the cool "zoo"

It's summer. 

It's Atlanta. 

It's H-O-T-T HOT

(the extra "t" added for good measure...or for temperature...you decide)

Thanks to the Cuties fabulous Grandma, we are proud members of Zoo Atlanta.

Sometimes, though, it's just too hot to visit the zoo animals (and often, those animals find it too hot to be on exhibit and are hiding inside their quarters). 

So what are the Cuties to do when one of them asks to see some animals?

PET STORE!

woot woot.

 Can you tell that we're big fans?

We were big fans of the pet store field trip prior to our zoo membership and i reckon we'll be big fans for years to come. I truthfully find no shame in waltzing into a pet store for the Cuties to visit the animals and then walking out without a purchase...though sometimes I do cave and buy our kitties a bag of treats.

Thursday was Cutie Cakes first intentional pet store visit and I think she enjoyed the sounds. She couldn't really see anything because she was facing me in the Ergo. :-o

Cutie Face tried to free some kitties

when that plan didn't work, she entertained them:

I think they loved it. 

Now if only our cats loved it when Cutie Face played with them...

Next up were the birdies.

Cutie Face thought they were all named Pippen, like Grandma's birdie

the Cakester just wasn't sure about them, though

The fish were much more entertaining

but the best "exhibit" of all was the dog grooming station

she could have spent hours watching the dogs get their hair cut. 

It was quite entertaining to say the least :)

YAY you did it!

That was the theme of the remainder of the week:

YAY You Did It!

Thursdays are the days that J usually comes home so it's always a cause for celebration. This week, though, we had HUGE cause for celebration--he finished the first project he ever "led". We were very proud of him and wanted to express that through a craft.

so we did. 

Cutie Face was a huge help. She's getting so good at crafting!

She was also quite pleased with her creation

and, from time to time, would run into the room and say:

"look at dat, mommy. dat's my craft for daddy. yes."

it's kind of like saying, "yay, Cutie Face--YOU did it!"

In more "you did its"...The kiddos and i went to the playground again.

Cutie Cakes is showing you how she did it...and had SO.MUCH.FUN

she's so excited that she's smiling SO BIG that it looks like she's yawning!

gotta love this action shot with Cutie Face in the background

(and the Cakester still ecstatic about swinging)

We then retreated to the shade where the duckies were.

Sadly for them we did not do it--

as in, bring the bread that they were anticipating.

these poor (seemingly) starved ducks came from every direction and landed at our feet, just waiting for us to drop them a snack. Luckily for them, we went to Target yesterday and bought a $1 loaf for future duck pond visits.

Here's some long-awaited "yay you did it" news: Cutie Face can finally walk her Little Tikes car forward (previously, it'd only been backward movement). 

This photo captured the literal first moment that she lurched in the correct direction. It took a few tries and "eeeeeeh. i can't do it"s but she eventually had fluidity of motion! YAY, Cutie Face, you did it!

Cutie Cakes, meanwhile, managed to finagle a little more mommy/daddy time by being inconsolable around 11 PM Thursday night. That's one "you did it" that we weren't too fond of but...really...who can resist this kid? I can't!

We then had the extreme pleasure of having guests on Friday. The amazing Lauren stopped in with her three kids (can we all say, YAY Lauren, YOU did it!?!) on her way to see her parents and friends. 

Before I post pictures I just have to publicly say that having Lauren visit feels like an incredible blessing. She mothers with grace, patience, and wisdom all while pointing her children's hearts back to God. I really feel like I received a lesson in mothering just by watching her interact with her two kids while soothing her newborn! Thank you, Lauren, for your incredible (and humble!) example! 

We played, ate, made LOTS of noise, blew bubbles, snipped basil, and shared life stories. It was great!

This morning we let J sleep in--a totally deserved and much needed lie-in (as evidenced by the fact that he slept until 11 AM!!!!!). 

