Lake Placid

A couple weekends ago, we packed up Parker, our hiking gear and an infinite amount of other things and headed off to Lake Placid for a long weekend. We struggled with finding a way to thank my parents for helping so much with the wedding and figured a few days away at one of our favorite locations would do the trick. It also happened to be my dad's birthday so we were able to throw in some birthday celebration as well. You know Parker was all about that deal.

The house we stayed in was so beautiful, none of us wanted to leave. We scoped out a few other locations but once I saw the window seat my mind was pretty much made up. It was my official napping location and the perfect spot to put Parker with books or the iPad while we were cooking. There was also a moose and a huge bear waiting for Parker upon our arrival so naturally she found her best friends for the weekend. A few times we would look over and she would be hugging one saying 'I miss you, moose'. Melt my heart.

We ventured out for a few hikes, which Parker loved! She had a tough job being carried around all day but someone had to do it. Instead of huffing and heaving up boulders to summits of mountains, she was strapped to Matt's back making him give 'pony rides' or singing songs to keep us motivated. She also saw us do some pretty dumb things in high elevation such as running into trees and tripping over limbs. Although, I'm sure she won't remember the trip, I hope that it sparks a little bit of her adventurous side.

As I mentioned, my dad's birthday was on that Friday so we picked up a ganache topped cheese cake at a local bakery and celebrated. Parker's favorite things in the whole world are birthdays. Mainly because it involves cake. Whenever she hears the word 'birthday', she immediately follows it with 'cupcake?!'. One track mind. She was quite the candle ninja in her skeleton pajamas.

Family vacations are simply the best. 

Our Weekend

Alternatively titled Fall Overload.

First, I wanted to thank all of you who left comments around their experiences with toddler beds! With all inputs taken into consideration we have narrowed our search down to two. Now we're just waiting for Parker to say the words and it's operation big girl room!

For the majority of last week, a cold made an unwelcome visit in our household leaving Parker with a nagging cough and me with a less than functioning nose. Always a good time. Needless to say this weekend was devoted to resting and getting a jump start on transitioning our home decor in homage to autumn. Typically we are ones to decorate a week or two before the next season hits so this year I totally feel on top of our fall game. 

This girl's hair has just been the best lately. I love nothing more than to leave it down and let it blow in the wind, but her bangs have always been so long that it's a constant struggle to keep them out of her face. So more often times than not, its clipped to the side or thrown up into a pony. 

Now that Parker can actually distinguish items, colors and numbers, it's fun to take her out to places like farmers markets and plant nurseries where she can point out fruits and flowers. So naturally, she about lost her mind when she saw a 'puckin' in real life since we've been eyeing them in some of her books at home. It was beyond adorable to see her run around and pick out 20 pumpkins that she wanted to take home. We settled on five, a few mums and some Chinese lanterns and called it a day.

One of the first places I tend to focus on when decorating for seasons/holidays is our entry way. It's such an easy area because it doesn't take much effort and it's one of the first rooms that people walk into so it sets the tone from the get-go. Have you ladies heard of Chinese lanterns? Probably, since I'm sort of a rookie to this whole plant thing. I picked these pretty things up at a market and immediately thought of them for the entry way. Throw them in a tall cylinder vase and add in a mercury glass pumpkin and you have yourself a quick and easy fall entry way!

In other news, we are heading to Lake Placid at the end of this week with my parents and my brother and his girlfriend! My younger brother won't be able to make it, so it looks like we'll need to plan another trip in the future. It's one of our favorite places so we can't wait to get there and unwind and enjoy the company surrounded by mountains and TONS of fall foliage of course. Have a happy week! xx

First Everythang

This weekend was full of firsts. Saturday we woke up, dressed Parker in her leotard and shiny leggings, and headed to her first gymnastics class! I had high hopes that were quickly smashed to pieces when she refused to participate for the first five minutes. Had I mentioned before that terrible twos are fun? She quickly warmed up to the balance beam and the next 40 minutes flew by. She's  by far the youngest in her class so she has a lot of catching up to do but a few more months of this and we'll probably see back flips. I had all intentions of getting some really great shots for her first class, however reality hit once I stepped foot through the gym doors. I couldn't keep my eyes or my hands off of her or else she might have broke something. Thanks to our personal paparazzi who snapped a few quick moments from Parker's first gymnastics class.

And because you're not a parent of a toddler until you talk about it, we also had our first successful potty incident! Never in my life would I think that I would get so excited about pee, but when Parker asked to sit on 'da potteh', and I heard a little tinkle, I almost lost my shit. I gave her praise up and down and made the biggest deal over it. Sadly, it hasn't happened since but anything is progress, right?

In other news, I have been eyeing a few big girl beds to transition Parker to when she shows signs that she's ready. I'm seriously struggling with if I should go with a bigger bed that she can use for a while or take a baby step to a smaller toddler bed. Any suggestions on what worked best for you is greatly appreciated!

