Let's Get Caught Up

I have been working on this blog post for about 2 weeks and for some reason Blogger has been taking for-e-ver to upload my pictures. I finally got it to work and I have lots to catch up on! So here we gooooo.....

Here are the fun sprinkler pictures I promised. Chloe LOVES all things water this summer! We went to the pool yesterday and she went under water several times. It's so cute to watch her take a big breath and hold it while she goes under. What a big girl!! Last summer she hated any water in her face. This summer, not so much, as you can see from the following picture.


Here are Chloe and Ally just being silly. They love each other so much. It's such a joy to watch Chloe with her best friend. There is just something about little girls being best friends that is so special. Ally won't be coming to our house every day starting in the fall and both Chloe and I are really sad.
Ha! This picture makes me laugh every time I see it. She was mad that I had turned off the water and refused to come in. I guess she thought if she stared at it long enough it might magically come back on.
In June, Justin and I were invited by one of his co-workers to the Royal's game. Of course we said yes! Her husband works for Budweiser, so we got to hang out on the "Party Deck" to watch the game. It was free beer and hotdogs all night.


Royals playing the Cards + free beer/food = A Happy Couple



Surprisingly, we've only had one wedding this summer. Our past several summers have been packed with weddings, but not so this year. We went to the wedding of one of Justin's friends from high school. It was a pretty wedding and we had fun.

It's always cool when you get married and find friends that both the husbands and wives get along and really like each other. Such is the case with our friends Andrew and Molly. Andrew and Justin were good friends in high school. Andrew married a sweet, fun girl named Molly. Although we don't get to hang out with them as much as we would like, it's always fun when we do get together. Andrew and Molly were at the wedding we attended. Andrew was the DJ, so Justin hung out with him - turning out the beats (lol!), while Molly and I chatted at the table. We sat and talked birth for quite a while. Yes, she's a girl after my own heart! :) It's always fun to find another birth junkie!! :) Here's a picture of us that I promised Molly to "blog about" - hehe ;)


Chloe of course loved the bubbles at the wedding.


My very favorite thing that has happened this summer is baby Emerson being born. My best friend, Andrea, had little Emerson on June 25th. He is the sweetest, squishiest little thing. I am so in love. Chloe hasn't quite figured out what she thinks of him yet, but each time we visit she gets a little more comfortable with him.

Is he not the most precious thing in the world??


Here's a picture of Emerson and me the day after he was born. Justin's still figuring out how to use this new lens on my camera, so sorry that Emerson is not in focus - haha!


Chloe's other best friend, Loreli, lives in Columbia but she came to visit so we all decided to take another trip to DeAnna Rose. I really love this place. I think it's even better than the zoo for littler ones - way less walking and more things to do!

Here's a picture of the whole crew:


Chloe loves the goats and this was her favorite this time. He was standing on a tree stump and would not come down. Chloe thought he was so cute and took some time to have a little conversation with him.


Our little family :) Something else we're working on this summer is getting our landscape looking better. Our friends, Jenna and James came up for the day to help us out. James and Justin worked on the landscape while Jenna and I watched. haha. It was SO hot and the boys worked really hard and did a great job! We have more work (more mulch to lay down, flowers and trees to plant, etc), but here's a before and after of the work so far:


Lastly, I've got my doula blog up and running. You can find it here. It's a work in progress, but if you've been wondering what the heck a doula is, then head on over and find out ;) I have more posts in my head that I hope to get up soon (why I decided to become a doula, the story of the first birth I attended, etc) so keep checking back. I have a doula client being induced tomorrow and I'm so super excited!! This is the coolest "job" in the whole world!!