What I Ate Wednesday - Hattie B's Hot Chicken

Hey, y'all! I'm back again this week for what is unintentionally becoming a weekly blog. I have been really sick. Just too sick to think about words and complete sentences and articulate thought... but I'm hopefully getting better. I came down with a cold about two weeks ago and by Monday, it had developed into pneumonia. I knew at this time last week that I was feeling far sicker than a cold should make me feel. Marvin did such a great job taking care of me last week when our weekly date was pretty much just me sleeping while he brought me stuff to make me feel better. All I have wanted to do for the past two weeks was sleep, honestly. I would wake up enough to talk to him on the phone a couple of times a day but mostly I was just going from sleep to sleep. I had a doctor's appointment already scheduled for this past Monday and  my dr knew right away... pneumonia. So... I'm on an antibiotic (a whole new world of unpleasantness) and am scheduled for a follow up in two weeks to make sure it has all cleared out because ... with me, it rarely does with just one course of antibiotics.

That's part one. Cold - turned to pneumonia - hopefully getting cleared up with antibiotics. Part two is my blood pressure. Tuesday my blood pressure was 153/120 AFTER starting a new (fifth) medication to try to bring it down. I have been dealing with high blood pressure since I was 35 and for the most part, medication and behavior modification have controlled it. Lately, nothing works. One possible reason is sleep apnea. I was diagnosed with this back in 2011 but there was so much going on with my health then that I just couldn't afford the time off work, cost involved, etc to get that issue sorted and honest to dog... I just don't want to deal with the c-pap machine and all of that nonsense. However, uncontrolled sleep apnea creates so much stress on your blood vessels because of the interruption in breathing... your body goes into fight or flight and your heart pumps harder and harder to keep you alive. Doing that every single night will ruin the elasticity of your blood vessels and cause a lot of other issues... so, as much as I hate the process of controlling sleep apnea, it's a part of the puzzle in getting my bp under control. The other step is seeing a cardiologist because... once your blood pressure is as high as mine has been for as long as it has been without finding a solution with medication... you have to start looking at the mechanics.

The past seven years have caused me to develop a love/hate relationship with the medical profession. I hate that I need them. I hate the cost. I hate the inconvenience of going to appointments, especially when I'm seeing new specialists and I have to start at square one with them. My medical history is crazy. When I start listing diagnosis' I sound like an absolute hypochondriac. OH how much do I wish I was just a hypochondriac. I would love to never have to deal with prescriptions and doctors and copays and ... all the things. There have been times that I have just abandoned the process because I hate dealing with it all... just as with the rheumatologist. I was supposed to follow up in February 2017 in the ongoing quest to isolate the specific auto-immune disorder going on in my body. The bottom line for me is that nothing they suspected was anything they could treat with one magic pill. It's still a symptom by symptom resolution which is what we're already doing... so... anyways... not happy to see a cardiologist. Grateful to have the health insurance to be able to do so. Hopeful that he will have a solution for this blood pressure issue. It just becomes very scary when you know you're taking all the meds and trying to eat healthy and still, not able to lower it.

SOOOO... today's blog is about our trip to Hattie B's Hot Chicken for lunch today. I know it seems completely contradictory to what I've talked about so far but ... I try to take a 80/20 approach to healthy eating. I do the best I can within my resources (as far as feeling too poorly to cook for the past two weeks, not feeling like shopping for myself, etc) and then on date night (and day and night and day) I loosen the boundaries a bit. Honestly, I had one piece of fried chicken, some potato salad, black eyed pea salad and lemonade. It wasn't horrible. What was horrible is that I completely forgot to take pictures. Cody met us for lunch as he was working right down the street and his birthday is the 30th... not sure when we might be able to celebrate so we did today. I've snagged some photos from the web and you should also check out Hattie B's website.

