summer fashion according to eden marie

It has been getting pretty hot here, so Eden has been living it up in tank tops:

This white ruffled one is a favorite. (As we can see, so is the flower head band♥)

I decided to make a skirt to go with it:

I love Amy Butler.  She is the one who designed the fabric we used in Eden's room...

So when I found this fabric of hers, it just seemed to be perfect:

Ryder really wanted to give his sister a kiss, but did not want to be in any other photos.

Hey, I will take what I can get:

 It melts my heart...

I hope you have a wonderful day!

being sentimental

In my family, I am known as the one who can't get rid of anything with emotional or sentimental value. I like to think that I actually have a heartbeat, as opposed to my mom and sister who are all about organization and decluttering.  
(No heartbeat for them...)

So with that being said, I like it when something that I have, that has a sentimental connection for me, can be used around our house for decorating.

A corner that has been needing a little something is the top of Ryder's book shelf.  I don't know what it is but it feels like there should be more height there...  

So I decided to use a globe that I had in my room growing up.  (Yep, I was THAT kid who had a globe, and yep, I loved looking at it...)

 it's a little outdated:

I love seeing it up in his room.  But it looked a little lonely.  So I decided to pair it with my grandpa's old tackle box.  

It had little fishing treasures in it (all unused):

 his reel:

I didn't think of my grandpa as a fisherman (at all...), but he did have a sense of humor, so I can appreciate that in his tackle box were matches from a seafood restaurant in San Diego.  He knew if he couldn't actually catch a fish dinner himself, he knew where he could buy one.

I really like how it turned out:

 Yes, I cleaned it before I let him play with it...

Not only do I really like how it looks in his room, but I love that each one has a story behind it.

Someday, Kit will teach Ryder and Eden how to fish (just like he taught me) and maybe they will get their own tackle boxes♥.

Filling our days

How we filled our days when Kit was gone:

play dates to parks:

Our friends are moving to New York and so we have been trying to get as much time together as we can...

 He would call "MAMA!!!", and then I would put my head where he could see me, and then say the cutest "Hi!" He is so precious to me...

Also, I see that every time I put him in his hat, I realize that he needs a haircut... 

It's on the list...

We had a great session with our speech therapist (Ryder is doing so well. He loves it and I am so proud of him!), we ate hotdogs for dinner at Costco, and I just loved getting to be around this face:

I can't get enough of those cheeks and she is smiling so much!

On Tuesday morning, Ryder wanted to hold my hand the ENTIRE time he ate breakfast:

It completely melted my heart!
While organizing clothes for donation, I realized that I might have a small addiction to something:

sandals.  Darn that Target!

We did yard work and mowed the lawn for Kit:
(Yard work is such a great activity for us because it gets us outside and Ryder loves running around and playing in the dirt or with his sand table, and then gets tired for nap time...)

 What a helper...

Before naps or when he is winding down, we love reading in our tent:
(the lighting is horrible but we spend so much time in there, it was worth trying to get a picture...)

When I was organizing our file cabinet, I found a questionnaire that we had given to our siblings, our parents, and grandparents to fill out.
They were so much fun to read through!
(We had given them to our families when we celebrated our five year wedding anniversary, knowing that in the coming years we would want to start our family.  What incredible wisdom and memories were shared with us on those pages♥):

How I filled my evenings:

Organizing photos:

Eating one of Kit's favorite treats: rocky road:

(Man, I really miss him!)

Modern Family reruns, blogs, and some fun reading 

(Real Simple, Food Network Magazine, and Alexander McCall Smith...)

It was my first time having the two kids for that long by myself.

It was a nice few days but I am SO HAPPY that Kit is coming home today!

family date night

Last week we renewed our Disney passes.

So we went after Kit got off work.

 Ryder loved the Jungle Cruise and the Astro Balsters, because of course, he LOVES Buzz.

But the thing he loves most is the lights and the fire works.  He gets so excited about them and as an adult, you get to experience that childhood wonder all over again through your kids eyes.

Car Land just opened and for us,  that was a fun place to walk around.

 The lights were so fun!

 Eden was really impressed too!

We look forward to sharing lots of special family memories over the next year, as a family!

weekends

Happy monday friends!  I hope that you had a great weekend...

First off, thank you for your thoughts and prayers for my first day of work on friday.  It was long (515am-730pm), it was tiring (I forgot what it is like to be on your feet for 12 hours...), it was hard to be away from the kids and Kit (I cried a few times throughout the shift),  and it was rewarding.  Of the 5 families I worked with, 4 were first time moms and ALL of them had girls.  I was reminded of how much I love my job and the people that I work with.  I know that it will take a little time, but I am excited to get back in the groove of things!

I cried when I got this picture:

Oh, and Kit?  He was his usual rockstar self:  He made a trip to Costco and Smart and Final.  He made an incredible BBQ chicken dinner, the house was clean, he did the speech therapy session with Ryder, had Ryder bathed and ready for bed when I got home, and managed to talk me through my day of missing my family.

I married up!

On Sunday, we got together with my family to celebrate the June birthdays and Father's Day.

We had some exciting firsts:

Ryder used goggles for the first time:

(He loved them and did not want to take them off...)

Eden wore her first swimsuit:

(She looked like a little cupcake)

It was bright and I took her hat off for the picture, hence the look she has on her face...

That, or already she isn't a fan of bathing suit season...

It's a tough life, but someone's gotta do it:

We are pretty sure we have a thumbsucker...

Ryder got his first bike with wheels!  Thanks cousins!

(He was so excited.  He wanted Kit to let go of the handle bars.  He was convinced he could do it himself...)

So we made a game out of it:

(Thanks Papa!)

The whole family:

It was a really fun day with lots of laughter and lots of eating:

Kit is leaving today for a staff retreat until wednesday.

I am going to miss him.

We are all going to miss him.♥

I hope you have a very happy monday!

It's going to be  a great week!

Back in the saddle...

Today is my first day back at work.

I miss my family.

I miss these faces.

I miss being all together.

I am so thankful for my job and am so thankful that Kit is with Ryder and Eden.

They are in the BEST hands!