Strawberry Flavored Cigar and a Corona

monday.
We started off the week with a visit from a good friend. This friend and I have been through the ups and downs of life taking us in separate directions. Our relationship suffered, then got better, and now we are apart of a beautiful support system for each other. Sister's got my back.



I live vicariously through her adventures. I do not have time to go to Africa, or India, or Russia but Zuzu does and her stories enrich my life and the lives of those around her. Avey is in love.

grandma.
The boys go in these game spurts. This week has been a juicy spurt. I have spent more time at my parents house this week than I've spent at my own.

Proof.

Sister figured out how to suck her thumb. It is the cutes thing I've ever seen!

Cutest butt you ever saw!

adulthood.
My baby sister turned 18 yesterday. I remember how disappointed I was every time my mother told me I was having a brother. I remember crying real tears when she told me she was pregnant with Tristan and that it would be their last baby. The Lord knew that two girls were more than enough for our family though. We're a lot like my parents. I am very much like my father and Bethany is just like our mom. My sister and I have not always had the best relationship but with each passing year we grow just a tad bit closer.

We had a girls day to celebrate. We did things that most 18 year old girls enjoy. We started the day with a shopping trip.





Bethany hammed it up while my mom and I oohed and awed over her tiny body and superb sense of fashion.





Little one was the perfect baby while we gabbed about boys and picked out swimsuits. She just smiled and laughed like she knew just what we were talking about. One day...





Bethany loves The Cheesecake Factory so we dined in luxury. I don't know how but my bill was only 7 bucks. That never happens! Bethany talked about buying cigarettes but I suggested she buy flavored cigars-- if anything. The girls I used to work with smoked them frequently and I remembered how they'd always come in off their smoke breaks smelling like grape jolly ranchers. She was stuck on the idea and I'll admit I was a little excited. I had never smoked anything before.



Obviously I know smoking a flavored cigar and drinking a 7oz beer with our feet in my parents swimming pool isn't the epitome of cool but I sure did feel it. I laugh at myself sometimes. Because I am silly and honest and a good girl to my core.



Avey conked out on the car ride. Her age was showing.
 

She didn't get to snooze for long because we decided to make a pit stop at Adriatica--one of my favorite places-- Brady proposed there.

 

At the base of that tower... but that's another story.
 











Fussy britches decided it was time to head back to my parents place. My mom is such a killjoy sometimes. KIDDING! Avey was tired, hungry, and ready for a decent nurse. She had been such a good baby all day. Who was I to say no?

After nursing Avey to happiness my sister and I ventured into the backyard. Me with my baby beer and her with the cigars.





When it was time to go inside we felt giddy, silly and drunk off the night. It was one of the longest times I had been away from Avey and I realized that it's time. I'm ready to venture out without her now. I am ready to go on a date with my husband and let my parents have her to themselves for a couple hours.

I'm not just ready. I need it. At first I felt bad but now I just feel sane. It's funny how much insight a strawberry flavored cigar and a corona will give you.
 

The birthday festivities continue tonight with my sisters "twin"-- as she calls him. My cousin Gabriel was born the day after Bethany. In the same hospital. They are both graduating soon. It's exciting! There has been so much to celebrate this week. I don't want it to ever end.

Iris Lilies from California

dinner.

On Tuesday night we had dinner with friends we hadn't seen in awhile. I was excited to have a reason to  shave my legs and put make-up on. Avey cooperated begrudgingly as I showered slowly spoiling myself with the body gel I only wash with on special occasions. 

I took my time fixing my hair and I found a tube of lipstick I hadn't worn in years and lavishly applied it to my lips. I felt like I was getting ready for the prom not dinner at Palio's, a local carry-out pizza/pasta joint where you can b.y.o.b. 

Helen Keller once said, "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." So I donned the red lipstick and I wore pretty shoes because I'd be darned if dinner wasn't going to be an adventure. 

And dinner was an adventure. We got to reconnect with old friends. One who is planning her wedding and getting ready to begin a new chapter. I was blessed to be privy to information about the planning and colors and flowers. 

While we were packing up we ran into someone we hadn't seen in awhile, as you often do in a small town, and it was the best surprise. It's nice to feel missed. When someone tells you that they've missed something about you it means that you've left an unforgettable impression. I want to be that girl. That girl you can't forget. That girl that leaves impressions. 

co-bed. 

As I've mentioned before we co-bed. Avey usually begins the night in her bassinet but ends up in bed with us at some point and stays till morning because it's easier to nurse that way. The doc recommended that when she hits the three month mark that we begin the migration to her crib... in her own room and I don't wanna! 

So I don't think I'm gonna.

I think we'll go at our own pace and when it feels right it'll be right. Lord knows I am not going to be one of those Mommas that has her two year old in bed with her every night. That bed belongs to Brady and I. It is where we rest, recoup, connect, and share quite moments while the rest of the world sleeps. It is not a family bed. It is a marriage bed and we are going to teach our children to respect that. Kids don't come first. Brady comes first. 

Give it a few more months and I'll be ready to put her in her own room. I'm almost there

story time.

I'm a story time snob. I used to work at Barnes and Nobles in the children's section and one week the manager that usually read for story time was out so I, by default, got the job. I picked out two of my favorite children's picture books, King Bidgood's in the Bathtub and Green Eggs and Ham, both books that you just can't go wrong with and I bit my nails (my nervous bad habit) as I waited.  

I remember sweating. I remember sweating profusely. I remember sweating right through my cute sweater.

I love her "oh" face!

I don't know why I was nervous. It was just a bunch of kids. But I was. 

Soon the dreaded time arrived and I began to read. After the first page I was on a roll, the nerves were gone, and I just kept going. I don't know how true this is but apparently as I began to read I picked up an english accent. I was also so loud that they could hear me upstairs. But the kids loved me and the parents made it known to management and then it became my job. Soon I had a following of about 50 kids (between both story hours) and the accent stuck. 

All that to say that yesterday was Avey's first story time at the public library and after being "The Storytime Lady" for over a year and a half I had become quite a story time snob. I even read at a couple Authors book signings (Laura Numeroff and Lemony Snicket... though if I remember correctly his real name is Daniel). 

I was not expecting great things. But great things are what we received. There was music, sign, play time, books, and a talking bear named be-bo. Avey was more interested with the kid sitting next to her but I ate it all up and we had a great time. 

Story time is going to become a Wednesday morning thing. 

valentine.

As we are all aware of by now Valentines Day is just around the corner. Yesterday there was a knock at my door and this is who was on the other end of that knock: 

Box-o-flowers. I was elated. The only time I ever received flowers from a flower delivery man was the time that the guy delivered them to the wrong apartment. 

Brady ordered them for Valentines Day but the company did not read his request and they overnight shipped them from California! The only thing I love more than regular flowers is California Flowers. 

They came in bud form.

and yes that is our Christmas tree in the upper right hand corner. don't judge me. :p

And then this morning... this happened. 

And I'm pretty sure that this is the best Valentines ever. Because Iris Lilies from California are the prettiest flowers I ever saw.