Here, There, and Everywhere!

I loved this little saying, I also love the website and some of her posts about being a mother. I have said it a few times and here and there but the hardest thing about being a mom is expectations and reality. I had an idea and a picture of what kind of mom I wanted to be and it never crossed my mind that it may not be realistic. But, reality hasn't been shy at all! So, I liked this little saying. My house isn't perfect, um, ever...and it's things like this that I try to remember when I feel my sanity slipping. Turns out a that the perfectly clean home isn't easy and it's also not the most important thing in the world. That being said, I think keeping it as clean as you can is important. Just trying to mix reality with expectations...sometimes the two collide.

 We have some friends in our ward, the Griffins. They have a son named Logan that is a few months older then Tess. Tess loves all three of them! She gets SO excited if she sees them. Logan's mom, Kathryn, Tess runs to her and immediately wants her attention if she sees her. She is so friendly with Tess. She is also expecting and will have the baby boy any day now. We will be watching Logan if his baby brother comes before family gets here, Tess will be in heaven with her little buddy around. We have watched him a few times as they have been on dates and they have watched Tess for us. This day, we invited him over to play. I wanted to give Kathryn a break, give her a chance to rest or get some things done. It was a win, win! Tess had a blast and Kathryn got some free time. They had fun, they played in a sensory bin and made a mess with beans! It was so cute to watch. We went on a little bike ride, bubbles, lunch, and they mostly just ran around and played with whatever toy they could get their hands on.

 One of my favorite of two things that we always do every single week, is play pals and story time at the library. This last week, nobody was at play pals! It was mid 50s and little rainy the day before. For us, that is perfect weather with a long sleeve shirt on. We like to run around without getting hot! In Vegas, there aren't many days like that. Even today, mid-December and we were out running errands, I am in a quarter length shirt and sweating. Anyway, I know a lot of ward members weren't thinking it was good weather to play outside but Tess and I still wanted to get out! So, we went to a park by the library. No kids there either, Tess still had so much fun! She ran around, went down slides, splashed in water puddles (rare thing in Vegas), and played at the dollhouse in the kid's section of the library. We had a fun time!

 Tess would NOT look at me, she was mesmerized by all the sights and sounds! 

 Waiting for the train ride! 

 She did what seems to be the norm, scared of good ol' Santa Clause! 

 I have a good friend from college, her name is Amy. She grew up here in Vegas and is a wealth of good ideas! She is very active with her kids and invites me to her play group as well as giving me heads up on this like this holiday activity. It was so fun! It was free, even better. There were train rides, cookie decorating, crafts (Tess's necklace), "reindeer" rides,  sleigh rides (with wheels of course), singing performances, Santa Clause, and lots of lights with some fake snow blowing! I got a big kick out of the snow. The kids loved it, reaching their hands up to touch it.

 I have no idea how long Greg will be in this position in State Farm, but it sure presents some perks to have him working from home. Here he is snuggling with Tess. My world, I adore my little family. 

 Bath time! I just love the classic mo hawk. 

Another fun day out in the sun here in a Vegas December. Tess LOVES tennis. Every time we walk out in the garage, the first thing she finds is a tennis ball and racket. And she wants to play with it. It'll be interesting to see if the interest holds up and she ends up beating us someday! For me, it won't be that long. We will see how long it takes her to beat Greg.