July

July always starts out awesome because it's my birthday then the 4th! It's always so fun! This year we went to the Haslet parade and fireworks. The parade was small and some people might think it was too short but I thought it was perfect for my almost 2 year old. He LOVED the fire trucks and all the cars! Watching him figure out that they were throwing candy and that he could run and grab it was so sweet to watch! I love watching him learn and experience new things. Although he gave me a stink face in this picture he loved it!

Those sunglasses were broke in 2 seconds

After the parade we walked over to the park where we had an hour and a half to kill before the fireworks started. Brooks played his heart out! On the play ground, in the field and in the volley ball pit (hello sandy mouth ew!) I was wondering how he'd do since the parade started at his bedtime but he was loving it. When 9pm rolled around he suddenly turned into a pumpkin. Haha we also went swimming that day so I think it all caught up to him and although he was technically awake, he was ZONED OUT. He crawled up on his mama's lap and we watched the fireworks. It was one of those moments you frame in your mind as being perfect. Everything was right in the world. Beautiful weather with a cool breeze, snuggled up with Brooks and celebrating our country. My heart was so full!

That night after we put him to bed THIS IS WHAT I SEE! CREEPY!

My mom sent me these color street nail wraps to try. The only other nail wrap I've tried is Jamberry. I actually have a ton a friend gave me and while I love the idea, the effect and the no drying time I can never get the wraps just right and they don't stay on well. They started peeling at the corners the same day and I'd always have bubbles in mine.

Well now I've tried Color Street and they are so much better, I love them! They're thinner so they don't catch and peel on things.You don't have to use heat and they're still super sticky. They're flexible so you don't have bubbles. And they're thin enough you can just rip of the excess then file the rest. I love them!

It's summer time so you know I'm going to cut my hair! I tried something different and she stacked the back. I don't know if I looove it but I think it's cute and it's short. It'll grow back. I think I realized I like having it the same length all the way around but I'm still happy with it!

This is as good of picture as we could get for Sylvia's birthday

I told Dan that one of the things I really wanted to do for my birthday was to make my own birthday cake. Like a REAL cake. I'm talking layers, filling, frosting and decoration. I love Cake by Courtney and when she came out with a cookie butter/ Biscoff cake, I knew I had to make it! It didn't turn out perfect and I made some rookie mistakes but I made it work and I thought I did pretty good!

Biscoff cake with cookie butter filling, crumbles cookies and white chocolate frosting

I made this cake on Saturday and we invited some friends over Sunday to eat it all. It was so fun and I'm glad we did because it was a lot of cake!

The day before my birthday Brooks and I ran a couple of errands. We drove out to Nothing Bundt Cakes to get my free birthday bundtlet. Funny story I tripped over a sign walking into the store while holding Brooks. It was almost an EVENT but I caught myself. Brooks was all into the free samples and sweetly said, "Dank doo!" to the workers. They were all "ooo"ing over his white hair and bright eyes. Brooks didn't mind the attention. We found some shade and finished our samples then went over to Sephora to buy a perfume I've been wanting. Brooks was dancing to their music it was hilarious!

For my actual birthday Brooks and I had to run some last minute 4th of July errands but after his nap we met up with our friends for some Chick Fil A! Tara, Maggie and Baby James (currently Brooks' favorite). Such a fun time- Love these two together!

Sharing Chick fil a sauce and drinking it from the container

Dan grilled up some birthday dinner for me, we had cake then headed to a friends' house to watch our neighborhood fireworks show. Dozens of kids were running around with a popsicle in one hand and a glow stick in the other, it was awesome! The fireworks show was actually very impressive for just our HOA. This was the first year we've been here for it and we were pleasantly surprised!

I had a great birthday and felt tons of love from my family and friends! I got lots of kitchen items, treats, bath bombs and new POP storage containers (WHICH I LOVE!)

Mandatory 4th of July pictures!

Compared to last year!! My Heart!!

We spent the morning of the 4th at the pool swimming our hearts out! It was fun because a lot of families from our church were also there! We came home and got everyone naps then went over to a friends house for a BBQ.

Since fireworks were banned this year we did poppers and the kids loved them. All the kiddos loved Brooks and by the end of the night he started to warm up to them! One of the girls (with the shorter blonde hair) would just pick him up, pop him on her hip and she was good to go. It was so cute to watch! By the picture can you tell someone is teething again?

