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Lindsay Pavkovich

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October 25, 2013

Keeping the DramaBaby Healthy

Now that the Fall/Winter season is here, it is also the season of germs.  Sneezing, snotty noses, coughing, fussing, fevers all around! Kids are gross.  I don't care if your kid poops glitter and is the next Einstein--he/she is still a nasty little kid who wipes their nose and then sticks their finger in their friends eyeball.  Because that's just what toddlers do and they don't care or know about germs.  It's the parents job to make sure that our floor licking, booger picking, obnoxious sneezing kid stays healthy as much as we can.
 
 We've been lucky in the fact that Presley has a great immune system and very, very rarely is sick.  Like, I am trying to think of the last time I had to keep her home from pre-school and I can't even remotely come up with anything.  Actually, probably the last time we kept her home was when she was a few months old and had a double ear infection.  But, after she had tubes put in we've never had another issue with her ears.  




I have my own personal beliefs about why I think Presley's immune system is so healthy, but since it's a can of worms that I'm not really interested in opening, I won't go there.  We make sure we give Presley healty vitamins and supplements.  We give her fresh juices.  We don't feed her junk food for every snack/meal. And we use natural remedies for as many things as we can.  And so far, this has worked for us 100%. 
 

I can recall a time a few months ago where almost every child in Presleys class had some sort of fever/stomach virus and Presley was the only child that didn't get it.  Maybe it's just luck that she has a great immune system, but I'd like to think that the precautions we take are a big part of it, too.  So, I am going to tell you about a few of the things we give her!

I just recently bought this at Whole Foods. It was sort of a spur of the moment buy, and I think I just grabbed it because it made it clear that it was Dairy Free which saved me some time off of label reading.  I've given Presley other forms of probiotics before, but thought I'd switch it up.  Probiotics are a great immune booster!



 
 
2- Essential Oils-
We've had amazing results with essential oils.  We mainly use Oil of Oregano for everything (on the rare occasion that Presley gets a cold/cough/fever) and it's worked instantly for us.  I've heard great things about Theives oil and will be picking some up next time I hit up Whole Foods.  If you don't know the story behind Thieves Oil then you should read it HERE! We use Avacado Oil as our carrier oil.
 
3- Vitamins-
Vitamins are a very important part of keeping your kiddo healthy.  Now, I'm not familiar with what the differences are between a common vitamin (like Flinstones) and the kind we give Presley.  I should probably do some research on that.  I give her the VegLife Vegan Kids Multiple vitamin...just because.  When things say they're vegan I usually always go for that because I don't have to worry about any type of milk substance being in the ingredients.  Just makes it a little easier for me. 

4- Diet-
We try (keyword: try) very hard to keep Presley away from junk food.  You'll never catch Presley eating Little Debbie snacks, gummies, Pop Tarts, mounds and mounds of Oreo's or regular chips while drinking Hawaiian Punch or Sunny D.  At least, not when she is under our watch.  I can't vouch for what goes on at Nana & Papa's house when I'm not around, but I try to not think about that.  We mainly keep healthy foods in our pantry, and we do have some stuff that some wouldn't consider "healthy" but it's still nothing like I listed above.  For snack Presley eats plain popcorn, organic/natural applesause, healthy cereals, tons and tons and tons of fruits, yogurt (dairy free, of course), certain crackers, and so on.  I do have to say that since Presley has to be dairy free it cuts out a bunch of stuff that she can't have anyways.  Even if we got a wild hair and said she could eat a a Twinkie, Oatmeal Cream Pie, or Dorito's--she couldn't have it anyway because of the dairy. 



None of this!
 
