Strawberry Picking

Yesterday, the girls and I went strawberry picking after Kid's Day Out. We have a couple local farms in the area that have "pick your own" strawberries each Spring season. The one I'm most familiar with is nearest the Farmers Market we frequent. 

Off we went to the strawberry field. We chatted the whole way about what the field would look like and what the process entailed. They were very excited the entire ride to the strawberry field.

Here are a few pictures from our big day!

Nyla girl loved picking the strawberries

I was a little concerned Naomi wouldn't get that she needed to pick the juicy, red and ripe strawberries but with a little guidance and reminding a couple times, she got it.

Nyla was extremely focused on her task of filling her bucket. She sat down quite a few times in some different spots and picked all around her. She was totally into it. Today, she asked to go back. No one was allowed to fill her bucket but her. :)  

Naomi did a great job filling her bucket. I filled mine pretty quick and helped her but only a little bit. 

Our haul! It was $13 per white bucket and the guy said he'd give me the green one, usually $4, if I just gave him $40, we'd call it even. I was down with that! 

I washed them all and put them on my pans in a single layer so the weight of the top ones wouldn't crush the bottom ones, if they stayed in the bucket. Today is baking day in my home. Tomorrow I'll post on a few items I made from only half the strawberries!

Do you have any local "pick your own" places that you go to each year?

At Our Home: April

We've had a fairly busy April, as most months are around here. Between 2 days of KDO (thankfully, that's over next week!), zoo trips and play dates this pregnant mama is pooped! Here's a glimpse into our April.

We are bookworms around here!

This girls love to color! She's been working on her little workbooks I picked up at the Dollar Tree for fun. She is mastering writing her letters.

Our tomato plants finally went into the ground. I was adventurous and planted over 30 tomatoes, a dozen peppers and half a dozen okra. There's no telling how they'll do or what I'll do with all of them. I want to can them but that'll happen right when I have baby, so we'll see!

We traveled to see my Grandmother in Georgia  and the girls did great.
This is Nyla's drawing of Daddy. She's so sweet!

Grammy (my Grandmother) had some great toys. She still had old blocks my grandfather made, as well as lego's, baby dolls and so much more. And it's all toys I remember playing with as a girl. What great memories!

Our last day in GA we went to a local park and let the girls  run off some energy. They had a big cement tube that the girls found entertaining. It's fun watching them in new places and experiencing new things.

Naomi was a little timid about the tube but after Nyla  went through she decided it was okay to try.

Our little church had the annual Easter egg hunt. Naomi was totally into it this year. She was fun to watch.

Nyla, on the other hand, wasn't too interested in hunting. She gathered as many as she wanted and went back inside. 

We had a nice, warm day so we headed to the zoo in our new outfits from Gigi.

Mama and Baby #3 get excellent prenatal care from the big sisters!

We had our big reveal for baby #3 a couple weeks ago. I did a special reveal for Nyla and Naomi and wanted baby #3 to have that too. My sister gave me the idea to buy balloons for the reveal... blue for boy or pink for girl. Daniel and I went to my OB appointment together and I bought balloons that night for the gender we were having. The big reveal happened the next night. This was the hardest secret to keep for 36 hours! My dad was the funniest about it. He texted me all day Wednesday and all day Thursday asking if I wanted to tell him or that it was okay to tell him. He cracked me up!

And baby #3 is a girl! Natalie will join our family in early September. I have to say I was more shocked we were having another girl than Daniel was. We are thankful she's healthy and the pregnancy is going well.

We've had tons of outside time and it's been great! Naomi's little imagination has really grown the last few months and it's been fun watching her grown each day. She took off the top piece of our water table and called it an inhaler. Obviously, they have breathing issues and know what an inhaler is. But for her to take that off and start saying, "I need my haler" (she calls it her haler), she had Nyla and I cracking up. Then she was trying to put it on Nyla's face, "Use your haler Nyla." Too funny!

Daniel and I celebrated 6 years together on the 26th! We like to go out for a nice dinner (if we can) each year.  Every year we go to J. Alexander's. It's always a nice place, great service and fantastic food. We are never disappointed and this meal was no different. I always get Steak Maui (a ribeye with a sweet marinade and it's full of flavor) with a side dish. Wow, it's good!

Because of all the cold we had this winter our Spring has come a little late but it's been so nice to see everything blooming. My iris's have gone absolutely crazy this year. This picture was the beginning stages of the iris's. Now I've got at least 2 dozen blooming around our mailbox. I can't wait for the Daylilies and Black Eyed Susans' to bloom this Summer.

On another trip to the zoo we visited the farm and saw they have 2 new additions. Two baby sheep have joined the family farm and they were so sweet. The little black one came up to the fence so I pet it. The girls thought it was funny.

