Happy happy birthday to my girl!

Happy birthday Josilyn! It's been a crazy few weeks, but we made it to 2!!!

Last week was a little chaotic to say the least, lots of activities, playdates, work, party prepping, a bad case of the flu (for mommy) and I was starting to wonder if we'd make it to Friday. Thankfully everything came together perfectly.

We had to modify our plans a little, but Ryan and I were able to help Josilyn celebrate her 2nd birthday with a trip to Nickelodeon Universe for some fun rides and a special dessert. Thank goodness Ryan didn't catch whatever I had because he was on 100% ride duty. Josilyn seemed to have a blast ... maybe she'll be ready for Valleyfair next year.

Thanks to my flu bug, my party prepping was put on a major hiatus, causing me to order a cake instead of doing one myself. I was however able to muster up enough energy to make a small batch of Elmo Cake Pops for all the kids to enjoy at her party.

The birthday party went off without a hitch! It was so fun to see all of Josilyn's little buddies in one place. The park was a hit and allowed all the kids to burn off lots of energy (and birthday cake) and the parents could still visit a little.

We are so thankful to have such wonderful family and friends in Josilyn's life. She truly is a very lucky little lady!

Proud Momma Moment

We had our follow up appointment with the dentist today for Josilyn's chipped tooth and I can honestly say I've never been more proud. Josilyn was the epitome of PERFECT. Seriously.

This whole week I have secretly been dreading this day; with flashbacks of the screaming little girl I had from our last visit, who wouldn't be dreading a repeat trip. But what, wait, hold the phone ... did the Tooth Fairy come during the night to rid Josilyn of her fears?! She must have because we had nothing but smiles and a cooperative girl today. She got ready without a fuss this morning, brushed her teeth (I mean actually brushed her teeth instead of just sucking the toothpaste off like normal) and off we went. Josilyn. Dolly. Bunny. Tags. And Mom.

The dentist went through a basic exam first. Both of Josilyn's 2-year molars on the bottom are IN!!! Then she got our her "tooth tickler" to sand down the chipped tooth. I couldn't believe how well Josilyn laid back in the dentist's lap and kept her mouth open. Each of the staff kept commenting on how good she was and how brave she was being ... so much so we walked away with a stock of stickers, toothbrushes and a fishy sippy cup. Christmas at the dentist - maybe!?!?

As we left Josilyn had to say goodbye and give a Hi-5 to everyone, including the fish! I walked away thinking it doesn't get much better than this. Love my girl to pieces!

Josilyn loves the #2

What a fun Labor Day weekend. Minus the wind we really couldn't have asked for a more relaxing time at the cabin. Josilyn and I ventured up Thursday afternoon with my mom to get some extra LAKE time in. Oh does Josilyn love the cabin!

We were just there two weeks ago so to her it was almost as if we had never left. Everything is her's or "Bacah's" (grandpa). So cute. My dad, brother and Ryan showed up Friday ... which threw Josilyn for a little loop this time around. Last time it was just us girls and Grandpa Brogard. Suddenly she had not one, but TWO Bacah's!

We've been working on our counting - but ONE, TWO is her favorite. So all weekend we heard "one - two bacah's". Unless of course one was missing, then it was "one bacah's ... where two?" with a puzzled look on her face.

Also true with our last trip to the cabin; Josilyn LOVES the toilet there. Weird right? I know. Well for whatever reason she completely #2 potty-trained when we are at the cabin. Here's to hoping this time it sticks with her once we get home :) Maybe I should just throw out the "potty" chairs and stick with the real thing.

Overall it was a ton of fun to go for morning walks, be lazy by the beach, catch up with family, eat lots of junk food, watch Josilyn run everywhere, play with Pepper and just relax. Hopefully we'll get one more nice weekend in before the cold weather comes.

No love for the bugs

With fall quickly approaching I thought it would be fun to hit up the local apple orchard for some fresh raspberries and apples. I have been wanting to make some yummy raspberry desserts and jams all summer - but things just don't seem to be going our way this year.

Josilyn and I attempted to go in early August for the first batch of raspberries only to be two days too slow - everything was picked over. Ugh. I guess we weren't the only ones with thoughts of chocolate and raspberry angel food cake ;o)

Well yesterday we tried again, this time we invited Christine and Liam to join us. Because of the warm summer the apples were ready to go too; what could go wrong?! I'll tell you. BUGS. They were absolutely awful. We tried to get to the raspberries, but we seemed to be spending more time swatting away at the swarms than actually picking anything. Not to fear, Josilyn still managed to get a few samples in the process.

We decided to try our luck with the apples only to come to the same conclusion ... Bugs Suck! So what were two moms without bug spray to do? We bought a bag of pre-picked apples and headed back inside for a fun, bug-free playdate!!!