Well, that's all I have for now.  There are so many other healthy ways to keep your child well without having to give them antibiotics or other OTC medicines.  This doesn't go to say that we won't ever have to give Presley medicine, because obviously if she became ill with something that could only be cured from something a doctor perscribed, we'd give it to her.  But, we would explore and try every other option beforehand!  And I do understand that we may just be lucky in that Presley is never sick and has responded so well to other remedies.  Our next child could be sick as a dog year round even with the things we do for Presley to stay healthy.  Every child is different and reacts differently to all kinds of remedies.  So, I hope this post doesn't come off as me being all Judgy McJudgerson regarding your kids health. If OTC meds are your thang, AWESOME! If you also go for the natural remedies, THAT'S AWESOME, TOO! No parent likes their kiddo to not feel well.  These are just the things that work for us.  Love, Peace & Chicken Grease. 


October 18, 2013

5 on Friday


Linking up again with Darci at "The Good Life" blog for Five On Friday! This is such a fun little link-up, so please join!

1) I know it seems so lamesauce to talk about the weather, but DUDE, it's getting chilly up in hurr! Next week the highs are in the 50's and it's supposed to be cloudy/raining on and off throughout the week.  Presley has a big puffer coat and some lighter jackets, but nothing in between.  I think we will head over to Old Navy this weekend and see what they have. She also needs some black boots--so I smell a girls day together!

2) Speaking of the cooler weather--I broke down and ordered Presley a toddler sized Halo Sleep Sack.  She had one when she was younger and we really liked it.  Instead of buying tons of fleece jammies, we just put her in regular cotton ones (which we have 4543 pairs of) and then zip her  up in the fleece blanket.  The toddler size has foot holes, so she can walk around in it.  Looks kinda weird, but it's nice and cozy!
3)I've been considering vlogging (video blogging) on the weekends. I think it would change things up and be a fun little expirament.  Presley is in a super fun stage of her life right now and she is just so much fun to be around (most of the time.) What do ya think? Also, I should go ahead and say that my voice is super annoying on camera and we do a lot of couch surfing on the weekends.  So, take that into consideration. Plus, maybe every now and then this stud will get some camera time:


4) So. Many. Shows. right now.  I bring my iPad to work with me and watch different shows throughout the day.  Working in an office by myself all day gets a little lonely so this is how I stay sane.  Obviously, my old faithfuls--Grey's Anatomy and Scandal.  Then there is Homeland, The Voice, Modern Family, New Girl(<---HILARIOUS), Trophy Wife, Downton Abbey (yes, I know season 4 doesn't come on until January here in the good ol' USofA, but I am watching it online!)...I could go on and on.  Any shows that I'm missing out on?

5) Right now, like at this very moment, I am watching the Glee tribute to Cory Monteith.  I've never watched an episode of Glee before but have heard so much about this farewell episode.  I'm 1:26 minutes into it and can already tell youthat I am about to be a blubbering mess.  I see a person-any person, no matter if I know them or not- and I absolutely lose my $#@!.  Stick a fork in me, I'm done.  Also, hugs not drugs.  Unless you're hospitalized and offered Dilauded--TAKE ALL OF THE DILAUDED DRUGS! (I don't have a picture to represent any of this...)

Have a great weekend!
xoxo

October 11, 2013

Parenting: Mom vs Dad

If you were to put Adam and I in two different rooms and ask us questions regarding our parenting styles, I'd bet you my next born child that our answers would be wildly different from each other.  I'm not sure if that's normal--but, it's just how it is with us.  It could be the fact that Adam is gone a majority of the time, so we don't really get to make parenting choices together that often.  Obviously, when it comes to the major tasks and problems of being a parent we do make those decisions together.  But, as far as the day to day mess--we couldn't be any more opposite from each other.

Here are just a few examples that come to mind:

-Presley drinking her bath water:
Me: I don't bat an eye.  Yes, I know that the majority of the time she drinks her own pee.  Whatcha gonna do about it? I've watched enough Man vs Wild to know that this is okay. I'm sure the 46 gallons of bubble bath mask the taste--I don't know.

Adam: Goes abso-freakin-lutely insane.  All I hear when he has bath duty is no no no no Presley! We don't drink the bath wat--Presley stop stop stop! And if he walks in when I'm in charge of the bath and finds out she's been sippin' on the sizzurp I get in trouble.