Of all the zoo has to offer, the Koi pond is a favorite feature to the girls. I guess they love all the colors. We spent quite awhile watching all the fish and talking about their colors. The fish must've thought we were going to feed them because they kept getting closer and closer to us.

Nyla has become obsessed with little piggy tail braids. She has wanted them almost everyday for the last 2 weeks. She looks super cute with them in.

Sweet Naomi has been showing me everything she colors. This is her Jesse Bear that she colored months ago but is still loving. She likes to show it to me from time to time and this was one of those times.

That's all that's happened in our month of April. That's certainly enough, isn't it? I'm ready for Kid's Day Out to be done and we can get into our routine of being together everyday. We're ready for our summer together!

We Love the Outside!

Y'all, it's finally warm around here and has been for the last 10 days or so and we've been soaking it up every minute of everyday. :)

I was going to stir crazy at the end of February and early March. Between pregnancy blues and exhaustion and being stuck inside. all. day. everyday. Ugh. I'm more than happy to have the warmth back again. Now, I'm sure I'll change my tune come July and August when I'm very pregnant and it's 100 degrees. Of course, I'm praying for no 100 degree days like we had last summer. Hey, a girl can dream, right?!

Zoo trip from this past Tuesday. These cheesy grins crack me up.

Getting ready to blow bubbles!

Naomi loves the dirt. And she loves playing in the dirt in her skirt. She lies in it, rubs her hands in it and rubs it on her face. She got up after this and said, "that's nasty," then got right back in it! :)

Pushing her shopping cart.
"I cool dude in my sunglasses."

Nyla loves petting the donkey at the zoo. She's come a long way from even wanting to get near it!

How are you enjoying the weather where you are? Is it finally warm or are you still seeking the warmth?

Saturday Morning Snuggles

We love our quiet Saturday mornings around here!

Getting the girls off to Kid's Day Out (KDO) 2 times a week, packing lunches, zoo trips, play dates with friends and cooking dinner each night, I'm more than happy to welcome Saturday. 

We love to climb into our big bed and snuggle together, even if it's only for 5 minutes.

How do you enjoy your Saturday mornings?

At Our Home: March

The month of March at our home has proven to be rather adventurous. But, I guess, most months with two kids 3 and under are going to turn out that way!

We've had a very cold winter for living in the South. Too many days where we were stuck inside for days at a time. This pregnant mama didn't take it too well toward the end of February. I was feeling nauseous and worn out from pregnancy #3 and not being able to get out and get exercise...ugh! I try not to complain about the weather because we get what we get but I had it with the cold! Thankfully, it's let up and we're now enjoying days with the windows open and tons of outside time! Here's some of what happened in March...

We love our wood burning fireplace and we had too many fires to count. We loved watching the fire!

What do you do when you're stuck inside? Have picnic lunches in dress up clothes, of course!

Sweet sisters! I'm so thankful these girls love each other!

The next pictures are our "pouty" faces. Naomi has been so expressive lately and making pouty faces. Both girls make us laugh everyday!

Naomi's pouty face.

Nyla's pouty face.

Daddy's pouty face.

We moved Naomi into a "big girl" bed not long after the first of the month.
She has surprised us by doing so well. She loves it and has had no issues adjusting to it.
She stays in bed and sleeps well for naps and all night.

I started to feel better in March and have done quite a bit of freezer cooking.
I took this picture for Daniel one morning when I made homemade biscuits, then made breakfast sandwiches
for the freezer for him. Bacon, egg and cheese biscuits. Mmm mmm good.

Nyla selfie. Girl loves my phone.

Greatest invention ever... a stick vacuum. It's super light weight and cleans surprisingly well.
We have all hardwood floors downstairs and it does the best job. And for $40 bucks, you can't beat that.
Nyla wants to vacuum everyday and that's okay with me. Vacuuming isn't my favorite but this girl, man, she loves it!

Naomi is learning to do a few chores and she wants to vacuum here and there. We gladly let her. Start them young!!!

We had only 1 visit to the doctor this month. Surprisingly, we haven't visited the doctor this winter quite like
we have in years past. I'm thankful for that! 

We LOVE March Madness in this house so this month has proved exciting.
Our beloved Kentucky Wildcats have surprised most by making it to the Final Four game. They play Saturday and
we'll be wearing our UK proudly!

I got a wild hair a couple Saturday's ago to put the girls in their shared room.
We had plans to do this eventually, in May, but I was ready to clean out closets and work on
baby's room. And there's an adjustment period with the girls sharing a room.
It's gone about as we expected. They can't nap together so Nyla naps in our bed. They sleep well at night but
get up way too early in the morning. We gave them a clock and they have to wait for the "7" before they can get out of bed. That hasn't worked this week so well, but we're learning. :)

We've had a busy month, as you can see. What's been happening in your home?