Here are about two weeks worth of pics... yup. Guess that's just how its gonna be! Enjoy!

Snapped post-church two Sundays ago. She wanted a graham cracker but only if it was served to her in a cupcake wrapper.... your wish is my command, your highness. She is too darn cute to refuse something as innocent as that!

July 21st.... Olive's Birthday!
We had a fun Birthday playdate scheduled with all of Olive's little friends but Olive came down with a runny nose and a little cough so we had to cancel. I got her this kiddie pool for her Birthday so we blew it up and played for hours!
Olive wanted Evie to kick her legs as she was splashing! I love this pic!
Evie loved kicking in the water...until Olive splashed her one too many times. Then I took her out and she was sitting on my lap when I suddenly realized Olive was holding my camera under water and saying "fishy!". This was the last good picture was camera ever took.

We had some yummy Birthday cupcake with Grandma and Grandpa R on Sunday. Olive wanted Pink frosting and since she cant have any food dye, she helped me blend up some strawberries and dumped them into the frosting. It was heavenly, so fresh tasting and even a few little crunchy strawberry seeds in the fluff! Yum!

Last Friday we headed to the Splash Pad with friends. Evie really likes the sound of water and she napped in the warm sunshine. She looks so peaceful here!






We were invited to the Hatchs for some delicious Barbeque chicken and lots of yummy food last Saturday. I so appreciated this! I guess the weekdays are easier- I'm used to Jason being at work most the day and after dinner, bedtime comes pretty fast, and then I temporarily leave my life for whatever novel I am engrossed in that week. But the weekends are long and lonely.
Lilly and Olive are so cute together!

Tuesday, August 2nd.
Great Grandma R turned 90 last week!! So we all headed up to spend a day with her!

Evie was fussy and worn out from the long car ride. Uncle Stephen asked if her could take her and this was the scene 10 mins later. Sometimes that is just what a momma needs! I was so grateful for his kindness and Evie was sure comfy in his arms!
Grandma R and Aunt Judy!


Uncle Vince, Great Grandma R, and Grandpa R! I love Jason's Grandma! We don't live close so even though we have been married 7 years, I am just now starting to feel close and the love just pours out of her. Everyone of the kids and grand kids wrote a favorite memory or story about their Grandma and Grandma R scrap booked them all beautifully into a memory book for her. We sat together and listened to the stories and reminisced. It was wonderful.
Driving home...tired babies!Evie has begun really trying to communicate with her cooing. Its adorable!

Rewind...

I know I said I would be better about posting.... and then I somehow acquired a headache that just wont go away. Its been about 9 days of headaches of varying intensity and we've been taking it more easy lately. So to rewind a bit...I think I left off on the last blog post on July 3rd. Here are a few pics taken at the community Fourth of July celebration we attended with our friends April, Jeremy, and Kate.We just lounged on a blanket, chatted, and listened to Death by Banjo. Nice relaxing night!
On Wedneday, the 6th, we were invited to have dinner with the Hatchs. As usual, dinner was delicious, chicken, salad, homemade rolls, followed but a chocolate chip cookie pie Olive and I made. Their little Lily, just 4 months younger than Olive, is one of Olive's fav little playmates. They came upon Lily's pink crocs and decided to each wear one.... they kept them on like this all night!How cute is that?
Thursday we took a day trip with April and Kate to a small town close by to for some good deals on groceries and to enjoy the good stuff you don't find in the city... little delis, farmers markets, things actually grown and crafted by human hands, not machines.
Saturday we had some yummy dinner with our good friends the Parsons, who have Ethan and Lexi... also two of Olive's favorites!
Sunday we went to visit Grandpa Dave and Grandma Gay and spent the night so the babies didn't have to get up early for me to go to work Monday. It rained Monday afternoon and Grandpa seized the opportunity to take Olive out to puddle jump. She loved it!
We took it easy Tuesday and just had April & Kate over for dinner then joined them Wednesday for baby storytime at the library. We headed afterwards to a cute consignment shop and got a mini cupcake at Blue Frost. Yum!
We've done nothing today... poor kids, my head aches so bad we are still in our jams! Oh well, hoping tomorrow will be better!

back tracking.... Party Time!

I decided to throw a party for Jason and Olive a few days before he left. It was an early-bird day party and a papa's flyin' the coop party. I didn't want Jason to miss Olive's 2nd birthday so I decided she would turn two a month early and we would do a farewell party for Jason at the same time. It was kind of hectic and the weather threw out some crazy surprises so I didn't get a lot of pics :( but here is what I have!
I made tissue poms and hung them around the yard and over the food table- so easy and festive!

Jason and Olive tried out the chocolate frosting before the cupcakes were iced. Olive loved it so I knew it was good!