 -Presley's obsession with baby wipes:
Me: Eh, it keeps her occupied while I get a few things done, keeps her clean, and they're cheap.  Would I rather her not pull out 100+ wipes out of the bag? Duh, but I just stuff them in a big Ziplock and go on with my life.

Adam:  If I let this happen again I am sure that there will be a breakdown of how much money I have thrown away by letting Presley play with the wipes and oh em gee that could have paid our Comcast bill!

-When it comes to Presley's "schedule:"
Me: I try to avoid doing things or going places when I know it will cut into Presley's nap or bed time.  I know, I know I swore that I'd never let my childs sleep schedule keep me from doing fun things.  But, when you have a toddler who flops around screaming in the middle of the mall because she is tired--yeah, it's not worth it.

Adam: What schedule? He asks to take Presley to the mall at the the most dangerous times.  7 o'clock will roll around and he will want to go grab ice-cream or go to Barnes & Noble.  I know he means well and just wants to spend some time as a family, but it usually just ends up with a grouchy toddler and stressed out Mama.  Gotta love him for trying, though :)

-Presley's attire:
Me: I like to keep Presley in comfy clothes.  I never send her to school in clothes that she can't run around, jump around and play around in.  I don't send her in tights that will sag, or skirts that will rise up.  And #1 rule is to never send a kid to daycare in clothes that you don't want ruined.  I get 99% of Presley's clothes and shoes at Target, Wal-Mart or Kohl's.  If they get stained or ripped? No biggie, I didn't give my right arm for any of them.  Now, that means that sometimes she looks like a scally-wag, and I couldn't care less.  Nobody else does, either.  Well, except for Adam...

Adam: If I had a dollar for every time Adam has said,"You're going to dress her in that??"

Newsflash:
Yes! Yes I am!

I let Adam dress her a few days ago and she wore magenta pants, a metallic silver vest and her light up shoes.  So, there ya go. (just kidding, babe! she looked adorbz!)

I am thinking about taking Adam along with me next time I go shopping for Presley and let him pick out a few things.  That actually sounds really interesting, now that I'm thinking about it.  It's a date.  Maybe I will video our trip!

Anyone else have similar stories like mine? Please share!

October 4, 2013

day in the life

On Wednesday I was a guest host on Ashley's blog featuring a "day in the life" and I thought that I would now share it on my blog!  It has been a while since I've posted something like this, so it was perfect timing! I am just copying and pasting the exact post, because I'm lazy like that.  :)

Enjoy!

Hey y'all! I am Lindsay and I blog over at Baby Mama Drama. I am married to Adam (actually, our anniversary is coming up on the 9th--WORD BIG BIRD!) and we  are the slaves to our 2 year old drama queen, Presley. She is every bit of sassy, high maintenance, hard headed, stubborn and strong willed ever known to exist in a single human. So, obviously, life is just dandy!

::Side note- I really do love my little Drama Baby.  I use sarcasm as a coping mechanism because, well, we are desperately trying to survive the Terrible 2's and these type of posts come off as if I would rather live alone and sit on the couch all day watching Will & Grace marathons....::

On a typical week day, my husband and I both work. I am taking a break as a Massage Therapist and am working for a large medical supply company and Adam is a baseball coach at Notre Dame.  He works crazy long hours and is gone until later in the evenings.  So, I am basing this "day in the life post" around our weekend--which isn't all too interesting, either :) 
-----------------------------

Our day  starts off around 8:00AM .  I have no clue what time Presley actually wakes up because she isn't one to make noises or cry out for us when she wakes up. She just rolls around in her bed until I go get her. Like the good wife I am, I let Adam sleep in this morning. I fix Presley a cancake (pancake) and have to endure 2 episodes of Go, Diego, Go! and one episode of Yo Gabba Gabba before I even drink my first cup of coffee.

At 10:30AM,  Adam gets up and heads to the baseball field while Presley and I head down to my office. I forgot a few things at the office  and was hoping that the building would be unlocked, but it wasn't. Womp womp.

