friday five

one | We are becoming Friday night regulars at Prigel Creamery.  The ice cream is delicious and the scenery doesn't get much better than this.  

two | Last year we were Baltimore rookies and went apple picking in late September.  It was fun to go when it felt a little more fall-ish, but the real time to go is right now when the Honey Crisp apples are in season.  Jilly made sure to wear a red dress to match the apples, Mattie didn't stop munching the whole morning, and we've all been enjoying the big bag of tasty apples in our fridge.

three | On Saturday evening we went to our first Baltimore Crab Feast.  Each family brought $10 and a side and we all feasted on crabs.  At one point Jilly came to get my phone and brought it back to me full of cute little pictures that she and her friends had taken.  I'm lame and didn't get any pictures of the actual crabs, but I did take a picture of the crabby cookies, of which Mattie ate 3.  It was a perfect night of good friends and good food.  

four | We took our friend Myles with us to the Baltimore Zoo on Tuesday.  He was so excited to see the polar bear, he talked nonstop about it.  It was a super duper hot day and I've been told it's hard to find the polar bear even on a nice day so I was really worried the whole trip would be a bust.  But as we walked up to the polar bear exhibit he was right there.  It was a little Myles miracle.  Also, the map was second only to the polar bear in excitement.  

five | We're s l o w l y getting all set up in our house.  After waiting nearly 6 weeks our couch finally arrived (we ordered online instead of buying in store and saved about $500, so it was worth the wait) and it's the best purchase we've ever made.  A few days later our rug arrived and it's so nice to finally have a comfortable room to relax in.

the story of our house

This is ancient history by now but I wanted to write it all down so I'd remember.  At the end of May we decided to start looking for a house in Maryland.  Previously we had been browsing houses in NC and it was quite depressing to go from looking at houses you can afford in Raleigh to houses you can afford in Baltimore.  But, we were excited to be staying and Bryan's job was going great and we knew we'd find a great home.

May turned into June and we were not finding anything we liked.  We had to be out of our other house by June 30 so we were in a bit of a time crunch and I was getting more stressed by the minute.  On a Friday afternoon I got a call from our realtor Lynn.  She said there was a house that had just come on the market that day and we needed to see it ASAP.  In 15 minutes time I had texted Bryan to meet me there after work and found a friend to watch the girls.  

We walked through the house and I loved it.  It was old and not perfect, but it was closer to Bryan's office, zoned for great schools, was near some of our friends, had a beautiful backyard and a newly renovated kitchen, and we met the darling girls that lived next door.  Lynn told us to think about it and get back to her soon if we wanted to make an offer.  

We were going down to Richmond that weekend so we spent the whole drive discussing the house and studying the listing on my phone.  By the time we got there we had decided to make an offer.  I texted Lynn and she said we'd chat in the morning.  

Saturday was full of fun activities with my family, all along texting and chatting with Lynn, who was amazing and spending her Saturday writing our offer.  I'll never forget sitting in the pavilion at Canterbury Pool while my family watched the girls and going through the offer on my phone to docusign every page.  I spent a lot of time that day feeling grateful to live in 2015 where we can make an offer on a house from a cell phone!

We were excited, but tried to forget about the house because we knew there was an Open House on Sunday and they weren't looking at offers til Sunday night.  Late Sunday afternoon Lynn called and said there were two other offers (boo!)  It was the moment of truth and we had to give it our best offer.  We did, and she said we'd hear back later that night.  I held on tight to my phone the whole drive home and finally when we were about 20 minutes from home we got the call.  They'd accepted another offer. 

I was really really sad.  After all the worrying and wondering about our future these past few weeks I had finally felt good about this house and then it had slipped away.  I texted my family and a couple friends to tell them we didn't get it and went to bed confused and disappointed.

I spent Monday worrying about our future and feeling sad.  I kept flipping through listings and thinking that none of them compared to "our house."  That night we went to a goodbye party for some friends.  I hadn't even realized that Bryan had left to take a phone call, but I was standing in line to get food and Bryan grabbed me and said "we got it!!"  There was a glitch with the other offer so they defaulted to ours.  We were so, so, so excited.  I told my friend Jenni but I could tell there was something funny about her smile.  She tried to hide it but then admitted that she had run into Bryan right after he hung up with Lynn and asked if we'd gotten the house.  He was excited and couldn't lie to her so she found out before me!  I'll also never forget my friend Alli jumping up and down and screaming "you got your house!!"  It was fun to celebrate with our friends.

And now that house is home and we are grateful and happy to be here.

one last hurrah

We couldn't let this summer pass without an Anderson beach trip so we headed to Virginia Beach a couple weekends ago.  We drove down to Richmond Thursday night and then to the beach Friday morning.  We convinced these cool kids to ride with us (Jilly and Mattie not pictured, but safely buckled in car seats in the back.)

