It's finally pool season!!

Growing up an hour and some change from the beach, I totally took the proximity for granted!! I love everything about the beach...suntans, freckles, being barefoot, beach hair, fishing, boat rides, cold beer, grilling out, evening chats on the porch. Living 3 hours and 15 minutes (with no potty breaks) from the ocean has been quite the adjustment for me. Maybe one day we'll be resident beach bums again, but for now I'm grateful for the pool! We spent every day of opening weekend enjoying the sunshine! Aspen absolutely loves the water, even though it was quite chilly! She didn't seem to mind at all!

In the baby pool for the first time!!

Shoe fitting & Bathtime Uh Ohs

So, yesterday (after multiple requests for a shoe size and a stern "talking to" from my mother about having my daughter properly fitted for shoes), I bit the bullet. I did what I do best - made a last minute decision to just GO DO THIS, packed the kiddo, fueled up with Starbucks and drove to Sills. To my surprise, Miss Aspen did much better than I expected. She did curl her toes multiple times and have a minor meltdown at about shoe #6, but the kind gentleman just proceeded to get her fitted for a size 4 cutie-patootie sandal! He did, however, make multiple comments about the width of her foot and most of the shoes being too tight. Well, duh! Welcome to the world of flounder feet! That's about the only thing this child got from her mama (and my mother! and grandmother!) It's a gene so strong, it's virtually impossible to get rid of. Certainly, it was a mutation at some point. It just can't be natural. BUT, I am happy that we have feet...and that we don't have to go back there for A WHILE! :)

Now......today. It wasn't even bath day!!! Why did I have to go and borrow trouble?!?! But I did. I thought I was being a good mom...yesterday we played outside (sunscreen!!), so I was giving her an extra bath today. Perhaps that isn't even going the extra mile, perhaps I was supposed to give her a bath last night so her pores didn't get clogged overnight and she didn't go to bed sticky. She didn't feel (that) sticky. Oh well. Anyways, back to this morning! Mornings are family gab time. So, I'm sitting on the floor, watching Aspen splash around and texting the fam. I like to text them daily pics when she's still fresh and sweet from a long sleep. Before nap/lack of nap, before cantaloupe juice makes her hair stick together, before there are multiple bruises on her forehead from using her highchair as a walker. So, I'm sending pictures to the fam and texting Blake (this is typically our first decent conversation of the day...I'm not exactly Susie Sunshine early in the morning before he leaves for work) and I look up and all I see is my child sitting in bath water that looks like lake water. I may or may not have said something that I hope Aspen doesn't repeat. And WOULDN'T YOU KNOW that she has a soft bathtub (I.e. not easily sterilized!) Ok! Think quick! What do I do? So I sit her in the main tub and drain the water. And then she grabs for the "toys" inside her tub! Seriously?! MY CHILD would do such a thing?!?! Ok, off to Mommys tub we go! She's never bathed in my tub, hence the lack of childproofing. There are razors, no nonslippy stuff, and a broken drain thingy that was (shocker!) #1 choice to play with. So, I'm halfway in the bathtub with her, trying to prevent her slick little hiney from sliding all over the place (because we are already up to par with head injuries this month), attempting to keep her from eating the broken drain thingy and wishing this had happened when my partner in crime was home so I could shout out some orders for help ;)! But, it was just us and we got the job done! In the end, we laughed, kissed, played with her belly button and went down for a NAP! Whew!