By this time it is 11:45AM  and I'm starving. I stop and pick up lunch because I would rather eat a kitten than go to the grocery store on a Sunday ( or any day, for that matter.) Presley has food allergies so that takes going out to eat to a new level. I get her some grilled chicken nuggets and a fruit cup from a drive thru thinking she will eat that, but dude, apparently I know nothing. She decides to just eat ketchup for lunch. So that's awesome...

12:15 finally rolls around and I do the happy dance because it's my favorite time of the day--Presley's nap time! Hal-a-lu-yer! I decided to not be domestic..like, at all, and I watch Sister Wives and eat a bag of Skittles. This is an all time low for me.  I then come to my senses, and do a little blogging, FB stalking, and YouTube watching.

2:30 P-Nasty is up from her nap and she has to take a minute or two to get out of her nap time funk.  We play baby dolls, cheer on those crazy, athletic people who jog by our window 47 times a day, and then eat some popcorn. That's just how we roll.

A decent amount of time goes by while I do some laundry, unload/load the dishwasher (worst chore ever), all while Presley manages to find my toothbrush and gnaw on it, attempt to change her own diaper and then proceed to pull out all of the wipes in the package.  I can't be the only mother this happens to, can I? Good thing she is cute.

Before I know it, it's 3:30  and Adam is home. We load up and head to the mall that is about 2 minutes away from our house. It has a huge Barnes & Noble and also has a decent indoor play area.  Presley loves going here and even though I feel that I've contracted Aids every time we leave, we still take her.  Germs= everywhere.  We play in both areas for a good hour and a half before it's time to head over to dinner with our cousin, Ryan, and his fiancée. As if stuffing my face with fried chicken and hummus want enough, we head over to Cold Stone Creamery for dessert. Want to know how difficult it is to sneak ice cream around your dairy free toddler? Freakin' hard, y'all. Really hard.

It is now 7:30  and time to wind down for the night. Presley has a bath and then heads to bed.  Adam usually lays down with her at night so I can have some "me" time.  And if you must know, all that includes is me lying in bed watching Homeland...currently, my favorite show!

And that's about it! I wish this post would have been a little more exciting for you, but we are homebodies for the most part! 

1.) What is the most surprising thing to you about being a mom? I think the most surprising this (so far) for me has been how much I have "eaten my own words."  Before being a Mom I would always say oh my child will never ________. And Presley does almost every. single. thing that I said wouldn't happen.  You really have to learn to not set your expectations too high, because almost every time your kid will throw you for a loop and prove you wrong.  

2.) What advice would you give to new or soon-to-be mamas? Don't feel like every baby item you need has to be brand new.  I sometimes think about how much money we (or other people) spent buying us things before Presley was born and I just can't get over how expensive everything was.  You can find some great deals at garage sales, Craigslist, or even the big seasonal kids consignment sales and the stuff is in almost perfect condition--for half the price!  Always check those out before spending full price on a must-have item!

3.) What are your top three baby products? 
     a) The Woombie was hands down our favorite swaddling thingy-ma-jig.  Anything with velcro always woke Presley up during a diaper change and the Woombie zips. Plus, Presley broke out of every other swaddle blanket except for this one.  For us, it was a must have.

     b) The Baby Brezza Temperature Control Kettle- We formula fed Presley, and this kettle was, hands down, the best investment out of anything else we owned.  It keeps the water warm at the perfect temperate and makes the middle of the night bottle so much easier to make!  If you don't get anything else, get this!  

     c) A video monitor- we have the Summer Infant brand and it has worked out well for us.  It was handed down from a friend so I never really did any research on other brands.  I don't know how we managed without it beforehand!


