Beach Baby

We took babygirl to the ocean for the first time! Or as her friend Maddie called it we "went to the sand". I swear, this girl just wants to be in water, of any kind, all the time.


We started in shallow water, thinking she might be a little scared of the bigger water.

But she wasn't scared at all! Look at her face saying, "Woah. I am such a big girl."

She cried when Daddy picked her up out of the water. It was so much fun watching her when the little waves came!



Our toes in the sand together!

It was a gorgeous day on the shores where our forefathers first settled. Thank you Amanda and Maddie, for such a fun and beautiful day.

Love & Waterbug,

Dirt Road Mama

Her First Museum!

On our trip last week, we took Reilly to her first museum! Definitely not her last, since her mama seeks out art museums everywhere we go. But this wasn't an art museum, it was the Providence Children's Museum! We had so much fun.

We started our day at my favorite place when we are near civilization - Starbucks. It was Reilly's first Starbucks trips as well - she clearly loved it. She fell asleep shortly after this photo.


Then we were off to the museum! It would have been better for her if she were walking, but then again, isn't everything? So we strolled and carried and played and explored. Reilly said hi to every stranger that she saw. The usual.

We saw mirrors that made us look silly.

We practiced with the telephone!

We went down the slide - which was Reilly's favorite part!

Okay, can you even handle her face?? She was hysterical laughing.

We played with marionettes!


And we pretend-cooked with old fashioned carved bowl things.

Then we had lunch outside and watched the kiddies play and climb!


I love her outfit. Such a little adult outfit.

That was a fun afternoon on our trip! Funny story - earlier in the week, we were by the beach and Reilly became obsessed with the sound that seagulls make. As in, she can imitate it perfectly. And she did - every time she heard one - quite loudly. It was hilarious. So while we were eating lunch outside, she started pointing and making her very distinct seagull call. So we looked at where she was pointing, and saw a pigeon. We started cracking up, then taught her what a pigeon does, and she started bobbing her head like she saw him doing. Too funny, that girl!

Love & Explorations,

Dirt Road Mama

Vay Cay!

This passed week, we took our first official week long Family Vacation!! We have taken many weekend/long weekend trips of course - but this time we went to new places, did new things, packed our car to it's limits, and set off as a family of three. We had such a great great trip. It was everything we imagined it would be, and we stayed with the most wonderful, hospitable people. Here is a little snapshot of our trip, with just a few pictures. Much more to come, as time allows.

Plymouth, MA.
BFFs.

First time in the ocean!!

She cried when we took her out.


Reilly and Mama on the Cape.


Providence Children's Museum. (Sidenote: this is my favorite face in the history of the world)

Giggles with Dadadada!
Handsome doggies! (Sidenote: Reilly learned "Doggie" and "Woof" this week!)

Reilly and Captain inspecting the water.



Nothing better than playing outside in the summertime.


Our trip was filled with laughter, some sunshine, lots of memories, great conversation, amazing company, and delicious food and drinks. We drove home thankful and blessed to be able to enjoy these things. So grateful to God for this time together.

Reilly's Firsts this week:
Words: bubble, doggie, kitty, woof, meow, applesauce
Foods: lemon, tai food (I could never pronouce/type what she actually tasted), Ben and Jerry's, BBQ ribs, apricot
Events: ocean visit, giant bubbles bigger than her, Starbucks, museum

Love & Luggage,

DR Mama

Poolside Babes

Two years ago, we took this picture in the pool.

Before baby, before engagement, we still had Penny boo. See her? Hi baby.

This year, we took an updated picture.

Two years later.

It kind of blows my mind that there is a whole new PERSON in our girls picture. My little girl. I also love how you can tell that she has my eyes. Just two years, so many blessings in that time. And I can barely remember what it felt like not to have that baby by my side.

This one I just love, because I'm obsessed with Reilly's face staring me down as I took the picture from across the pool.

Love & Splashing,

Dirt Road Mama

The Love of Our Life

Contrary to what you might think, I am not going to write about Reilly pants today. No, siree. I am writing about the new love of our life.

Our dishwasher.

Hold on, I need to say that again.

WE HAVE A DISH WASHER.

Reilly is so excited. I can't even believe it. We have been hand-washing dishes for the three years we have been married. Mainly, because there was nowhere to PUT the dishwasher. The only feasible place would take away my biggest cabinets. And hubby and I were both convinced that we could not part with those cabinets. Okay, I was convinced. He doesn't really have strong opinions on cabinet space.

Anyway, we don't have that much cabinet space as it is, and I didn't think we could part with such a big space. But then we realized, we were losing counter space as well - for the dish rack. Which is even more precious to me.