Dan took off work Thursday and Friday and we planned fun things to do each day and had a blast! Thursday morning we went to the Fort Worth Museum. I had never been here before and was slightly worried there wouldn't be enough things for Brooks to enjoy but I was wrong and he LOVED it!

Brooks in the Dino Dig

In the Water Courtyard

There were so many hands on things he could touch and play with. Dan walked into the Planetarium and saw they had a Sesame Street show in just a couple minutes. We weren't sure how Brooks would do but decided to try anyways. HE. LOVED. IT. You lean back and watch the movie on the dome above you. Big Bird and Elmo teach you about the stars. At first Brooks almost fell asleep haha! Thankfully the other people in there (which were few) were ok with him yelling out, "MELMO!" (elmo) and "M-MOON!" Out of all the exhibits and things we saw he could not stop talking about Elmo, moon, stars, the dark and big bird.

After the museum we stopped and shared a giant plate of nachos for lunch, came home and napped! We went swimming and Brooks was doing so good. He started actually jumping into the pool and it was awesome.

Friday we decided to go to the zoo and it was HOT! We expected that and rolled with it. Brooks seemed a little crankier this day but we rolled with it and had some great moments. The FW Zoo has a new exhibit where you can get so close to the giraffes! It was my favorite.

Feeding the birds was also a fun highlight

Brooks gave this bird "noggins" through the glass and even tried to share his goldfish with it.

He got to pet a snake and saw so many turtles. He would run up to the glass yelling, "Turh-tol!!" We packed a lunch and ate it there, walked around the whole zoo then headed home. I'm pretty sure he had an awesome time because he was zonked the whole car ride home.

Brooks has had a rough go when it comes to Nursery at church. It's been three months and he hates it BUT it's slowly getting better. On this particular Sunday he was brought to me because he was just screaming and wouldn't calm down. Valid reason! I was the only member of the Primary Presidency so he hung out with me in Primary. He was actually pretty good and these magnets were a life saver!

A good title for the month of July is the Month of Free Food. There were a lot of offers and we took advantage of them. The first being Chick-Fil-A's Cow appreciation day.

We went with Tara, Maggie and James. The highlight for me was Brooks drinking an entire packet of CFA Sauce. He's in a phase where he LOVES LOVES to DIP things. And free CFA? Heck yes!

If I fits, I sits Mop Bucket edition

Our next free food adventure was 711 Free Slurpee day! We went to the Library right before and turned in his Summer Reading Chart and he got to pick two prizes. I found it so funny that he picked an owl pencil and a cup? Then I realized it was 7/11 and went across the street. We sat on the curb and had a great time.

What happens when you hit a light socket with a stick and chocolate zucchini cake

Playing with friends and spit beard

Playing with Dad in the rain

Free ice cream cones at CFA!

I told ya we really took advantage of the free food! Now this wasn't free but it was cheap pancakes at IHOP. So we went and had so much fun. I didn't realize how good of an action shot I got until I got home. Pancake in midfall haha!

He's been teething hard this month! I think his 2 yr molars have been moving around and bugging him. Granite counter tops anyone?

It has been HOT in Texas. We've done a ton of swimming but I haven't taken any pictures when we're at the pool because it's just a hassle when it's just Brooks and I. I'd rather have my full attention on him just to be safe. So we've gone to the community pool countless times and Brooks is becoming such a fish! He went through a phase where he HATED his puddle jumper. Now that he's used to it he's learned to float with it, flip over and swim in deep water. Recently he's even started jumping into the pool which is so fun! Here are some pictures of our little pool outback.

We went to At Home and walked by these inflatable Halloween decorations. I wasn't paying that much attention but apparently Brooks was. The rest of the trip walking around the store he was whining, "Shar... get you?" Asking if the shark was going to get him (below the clown there's an inflatable shark). He was sitting in the cart but insisted that he lay on my chest as we walk around. Anytime we'd maybe walk in that direction he was clinging onto me like a baby monkey. Poor guy! That day and a couple days following he's had an extremely hard time going down at nap time and bed time. I don't know if he's scared, growing, separation anxiety, teething or all the above.

Injuries this month include: Pinched finger in the sliding door and picking at a bump so it just can't heal. Not pictured is falling off the couch many, many times.