this last week...

~ here is my 31 week picture taken last tuesday. i will be 32 weeks this tuesday - hooray! the baby is head down now and i feel like the countdown has begun. although i would like the next 8 weeks to go by rather quickly, i do think how nice i have it right now and get rather sad thinking about riley and i's era coming to an end. change is coming and i'm not sure i'm quite ready for it. riley is excited though and has been talking more and more about her baby sister and asks over and over again if she'll be able to hold her and if she'll be heavy or not. she also told us today that she was going to teach her things that were hot, like the oven. glad she's got that one covered.

~ last tuesday we went to seattle to see my youngest sister sarah swim. she is an incredible swimmer and that night she placed 1st in all 4 of her events. she is long & lean and so fun to watch swim. awesome job sarah!

~ my friend stephanie invited a few of us over for a happy hour/pool party last wednesday. it was another hot day so it was perfect. we soaked up the sun and watched all our kids play in the yard. between 5 of us gals we realized we had every single age covered, all the way from in utero to age 8.

~ last week proved to be a very challenging week with riley's behavior. i think between being too busy and not enough sleep, as well as possibly just a lovely toddler phase, riley was completely out of sorts. as most of you know, she is extremely intense, emotional & knows exactly what she wants in every situation. i keep telling myself these traits will pay off in the long run, but as a toddler they create some challenging situations for me. she would meltdown over anything and everything, threw countless tantrums and screaming fits and was nasty to her friends (mainly annika, sorry...). one of her screaming sessions lasted 45 minutes and she was choking she was screaming and crying so hard. i wondered if i should shut my windows for fear of what the neighbors were thinking. i managed to stay calm through all of it and rewarded myself with naps and baking. for me baking is very relaxing and at the end of an exhausting day, it is just what both of us needed. and of course at that point i wasn't going to argue about whether she could lick the spoon or not, even though it was 5:30. some things just aren't worth it

~ we also just wrapped up 2 weeks of swim lessons, but i will post those pictures in a separate post. here's to a good, sunny week!