After a few hours of traffic and a stop at cfa we were back at our happy place.  It was really windy, which the girls were thrilled about because we got to use their new kite (which was cheap and didn't work very well but they didn't seem to mind too much.)  While both girls were asleep Bryan and I snuck away for a bike ride along the boardwalk.  We stayed at VA Beach and rode bikes along the boardwalk on our honeymoon so it was fun to relive the experience 8 years later.  We had a great afternoon at the beach, a picnic dinner, then walked down the boardwalk for ice cream.  

We stayed at an awesome hotel right on the beach, the view was amazing!  I brought a pack n play for Mattie but she wanted to sleep in the bed with Jilly.  I let her since I knew they'd fall right to sleep thanks to a long fun beach day.  It was so funny to see how they'd end up cuddled together every night.

Saturday was another lovely beach day.  Lots of jumping in the waves, games, sandcastles, naps, and a fun bike ride with my mom and sisters.  The girls loved having a full day to play with daddy.  Jilly rode a few waves with Bryan on the boogie board until she had a little tumble and lost her bravery.  Next year she'll be back at it I'm sure.

Jilly has memorized the first two articles of faith and recited them at the beach for everyone.  Mattie got a little jealous of all the attention and started a little trick show of her own.  We were cracking up at this funny little sister.  

That night we got pizza and walked home along the boardwalk.  This sculpture was right by our hotel and technically you aren't supposed to climb on it, but how on earth was I supposed to tell a four year old she couldn't climb on a giant sand castle?

On Sunday morning we packed everything up and then went to church.  You'd never know we were  wearing our swimsuits under our church clothes, right?  The only thing missing on this trip was Jenn, who couldn't leave her job to fly home from Utah for the weekend.  Boo.

We had a picnic lunch and then spent a couple more hours at the beach before making the long, trafficky drive home.  Bryan had brought these twinkies with edible Minion stickers.  I was skeptical, and can't stand twinkies anyway, but the girls thought they were the best thing ever.   

And that's a wrap.  Summer 2015 is going down in the books as pretty darn good.

five on friday

one | I was running out of memory on my computer so I went through all my old pictures to save them to an external hard drive.  In addition to drooling over pictures of my sweet newborn babies I realized that two kids is WAY easier than one (at least at this stage.)  I loved the days that I spent with just Jilly and me, but looking back at pictures reminded me how exhausting it could be to entertain her all day.  It's so nice to have two girlies to play together and keep each other company.

two | Have you seen this video?  It's perfect, and hits a little close to home.  #cfaforlife

three | I feel like Jilly is on the cusp of becoming a big kid.  She's so excited for preschool to start in a couple weeks and loves practicing writing and sounding out words.  But I'm so glad she's still little enough to dress up in her Cinderella dress and gloves and ask me to put a bun in her hair.  

four | It's been an especially two-year-old week for Mattie Claire.  She's made messes and thrown tantrums and refused to nap for a couple days (thankfully that seems to be over now) and insisted on wearing her Minnie nightgown out and about on many occasions.   ¡Ay de mi!

five | This has been kind of a weird week for me.  On Monday one of my close friends got some horrible health news and I've been so, so sad about it.  I've been running around super busy, but the whole time I've felt like my brain is in a haze, and I'm often on the brink of tears.   Sometimes the world seems just too sad and scary, I'm so grateful for God's plan and the peace it brings.

Happy Weekend!

friday five

one | Last weekend our primary had a campout for all the dads and their kids.  Bryan took Jilly, and apart from a few tears as she waved goodbye, she was SO excited and had a great time.  Mattie was sad to be left home with boring old mom so I took her to Target and the Pet Store.  Every time we saw a new animal Mattie would walk right up and say "Hello, I'm Mattie."  

^ saying goodbye

two | While Mattie and I were at Target we bought her some of her very own undies.  I haven't actually started potty training, but I thought these would get her excited and I was totally right.  She wears them over her diaper every day and Bryan said when she walked into nursery on Sunday she immediately lifted up her dress to show everyone.

^ the wallpaper has to go... I just haven't gotten to it yet!

three | Afternoons can get a little hairy around here, especially when we're all tired, it's hot, I'm trying to make dinner, and the girls are hungry and their mean mom won't let them have any fruit snacks.  It's a relief to all of us when Bryan comes through the door.  On this day he sat down to read Chalk with the girls and had them in stitches with his sound effects.  

^ We ordered a couch over a month ago and it's finally going to be delivered Tuesday (!!)  In the meantime, we've been using this futon in our family room and we're definitely over it

four | One morning this week our plans with friends fell through and suddenly we had a free morning.  I took the girls to a nearby park where they rode their scooters around for a while, played on the playground, then begged to play in the stream as we left.  It turned into a really fun morning.

five | We seriously love having a backyard of our own.  Our inflatable pool and a sprinkler have gotten a lot of use this hot week