***

September 25, 2013

Life Update :)

I've been meaning to do a general "life update" but haven't really had the time to blog, like I thought I would!  Here is what we've been up to:

  • Adam has been very, very busy with the baseball team.  Tuesday and Thursday mornings he has to be at the field for 6:15am workouts/conditioning.  He usually doesn't get home until 7:30pm every night.  They're all working long, hard days! 
  • I have been at my job for two weeks.  I'm working for a medical supply company that is actually located 3 hours away, so it's just me in the office.  All day.  By myself. So, yeah.  At first, I thought I would enjoy the silence and alone time, and I do, but, I do miss having normal conversations with other human beings!  I have found that I enjoy my day a lot more when I take my iPad.  I will stream Netflix all day just to have some background noise.  Today I got to catch up on last nights episode of The Voice and last weeks episode of New Girl!
  • Speaking of TV shows--it is about time for all of "my shows" to come on!  This is the time of year where I am in bed every night at 8:00 and shall not be interrupted until all shows are over for the night.  Not even kidding--Adam used to LEAVE THE HOUSE anytime Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice came on.  It was the safer thing to do as I tend to get a little...ahem, feisty when people talk to me if it's not a commercial. :)
  • Presley is adjusting to her new school, finally! She did cry for the first few days when I dropped her off, but has now warmed up to her new teachers and little friends.  I also love both of her teachers--they are SO sweet!
  • While we are talking about the Drama Baby--today was picture day at school and I kind of freaked myself out last night.  I got super anxious about what she would wear, how I would fix her hair, and then worried if she would even smile for the pictures.  I'm normally not like that!  I had originally bought an outfit that was, like, super cute but also really, really hideous.  The leggings were cute, but the shirt was something that I thought would be really funny to look back on when Presley is older and we would be all, "Oh my gosh, look how horrible that shirt it! Can't believe I dressed her in that!"  That's my definition of "planning ahead."  But, it has been pretty cold here, so I opted for some leopard print pants, plain black shirt, black shoes, and a leopard print bow.  I must have been feeling a little swayed by my last Trendy Tot Tuesday post :)  Presley's teacher said she smiled and did great for the pictures, so I will share them when we get our order in!
  • My Mom is coming up in a little over a week! We are so excited to see her, just counting down the days!  She will keep Presley at home with her while she is here, so that will be nice for me!  I can just wake up and head straight to work!
  • While my Mom is here Adam and I will go out to celebrate our wedding anniversary.  October 9th marks 3 years that we've been married, so we will just celebrate a little earlier! It sure does seem like we've been married longer than that!  I guess when you date close to 5 years before marriage it throws it off a bit!
  • On Monday, I upgraded my iPhone! I still had the iPhone 4, so I just upgraded to the 5C.  Even if I were to get the 5S, it was a 10 week wait for delivery.  I have no self control or patience so I ended up with the white 5C.  And I love it!  Adam is super jealous of it so I suspect he will be making his way over the the AT&T store any day now to get a new phone, too :)
Well, that's it for now!  Dinner won't cook itself!  I will leave you with some random pictures from the last few weeks!





September 1, 2013

oh, the places you'll go!

I feel like the title of Dr. Seuss' book would make a great tagline of our little family's life.  Since Adam and I have been together (which, in December will be 8 years) we have never "settled." I think the longest we've stayed in one town is when he was finishing his degree at Alabama after he retired from pro ball.  We were there from September 2010  until August 2012 and ever since then we've been on the move!  Adams dream is to be a college baseball coach (preferably at a pretty big school) so, that's why we move a lot.  It's like a totem pole, you have to start at the bottom and work your way up once better opportunities arise! 

Our latest quest?

The University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana!

I can't tell you how hard I prayed for something like this.  We were literally days away from our apartment lease ending in Huntsville, AL and he still didn't have a job.  We had a few things in the works, but we were really panicking!  He got a call late Friday night (August 16th) and was offered the Paid Volunteer coaching job and within the next week we packed up our apartment, said goodbye to family and friends, loaded up the Uhaul and headed north!

We came into this move without having a place to live, so we stayed in a hotel for a few days until we found a cute little townhouse.  If we stay here for a few years then we will look into a house or something, but for now? I will gladly live somewhere that provides snow removal :)

Yeah, snow--about that.


I am currently taking any and all winter clothing donations.  I don't know about where you live, but in Alabama schools and businesses shut down just at the thought of sleet.  I've been told that up North, you learn to deal with it and go on with your life.  If I go missing from November-March, I will most likely be hibernating in my warm house!

