Changes all around

Seems as though Sweets is changing her little schedule (loosely used). Not that I have been paying very close attention to any sort of set routine, but I do seem to recall 3 naps up until the last week. Now with solids in the picture (3 times a day mind you, the girl loves to chow) and much more awake time, she's down to just 2 naps with a slightly earlier bedtime. Spicy is also going through changes of her own. Seems as though her only roadblock to being fully potty-trained is muah (as in, mommy, mom, ME!) Every time I let go of the fear of a potential accident and fight the temptation to put on the diaper, she has been successful at communicating her need to go and then actually going (even outside of the house!) It's so exciting. Being my 1st, I get such a sense of pride (& a teensy bit sad) seeing her think, communicate & follow through like such a big girl! It's fun hearing her say "Mommy, I did it!" and then holding her hand up in the air awaiting her 'high five' followed by the 'fist bump' and the 'thumbs up' routine we have established. You are still napping 90% of the time, however, it is normally later in the day & I can see that possibly disappearing soon. Now, if I could get you both back on the same napping times (or at least a 30 minute overlap), that would be glorious. Until then, I'm one wiped out momma bouncing back and forth for 12+ hours during the day with not much silent solo time while there is still sunlight out. 

But I still L.O.V.E. my new job. Maybe a slight demotion going from pitching charts to a room full of  brilliant engineers and managers to scrubbing toilets but oh such a wonderful trade-off to see the most angelic faces all day long who constantly love on me with smiles and hugs and kisses and "i love you's". Oh, and I got to stay in my sweats ALL day (today's act of not dressing was a conscious decision, other times, not so much) and play under the sun and picnic in the beautiful breezy shade!

For the corresponding visual:

This...

Makes this....

A pleasure...  

(**side-note for documenting purposes** While I was sneaking in some household duties, Spicy sneakily found the camera, turned it on and started snapping away, catching my hard work, while I thought she was working on puzzles and doing imaginary play with all of her stuffed animals. I had no idea until I was reviewing the pictures tonight and got a good laugh. Thanks for capturing my under-appreciated labor of love, sweetheart!)

 On the home front, many changes are taking place as well. We're quickly shifting gears from the fun, not too serious planning/research phase to the very challenging decision-making stage. Thanks to DE's dedication & leadership on this project & very hard work (with 100%STUD's financial contribution), we now have a professionally designed plan complete with soft-scape details such as names of plants and flowers recommended to compliment our house style and ideas. We've come a long way in a short time.

From this: 

To this...

Blogging will remain a little sketchy as the next week has me spending a lot of time here:

choosing the roof color, house (stucco) color, concrete color, planter cap color, decorative foam styles, water fountain styles, oh yeah and feeding 3 mouths, wiping 3 bottoms and squeezing in some Zzzzz's here and there! 

(PS -  I'm pretty sure Mother Mary is also the Queen of design and decor as she has been with me every step of the way helping me juggle motherly, wifely, house project and spiritual affairs while maintaining my sanity and peace of mind!)