Cabinet space and counter space...these are the things that become sacred to a stay at home mama and wife. It's official - I am an adult.

So a few months ago, Hubby and I ran an experiment whilst baby-proofing the cabinets. We were moving baby-dangerous things to higher places (cleaning products, glass, etc.), and I suddenly thought - with all this rearranging going on, let me see if I can clear out this cabinet (and 2 drawers!) and find another home for the things inside. Well, I put serving utensils and silverware in vases on my counter, and moved everything that I don't use weekly to shelves in the basement. And you know what? We did it. We cleared out the whole area, and hardly noticed or missed anything!

Of course the hutch hubby made was a huge help with storage as well. So then, we had giant empty cabinets and drawers in our kitchen for months. When people would ask why they were empty, we would say, "We are getting used to not having that space for when we have a dishwasher." Then we would get really odd looks. It made so much sense to us, though.

So then, we waited as long as we could before we couldn't possibly wash one more dish without screaming or throwing it against the wall. It was 2 years and 330 days, to be exact. It is possible that we waited a tad too long. For future reference - you probably shouldn't wait until you are ready to break your own dishes, rather than wash them, before you get a dishwasher.

But I tell ya - it sure makes you appreciate things. Last night I just kept staring at it. I really did. I love the way it looks. I love the way it sounds. I loved taking way to long to load it, making sure every single thing was in the perfect place. I loved waking up this morning, and seeing the green "clean" light lit up, with my beautiful sparkling dishes just waiting there for me. I loved putting them away.

Mark my words - I will never complain about dishes again. Because I will remember the past 3 years of washing my own. And there is nothing AT ALL to complain about loading a dishwasher. I think when our kids are older, we will have a throw-back week where we have to go one whole week hand washing our dishes. Just so they know how glorious modern appliances are. Maybe I'll go crazy and make it Thanksgiving week. Good times.

Love & Beautiful Appliances,

Dirt Road Mama

p.s. Picture will follow soon - as soon as Hubby builds some pretty open shelving to finish off the whole area. This project is a fun brain-child of ours...it's going to be so fun! Shout out to my brother in law for installing it for us - thank you a millions times two!!

Celebrations in CT

Last weekend, we went to Connecticut for my sister's bridal shower that her groom's family threw her there, as well as the Bachelor celebrations for the boys.

We had SUCH a fun time! We all stayed at her in-laws condo, and it was a great time. Delicious food, wonderful hosts, and a bar that should require a cover charge to get into (I'm so mad I forgot a pic of it!).

But I did get pictures of the perfect, beautiful shower that they had for her!

Party girls! Blurry, but too cute not to share.

The bride and her soon-to-be sister!

All the sissies together.
Sister and mama of the groom, and of course, the guest of honor!

All the girls, ready for our champagne sangria!

Cuties!
Father of the bride. Who just pictured Steve Martin when I said that? Best movie of all time.

Me and my flower baby. Dada was golfing, and she loved having a girly day!

Poppy kisses!

The most amazing cheese I have ever had, and the beautiful favors/centerpieces!

The these of the party was "herbs" - and these were the favors!! Aren't they gorgeous?

Reilly having her yummy lunch. Some thing she tried for the first time at the party: a peanut chicken skewer (pictured above), chilled melon soup (she loved it), smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwich (she loved it), hummus and bean sprout and roasted pepper sandwich (she loved it)...are we sensing a pattern here?

Pattern: The food was amazing.
Pattern: Reilly loves everything/has a strangely wide palate.

The adorably thoughtful gift from the hostesses of the party!! They typed out the "story" of how Sister met E, and had her read it out loud. There were blanks in the story, where they had her unwrap a gift that would fill the blank! Here is a little example:

"Several years ago in college, E and I met in a ______."
The answer is "freezer", they met in the freezer room of a food bank while volunteering at school. So the gift to fill that blank was the "cooler" that you see above! How cute!

Here's another one:
"We love going out to dinner, and out favorite place has become _________."
The answer is The Melting Pot, and there was a gift card for the restaurant in there!

The story went on, and by the end, Sister had a BUNCH of amazing gifts, and everyone at the party knew there whole sweet story as well!

I know, you are totally going to steal that for your next party, right? You heard it here first, people. Those creative Connecticut ladies!

Fact: Poppy loves his girl. Hence why they are pictured together in between all day long. :) The Dad's and Grandpa stayed behind from golfing to enjoy the aforementioned bar downstairs.

Our little purple princess was pooped after such a fun-filled day! And Reilly was pretty tired, too.

See what I did there?

I can't believe the wedding, which I feel like we just started planning, is already coming so close! I just can't WAIT! It's such a fun, exciting time.

Love & Purple & White,

Dirt Road Mama