I have stashed my Alabama shirts into one pile and have literally worn a different UA football championship shirt for the last week.  Not even kidding.  I haven't gone anywhere without being asked where my accent is from and I still haven't found the nearest H&M. I did, however, find a Noodles & Co. and a Coldstone Creamery.  Fatty McFatterson--party of 1.

Sorry for being so absent lately.  We've been pretty busy getting settled in and we are still trying to find a preschool for Presley.  After that, I start a new office job (and by "office job" I mean it's just one office--and it's mine.  I will be working A-L-O-N-E!)  I know that will give me SO much more time to blog rather than doing it from home.  

So, butter my butt and call me a biscuit--let's get this new adventure started, ya'll!

xoxo,
Lindsay

August 9, 2013

PDizzle is 2!

We had Presley and Hunters birthday party on July 27th.  Presleys birthday is July 15th and Hunters is July 21st, so for the past two years we've decided to do a joint birthday party.  It's just easier that way and saves family from coming into town two weekends in a row.  Plus, it's cheaper on us :)

This year we decided to keep it very simple.  Mainly because party planning just isn't my cup of tea and I am the worst party host alive. You will probably never attend a "interest" type party of mine because I  just don't have the time or patience to hand make anything.  (Kelly would probably de-friend me if she ever attended any sort of party or gathering I put together.  She throws amazing shindigs--go check out her blog for proof!)  We rented out a gymnastics gym in Tuscaloosa--which, I wasn't quite sure how Hunter would feel about that considering he is a bit older--and kept the decorations, food and guests to a minimum.  We have a pretty big family with a decent amount of kids, so that is usually just enough fun for us.  There are two gymnastic gyms in Tuscaloosa and while I had been to a birthday party at one (Bama Bounders) and had a great time, they don't have a foam pit at BB.  Tumbling Tides is the other gym and they have the foam pit, but I had never been to a party there.  We chose TT solely because of the foam pit and because that's what I wanted to play in.  When I called to book the party they said we could do free play for the entire time.  FYI, the party is booked for 1.5 hours--1 hour of play time and 30 minutes for food, cake and presents.  

Well, we get to the party a little early to set up a few tables and then the party started.  They then decided to tell me that they don't do free play and it will be a guided party.  LAME-O!  In my head, I was super pissed but decided to just roll with it and have a good time anyways.  Whatever, there was nothing I could do about it now.  The kids did have a good time doing some obstacles on the floor, then they moved to the beam, bars and vault.  The play time ended at the trampoline and foam pit and that's where everyone had the most fun and, looking back, I should have just asked if they could spend the entire hour there.

The last 30 minutes was set aside for the food, cake and presents.  It was definitely not nearly enough time.  It was very rushed and chaotic which really stressed me out and almost ruined it for me.  I really wish the party would have been 2 hours long leaving 1 hour for play and 1 hour for the rest.  But, it is what it is!

At the end of the party Hunter told me he had a blast and that he loved it, so that made me happy! Presley, of course, had a great time! She was so cute in her purple leotard and just ran around the entire time.  Home girl loves a trampoline and even warmed up to the foam pit at the end!  If I could do it over, I would probably consider two things: 1) booking the party for 3 hours (so basically we'd be paying for two party sessions) and then we'd have more time to play and not be so rushed, or 2) just have the party at Bama Bounders where I know the kids can just run around and play as they please for the entire party.

All in all, it was such a fun party.  The kids had a blast and we had special friends and family celebrate with us.  That's all that matters! 

As far as pictures go? They're mostly all on my Step Moms camera! We got a few but were really too busy playing to take any good ones.  I will get them off her SD card tomorrow and post them soon!  In the mean time, enjoy the few (crappy) pictures we took!
How presh is her leotard? B-t-dubs, lets not talk about how much I paid for it.
I was worried Hunter was too old to have fun at this type of party, but he had fun!
We *have* to get this girl a trampoline...ASAP!
Presley had to have a dairy free cake.  We found a place in Tuscaloosa to make one and I just added a tiara!
...and she loved it!
This is as good as it got, folks! Womp Womp!
The obligatory "mid chew" picture.  I love these two girls! Also, that pizza? Not dairy free. FAIL!
Hunter had his own cake and decor.  I love that kid..SO much!
I wish Taelor would have been looking at the camera because this is a super cute picture! 
She had so much fun!
My brother, Robby, helping Presley on the floor obstacles!