We had passed by Hattie B's a few weeks back when we went to The Vortex for lunch. Hattie's had a line going down the street so we thought... hmmm... we should go there... and we also though, hmmm... we should get there early. Win on both counts today - we got there about 11:15 and had zero wait time. You order at the counter and they give you a number and bring your food to your table. The menu is pretty straightforward and simple so ordering was easy... the table service is attentive and helpful. We were able to order dessert without getting back in the (then very long) line. The food is fresh and hot (except my potato salad and black eyed pea salad which are meant to be cold). I got the very bland - no spice - chicken because I'm a wimp and because my belly is kind of unwell from the antibiotics. Marvin and Cody both got medium spice and agree that it was about as spicy as they would want to go. I got light meat because that's my preference and it was not the least bit dry. Marvin and Cody got dark meat because they worried that the white meat would be dry. It wasn't. There is limited parking, Cody had to pay to park so... that's a drawback but it's in the city so, it's just part of the process. We snagged what Cosy refers to as "Nana parking" because I have the handicapped tag. Definitely though, if you're in Atlanta / Five Points area, I would recommend Hattie B's. There are also locations in Nashville and Birmingham.

What else can I tell you about the past week? We had lunch with Cosy last Thursday and then had a good time playing with her afterwards. I didn't see her over the weekend because I was feeling so rough and then finally got her again yesterday (Tuesday) and had THE BEST TIME despite my blood pressure being high. Austin was around and did most of the actual caring for Cosy, I just got to enjoy her. She dried my hair for me and helped me put on makeup... she's just the best medicine!

Tomorrow Austin and Cosy are coming to pick me up from Marvin's. I don't have to drive, which helps when I'm not feeling myself. Until then, I'm just tucked in, enjoying being spoiled a little and appreciating the peace and quiet. I'm basically just trying to feel better. I think the blog creativity will improve as I start to feel better... in the meantime, I'll try to keep you posted. Thanks for stopping by! Love and hugs, y'all!

 

Tuesdays With Cosy

The new normal pain level is continuing... yesterday (Tuesday) was such a long day and although I've done a whole lot of nothing today, I'm absolutely wiped out. I feel flat... like it's hard to communicate or be sociable or even just function and I feel so bad for Marvin who is stuck with my blah self for company. I'm trying, y'all. It's just at a point where pain is robbing every ounce of energy from me. I want to cry. I want to sleep. I want to ... anything but this. I'm just so tired of feeling this intense pain. It's not just my spine, is the muscles in my back, the nerves shooting down to my toes. It's the aches and pains from moving in a different way to accommodate the sore parts. Anything that involves physical exertion leaves me completely out of breath and makes my heart race. I woke up this morning feeling like I couldn't take a good breath... my heart was racing, I was near panic and I just tried to lay as still as possible and focus on one breath at a time. Once I got up and started moving around it was better but... I'm nowhere near my normal self.

Yesterday I had Austin go pick Cosy up from her mom's. That's normally my favorite thing. I take her to Dunkin' Donuts and we pick up a coffee for me and a pink donut with sprinkles for her. I love those first minutes of the day with her and I feel like she's more cooperative with me if I start the day fresh with her. Instead I had Austin get her and do the donut run. She was definitely happy to see me once they got back to the house. She climbed right up in bed with me and I got lots of great cuddles. We played with slime for a little while but she was afraid to touch it because she doesn't like to get her hands dirty. Then she hung out in the bathroom with me while I tidied up and got my shower. This picture is where she wanted to stay with Nana in the bathroom and play in the sink and her dad wanted her to get dressed... "save me Nana!". I know it's naughty and I try to never lead the grandbabies astray. I tell them all the time that their mommies and daddies are the boss and nana is NOT in charge but... I have to confess, her hanging on to me for dear life was pretty cute.

