The important things...

Oh, hi there.

Don't mind me.  I've just been lounging around, lazily enjoying the summer breeze on a hammock with a fruity something or other in my hand, listening to the waves roll in, all while reading teen fiction and napping at my leisure.

Or... working like a crazy, frantically scrambling to find Father's Day gifts, playing with a pretty little princess, and ignoring my messy house.  

Same thing, right?

I'm working on getting the other two New York posts up, but until then, I needed a minute to just check in and say hi.  I missed this.

First, you must be inundated with cute.

 

We celebrated my niece's third birthday a few weeks ago at a local park, and we had a blast.  My crazy girl couldn't get enough of Stella's wagon, and when she wasn't riding in it, she was running around everywhere.  She's crazy about her older cousin and basically wanted to be wherever Stella was.  So adorable.

I've been pretty busy at work, so our weeknights have mostly looked like this:

1. Leave work.
2. Get home and ask myself what the heck I can feed my kid for dinner.
3. Whip something up quickly. (Or watch my handsome husband cook while I play with Grace.)
4. Feed her with one hand and myself with the other.  
5. Play outside and try and keep Grace from eating dirt.
6. Plop her into the bath.  (This bubble maker has been such a life-saver!)
7. Dry her off and squeeze her into PJs.
8. Force her to snuggle and read a book because my heart can't take the fact that she's getting so big.
9. Put her down for the night.
10. Collapse onto the couch and stay there for the rest of the evening.  
11. Maybe change out of my work clothes and eventually get into bed.

It's the best kind of exhausting, but whew.  I did manage to make the most INCREDIBLE fish dish the other night.  It literally took 15 minutes, and it tasted gourmet and delicious.  See the recipe here.

So that's what we've been up to.  I feel like I accomplish none of the things I "need" to, but then I look down at my kid's silly smile as we're playing peek-a-boo for the zillionth time, and I realize that the important things are getting done.  The rest of it can just wait.