Once the tiny tike was down for her morning nap, Cutie Face and i ventured into the extreme heat (can we say: heat index of 116?!?!). We walked to a "porch sale" (as opposed to say, a yard/garage sale)--she rode in the newish Ergo--i LOVE that thing. Even with those high temperatures, we managed to stay cool! go Ergo (you did it :). 

The kind neighbors who were moving gifted a toddler life jacket to her (maybe they thought we'd soon melt into a puddle and need something to stay afloat in...). We couldn't say no but we did look a little funny carrying on to Starbucks, life jacket in tow (plus two plush kitties and one blanket)

at Starbucks I caved and bought the kid a doughnut. She does a bang-up job of eating soooo many veggies--spinach, sweet potatoes and broccoli being her faves--that i thought a little treat couldn't hurt.

she was much appreciative

and ate it all

while i took comfort in the fact that it was...

"Real Food"

Cutie Face's consumption of it definitely attested to the doughnut's "Simply Delicious" claim

While that was all fine and good, the customer in the background was not too pleased with something. I nearly died when i saw these pictures up close (they were taken on the iPhone)...i enjoyed her facial expressions so much that i made them into a little collage for your viewing pleasure:

oh my.

we rounded the day off by thrift-store shopping for fabric. it was tons of fun

one piece of fabric came on a bolt...that J turned into a toy:

YAY for free, simple toys!

and check out Cutie Cakes' new yellow vintage dress--$1!

and now this post is finally over! yay i did it :-0

the {unexciting} life

Welllll we can't always create blog-worthy posts each and every day can we? I will say, though, that we've now accumulated 6 days worth of pictures that need to be shared for posterity sake.

We're reviving FAMILY Friday date night--we used to go to Fellini's every Friday with Cutie Face but then...it got colder, we moved, and we had a babe. So that was on hold for a bit. Never fear, the Cakester weathered her first official family date night and we hope to make it at least a biweekly tradition!

cutie face gives J a big smacker at the restaurant

Let me tell you, it was b-l-a-z-i-n-g hot out that night. and we walked 2 miles to get dinner...which meant we then had to walk back. To say we were a sticky mess would be an understatement.

So we introduced J to Yoreka as a ruse to cool off--but now he's addicted, too!

think this kid could be more fierce? it's her yogurt man!

Saturday morning we piled into the car and drove a few short miles to Decatur for the annual Decatur/Dekalb YMCA 4 miler. 

The last (and only) time I ran this race was 20 days before i delivered Cutie Face. Now that is hard to believe...especially because it means that her 2nd birthday is less than 3 weeks away! eeeeeek!

Post-race (and post bagel noshing), we sauntered home to a lazy morning. After the girls awoke from their naps, we had plans to go shopping so we took it easy...that is, until J decided to place Cutie Cakes in a bowl. Seriously. I walked into the kitchen and this is what i found

at least she was humored by it.

when asked, J just said, "well, the bowl was there."
enough said

Fast forward to our mall outing. UGH let it be known that i find shopping in a mall on a weekend with two children under the age of two...DEPLORABLE. But it worked and Cutie Face had an absolute blast at Pottery Barn Kids

and Cutie Cakes was just as sweet as her moniker

Can you believe i took not a single picture on Sunday? not one. I told you this week was unexciting!

Shopping. Really i hate it. But I took the kiddos out and about again on Monday. We had a lot of errands to run and we did them all--even making it to the post office 5 minutes before they closed! yay!

The girls were troopers throughout the day and thankfully were able to let out some energy at the park. It was the first time that Cutie Cakes really seemed to like swinging--usually she just smiles for me whenever she sees me--this time she was smiling on her own in the swing. 

Cutie Face, as always enjoyed it...but she was a little confused why her sister was enjoying it, too--

this confusion would become the theme of the week...

Yesterday (Tuesday) was a strange day. The girls got up for good at 5:35 AM. And didn't want to go back to sleep. Until 4 hours later. For some reason I decided that I could do my speed workout after they woke up. 