Austin took her outside to play in the pool and I had a few minutes to try to finish getting dressed for the day. I could hear her happy squeals all the way back in the house! They came back upstairs and got out of her wet swimsuit. She was playing and walked past the bedroom door and smacked her foot on it really hard. She immediately started screaming, that kind of scream where they hold their breath. Although my back is wrecked, I picked her up and started blowing in her face to get her to breathe. It's reflex. Then I laid her on the bed to check out her foot. It was already turning blue. I told Austin, "I think we're heading to the ER...this foot is definitely broken" so he ran over and flipped on the overhead light and said, "that's sidewalk chalk from where we were playing outside." I was relieved, of course, but... my word! She asked for a "bambage" (bandage) so I wrapped her with medical tape and she was perfectly fine.

We had to get Austin's van insured and registered yesterday but on Monday, the insurance quote he got was way beyond what he could afford. I wasn't really up to dealing with it then so I told him to shop online and I'd see what I could do to help him in the morning. So Tuesday I emailed a former co-worker at State Farm and started brainstorming with her about how to lower his insurance cost. To make a long story short, because my dad is a long time customer with State Farm, Austin qualified for State Farm's Mutual company, which has much lower rates. It took the cost of his insurance from $154 a month to $44 a month.

While I was making the arrangements for the insurance I sent Austin to town to find out how much his tag was going to be and to get a fax number so we could send his proof of insurance over. I was emailing back and forth with my friend at State Farm and all of a sudden I noticed that Cosy had dumped out the bucket of slime and was covered in it. That stuff is of the devil. It is an ooey gooey mess. You cannot get it off. I would get one little appendage cleaned off and she'd stick it right back in... so of course I was bent over, stretching my back all kind of ways and basically in tears thinking, "why me?" but also laughing at the predicament because she was just freaking hilarious! I finally got the bulk of it off her but she needed a bath to get the rest off. I couldn't let her walk because she would leave footprints of slime all over the carpet so I picked her up and carried her to the bathtub... and once again, my back was just screaming at me.

At any rate... Austin got home about then and he bathed her so I didn't have to bend over. She had a great time in the bubble bath! It was all just a great adventure for her. I posted several pictures of this on Facebook yesterday. After her bath, Austin took her home and finished up all the details on his van so he is now all set and independent. He can drive, he has his own vehicle and I can do whatever the heck I want, whenever I want and not have to worry about anyone else's schedule and that feels really, really weird. It's the first time in my whole life I've been this ... carefree... and all I feel like doing is sleeping.

I came down to Marvin's last night for date night (and day and night and day). We went out to a restaurant in Atlanta that he had always wanted to try, The Red Snapper. It was amazing and I'll post a review about it on Friday. Then we went out for ice cream and then came home and I went to bed. Today we slept late, went out for lunch, went to Publix to pick up a few things and I'm in for the rest of the night while he is hosting trivia. I'm about to get in the bathtub and then catch up on Better Call Saul, it's what we're watching right now. I'm a few episodes behind him.

Tomorrow will be a stay in the house and chill day, probably. I've got a post ready to go up in the morning so be sure to check that out and I'll be back for Food Friday to talk about what we've been eating this week. Hope your week is going well! Love and hugs, y'all!

Photo Dump - Week In Review

It's Sunday afternoon and I'm binge watching Criminal Minds.
Marvin is working.
Austin is at the ER getting treated for staph infection (same general area, new wound) and is getting a massive dose of antibiotics.
I had several things that I meant to share with you over the past week that I haven't yet so...

<------ angle="" best="" but="" cosy="" it="" me="" my="" nbsp="" not="" of="" p="" photo="" sweet.="" took="" was="" yesterday.=""> This was my blood pressure this morning. I went two days without two of my medicines and oddly enough, without those, my blood pressure went down. It could just be coincidence. At this point I'm looking for anything and everything that could possibly be the magic fix for my bp. I am working SO HARD at eating healthy, whole foods without preservatives or high sodium content. I'm still struggling with getting in enough fluid but I'm trying.

