{WHW}: It's been a while...

Hey lovies! Sorry for the MIA last week but with it being the 4th, we were busy doing family stuff, and I figured everyone else would be too, so there was no link up on this end.

But I'm back! And I want to catch up on everything that we've been getting into!

Friends:

We had our friends from Minnesota come into town during our mega heat wave here. It was SO much fun having our house full of little feet (4 sets), and our good friends. We grilled out, karaoke'd, stayed up late, toured DC a bit (pushed Ella through her morning nap, successfully), had lunch and said our good byes. It was a whirlwind, but always a great reminder of how easy it is to be with friends who feel like family, even when it's been a while since you've been together.

I also went out the other weekend for my friend Stacy's bachelorette party which was a lot of fun! We hit the town, bar hopped, and the next day I was up at 6:50 with a baby. No rest for the weary....or the hungover moms haha.

Holidays: 

We spent the 4th of July afternoon at my friend MK's house with her daughter, and two of our coworker friends, plus her neighbor. There were 6 kids there--all of them girls! What are the chances? 

I got the chance to meet my coworkers baby, and got the opportunity to put her cute little to sleep that night when she was being fussy for mom and dad. It takes a village, people, and I was more than happy to snuggle that baby to sleep!

Summer Fun:

We've been taking advantage of the gorgeous weather that swooped in after the heat wave and spent a ton of time on the deck--Ella is loving her little kiddie pool, and a local splash pad with all of Ella's friends from daycare (also, the splash pad is free! How great is that??)

Look at the sassy leg! hahah

The weather Saturday was spectacular (low 80s, no humidity, sunny skies), so we went to Bull Run Winery with our friends who have twins and had a picnic dinner, let the kids run around outside, and just enjoyed ourselves. This is by far my favorite winery as the views are awesome, and they have a dedicated family area--plus some amazing photo opportunities. It was the perfect evening, and our friend captured my new favorite photo of the three of us.

House:

We closed on our condo last Monday. The renter is out (one the very last day of his lease, of course), and moved...the keys are turned over, and it's no longer ours. ALLY the praise hands! Unfortunately due to the holiday, we still got hit with another bi-weekly mortgage charge and the condo fees on it, which we have to wait 30 days to get back, but it's done and no longer a worry. A great thing, too, because there are 3 other units that are just sitting on the market and have been for over a month!

Speaking of houses, MG and I have been looking at houses up in PA, and it pains me at what we could get up there for the cost of our townhouse here. And then I look at houses here, and 600K gets you a house that needs fixing up. 600!!!! To that end, there have been a lot more discussions about potentially moving in the next year or 2. Which is exciting, but also overwhelming thinking about both of us getting new jobs, the process of moving, leaving an area I've known basically my whole life...so we will see what happens, but feelers have been put out.

Baby:

I guess technically Ella isn't a "baby" anymore, and more to that end, she's finally been getting rid of the bottle. Probably something we should have done a while ago, but I wasn't messing with it while I was working, and now that we've been home, it's been a pretty easy transition. Yesterday she didn't flinch when I gave her a sip cup instead of her bottle at any of her nap times, so we tried during bedtime and, despite a minor meltdown, it was a success!

My little big girl!

Purchases:

I tried out ordering some swimsuits on Amazon, originally looking for some CupShe suits (since they don't have free returns on their actual website) and came away with these two beauties for super cheap (not CupShe):

{via} $23

The back on this one is really cute, with strings like the sides of the bottoms

{via} $25

I tried the high waisted trend and it just didn't work for me. I wanted to love it, but it just didn't feel comfortable when I tried it on. But I'm sticking with the two above. No affiliate links, just things I found and like!

Link up with Jessi and I and share what's hap-"pinning" with you!

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