Olive and Jason enjoyed a cupcake together!


And played the kazoo! She is actually pretty good at it!Jason, Olive, and Great Grandma R!


It was a great party, great friends, and great memories! Happy 2nd Birthday Olive and good luck Papa!

Just because...

I'm not a daily blogger. I have never understood how some people pull those extra minutes from their magic hat to blog on a daily basis because at the end of most days, I'm running on borrowed time and my bed is beckoning me to crash into it! These little girls sure keep me running! So since Jason is away for (gulp) 6 months... I want to be better about updating more frequently so he can see his babies....I cannot imagine even a day without seeing their precious faces. I'm not promising daily... but more often! So here is an update from this past week.
Though I forgot my camera for most of our weekly events (something else I am going to strive to be better at!). We were very busy this week! On Monday, we get up and ready to go to the post office for Papa and run an errand for Grandma R but when we got in our car... dead! We waited all day to get the battery replaced. Olive had way to much energy so I told her to run from one side of the room to the other a few times and the video below was what she did... she just cracks me up sometimes! With thanks to an awesome neighbor, our battery got replaced and we went out to dinner with Grandma and Grandpa R!
Olive has a new fascination with wearing my shoes! I caught her trying as hard as she could to walk across the room in my flats on Tuesday! Adorable!
Wednesday we went to a playdate at Hillary and Lilly's house. The kids swam in the kiddie pool and Hillary served the momma's a yummy lunch! It was very relaxing and I love that our playgroup is just as much a playdate for momma too!

Thursday we went to the Zoo with Michelle, Ethan, and Lexi, and Colleen and Savy. I wish so badly I had remembered my camera! Olive loved it and got to experience the Larakeets for the first time. Since she is bird-obsessed it was so fun to watch her little face every time one flew up to her or landed or made noise near her!
Friday we relaxed and ran a few errands then hung out at home but went to a place for the most delicious frozen yogurt after dinner with Tiffany and Dan (or tiffy and don as Olive calls them!).
Saturday, we joined Colleen and Candler and Tiff and Dan for a yummy BBQ at Colleen's house. They had super yummy sliders- cheeseburger and a rockin' pesto chicken (still craving more!). We had veggies and fruit, corn on the cob and very patriotic fruit pizza Tiff and Dan made.
Today we went to church and just hung out together. So that was our week! Pretty busy, very full, and it went by quickly. Going to have to keep that up!

Missin' Papa & family pics

We really miss Jason. He has been gone for only four days now... I have that empty, heavy hearted feeling, especially if I dwell on the fact that we have about 178 more days to go. I'm trying to keep us busy to keep our minds off his absence... especially Olive's. This Olive sure loves her papa!
Just days before he left, we asked our good friend Rex to snap some family pictures for us. I love these pictures of Olive with her ball. So simple and unstaged... just enjoying being a kid. I love it!

How old is Olive? 2!

They were really rushed and we couldn't get any smiles from Evie, but I'm so grateful we have them so we can have documentation that our little family has grown to 5 (Lucy the Dog included!) and that these kids change every single day! They're going to look a lot different when Papa comes home for Christmas! Love you so much Jason!

Philly = Cousins, cheese steaks, and our HardRock tradition!

Last Friday we decided to head to Philly to visit Jason's brother Spencer, his wife Linda, and their three kids. We arrived Saturday morning after driving overnight. So after taking some time to rest, the kiddos headed to the park! We spent the rest of the day hanging out and eating Linda's famous sweet and sour chicken... yum!

Sunday: We had a yummy breakfast of pancakes and bacon before we headed to church. We came home and had delicious grilled burgers for dinner then ended the night with a nice walk near a river.

Monday: Time to explore downtown Philly! We got to climb this really neat monument. Olive loved all the fountains and wanted to jump right in (it was about 90 degrees out!).








Rocky stature near the Philadelphia Art Museum




You cant go to Philly and not try the famous cheese steaks! There are two of the biggest competitors right across the street from each other so we got one of each and split them to compare.

GENO'SPAT'S

And the winner is....HARDROCK! Jason and I have a tradition of going to a new Hard Rock Cafe on every other wedding anniversary. This was our year and since we found out Jason is leaving on our anniversary and will be gone for 6 months, we decided to go to the Philly HardRock Cafe. This will likely be the only time our kiddos will celebrate with us! :) It was great! We had filled up cheese steaks so we had a brownie sundae which was very yummy! Olive loved the crayons and cup they gave her!

7 years!!!

Olive tried the cherry that came on top of our sundae... a few licks later she decided otherwise.
Then we headed back to Downingtown and went to the pool! Olive love love loved it!



Evie gave it a try but wasn't sure what to think!
We had such a great time with our family! It was just what we needed! So grateful we got to spend time with them!