Trying out CBS All Access to have access to the Big Brother Live Feeds for a little bit of time this Summer. I'm not one hundred percent sold on this year's edition and cast of Big Brother but there are a few characters that I'm interested in so I'm watching it for now. I also thought it would be fun to binge watch a few of the CBS shows that I haven't watched or have only seen parts of because I watch SOOOO much tv. The site is not as easy to navigate as Netflix. I didn't think I could watch old episodes but then I found a way... it's just weird.

Cody received a huge honor this past week... he is working for a new company and has only been there for two or three months. Last week they awarded him as their Rookie of the Year for the past year - even though he was only there for a few months of it! My kids are good at whatever they do. It's pretty amazing. Cody has all these specialized certifications on life safety systems like fire alarms and sprinklers and that sort of thing. The company he was working for was really falling apart. There were weeks that they would barely have one day of work for him. This new company recruited him and have really taken great care of him and that makes mama happy.

As I mentioned earlier, Austin had to go to the ER today. He has another wound like the one last week... it's a staph infection. They got him started on some major antibiotics. Poor kid. He can't work tomorrow. I've got to decide if I want to try to get Cosy tomorrow while I have the car so she can see her daddy a little bit or if it would be better just to let him rest and get well and I'll get Cosy on Tuesday, like usual and it just be me and her.

All of a sudden with Cosy in just the past week it's like someone switched the light on for her with the whole potty thing. I just stopped asking if she had to go and told her she was the boss of her teetee. I still put her in big girl undies because... Nana don't play that pull-up crap. She's not had a single accident out of the three days we had her last week. Every single time she had to go she told us, we helped to the potty and she went in the potty. She has been so freaking proud of herself for it, too!

I finally got all my meds yesterday. Cody went and picked them up in Flowery Branch for me. I was up most of the night Thursday night and ALL night Friday night. I went ahead and picked Cosy up when she woke up - 7:30am yesterday- even though I was a freaking zombie - because it's so important to me that the babies spend time together. I knew Oliver would be disappointed if he came up and Cosy wasn't here. I posted lots of pictures of them on my Facebook and Instagram yesterday but I'm posting a few more for my records here and for those who don't do the other social media things.

Pool that Marvin bought them. I think Marvin needs a grandpa name but he gives me a major eye roll on it. He really is just the sweetest ever to these babies. Honestly, he couldn't be any sweeter if he birthed them himself. 

 

 

 

Further back in the week... pictures from my Spa Night, Wednesday night at Marvin's (while he was working)

  ceviche and tostadas

I ran this photo through the Prisma App and I like the way it turned out... sweet baby girl washing dishes.

I slept great last night from like... 6:30 to 7 this morning with a few interruptions in sleep to go potty. Then I laid back down and took a nap at 11. I've just been really run down. I am still feeling really fatigue and having a hard time moving around but I feel like I'm on the right track now.

And one last thing... the invitation to Oliver's 3rd birthday party. His mama and grandma hand made the invitations. It's a Toy Story theme so they're made to look like an etch a sketch. I absolutely adore them! It's hard to show in a photograph but they are 3-D.

Hope you're having a great weekend! Love and hugs, y'all!

Throwback Thursday - June 21st

Welcome back to another weekly edition of Throwback Thursday where I look back at this day in my blog's history! You can click on the links to be transported back in time to read the different blog posts.

On this day in 2016 work had just begun on our new covered deck. We have loved that new deck so much and it has been a place of some of the best memories... I just wish my mom had been able to enjoy it longer. I feel her presence more on that deck than anywhere else in the house. She loved it so much. Since it's covered it's comfortable in all but the hottest days of the year. We had Cosette's 2nd birthday party out there... so this blog post makes me a little weepy, realizing that it's only been two years since they started rebuilding the porch... but happy that mom did get to enjoy it for awhile.

