While Dad is Away- Weeks 1 & 2

Chris started his new job on Monday, May 20th. He's now working at SAM's club corporate office.  He left for the first week and the kids and I stayed at our house in Gassville.

My motto: "One day at a time".

Like most mothers/wives, I like having my husband home in the evening. I like knowing there are reinforcements on the way. But I also like knowing we have a solid paycheck and can pay our bills.

So with that being said, we agreed the kids and I would stay while Chris worked in Bentonville and he would come home on the weekends- until we move on July 1st.

Of course the second night after Chris left, we were under a tornado watch. So we headed over to my parent's house because they have a basement.

You know what Nanny and Papa also have? A jacuzzi!!

Party in the jacuzzi tub! The kids loved it!

Followed by s'mores. (which in hindsight, we should have eaten before baths...)

YUMMY!

The next day we met some friends at Pizza Hut for a lunch date. So fun. And I'm not going to lie, I love "Pizza Hut" pizza.

Day after that we went to story time at the library and we also ended up going to the park.

On Thursday we met more friends at the park here in Gassville. It was such a beautiful morning and the kids had a great time!

This is totally normal, right???

 

Then on Friday, Chris surprised us by coming home early. We went to dinner with him and that weekend it was memorial day. It was so nice to have him home. We missed him like crazy!!!

 

Of course, Tuesday morning he had to leave to go back to work. So we were back to our life without Daddy.

We spend Tuesday cleaning and doing laundry, just trying to get caught up on life. Unfortunately, Chris' car wouldn't start on Tuesday morning, so he took my car down to Bentonville. That left us car-less and stuck at home all week. Oh well. We decided we would make the most of it.

On Wednesday we busted out the slip-n-slide.

Followed by ice cream bars...

Thursday we were back under another tornado watch, so we went back to Nanny and Papa's house.

Luckily, Papa and I busted out the "Blue Track". It's this cool curvy track that loops and can be adjusted. Tanner loved racing his "Lightening McClean" (Lightening McQueen) car.

The next morning it was Friday and we headed back to our house. It was rainy and more storms were on the way. We stayed inside and made candy necklaces and then watched Tanner's favorite movie "Rise of the Guardians". The kids loved their necklaces. It was a pretty fun morning!

Chris got home Friday night, but the next morning he had drill. He left early for Marshall, AR. And with it still raining, the kids and I were stuck inside again. At this point I was running out of inside play ideas, so we resorted to making "Oobleck".

This was such a hit. Also this was such a MESS!!!

I pretty much mopped my whole floor afterwards.

 

Anyways, Chris left Sunday morning for Annual Training for two weeks. So look forward to more pictures of us playing and trying to survive without Daddy!!!

"ONE DAY AT A TIME!!!!!"

Bailey's First Haircut

So yesterday I took Bailey to get her first haircut. Here are a couple of before pictures.

It wasn't that her hair was really long, it was just really uneven and needed to be touched up.

Me and my big girl before her first haircut

My awesome friend Pam offered to cut Bailey's hair for me. She said that because Bailey's hair is so fine, someone inexperienced could easily screw it up. So I didn't want to risk it. Pam is a dear friend and my kids all adore her and so I was thrilled when she agreed to cut Bailey's hair.

 Bailey was an angel during her haircut.

She sat so still and I'm pretty sure she loved the attention she was getting.

(Notice the really long pieces of hair right beneath her ears? Yeah, those had to go...)

Seriously, what toddler is this content and still while getting a haircut?

Unless you did Bailey's hair everyday, you probably wouldn't notice a big difference. We only cut about an inch off, but it looks so much better. It's at least more even looking and it all flips out in the back now.

Here's the finished product. Bailey was being so serious while she held still. haha.

I feel like my baby is such a little girl now. It's crazy how fast she's grown, but she's so fun. She is such a girly-girl. She loves being pampered, like when I paint her nails or put lotion on her. It's pretty funny. Can't believe I will have a 2-year old in a little over 2 months. 

Memorial Day Weekend with Daddy

Chris was able to get off work a couple hours early on Friday and so he surprised us by arriving home way earlier than expected. Early enough that we were able to kick off our 3-day weekend by going out to eat with Nanny, Papa and Uncle Joe.

On Saturday I got to sleep in while my awesome husband took care of the kids. It was so fun to wake up to noises from them playing happily together as opposed to kids crying or yelling.

We had a nice big breakfast and then just hung out together all morning

That evening we headed over to the lake for a firework show. We had to get there really early to ensure we got a parking spot, so the kids played for about 3 hours. We met some friends at the park and hung out while we waited for it to get dark.

 

 

Love this picture of my sweet husband and our baby girl (who isn't so much a baby anymore)

Family picture- Memorial Day 2013

Then as it finally got dark, we busted out the glowsticks and waited for the firework show to begin.
Tanner and Bailey loved having the glowsticks to play with.  

 

 

Then we had a nice relaxing Sunday, during which I was able to take a 3-hour nap.
SO blissful.

 

Then on Monday we enjoyed another nice day at home together.

We did take Bailey to get her first haircut (post on that later) and then we grabbed some corn dogs and drove through a car wash with the kiddos. Tanner loved it, Bailey wasn't a huge fan.

 

Then we went home for naps. After the kids had taken nice long naps, we headed over to my parents' house to play. Papa set up his awesome slip-n-slide and the kids had a blast!

They didn't care at all that the water was freezing.

Tanner really liked being pulled down the slip-n-slide.

But I think his favorite was just running and sliding.

Check out these awesome actions shots.

Yep, my kid is awesome.

Bailey wasn't really sure what she thought.

She mostly just liked crawling on the slip-n-slide.

So I ended up sitting her on my lap and then Papa pulled us down the slip-n-slide.

She loved this so much! We did it about 5 times and I must say, my butt was so tender afterwards.

Here is a full shot of our "redneck slip-n-slide". It was such a blast.

 

I couldn't resist this picture. Bailey walking around with her towel like she's so big.

Oh and Tanner loved having his own "orange soda".

He was so cute.

Next came dinner and then dessert.

As you can see, Bailey was a fan of the cake. She was literally licking her plate.

Then we ended the evening with some little fireworks.

The kids really liked the ones you throw on the ground and they pop. We call them "poppers". They were a big hit.

Then we did "Roman Candles". Don't my kids look so big? I can' handle how fast they are growing up.

Then we ended the night with sparklers. Tanner didn't hesitate and started doing a little sparklers dance. so funny. Bailey was just thrilled she got to hold it by herself.  

 

All-in-all, we had a great weekend with Dad. It will be hard to see him leave in the morning to head back to Bentonville. But we are going over there soon to start looking for houses, so it won't be quite as hard as last week.

 

Happy Memorial day to everyone. I'm so grateful for the men (like my amazing husband) and the women who serve our country. I'm grateful for those who keep us safe so we are able to celebrate and spend time together.