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my mommy and I had a play date, with each other. something about cabin fever…

we went to the mall where I climbed and sat in every single car. We never got one to use, I just wanted to sit in them all.

then we had lunch at the chickfila. My fave is chocolate milk

I showed my mom how to be a back hump whale (that’s what I call it). like on nemo.

then I got lucky and got to ride the merry go round while it was actually moving! Right after this is when I jumped off a pig and hurt my leg. I kept yelling “I fell off a pig”. Mommy didn’t take pictures of that though.

then my mom freaked out at this Apple place and drooled a little. I kinda got what she was saying after I played some dora games. We told Dada that we both need new 27 inch macs:)

oh, almost forgot to mention my ball came with me. He likes to ride in the car with me.

from, Lena

ps…happy monday!

oh ikea.  a little history, I love and have dreamt of going to ikea for.ever.  The nearest one is about 4 hours away and we always talk about going but in reality, well, life gets in the way and we just never make it.  So, I finally made it on our way back from Florida.  We planned an extra day in just for that sole purpose.  And I had sold our dressers on Craigslist on a whim a few weeks before while planning my Ikea trip, so I my poor OCD husband was desperate for a dresser.

Here is a little diddy about my first ikea trip..with my mother and 2 year old daughter, after 6 hours of driving (thought that should be in the prelude, lol!) Oh, and I love you mom for putting up with me and my Ikea overload:)

-4pm: pull into ikea, kind of like mecca, we have finally made it! it’s raining, but they have underground parking.  Score.

-4:05: Get our carts.  I get the gigantor one (like the lowe’s ones that are flat and not user friendly) because darnit, I’m getting a dresser.

-4:07: Proceed with said gigantor carts to find an elevator.  Get off on one level, nope; find another elevator and finally make it to the showroom level.

-4:11: thinking maybe I jumped the gun on gigantor cart as I wheel it around the beautiful set up rooms.

-4:12: first room showcase: omg, I now hate my house and need to rip it down and replace it with this one.

-4:14: second room showcase: nevermind, I NEED this one! This is the one I will rip my house down for!

-4:16: It’s official.  I must buy it all!

-4:18: Brain goes into overload with all the good things I need, pen is busily scratching down rows and bins of where to find stuff.

-4:21: Remember that all I am really here for is a dresser.  Must. slow. down.

4:35: Lena finds feet on the floor that she gets to follow to funness.  Ikea is genius!

4:40: Trying to tear Lena away with the promise of more feet.  Now its a mission for her.  Must.find.feet.

4:44: My gigantor cart finally comes in handy as Lena uses it as her magic carpet.  fun times.

5: find food! yay swedish meatballs!  We park the carts and get food.

5:01: They put the dessert first.  Glorious swedish people!

5:02: Lena eats 2 bites (what is it with 2 year olds!), I consume far more swedish meatballs than I care to admit here.

5:10: potty break, full belly and we are on to the next level, the marketplace!

5:15: Finally! The first item goes into the cart!

5:17: what, they sell everything here.  Why Lord why! Yes, I need new rugs. Wineglasses? Sure! They are only a few bucks! Spatulas? Sure. (this one was moms…she was very excited about her spatulas)

5:25: Marketplace overload! At this point all decision making is gone.  I wonder aimlessly because I can’t even comprehend anything.  I want it all but can’t tear down my house at the moment and start over so opt to not get anything, except a dresser.

5:26: brain shuts down and I put some stuff back.  Couldn’t choose red from green right now, its that bad.

5:28: Oh, heavens! They have childcare! Thank you Jesus!

5:29: Of course its the exit to the childcare.  The entrance requires me to walk through the whole place again.  Brain oozes, can’t do it.  Try to convince Lena that the magic carpet cart is still fun. No dice.

5:35: 2 year old ikea-overstimulated, travel-weary MELTDOWN.

5:36: Find feet on floor, they don’t help.

5:38: Go into the self serve warehouse.  Oh, there are more carts here. So essentially I have looked like an idiot with my huge cart all the way through this place:)

5:40: Finally, my gigantor cart has a dresser on it.

5:41: Give up on getting anything else that I have written down.

5:43: Mom looks at me in a very serious tone and says “when you get a minute I need to talk to you”.  Oh geez, this could be bad.  Is it because my daughter is melting down, is it because I’m slightly crazy and can’t even think right now of what my name is? Nope.

5:44: Mom looks at me and says “I really think you should reconsider getting some of those pink chairs (that are upstairs in the marketplace).  They would be perfect!”

5:45: WHAT! That was the seriousness? Pink chairs:) I tell mom no, I’ll have to come back cause it just aint happening.

5:50: See the clearance and discount area.  Pass by it sadly knowing I can’t go in because of my sobbing kid who is sitting on her not so magic carpet.

5:55.  Check out.  Purchased: dresser, kid smock, bowl, and pink curtains for Lena’s room.

6pm: rearrange car to get dresser in. Put Lena in carseat.

6:01: Lena is sound asleep.  Poor kid.

6:02: Make our way to the hotel.

6:03: Must. go. back. Contemplate of how I can manage a trip back tomorrow now that I know better how to prepare for Ikea.

I love to blog.  as in, I would do it even if it were private and just for me.  It helps me document life, sparks creativity, and just get stuff on paper.  Kind of like how journaling and scrapbooking used to be.  This is my online scrapbook:)

Well, lately I have been in a blog funk.  I’m not sure why.  I have stuff that I could blog.  I have stuff that I could document.  And heck, I need the creative outlet:) Yet, blog funk is a go. And I have some awesome stuff to share too:) But I’m afraid if I blog about it with my funk I won’t do it justice.