In 2015 it was a special "Reasons to Love" post but this time it was Reasons to Love Helen - my sister-in-law! It's been three years since that post and I could probably do a hundred reasons to love her now. We have the BEST text message chats! She posts the sweetest pictures of my nephew Finn! She is always concerned about how I'm doing and always asks about my kids and... we could not have chosen a better wife for Bryan. And now she's incubating another niece for me... quite possibly another red-headed niece... and I'm planning a visit to New York later this year to welcome the new Gant Princess!

I was really thinking deeply about our food choices in 2013 and what might be out there that really isn't good for us. I was also having a little trouble with the youngest kid and wondering when he'd step up to the plate (he has, trust me!) I was deep in the swamp with disability and all that fun stuff. Not my best post ever but it's good to see where I was on this day five years ago.

Oh goodness... what a mess was this time six years ago! Moving back down south... trying to sort Austin's situation out... not knowing if I was going to go back to work or end up filing for disability. It was just so much chaos. The important thing is that I survived it all! Moving in with my parents felt like the lowest of the lows at the time but of course, I didn't know then how little time my mom had left and how important it would be for me to be with her. I read this post now and think... Poor Heather just didn't have a clue. How different would we live our lives if we knew what lurked ahead? Lots. I'm telling you, we would live LOTS differently.

In 2011, I was blogging about Vacation Bible School and the pledges we used to make in the assembly every year. They don't do that any more... at least not around here... and I think it's important to learn those things. But it's more important to know why you believe what you believe. I'm still sorting that part out. When you pledge allegiance, what are you really saying?

I was back on the Weight Watchers bandwagon on this day in 2010 and was really encouraged about my food choices. We had also just recently been to the Fox to see the Little House on the Prairie musical, which was great fun! Somehow that particular day ended up being a double post day and I wrote about a customer who hit a bear with his car. You just never know what might happen here!

AND finally... in 2009 I was having a fabulous weekend watching old movies and staying indoors to beat the heat. I have a long history of hating Summer!

Hope you enjoyed this trip back in time on my blog! Happy Thursday!

News Day Tuesday

Cody at 10 or 11 (not sure exactly) 

Happy UnMonday, Friends!

Today has been quite quiet for me. I did a little dog-sitting this morning while my mom was visiting the urologist. I worked on my Italian. I watched some YouTube videos. I did a little Pinterest research for toddler activities (Austin is very much into planning things for Cosette to do because he is an awesome dad, as you all know!) I did not do anything on the to-do list from yesterday so... boo hiss on my organizational aspirations. I'll get there eventually.

My parents got something marked off their to-do list today - they hired a guy to do yard work! Austin has been doing it since we moved here and his perception of a perfectly groomed lawn is somewhat different from my mom's perception. She's always just kind of done what needed to be done to bring it up to snuff as she enjoys working in the yard but she really can't physically do that any more. With Austin working so much and having Cosette on one of his days off every week, he doesn't have the time to put into it that he once did. AND... the riding lawnmower quit working about two weeks ago and we haven't been able to figure out how to get it going again. I say "we" as if I had anything to do with it. Trust me, I don't.

Following up on my recent interest in that YouTube series on a visit to North Korea, I watched a video on this guy who defected to North Korea in 1962. I believe there were a few others but this guy was the first. His name is James Dresnok. It was very interesting to see how deeply indoctrinated he has become during his time there. His reason for crossing the border was ... stupid, if you ask me ... his marriage had ended, he had forged a superior's signature on a pass while stationed in South Korea and ... he just figured, why not? Suicide by crossing the DMZ, I guess. He became a propaganda piece for North Korea as did the other men who followed him around that time. He has sons who were born there and who speak English with a Korean accent. It's pretty bizarre because the accent doesn't match the face. The documentary was called, "Crossing the Line" if you're interested in seeing it. I watched it on YouTube.

I'm hearing that the Pumpkin Spice Latte release is September 1st, as in DAY AFTER TOMORROW! I'm wondering if Cosette is old enough for her first PSL as she'll be with us that day... Just kidding. Mostly.