Our Weekend

While looking through the database of photos on my phone, I am realizing that although this weekend seemed pretty relaxed, we accomplished a lot. 

Parker moves into her new room at daycare tomorrow, which is equivalent to her starting a new grade! I am thankful for these transitions now when she is small so that when the time comes that she starts school, the emotional roller coaster will be one under 50mph. She moves to the new room with the same group of kids each year and it's been so funny to watch their relationships develop from drooling infants to crazy toddlers. 

Lately, I've been going fresh crazy! It's no secret that I've been coveting fresh flowers throughout the house for the duration of this summer, but now this theme is transferring over to the kitchen. I was really hungry one day and the only thing that would do was a caprese salad. Albeit the lack of fresh mozz, it was amazing and exactly what I was craving. Fresh flowers, tomatoes from the garden, my life has been made!

We've also been getting tons of use out of Parker's carrier that we take with us on hikes. It's such a good find because Parker is comfortable for hours and it doesn't put too much strain on the carrier. It was the most amazing hike we've been on yet. After trekking a few miles in the woods, we were in need of some serious nutrition. We stopped at the Ithaca Brewing Company, where there were so many things we loved. The food, the drinks, and atmosphere. Aside from the bees, we went home some pretty happy campers.

We ended the long weekend with some necessary fall driveway art (we pumpkin fall!) and some light reading. Not to mention my mind is racing because Parker turns 2 in one month! Cliches aside, how did that seriously happen? 

DIY Growth Chart

We've been trying to design our home to reflect our personal style over the past few years. After pinning countless home decor inspo and purchasing all of our bigger items like our big cozy white couch that I just had to have (pre-baby ignorance), I realize that it takes a lot of small things to make and create an actual home. Despite the every day events that delayed decorating, I've been trying to get better at tackling to-dos around the house (ie. hanging the empty picture frames that have been sitting in the corner of our living room for almost a year, or cleaning out our much too literal lazy-susan that is stuffed with old candles, junk mail and hair ties). A sense of accomplishment came over me a few weeks back, when I completed and (Matt) hung our cute growth chart.

Growing up, we had a makeshift growth chart in the form of a beam in the house with etches marking where we stood in height terms at various stages throughout my brothers and my life. I knew I wanted to create something like this for Parker, however much less permanent so that in the case that we move, it would be something that we pack up with us and take to our next home.

This brings us to almost one year ago when I decided to make a gigantic ruler growth chart in time for Parker's first birthday. I picked up a wooden board at Lowes, stained and let it dry in the garage (where it stayed for almost 9 months). I finally decided to finish this sucker before Parker's SECOND birthday. The ruler decals were found on Etsy, and was probably the toughest part of the project to execute. The wood is pretty porous so it was extremely difficult to make the sticky side of the decal adhere to the wood. After a couple hours spent going over the decals with a credit card, it it was finished.

The first few days of it being hung, the decals were peeling but after going over it again with the credit card, everything has been staying in place. We'll see how it holds up, and if the peeling continues, I plan on putting a clear coat on top.

We are excited to watch Parker grow through this chart. Next up, photo gallery wall! 

Our Weekend

Parker was an extremely easygoing baby and as she turned into a toddler, I was hopeful and optimistic that this content behavior would transfer over. The planets must have shifted because this girl has been giving us a run for our money lately. Terrible twos are not only real, they have hit our household and are extremely sneaky and adamant to make public appearances. When Parker first started throwing tantrums, although I know almost every child goes through this stage, I felt like I was the only one experiencing it. After reading a few other blogger's posts that are going through the same thing, I felt better knowing that it truly is just a phase and my defiant girl in the corner of the room shooting me dirty looks doesn't hate me. Needless to say, we were ready to face the TTs head on and embrace the beautiful weekend.

I know that if all else fails, fresh air can work wonders on kid's moods. We had a lake weekend on the agenda and it couldn't have come at a better time. Parker loves being around her cousins and covets the water even more. Her current obsession with the Little Mermaid helps in fueling the fire, and I can't even say I mind. After the kiddos went to bed, we busted out the wildly inappropriate Cards Against Humanity with some drinks and pretty much felt like terrible people at the end of the game. In a good way.

It's so cute to watch Parker interact with her cousins. Albeit the age difference, she loves to tag along with them and the conversations they strike up are nothing short of amazing. I introduced Parker to her first ever flash light, which she thought was a magical beam that made people dance. As soon as the shined the light on someone, she demanded, 'danss, danssss!'. No one put up an argument and it made for an amusing morning.

Add sunshine and ice cream into the equation and you have a happy toddler (and parents) with the terrible twos far at bay. Although I know every weekend can't be as sweet, it's good to know that going balls out when the opportunity arises can make a world of a difference.

Oh, and she definitely stole my milkshake. Happy Monday, friends! Xx