Happiness

I feel like I might be one of the lucky ones that has figured out the secret to being truly happy in life.  That's not to say that I don't have moments that are rough or times that I feel like I have more on my plate than I can handle but at the end of the day, when I lay down to go to sleep, I can honestly saw without a doubt that I am happy.  I have really been enjoying my weekends lately.  I am getting so much stuff done and spending a ton of time playing with Alexis.  Today was a killer day- lots of yardwork.  Since I have Alexis most of the time, I have been focusing on the backyard so far.  We have a lot of her toys out there and she loves to run around in the grass.  Unfortunately, that also limits what I can do outside.  Today I was able to cut off the vine growing on my fence from my neighbor's yard, cut down the mini trees growing in the planters in the back, trimmed the willow tree up as high as I could reach, cleaned up way too much dog poop, raked the leaves, pine cones, and pine needles in the back part of my yard and got almost all of it bagged up.  It turns out I am actually kind of good at yard work.  am looking forward to this year and seeing all the things I can do with the yard.  So far it seems that I have won against the woodpeckers.  Now I am battling the wasps- they are all over my yard.  I bought a deluxe wasp trap but so far only one has died in there.  In addition to the outside projects, I have a giant list of things I want to get done inside.  I am trying to break things up over a three year plan so that I don't get overwhelmed with what I want to do and so I don't go broke trying to do everything right away.  This summer I want to finish painting the rooms, actually decorate the rooms, and install ceiling fans in mine and Lexi's bedrooms.
I really, really, really want to get new living room furniture.  I found the set that I want and it is a reasonable price.  I just wish the part of me that knows it is not logical to get a full new living room set would take a break from being logical so I could get it.  I need something downstairs to sit on so I figure I could move the furniture that is in the living room down to the family room and then get the new furniture.  Instead, since I do not forsee my logic leaving me anytime soon, I am going to leave the furniture upstairs as it is and just buy a futon for the family room downstairs.  That way, when it is really hot in the house, Alexis and I can just sleep downstairs in the super cool family room instead of the hot upstairs.  I think that might be more comfortable than sleeping on an air mattress for the summer. 
I am really looking forward to summer this year and have some great fun things on my list too.  I am going to take one day at a time, remember to appreciate each day and everything it brings me, and be happy :)

Catching up on Alexis moments

 Lexi's favorite slide at the park behind our house, not the small one (going the opposite direction just to the right of the big slide)

 "No momma, I not sleepy"

 Thanksgiving window clings while enjoying the amazing March weather

 Less than pleased that I wanted her to stop so I could take a picture of the outfit she chose

 Happy we got the patio furniture out of the shed. 

 Playing on the deck

 Wearing their princess tiaras

 And what else would you wear to ride a pony?

 Taking a water break- she has to have the foot rest pulled up just like mommy's

 Capris and black leather fur trimmed gloves- perfect outfit!

 Crazy excited for her new Tinkerbell nightgown, like ridiculously excite (super cute!)

 Yep- still goofy excited!

 Super cute picture from the photo session today

She grabbed her hat, said "cowboy" and climbed on her horse :)

Life is good

Since I like to go back and look at my posts, here is a post for myself for later.  Remember that life is good.  You have an amazing daughter who is turning out to be a really good little kid (which partly means that you are doing a good job parenting, even during those times when you feel challenged by the role).  Remember the feeling of hearing her say "Lub u momma" and how amazing her super tight hugs feel.  Think about how much you love it when she climbs into your lap just to hang out.  Also think about how much fun it is to play, read stories, and have conversations with her.  Remember the smile on her face when you do things together and how happy it makes you to hear her say "Lexi happy!".  When you are stressed out about cooking dinner every night, remember how thankful you are to sit down and eat with your daughter every night she is at home.  Remember how thankful you are to have a good job to go to every morning.  And know that even on the hard days, things always get better.  Remember that you are good at your job and you deserve the good things that come from working so hard.  Remind yourself that when people are taking the easy route and getting away with being less than honest, you will always take the right path- that is just who you are and how you were raised.  Life is not fair and the best you can do it walk away from it knowing that you were true to yourself and you can be proud of your decisions.  Think about how much you love your living room painted purple and that even though it seriously sucked to paint it, you did it.  You can do what ever you set your mind to.  It doesn't have to be perfect, you just have to try.  It doesn't matter if there is dust on your tv, go to bed when you are sleepy and dust another day.  The dishes will always be there the next day.  Enjoy life, enjoy your daughter, enjoy feeling happy.  Challenge yourself but remember that sometimes it is okay to do nothing.  It is completely acceptable to stay in jammies and hang out in the house all morning with your favorite toddler.  Remember that you are the type of person that likes to make others happy, just be sure to take care of yourself in the process.  Think about the the things that make you happy and then DO THEM!  Sing more, dance more, laugh more, smile as much as possible :).

How you know someone loves her swing...

What we do with our days

 We water the dirt.

 We blow bubbles.

 We really like having our own bubble bucket.

 We walk like a dinosaur.

 We find the most awkward places to relax.

 We practice not going past the red stop line on the driveway.

 We play with a lot of sidewalk chalk and especially like the piles left after the car drives over a piece of chalk.

 We get our clothes as dirty as possible.

 We work together on projects with "some assembly required".

 We play with our new water table (and sand table once we get some sand)

 We eat corn on the cob two ears at a time.

 We walk together and take water breaks at the park.

We do "pretty toes" and tattoos.

Why I love dinner time with Alexis

 "Yo, waz up?"

 "Cheese!"

 The closing the eyes to say "Cheese" is new so I thought I would try a second time (obviously, she thought it was super funny and did it again)

"Lexi messy"  Yep- it was bath night!

Time Flies

I guess it is time to delete all the drafts of posts I have started and update for real!  The trip to London was completely amazing!  I got all of the pictures on my computer but I just haven't put them all together.  I hope I can figure out what everything is.  The last month has been completely crazy.  Alexis seems to be changing every day and now that the weather is amazing, we are spending so much time outside!  I think this adorable little girl is going to turn me into an outside person eventually.  I was joking with my friend that I think I have spent more time in the sun the last three days than I have in the last three years :)
Work has been going very well.  I struggled a little with my promotion at first since the job wasn't really outlined.  Turns out I am exceling at it and I am now part of three major initiatives :)  My focus for life at this point is getting a plan in place for summer projects for the house.  I am feeling close to overwhelmed about all the stuff I want to get done but I know it all doesn't have to get done.  I am really excited to buy my chainsaw and start cutting some stuff down.  I am cautiously celebrating my seasonal victory over the freaking woodpeckers as I have heard them and seen them around the park but so far, I do not have any holes in my house :)  Please keep your fingers crossed that the woodpeckers keep staying away!

Fun with the camera