For my first "Autumn themed flavor test" I tried the pecan pie m&ms that I bought last week. They aren't BAD but they are awfully sweet. They taste as if you dipped an m&m in maple syrup. So... maybe if you don't like super sweet things you would want to skip them. I'm a fan of sweet and salty so I think I would like peanut m&ms dipped in maple syrup but you can't make pecan pie with peanuts so...

Me & Bryan circa 1980-ish

Today is my middle son, Cody's birthday and tomorrow is my brother Bryan's birthday! I can always remember Bryan's age because he is ten years younger than me. His birth that occurred in the middle of the night. Jim was 12, I was ten and Michael was 3 so my Aunt Ginger and Uncle Carl came and stayed with us when my parents went to the hospital. At some point during the night they opened my bedroom door and turned on the light and said, "you have another brother!!!" And my ten year old/only girl response was, "turn the light off.". I did grow to love him, as I love all my brothers. Although I always wished for a sister, the ones I gained through marriage have been pretty awesome. Some of them are real awesome and some are not awesome so it balances out to be pretty awesome. (Bryan picked a real awesome one) At any rate... Happy Birthday, Bryan! I've always been proud of your accomplishments but I'm even prouder of seeing you as a husband and father!

Tomorrow is also my nephew Caleb's birthday. We haven't seen him in awhile but we love him dearly and are thinking about him on his ... yikes... 12th birthday!

Tomorrow my mom has two procedures to try to get more information on her health situation. I'll share more when we know more but keep her in your prayers tomorrow. And also, keep my dad in your prayers as he is not great at waiting and he'll be doing a lot of it tomorrow. Praying for comfy waiting rooms and long naps for him. I'll be Oscar sitting so pray for the cats (LOL!). Sometimes Oscar is friendly with the cats and sometimes he isn't. We are anxious to know what my mom is facing. I just keep trying to remember that God knows already and has been working to prepare us all for whatever news comes... and of course you never know anything right away so it's really more the beginning of waiting than it is a resolution. Her first procedure is one I've had before and it's uncomfortable all by itself but then she has a long drive, another procedure and another long drive to face afterwards.

Lots of my news for today is really about tomorrow and the next day, it seems... it's all part of being a daily blahhhhger. Some days are just dull. I haven't watched much actual news today. I said I'd go back to the 24 hour news cycle after the Olympics and I really haven't. It's on in the background with the sound mostly off while I do my Italian lesson in the morning. I check online news periodically throughout the day and I leave it on the news channels during the night in case there's something big breaking, I'll see it on one of my multiple bathroom breaks during the night. I'm still so aggravated with the political situation in our country. I feel like we've dealt with so much legitimate tough stuff as a family this year with my mom being sick and the custody stuff and it just makes me angry that people like Anthony Weiner are in the news because he is such a massive pervert and that Colin Kaepernick doesn't have enough human decency to stand for the National Anthem. Our country may not be perfect but it's done an awful lot for him. There's so much more in life that MATTERS. It's just easier to keep my blood pressure under control if I don't watch much news. Does that make sense?

End of anti-news rant on News Day Tuesday.

I'm catching up on my DVR'd shows this evening and maybe watching a few more episodes of Drop Dead Diva. We had a great dinner - chicken and rice. I'm having a peaceful, easy evening and I hope you are too! Just two more days until Pumpkin Spice everything! Love and hugs, y'all!

Daddy / Daughter Day Part Due (two)

I'm not gonna lie... going full speed with a toddler wears me out! Austin is with her every second except for, you know, calls of nature and such but I have never been a sidelines type Nana. If one of my babies is around or on the phone or in my presence in any way, I'm giving them 110% of me, even when there are other caregivers around. Time is so precious. I don't want to waste a bit of it!

