Springing Back

You guys. It was gorgeous here this weekend. We finally had SPRING.

Both Saturday and Sunday were beautiful. And it was refreshing. It made me want to get up, get out, and do things. It’s amazing what some 70-degree temperatures and sunshine can do for your motivation.

We spent a good chunk of both days outside. That’s all Nora wants to do these days. “Play outside?” she asks the minute we pick her up from daycare. (And she spends time outside at daycare, too, so it’s not like she’s deprived.) She can’t get enough of the great outdoors. I just wish she was a little better at independent play out there. Inside? She can keep herself busy. Outside? It depends. Sometimes she has complete A.D.D. out there; she moves from one thing to the next and nothing can keep her entertained for long. Hopefully she’ll get the hang of it as the spring/summer goes on. :)

I took my camera out with us on Saturday evening and snapped some of my favorite recent pics of Nora. Well, they are the only recent pics of Nora, really. Aside from a couple of belly pics, these are the only pics I have in my April 2013 folder! It’s insanity. My appendix seriously stole my April from me. But I’m reclaiming my MAY! And JUNE! And JULY!

This is her new favorite outdoor game. “Drive-thru window” with Daddy. Only with Daddy. Mommy is not allowed to order.

Daddy cracks her up. Love her infectious giggle.

Those bangs. They are thisclose to being long enough to make it back into her ponytail. If I wet her hair when I put it up, they’ll actually stay back in the ponytail holder for a little bit, but as they dry they work their way out and back down into her face. And my girl is not very tolerant of barrettes. We’re almost there!

I felt a lot more like my normal self this weekend. Warmth and sunshine, in addition to being great mood boosters, are apparently also great healers. I even started a project—Nora’s bathroom. Well, the kids’/guest bath. More on that later this week, maybe, but it felt good to be making some progress on the “pre-baby” to-do list. It’s not a huge project, but a facelift nonetheless. Once the bathroom is done, it will be time to set sights on the nursery! Eeek!

To make the weekend even more productive, I also packed away the majority of Nora’s cold-weather clothes. It felt great because of the “spring cleaning” aspect, and the whole “out with winter, in with spring!” thing. But I also always get so, so sad to pack away the things I know she’ll never wear again. Even when I so look forward to putting her in all of the cute new stuff. Seriously bittersweet, this “growing up” stuff. (Oh, and don’t worry, she doesn’t have THAT many clothes. I know the bin is huge. But it is holding last year’s winter and summer clothes, too.)

The 10-day forecast looks amazing. We woke up to rain and gloom this morning, but we can’t complain because the rest looks so good. I see a lot of good moods in my future. Hopefully it stays that way. Lord knows we paid our dues with this long-ass winter!

I hope you all enjoyed your weekends as much as we did. T minus four days until the next one!