The empty nest

It’s been a lovely and quiet and clean few days. And also, it’s mostly lovely because I know it will end Saturday night. I loooove spending time with my kids and am not ready for our nest to be empty. 

I spent 4 hours at the pool yesterday. 3 with Alecia and Brandon, and then another 1 with Matt in the evening. I love summer days. 

Oops. 

I love this happy picture of our salty Laney. All the prayers that she’s being easy, letting people in and letting her guard down, embracing new adventures, and being kind. 

I don’t know what’s going on here but I love Adi and Emma’s cute jump and the nice air they got!

A performance maybe?

I can’t wait to hear all about it!

Matt and I have had a quiet time at home. We’ve been saving money and calories and honestly I love a quiet house so much, why would we go out when we can stay home and enjoy?

Girls camp

We’ve been getting ready for camp, swimming, getting creative with dinners, (using the air fryer over instead of heating up the kitchen oven) and just summering in general. I haven’t been taking a lot of pics, so I did grab this one of d enjoying her nachos. 

I haven’t always loved pool time, but I love love it now. Adi and Frankie don’t love coming, so Delaney was really happy to play when Adi came. 

The next day Delaney brought her mermaid tail and I managed to squeeze her into it just barely. 🤣

Tuesday was our 19th anniversary. Matt got me some sweet little gifts and Adi offered to make us brekkie. Since the girls are leaving for camp we postponed a date night. It seems crazy that it’s been 19 years! Feels like forever and also not that long. 

Today was girls camp day! Even though Delaney and Frankie have been grumbling, everyone was excited this morning. Adi’s been excited all along, it’s really sweet and I hope it lives up to her high expectations. 

It’s so stupid hot and they’re tent camping, so yikes. I know it will be great and I miss them already!

Susanne came over and we had a sweet visit and I worked out and Matt and I went to the pool and it was just a quiet and nice day. 

Home

We found a new fun place to stop on our trips to SC. Not as fun as Buc-cee’s, but still fun. 

Delaney found some fish flops there, so obviously we got them. 

It was an uneventful drive home 🙏🏻. It’s always so lovely to be home, I love traveling, but home is best. 

The girls wanted a relaxing weekend, so that’s what we did. I mean, we did all the coming home and catching up and pool things, but mostly stayed home. 

I am working with 4 other stake relief society presidents to plan a huge DC north and DC south women’s conference, and Lexi-Lu made up a few save the dates for the group. (The date is October 25th, not July, fyi)

Matt and I did a big shopping trip and talked each other into trying the new Selena Gomez Oreos and a) they were tasty and b) Delaney loves being a creep. 

And Baby Ruby loves her Pilates. 

Sunday was a busy stake council day. I went to the Capital ward and the Suitland branch and after visited with one of my ladies who’s having a tough time. She’s so hard on herself and I hate that. If anything I feel like I’m probably too easy on myself, but is that a thing? I was glad to spend some time with her, but then I didn’t get home until 4:00. Tis this season. 

The girls are preparing for girls camp and we needed to check our tent before sending it with them, so Matt braved the heat while I made dinner (I won that division of labor) and both of our tents look good. Delaney was going to sleep in the tent, and Matt even offered to sleep outside with her, but she decided she loves her bed too much. 

Did I share this from Adi’s birthday? I made her a little sign and when we got home we thanked it for bringing us joy and recycled it. 

This memory from the Dominican Republic came up on my feed. Autumn and Jackie and I have been friends since Christian was a baby and even though we love far away and don’t have a lot in common anymore, I cherish that friendship. We’re trying to plan a girls trip but planning is 👎🏼 .

Back to SC

Wednesday morning we dressed Ruby up and got our last cuddles in. I’m grateful we’ll see her again next month. 

The pets kind of don’t know what hit them, but they were all very sweet. 

We headed out just after 10 and it was already hotter than hot. Henners is a good little traveler with only a few little meltdowns. I had reached my phone back to see if he was sleeping, and success, he was. 

Alexis met up with her high school bestie Errick in Atlanta so we fought our way through traffic to a mall with a Cheesecake Factory. Henry is fun, but not for a sit down meal, so I walked him all around the mall while they visited. 

He’s so sweet, such a happy little guy. 

Matching besties. I came and sat with them the last few minutes of lunch. It’s so fun to see old friends again. 

Atlanta traffic is truly terrible, and we had a ton coming and going. That, along with our catchup lunch made it so we got to sc after 11. We made time for a quick game of skull king before bed though, because we’re not animals. 

Firsts

Bubba had an appointment Tuesday morning so he woke me up to take care of a sad Ruby. 

She was squirmy and uncomfortable and Mimi diagnosed gas. 

We walked and walked until Christian got home with some gripe water. And she’s got a perfectly light head of hair. 

That afternoon bubba took me to the range for my first time to shoot a gun. I don’t love guns, but also see their usefulness. 

I shot two rifles and a revolver and I only closed my eyes twice. Some of them have quite a recoil and they’re so loud and I was really anxious. 

I liked the one with the scope best. On this one I knew it would recoil so I aimed below the bullseye but then all my shots were then below the bullseye. 

With 40% of my shots hitting my target sheet, a marksman, I am not. But I did a first and it was scary and ✔️. And actually, I got closest to the bullseye, so 💪🏻. 

I made a big wok of chicken fried rice and Tennessee banana pudding for our last night 

2 babies - 10/10 recommend. As long as you have 4 adults fawning over them. 

We played some games and went to bed at a reasonable hour like the very responsible adults we are. 

Ruby’s first outing

I woke up Monday morning to this scene. Such a blessing to see your babies loving and caring for their babies. 

Ruby had her first doctors appointment. She looked so cute all dressed up and she was m-a-d at being in her car seat again. 

We made homemade oatmeal cream pies and white chicken chili for dinner and to freeze.

Pretty sure Henners is teething. He got extra fussy one day, so we got him some infant Tylenol and he calmed down. 

And then he was happy. 

We tied a balloon to his foot and watched him play. 

The big excitement of the day was Ruby’s first bath!

She got a professional hair washing from her mama and she hated every second of it. 

But she finished the night a fresh and clean lady. And that was another day down. 

Father’s Day

We got to spend Bubbas first Father’s Day with him. I made bacon and eggs and Lu and I changed Ruby and got her dressed. 

Jeanne’s friend came over so Alexis, Henry, and I went to a park and walked to give them some time. And Ruby’s cheeks are to die for!

I was holding her and she was making the best faces. 

Newborns are fun to take pictures of. 

And of course we didn’t forget sweet Henry. At 5 months old he’s the big cousin on the block, but still just as sweet. 

I made 2 shepherds pies, one for dinner and one to freeze and it was another precious and quiet day.