That being said... my energy level dropped a bit in the afternoon so I ended up with more pictures from the morning than from the afternoon. Of course, some of that is because we're actively doing things and not looking at life through a camera or phone. Still... I did get some cute photos!

I have a LOT of pictures of Cosette holding my iPhone and all of those came within about a ten minute period. Her dad had a phone call and she's just a little mimic. The whole time he was talking she walked around with my phone doing exactly what he was doing. She even carried the phone outside with her. I have a good Otter Box so I don't worry too much about her damaging the phone. Plus... she's a girl and she's got a pretty delicate touch most of the time.

 

 

 

 

 

She did manage to drag my digital camera across the concrete on my back porch yesterday and scratched the viewing screen on the back just a tiny bit. I paid around $100 for that little camera six years ago and it's survived lots of "enthusiastic" little photographers over the years. It's going to have to be replaced soon anyways so I just let the babies have fun with it. She does get rather frustrated that she can't "swipe" to change the photo in the view finder like she does on the phone. They're just born understanding technology. It blows my mind!

Anyways... like I said... every moment is precious.

We played quite a bit on my back porch yesterday which is nice and shady in the afternoon. We set up the foam blocks/puzzle/mat for her to have a soft place to sit. She prefers the cats' mats which are sort of yucky to me. She kept her little Frozen fuzzy house shoes on all day which made her look like such a little teenager. My porch is concrete so it is a little rough on bare feet. Her mom had dressed her in cute little capri leggings that Austin pulled off at naptime to let her be comfy. Somehow she went the rest of the afternoon without her leggings. Hope you're not offended of photos of a little girl in her diaper. I think it's ok... We totally forgot to put her leggings back in her bag to go home. Oops.

She also loves Amazon packaging... the big box makes a great fort. The big bubbles that keep things from shifting in the box... she loves when her dad pops those. If you see plastic around her... no worries... we're not letting her ingest it. She actually doesn't touch it other than giving it to her dad to make the loud noise for her. She is not afraid of loud noises. She is usually supervised by at least two adults, sometimes three or four! We use the baby gate to block her access to my room, the cat room (where there's a litter box) and the bathroom. We don't have the stairs blocked off but we are never more than a foot away from her. She's also a bit skittish about falling so she will climb a step and then look to see if someone is going to help her. Just a little safety disclaimer there!

When Mawmaw and Pop woke up from their naps (LOL!) we went upstairs to their porch and let Cosy splash in the water a little bit. Oliver is a little fish. He loves water and you can pour it over his head, hold the hose on him... whatever... and he's in Heaven. Cosette is a bit delicate. She splashed in a little bowl and played with some cups but it was definitely not her favorite thing to do. She DOES love her books and the kitty cats and like I said, just being outside on the porch. I love that our weather stays mild around here most of the year and I think we'll get lots of use out of both my screened in porch and my parents new covered porch upstairs. The new porch is great. The old wood porch was rough so you couldn't have walked barefoot or let a baby just plop down on it to play. Now it's like a great big play pen!

After we played in the water we went back to my living room. Austin tried to get her to have a little mini-rest-time/not a nap because we had played SO hard all afternoon. She basically gave him an eye roll and jumped back down to play with all of her things. I think if I had cleaned up all the things while she was upstairs playing in the water she wouldn't have had the urge to PLAY. WITH. ALL. THE. THINGS!!!! She read a book with her dad for a hot second and then was up walking around reading her books and enjoying her toys but really, REALLY enjoying her books! We're thinking about taking her to story time at the library. They were doing it on Thursday mornings at the local library the last time we asked and I think she might have the temperament to sit and enjoy a group story.

 

We took her back to her mommy. She fell asleep on the ride but handled the transition beautifully again. She's a champ! My parents had picked up dinner from our local meat-and-three restaurant so I had dinner, facetimed with Ollie and then crashed hard!

And now it's Friday again! Hope you have a great weekend! Thanks for checking in! Love and hugs, y'all!