22 months

I’m still not ready to admit that Nolan is almost two. I told Steve that we can’t round up—when asked, we either have to say 22 months, or “He’ll be two in September”  :)

He is saying more and more words:  his new ones are—stuck, papa, two, tickle, book, George (as in Curious), teeth, boat, bath, baby, corn, blueberry, Kiki (Kathleen), train.

When he looks at a book or a paper with words on it, he pretends to read it himself, and he says “toy toy toy toy”.
When he sees letters, he reads every one as “i”.
Similarly, when he counts, it’s “two two two”.

He never stops moving, discovering, learning.
He barely even takes a break to eat anything.
And although we seem to be getting a few more tantrums,
he is still the sweetest and happiest little guy.

I’ve never seen him make this face before, but it’s cute!

family camp: beach day

We got home last night from a week at family camp with Steve’s family. The camp is where Steve and I both worked for many summers, and where we fell in love. I have too many photos for one post—so I’m dividing them up. These photos are from our time at the beach last Wednesday afternoon. My brother-in-law Josh took almost all of these.


Heading down to the lake with Grandma.

Nolan’s first time in a lake!

He was really enjoying it, but then all of a sudden, he decided that it wasn’t for him.

Mommy gave him a kiss, and he asked to go back in the water. . .

. . . Again, he wasn’t happy.

We decided it was time to just play in the sand.


Nolan’s almost-three-year-old cousin.

Nolan with his 18-month-old cousin—it was really fun to see them all interact on the beach.

Mamas standing guard.

Nolan played in the sand at least once every day we were at camp, at either the beach or the giant sandbox camp has near some of the cabins. We’re probably going to have to get him his own sandbox soon :)

july pin-spired

I have been admiring the colorblocking trend on Pinterest for quite a while. I like the modern look of colorblocking, and I love the mixing of bright colors.

 
1. Pin here. (Banana Republic)    2. Pin here. (Target)    3. Pin here. (Jones New York)

I was in the market for a summery cotton dress. I had actually gone to the mall with another dress in mind (that I had tried on previously), but they were out of my size when I returned for it. Our mall is super tiny with little selection, so I was about to give up on finding another dress I liked. But when I walked past this one, I was immediately drawn to it, and it was on sale for $19.99! When I tried it on, it was so soft and comfortable. I was thrilled that it had a subtle colorblock as well!

Dress: Liz Claiborne Colorblock Drawstring Dress / Shoes: Yuu Cadalyn Embellished Sandals

Enjoy your 4th of July!  Happy 237th birthday, America!

If you are new to my blog, thanks for visiting!

Feel free to stay awhile, or follow along!

See my other months of Pin-spired:
February // March // April // May // June

I'm linking up with Shay, Mel, & Sheaffer for Pin-spired!

Also linking up with The Pleated Poppy's What I Wore Wednesday

I am currently away from my TV, so unfortunately Stephen and I won’t be posting a Bachelorette recap tomorrow. See you next week!

strawberry shortcake with cream cheese frosting

I haven’t posted a recipe in a while because I’ve been laying off the sweets a bit. However, when I saw this recipe for strawberry shortcake, I happened to have all the ingredients in my fridge, and it was really easy to whip up. They are very rich and reminded me of decadent doughnuts.

Ingredients:
1 can Pillsbury Grands biscuits (8 biscuits)
1 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons cinnamon
1 package cream cheese (8 ounces), softened
2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 splash of milk
carton of strawberries, sliced

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Mix the sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl. Roll the biscuits in the sugar mixture until they’re covered on all sides. Set them on a baking sheet.

Bake about 10 minutes, or until a golden brown.

Meanwhile, beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk with an electric mixer until well-blended. Add little splashes of milk if it’s too thick—add powdered sugar if it’s too runny.

Gently break each biscuit in half, and top with the cream cheese mixture. Then arrange the sliced strawberries on top.

Thanks to this Mix and Match Mama recipe. She also has variations for Nutella, Coconut, and S’mores shortcakes. :)

ENJOY!

friends in michigan

Two weeks ago, we drove up to Grand Rapids, Michigan to meet up with my girl friends from college. My friend Ruth and her husband Jake just bought a house there, and we couldn’t wait to visit!


Nolan loved Ruth & Jake’s big backyard :)

So fun spending time with Emily!

I was excited to see our friend Stephanie! Matching cousins in yelllow.

Ruth made this cute Father’s Day brunch. I made a key lime cake.


Ruth’s amazing hutch from an antique store. They only moved in a month before, but everything was painted and decorated perfectly!

Mona, Emily’s husband Andy, Emily, and me

My guys on Father’s Day

Reading with his buddy Linnea.

The girls! Emily, Mona, Ruth, me, Linnea. We had so much fun as roommates our junior and senior years in Chicago. And we hadn’t been all together since the month we graduated four years ago.

Mona and me

me and Ruth

The whole group (Mona’s husband Jon couldn’t make it.)

Getting a tour of downtown.

Gaslight village. The guys checked out the lake, while we picked up some pizzas.

We were only there for two days, so I wish it had been longer! Thanks to my friends for making it such a nice time!