WRONG

11:30 AM = 96 degrees

even without pushing a double baby jogger i'd be pushing some serious heat stroke

we made it 5 miles before i called it a day

At least we voted (and, don't worry--we voted before I got all sweaty!)

we also went to 2 parks!

which meant, more swinging for this little girl

an afternoon snack of grapes with Baby Emily

While we were eating our snack, Cutie Face watched a girl her age run with grace and agility--we were both very impressed by her running skills.  

Cutie Face eventually tried to have a go at it herself. Let's just say she's never been blessed with fluidity of motion. But she's the best and she tries and i know she'll have a great stride soon enough--and even if she doesn't who cares!?)

The Cakester just enjoyed life, as usual. she's such a great baby!

sister-op

and for my weekly all-us-girls-op

(yes i wore my GA voter sticker with pride even during my attempted run)

the Cakester is into grabbing and gnawing these days...anything that comes into her path of vision is fair game--even Cutie Face's arm

Cutie Face found it hilarious and started offering her arm to her sister and telling her what flavor it was (usually strawberry in case anyone wanted to know)

phew what a day!

the highlight, no question, was seeing Mimi and Poppy for the first time in two weeks! What a true blessing it was for them to arrive just at the end of dinner and start of bathtime--the most hectic part of my daily routine! 

and i'm sorry for the absolutely atrocious photos--all taken with an iPhone or on automatic camera setting which results in funky colors and shadows:

hearing Cutie Face laugh hysterically with Mimi as she was read a story filled my heart (i know--that sounds ghetto-lame but really. it did).  Having my dad feed Cutie Cakes her nightly bottle was priceless. And having nothing to do for half an hour but wander aimlessly around my house while the grandparents took care of the bedtime routine was...weird..and very rejuvenating! 

for some reason, i cannot fall asleep until after midnight. It's really a horrible habit. It affects my whole outlook, demeanor, appearance, and performance (as a mom, human being, and runner!). Note: i will be in bed as soon as this post is posted!

Last night was no exception. Which meant a run was not in the cards nor was much else in the AM. Operating on a bit more than 4 hours of sleep really put me in a funk but we got over it and met the twin at Ikea. Sadly, i only have 2 pictures from our outing!

the Cuties matched today--this is the only matching outfit that currently fits them. Sadly you can't even tell! I need to start sewing!

for dinner, i let Cutie Face watch her 15-minute "Monkey George" episode. Cutie Cakes sat with us but with her back to the TV...I took a few pictures of her craning her whole body up and out of the Bumbo to try and glimpse the TV but each shot was blurry because i was in a rush to make sure she didn't fall out--that's how badly she wanted to watch a show!

clearly, this forlorn look at her toys means they don't cut it when PBS is on!

finally i caved and let her watch a couple of minutes. She was mesmerized. Which made me instantly realize why i DON'T let her watch TV!

In lieu of the static toys, i brought out the play table. this girl LOVES standing

i don't know if she'll ever sit! oh well :(

Now I hinted that Cutie Face was having a hard time with the Cakester doing anything "kid-like"--ie Cakes is growing up and not doing babyish things anymore--which causes a severe grimace and concerned look on Cutie Face's face.

In the above picture, Cutie Face started vigorously (and i mean vigorously) signing "share" and saying "i share mommy i share". She had to convince herself that it was okay to let Cutie Cakes play on the table--that same table that she hasn't touched since we moved into this house. 

she also is beside herself when Cutie Cakes inadvertently touches one of her babies or stuffed animals--those are clearly off limits in Cutie Face's mind. I know i'm just getting a glimpse of sibling rivalry and the "mine" stage (or, as Cutie Face says "myze").

oh! in unrelated news (but good news!) we received a new cloth diaper from Bummis to try out today--ooooo i love it! so much that i had to do an impromptu photo shoot (and Cutie Face wanted to be in it, too)

it's cute, it's trim, it's a funky fresh version of an All-in-1. and it's great!

the end. I hope you're not as bored as the post's title suggested!