5 on Friday!

Woohoo for a short week and Happy Friday!

O N E
First things first...

My stepsister had her baby!!  Sweet Samuel Owen Stickley was born on July 5th, and I am already dying to snuggle him and all of his squishy-ness.  I am so incredibly excited for my sis and her husband, as this is their first... and there is just nothing in the world like the moment you become a parent. <3  So congrats, Shelbs and Jason.. save me some Sam snuggles!

T W O
Can we talk about how much I already miss one of the most important women in my life?  My best friend, Lindsey (aka Yinds), came for a visit this past week, driving all the way from NC with her little mini-me (my adopted niece, OG).  I have missed them like crazy since the moment we said a tearful goodbye in my Winston-Salem driveway, and am forever grateful to have someone like her in my life.  You know, the kind of someone who knows you and loves you just the same?  Who you know would do anything for you?  Who makes every minute of your life feel special?  That's Yinds!  And we had such a great time together while she was here... We ate and drank and swam and played and paraded and movie'd and celebrated the 4th and fitness'd and napped and laughed and oh how I love her.  I'm already counting down the day until I get to see her this fall!

T H R E E
Well, we finally got the diagnosis for sweet Bailey - Cushing's Disease (which is what we thought it was all along).  Anyone have experience with a dog having Cushing's?  We're trying to learn all the ins and outs of the disease, and she started her daily medicine today (and helloooooo, expensive).  She'll be closely monitored while we figure out the right dosage, and hopefully we'll get our happy, energetic, non-obese dog back sooner than later!

F O U R
I'm happy to report we're making some progress with #3's nursery!  It turned into a much bigger project when we decided to go ahead and start the transition to E's big boy room in order to save money and reuse most of the nursery furniture.  The cool part about this is that TJ has been saving his childhood furniture his whole life, waiting to one day have a son.  So he's spent hours sanding and refinishing that furniture for Everette, followed by repainting the nursery furniture to match the new nursery decor.  Have I ever mentioned how handy (and awesome) my better half is?!  Unfortunately, E's big boy room is going to be kind of inbetween his nursery/big boy decor for awhile, which is hard for my type-A personality.  But, first world problems. amiright?!  Anyway, this weekend we - and by we I mean he - will be painting the nursery walls, then hopefully we can actually start setting it all up.  It's making it all feel SO real!

F I V E
And speaking of progress, the kids and I are making quite a dent in our summer bucket list!  I'm trying to soak up our time together before I'm too big and miserable (and HOT!  y'all, this HEAT!!)... and also, CK starts preschool in just four weeks!!  Isn't that crazy?!  I know she will absolutely love school, but it honestly puts a knot in my throat to think of her going back already.  So with that upon us, we've been checking things off of our list (like our donut picnic below) - and we have plenty of fun upcoming summer plans in the works!

I hope your summer has been as fun and lazy and busy and slow as ours, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!