Are you ready for some football?!

If you haven't noticed yet, I've been forming a habit of being behind on my posts...I assure you, I am trying 😊

As we head into the last week of August and the first REAL weekend of football (sorry football fans, the SEC is the only conference that matters), I catch myself wondering where the rest of 2017 has gone. I literally feel like I was just pregnant and looking forward to Penny being here with us, and now she's six months old and we're a mere four months away from Christmas! Did anyone else's mind just go 'POOF'?

Much has transpired over the last couple of weeks since I wrote an update. Rory sold his truck and got a new'ish' car, I made the bold decision to chop my hair off (literally, it's all gone), and Penny is ever so close to being mobile!

As if my transition into my dream car wasn't enough, Rory decided on a whim to sell his truck to his cousin, or rather his cousin offered to buy his truck after a quick visit a couple of weeks ago, so within the course of one day, his truck was gone and we were on the hunt for a car. Rory had already decided he wanted to cut down on gas costs and get a car instead of a truck. He also wanted something "cheaper" so that he could drive it into the ground and save up for the truck he REALLY wants (insert dream of a crew cab Toyota Tacoma, brand spanking new, right off the lot, and the $40,000 price tag to go with it 😑). So we drove around to a few places before he found what he was looking for. He's had his heart set on a Volvo for a while, and this just happened to be the perfect (minus the color) car with a better-than-expected price!

My aunt Judy would be so proud! 😉

We've absolutely loved having it! We had to trade a couple of conveniences, like we now have no vehicle to haul off the stinky garbage once a week or a vehicle to carry large furniture when we need to, but we gained great gas mileage and one of the safest vehicles made! I have to admit, though, I don't particularly like to drive it because I'm use to being up in my very large SUV, so I feel like I'm scooting across the ground in this thing! I may have ruined it for myself, because I doubt I'll ever drive another car again! Emma has loved this car so much so that she asks A LOT to ride in Daddy's car. She goes back and forth with who's car is better 😂

Last week was a long one with Penny being on the last week of a leap (if you're not familiar with that, look up Wonder Weeks. It has saved my sanity!). It also didn't help matters that she's about to pop a tooth through any day! I'm hoping it's more like a mouth full of teeth because the drool is ridiculous! She's right on track with her sister's timeline since Emma didn't get her first tooth until 8 months, and then it was 4 back to back to back. Penny's also working very hard on crawling. She's got the leg motions down but can't quite figure out that she has to move her arms. As of now, she gets herself into a downward dog position and doesn't move 😂 I just know when she figures out the arm movements, it'll be all over for us. Emma will also have a rude awakening when Penny can get to her toys!

The many faces of Penny:

She's still my snuggle bug but it's getting harder and harder to keep her still. Such is life with a growing baby!

Emma is headed into a very precarious age. I dread the real teenage years, because this three-nage stage is about to do my nerves in! She's becoming more and more jealous, and I only see it getting worse once Penny is mobile and can get a hold of Emma's toys. She still has her sweet and caring moments, but she's testing us like never before. The little 'tude is all me. God bless my mother for enduring that! I have to chuckle to myself on how much like me Emma is. It's uncanny, and scary at the same time! I still love her like crazy though! She cracks us up on a daily basis, even through the envy and diva-ness. She's quite a bossy little thing and likes to pretend when she's playing and will tell us that she's the mama and we're the babies. Then she'll mimic me with what she says and does. It's definitely been eye-opening for me, because she'll imitate things I don't even realize I do! Talk about humbling 😐

We're getting into boys already too. Emma and Eli have decided that they're girlfriend and boyfriend, and have even shown some PDA! It's beyond adorable but funny/shocking at the same time. Eli showed his mom how he wanted to kiss a girl a couple of weeks ago and then the other night, we caught him caressing Emma's face and going in for the kiss! 😂 I wouldn't mind at all if they end up having a "Cory/Topanga" thing, but I would like for them to enjoy their toddler/young kid phase before getting into the relationship stuff 😂 We'll push for besties right now.

My biggest change came last week when I made the decision to bite the bullet and cut ALL of my hair off. I've been needing a hair cut for a while but I decided (after some serious encouragement) to get a pixie cut. I've always wanted one but was always afraid since it's so short. I did consult Rory before I cut it and he was fine with whatever I wanted 😉 So Wednesday, I had my first appointment with a new hairdresser and he did an awesome job!

Before pic with my awesome hair guy!

So much gone! 😮

The finished product!

It even looks good with my computer glasses! 

I'm still trying to figure out how to fix it on a daily basis and I haven't tried anything crazy...yet. I've got several YouTube videos on standby for when I start getting brave. I just have to work on getting my hair trained for laying a different way. It's been SO nice only having to spend 15 minutes on it from straight out of the shower to finished look. Penny has also been getting use to not having any hair to grab when I'm holding her (mom win!). As you can see from the pics, I didn't go super short pixie, but it's enough that I have to force myself to fix it everyday - no more ponytails for a while! I think I'll enjoy styling it in the fall too, with all the cute scarves that won't get covered up by hair!

So now we're gearing up for another week of travel for me. This will be the last traveling I do sans kids and Rory for a while! I'll be heading up to Nashville for a couple of days, so it won't be very far. Nothing like New Jersey 😉 This will actually be my first time to stay overnight in Nashville, so I'm kind of excited! Too bad it's a work thing.

Well, that's our life as it stands now. We're praying for everyone in Texas and hope everyone is safe! Hurricane season is just starting so I pray that this is the worst of it, for everyone's sake.

I hope everyone enjoys their week and is looking forward to some SEC football this weekend! War Eagle! 🐯🏈

God Bless!