Sometime before last Christmas, when Ella was grumbling about dance, she mentioned trying out for the JV Cheer Squad at her middle school. We talked about it for months, but until she made a firm decision about dance, it was hard to know if we could squeeze it all in. Cheer Clinic and tryouts were held the week before Spring Break -- this is a small blessing, since it gives kids a week off before heading back to school. As excited as you are for the girls who do well in tryouts, I can't imagine returning to classes amidst all that excitement, if you weren't on the squad. She worked her butt off that week and she and Molly spent hours cheering and jumping in our front yard. We had flowers delivered to school the morning of tryouts -- this is apparently a huge deal -- and waited ...
Search Results for: dance
What’s Up Wednesday | August 2019
What We're Eating This Week | We are always looking for new ways to streamline the meal planning process and since we can't seem to reduce our food budget any more than we already have (and it's absurd), we decided to throw in a meal planning service. Because, why not? I'm not sure that it will change what we're spending, but it will eliminate some decision making fatigue. We went with Hello Fresh (you can save $40 off your first box, with this affiliate link) and we're doing three meals a week, to start. We didn't do the family portions, because I'm not sure how much my girls would actually eat, but we might tweak that depending on how the next few weeks go. I'll report back! What I'm Reminiscing About | With Polly's birthday only a week away (WHAT IN THE ACTUAL HECK?!), I'm mostly ...
Recital Recap | 10 Years
I wrote parts of this post weeks ago and never hit publish. It was going to be really hard to say Ella has decided not to dance this season, so I was trying to be extra careful with my words. It can be hard to share about your life, while also holding moments sacred and trying to protect your daughter's feelings -- all at the same time. As luck would have it (more likely divine intervention coupled with dramatic thirteen year old feelings), I registered Ella for her eleventh year of dance this month. It's going to look a lot different than the last seven years have, but I'm so grateful that I get to watch her on stage again this season. I had been writing this post in my head for almost six months and still couldn't find the right words to describe what I was feeling. It's not that ...
Ten Months With Polly
When your 10 month birthday is the day after a national holiday, you pretty much have to dress up and post your photo a day early, right? I bought these constellation shoes for Josh for Father's Day last year, because we didn't know if Polly was a girl or boy and he had been obsessing over how cute these were. They came in pretty handy for July 4th and worked perfectly with our July bow from Little Poppy Co. and this ballet top from June and January. I didn't actually buy her a patriotic outfit of any sort this year, but I kind of love how this looked! ten months as of July 5, 2019 Height + Weight: We don't go back to the pediatrician until she's a year old, but I'm guessing not much has changed since last month. She's pretty close to twenty pounds and growing. Clothes: I look for ...
Nine Months With Polly
Polly turned nine months old last Wednesday and we snuck in a visit to the pediatrician on Thursday morning. I was so worried we would have to wait until after our trip, but we managed to make it work. It is so hard to believe that her next visit will be after she's a year old?! nine months as of June 5, 2019 Height + Weight: Josh and I were placing bets on what we thought she would weigh at this visit. There's been some family debate about whether or not she's bigger than her cousin, Evie (10 months), and SHE IS! Polly weighed 19 lbs, 3 oz and was 27.5 inches long. Clothes: She is still wearing mostly 6-9 or 6-12 months, depending on the style, and a size 3 diaper. This swimsuit is a 6-12 months and it is snug. I'm glad we wore it for a few photos, but I'm not sure it's practical ...
Hello, Friday [June 7, 2019]
Y'all. It's the Friday before vacation, which is equally exciting and terrifying, since my to-do list is so incredibly long. Ella has dress rehearsal today, which means Josh is on baby duty and we'll be rolling in well after dark. There's nothing like repacking your dance bags, doing a load of laundry, and getting up bright and early to do the whole thing over again tomorrow! Our pool had to have some major upgrades this year, so we were a little later to kick off summer than usual. Since the liner and steps and lights (oh my!) were replaced, we've been spending every waking minute outside. Jennifer and Allen brought their kids over for a swim last weekend and it was so fun watching these two together in the pool. We tried to grab some photos of them before the day was over and it ...
Currently | June 2019
We were so ready for summer and are already soaking it up big time. I spent most of Saturday running between the pool and our travel trailer, then on Sunday I read an entire book and got all three girls packed for vacation. Yes, I have to do that a full week in advance, because recital week kicks our butt. picking | Does picking up count? I'm constantly picking up baby toys and smashed avocado from my floors. I'm picking up takeout almost every night this week, because dance recital week is not conducive to meal planning or cooking. We're also picking up (via Amazon) all of the last minute things we need for our trip. going | We are GOING to the beach this weekend and we can't wait. I've spent the better part of the last week organizing our camper and making it baby friendly. ...
On Being Twelve | an Ella Update
Much like Sophie's post last week, here are some of my favorite recent moments and memories with our favorite biggest girl! This has been a hard year for Ella, but man has she thrived. The transition from elementary school to middle school has been pretty seamless -- her grades are still fantastic and she amazes me with her determination and grit. It is different, though, and we are still learning to navigate all of big emotions, tight deadlines, and pure exhaustion. We knew when competition season started that it might be our last one that looks like this. Now that she's getting more involved at school, we're trying to figure out how to balance dance and cheer and a really full social calendar and it's just plain hard. We're still not quite sure what next year will look ...