houston the next day to stay for 8 days. And then Daniel decided to drive to Oklahoma for the week to see his family. He surprised his parents and had a great time with everyone! (sorry i don't have pics from his week)

Paige has flown many times in her short little life. However, flying with her now that she is mobile and takes less naps, is a whole other world. By the end of the trip back I was lecturing Paige that she would be taking a boat back to Asia because I would never fly with her again. (i'm kidding) (kind of)

Anyways, we landed after 10 on Monday night and headed to Sarah's house. Sarah's youngest is 11 weeks older than Paige. But we took them to the doctor in the same week, and they weighed the exact same 20.8 lbs and were both 30 inches tall. Adelyn is in the 7% for height and weight, bless her heart.

The girls played okay together. Adelyn was a little territorial with her toys and might have been a little rough physically with Paige. But we overcame and we will start teaching Paige how to fight back this week. :)

When we went shopping, we tried putting both girls in the little car. Paige however, refused to sit on the seat, but insisted she sit on the bottom. This picture was taken before Adelyn tried to kick Paige out of the car, ha!

We did some really fun things with the cousins while we were there! Sarah's neighborhood has a splash pad, and Paige had the time of her life! I love giving Paige experiences that I know she may not have when we move back. It makes the little things extra special.

We went to the park and played outside a lot. Paige has a mop of hair, and her head is naturally hot. Poor thing sweats on her head a lot. So to help her out, this happened and I died over the cuteness.

We got a great surprise while we were there. Our cousin, Skee, called and said he was in town! Skee lives in Europe for his job and is quite the world traveler. I haven't seen him in a few years, and he has never met Paige, so it was great getting together.

Paige loved Uncle Skee!

Sarah and I had great sister time. It's great being with someone who has a child at the same stage as yours to do life with-we can change their diapers, feed them, and take care of them like they're our own. So even though the days can seem long, having support all day long was just lovely.

The week was a huge blessing to me. Sarah and I had to much fun and our time together was exactly what I needed. We flew back yesterday and spent today recovering. 

Miss ya'll and hope everyone is doing well!

Family Circus

We had a wonderful weekend!!!

Daniel and I got back Friday afternoon from our little get away. Friday night my parents were at their weekly game night at a nearby friends house. Daniel was just about to change Paige's diaper to get ready for bedtime, and she fell and hit her teeth on the bedside table. 

oh the blood!

Paige wasn't screaming or acting like she was as hurt as she looked. But blood was just gushing out of her mouth and she wouldn't sit still to let us take a look at it. So we drove her to my parents friends house, because their friend is a nurse. I might've been a little overly concerned. She took a look and said she would be fine, she just bit the inside of her bottom lip real good. So Friday night was lively to say the least.

My dad is a pastor, and one of the church members gave him free tickets to the circus that was in town. I love the circus and haven't been in many a year. I was pretty excited.

Paige had her first pony ride and loved it. I was a little nervous because she was unsure at first, but as soon as the pony started moving, she was a fan.

I'm really not sure who had more fun. Let's be honest, I'm really just a big kid.

I was a little worried how Paige would do sitting still for a few hours, especially during naptime. But she wowed me. She was content to sit in our laps and wave to the animals. Of course Papa buying her a snowcone might've helped a little too.

This was as close she would get to the clowns. We tried twice, and she ended up crying. I think the face paint scared her. Luckily Daniel wasn't too scared.

That was our weekend! When is the last time you went to the circus?

Staying in St. Louis

My parents live in South Illinois, about 45 minutes from St. Louis. Daniel and I had a few extra points at Marriott, so we decided to leave the little pipsqueak with my parents and have a few nights away.

We stayed downtown and just did fun stuff. It was supposed to rain the whole time, but we ended up having great weather. We spent the first afternoon just walking around.

I of course missed our little pumpkin, but it's great to get away sometimes too.

We went to dinner that night and then went to the movies-one of my many love languages. We saw the new Spider Man movie. It was really good, but I might've had to close my eyes a few times-just a little too much action for me.

We found a GREAT restaurant right around the corner from our hotel. It's call Roosters and it was amazing. i'm seriously drooling right now just thinking about it. One thing you should know about me, is that I am a lover of all things Smores. (sidenote DQ has a Smores blizzard out right now and it's so yummy). Roosters has a Smores crepe which I paired with mint coffee. We actually went two mornings in a row.If you live near St. Louis-go to Roosters!

Later, we hung out at the pool, then went to the Cardinals game. I did love the location of our hotel-it was perfect walking distance! We walked around the Arch before the game.

It was just a quick 2 nights away, but it was so much fun to spend time with my love and have real conversations and be able to eat without having to cut up someones meat first. :)