July 25, 2013

road trip!

Well, folks, we are back from our vacation in Michigan and I am proud to say that no husbands or toddlers were harmed on the 14+ hour drive!   Actually, Presley was nearly perfect during the treacherous drive up north and was equally as good (if not better) on the way back down to the dirrty south!  This trip was much needed--for all of us.  We even got to bring along my Mom who was in desperate need of a vacation from all of the animal rescue she has been doing!

Our trip started bright and early the morning of July 11th.  Adam brought down all of our luggage while I meticulously packed it into the trunk.  (We took my Mom's Toyota Camry since it gets much better gas mileage than our Yukon.) I get a little anal when it comes to stuffing luggage into vehicles (I get it from my Dad) so it's usually best to leave this task up to me.  We stopped for breakfast and coffee then were on the road by 9:00am--I think.  We stopped every now and then to let Presley stretch her legs, change her diaper and grab some food but for the most part Presley just chilled in her car seat with the iPad, DVD player, iPhone and books!  I don't even want to know how traveling goes without technology.

We split the drive up in to 2 days on the way up there.  We made it to Ft. Wayne, IN around dinner time and stopped at Cracker Barrel for dinner.  Right next door was a very ghetto Motel 8 and a semi-ghetto Econolodge.  We opted for the latter, carried our luggage into our musty hotel room and hit the sack.  This was Presley's first time EVER to sleep in the bed with one of us.  To my surprise she slept like a log and Adam didn't roll over and smother her in her sleep.  A "Win, Win" y'all! 

We hit up the continental breakfast the next morning and finished up the rest of the drive.  We made it to Suttons Bay, MI and were greeted by Adams family.  They were all so excited to see Presley!

And for the next 7 days we were in full fledged "vacation mode."  I'm talking no make up, yoga pants and t-shirts, hanging by the water, walking downtown and having no worries in the world!

It. Was. Awesome.

Adams Mom and Aunt Vickie cooked dinner almost every night and it was fabulous! We were totally spoiled!  Monday we held a little birthday celebration for PDizzle and she was such a ham.  Later on I will upload some of the videos from her opening up her gifts but just trust me when I say that girlfriend loves opening up cards with the ca$h money money!  It was hilarious!

Adam and I did take my Mom up to Sleeping Bear Dunes.  It was perfect because we left Presley with everyone else at the farm and they had a chance to get some one-on-one time with her!

I had planned on getting some decent family photos of Adam, Presley and I but considering I didn't wear make up for almost an entire week--it didn't happen.  And no amount of photo shop can fix what was going on in my face regions.

Sorry!

We had such a nice time catching up with everyone and enjoying the farm house.  It's fun learning more about the history of the home and looking at all of the old (creepy) pictures.  It's so relaxing at the farm.  The house is right on the water and if you didn't know you were across the bridge from Canada you'd think you were somewhere in the Caribbean.  The water is crystal-clear and the pretties shades of blue!  I'm not really sure why we ever headed south for vacations :)

And now, I bombard your screen with pictures.  You're welcome!
Sleeping Bear Dunes.  This is a 450 foot hill down to the water.  It's breathtakingly beautiful!
front of the farm house
old barn--on the way down to the beach
looking up to the house from the beach (barn is on the right)
ginormous tree that is SO old and beautiful!
"sit long, talk much"
throwing rocks with Papa!

vacay attire



family!
smooches for Daddy :)


Adam & Grandpa

dolla dolla bills, y'all! 
on the way up to the dunes 
My Mama and I :)


 We are already looking forward to our trip back up to Michigan next summer!