So today I thought I would just put it out there and also list some exciting things that I need to blog, in hopes that inspiration hits.  I think getting some stuff off my to do list today may help clear my head a little too:)

Things that deserve a blog…and will get one by golly! Must get out of funk!

• how Dane Sanders changed my life
• why I need to live at Ikea
• Why some very lucky men are getting awesome Valentine’s Day presents from their girls! (I’m not sharing sneak peeks until after V-day just to be on the safe side…don’t want to spoil the surprise! )
• my life in pictures

happy blogging!

Shannon

Brad is:

• moderately expressed introvert
• moderately expressed sensing personality
• slightly expressed thinking personality
• slightly expressed judging personality

I am:

• moderately expressed extravert
• moderately expressed intuitive personality
• distinctively expressed feeling personality
• slightly expressed perceiving personality

so we are polar opposite in other words…according to Myer-Briggs:) No wonder there is always an issue with me throwing clothes on the floor …lol! But as Brad and I decided tonight, we balance each other well and just have to remember that we are opposites when the little things drive us crazy:)

_________

This week I have been in Florida with the lenabeans and nana.  I was attending one of the most amazing workshops ever (much more on that later!) while the two of them lounged at the beach.  This was Lena’s first big long trip in a car and not a plane since she was about 10 weeks old so we weren’t sure how she would do.  She is a little energy bunny:) Apparently the girl was born to travel though.  She did GREAT! Loved every minute of it and never complained about getting out once.

So yesterday we said goodbye to the beach and nice weather and made our way north.

Now, my husband has a probably unstable relationship with the weather channel.  He loves it.  No, like it is on ALL the time and he just sits, watches it and quotes Jim Cantore.  Please tell me I’m not the only person whose hubby does that:)

So I get a call saying “Jim Cantore is heading to Nashville, you know this is going to be a good one!” So apparently when Jim heads your way you are getting hit with some kind of weather disaster!  So we decided to hit up Ikea and stay in Atlanta for the night so as not to brave the weather in the dark.  Lena was happy with that decision:)

So we are now home and getting our Ikea purchases put together. My mind is going 100 miles an hour with everything awesome I learned…can’t wait!

today we set off to jacksonville. 3 girls, lots of toys in an effort to keep the Lenabean entertained, some chickfila in our bellies, and manymany stops.

oh, and one backtrack by a few exits to make sure we got a starbucks fix.

10 hours later we arrived.  it was dark, right after sunset, but our first stop was the ocean.

because when you have a two year old in the back seat who has said all day “i go to ocean” how can you tell her its really going to be tomorrow.

so we found a little access to the beach, parked illegally, and made our way in the dark across a small boardwalk.

**

Lena hit the sand, teetered on it, and held up her hand to her ear and went “what that sound” in amazement.

her last trip to the ocean was at 10 weeks old so this was her first “real” trip, one that she can react to.

With Mr. Moon big and bright, a beautiful breeze and not a cloud in the sky we ran to see the waves

and even found a few shells:)

it was a good day.

Nana, Lena, and I are roadtripping it down to the Sunshine State tomorrow for a workshop on my end and a little beach and sand time for Nana and Lena. Lena has been running around all day telling everyone “I go to ocean”

We are stopping at Ikea on the way home, be still my heart! My closet will thank me as well since I have clothes piled up in it since we got rid of our dressers last week on Craigslist:) Not too mention my OCD husband who is coping better than expected with his clothes being in a box.

I’ll have my computer and phone with me, so feel free to contact me if needed!

last night I was working on the picture gallery below to put on here while Brad got ready for bed (he goes to bed super early) and Lena went to say good night to him. I heard a cry, one I had never heard before, the there-is-something-really-wrong cry. Lena had slipped and hit her head on the corner of our platform bed. I wanted to include some of this here too because, hey, its memories. The drama of last night will one day be the story of her first time to get stitches. Just like Brad gave all the details of the times he got stitches while we were waiting at the hospital:)

The fall made a deep gash in her forehead and her nose bleed so after the initial freaking out because lots of blood and calling pops down to give the initial assessment, we made our way to the hospital. Here are some of the many reasons I love my daughter and the things I want her to look back on and remember:

• Her biggest concern going into the ER was whether they had Dora bandaids.
• She knew what was going on and was so calm about it. Anytime she would here a noise in the hall she wanted to know if it was the doctor coming to help her booboo.
• Happiness to her was the gown she got to wear with whales on it.  She then proceeded to talk “whale” to the nurses and asked them all where Dory was:)
• She had to know all the nurses names that came in the room and told them all “I Yena, I two”
• She was so calm when they put the stitches in and just sat in my lap and ate on a popsicle.
• At the end of it all she was sitting in her hospital bed in her little gown and looked at us and says “thanks guys”

I just love her and her amazing spirit!  So my little beautiful girl has stitches in her forehead but will have a fun story and nice scar to show off later down the road.  But imperfections, memories, and stories are what makes us unique and even more beautiful:)

The original post:

here are some pictures from over the holiday season. I am so late on this but wanted to put it up for memories sake.  These are taken from Thanksgiving to Christmas and just random snapshots, most from my point and shoot, that I did nothing too but upload because even photographer’s need fun snapshots too:)

*Be sure to scroll through and see the last one.  grammy+snuggie:)