Week in Review Times Two {7/12-7/25}

Totally missed a week of posting, oops! So here is a recap of what we have been up to the past two weeks:

On Sunday the 12th, we had our first service in Jackson Grove's building. I will try to do a longer post on this soon, but basically we are meeting at 9am and their service is at 11:30.











Mr.Pate ended up having to go stay in Louisville that Monday through Wednesday to help Servpro with some storm jobs. The day he left there was an attempted robbery in our neighborhood, so I was terrified to stay alone (I am scared to stay alone on a normal day, much less all of that!). Lucky for us, Uncle D was willing to come stay on the couch!

Tuesday we had Parking Lot Party and it was SO HOT! Whew!

Wednesday night, the kids and I finally went to hangout with the Watson's! We swam first and it felt so good.





Look how these kids have grown in a year!





Love her!











That Thursday was Bible Study , and then Friday we got stuff together for Griffins birthday party.

Saturday was Griffins 4th birthday! We setup for his bday party in the morning, and then we went to the water park at Beech Bend after nap time. It was so much fun! The water felt great and Griffin had a blast going down all the water slides and riding the waves. The kids area there has several kid water slides that are a ton of fun. He has been so great with them and runs up and does them all by himself too. Awesome.

Sunday we worshiped again :-)





Then we got in Griffin's nap before the BIG EVENT... Griffin's
4th- a Dance Parry! It was so much fun, and Becky did an amazing job with the decor, as always! I'll post more about it soon.

















Monday night, after dinner we decided to put our new sprinklers out and have a little summer fun. That water was COLD! But the boys both loved it.























Tuesday, Griffin went for his 4 year checkup. He is doing great!











Wednesday we played at the park and then got Sonic treats ;-)

Thursday, we had bible study. Love them!





Friday I got myself organized! Haha!





Mr.Pate's parents came in town Thursday, so Friday they all headed to Beech Bend to ride the rides while I worked. Then after nap time, we all headed back to the water park. So much fun!

















Saturday, Mr. Pate's parents and brother came over and majorly overhauled our yard! Woo hoo! It looks so good now! Thanks guys!

Then we headed to Jayme's 4 th bday at Chuckie
cheese.





After that, we headed to the Peaches. They had water games, tons of food, yummy corn, and to top the night off we watched a movie in their backyard! So so fun!

















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Grady is 8 Months!

Well at this point he is almost 9 months, ha! But I will just do the updates from when he was 8 months ;-)

Grady has continued to be a happy and laid back baby this month. He mastered sitting up this month, so I feel like all of his playtime has moved to a new phase!

I weighed him at home and he was 19.6 lbs now! He is becoming quite the load to carry around, haha. Not sure on length, I will be excited to see that at his 9 month checkup.

He is still going strong on being a good sleeper, and his day and nighttime routine is pretty much the same as at 7 months.

Grady really got the hang of his solid foods this month, and is eating like a champ. He has now had carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, green beans, peas, apples, peaches, pears, oatmeal, and several blended fruits or fruit and veggies. He is doing great with puffs now as well, and loves all sippy cups.

He is sitting up great still, and attempting to crawl with no luck. Ha! He did finally master going from sitting to his hands and knees, so he is not face planting as much. Still no waving or signing for now. He is still babbling a ton. Most of the time he plays in the floor with a bucket of small toys and the front of his walker, and he has a ball.

He has mostly stopped biting when nursing- thank goodness! And we are still going strong with it. Yay! He still takes 3 bottles at daycare that are 5 oz and nurses 3 times with me. He got to stay over night with Grandma this month, and did great!

He got in the pool for the first time this month, and also got in the big bathtub with big bro! He loves the water!!!

Grady also got in a swing for the first time this month and had a ball!!!
















































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Stitch Fix: My 2nd Fix Review

I got my 2nd Fix from StitchFix a few weeks ago! It is always so fun to see this little box appear on my doorstep.

Stitch Fix is an online styling service and fashion retailer in one. You get your own personal stylist that handpicks a “Fix” for you with five clothing items and/or accessories that are unique to your taste, budget and lifestyle. You have 3 days to decide if you are going to keep any of the items in your Fix. You can buy whatever you like and return the rest, free of charge in their postage paid envelope. There is a $20 styling fee, but if you purchase any of the items in your Fix, it’s credited back to you. If you haven’t tried it yet, you should try it for a month! It’s SO fun! You can sign up for just a one time Fix or you can set how often you’d like your Fix’s to arrive. You can sign up (or learn more) by clicking HERE.

Most of the pieces are priced on average around $55 and usually a whole fix will cost you around $200 if you decide you want to keep all of the items (if you keep everything, you will also get a 25% discount).Some of the pieces are definitely more than I usually spend on clothes, but I am trying to focus on building a wardrobe of quality pieces that can mix and match better.So I have decided that since I do not usually buy things for myself, color my hair, buy makeup etc., this is going to be my little "splurge"!

So here is what I got last time:

The Brook Dot Print Tie-Waist Top

I did not love this top. I hated the tie, and because of the tie it fit funny. I loved the material, it was super light and soft.

• Verdict: Sent Back

Emer Jacquard Print High Waist Cropped Pant & Sam Hi-Lo Short Sleeve Tee

These pants were too big, but I loved the style. They have a jacquard print on the pants, which give them a texture. They are slip on and off, so no buttons or zippers. I think I would have loved them if they were my size. But they were also pricey! 

• Verdict: Sent Back

This shirt is so soft, super comfy, and versatile. I love that I can put it with dressy pants and it looks nice, or I can wear it with jean shorts. 

• Verdict: Kept!

Esten Button-Up Sleeveless Blouse 

I love this top soooo much. I need to take pictures outside and up close next time, because you cannot see the detail in this top here. It is a blouse material, and is thin. It fits well and looks super nice and "dressy" but is comfy. I can wear it with dress pants, or with casual shorts. Love love love. And I am super into Navy right now (which I told my stylist) so I was excited to get a navy top.

• Verdict: Kept! 

Aliza Stone Teardrop Earrings

I had specifically asked for them to not give me any jewelry or purses. I can get cute jewelry much cheaper than they will send me I am sure, and I didnt want to waste one of my 5 items on that. So I was annoyed that they sent me these earrings this time. And they were like $30 for not even cute earrings! Grr....

• Verdict: Sent Back!!!!

When you get your Fix, it comes in a cute box wrapped nicely. It feels like a present! They give you styling guide cards to give you ideas of how to wear the items. 
You get the leave feedback when you "checkout"/tell them what you are keeping and what you are sending back. I like this because after a few fixes I think they will really get what I am wanting. A friend of mine loved a piece she got, but it was too big. They ended up telling her they would send the correct size. Yay!

My next Fix should be coming in a week or so, and I cant wait! I have asked for a good pair of black pants for work. Let's see if they can deliver. I will keep you posted, ha!

If you want to sign up for a fix, just click here! And then make sure to share with your friends, because they offer referral credits too!!

Griffin's 4th Birthday Dance Party!

 

This year, Griffin decided on a Dance Party for his birthday. The boy LOVES to dance and sing, so it was a perfect choice for him. And of course, once again, Gammy Becky out did herself on making it AMAZING!! We had such a blast, got to spend time with tons of friends, and it looked so incredible. 

 

 For the centerpieces, Becky actually melted real records into bowls! She is so crafty. We had pop rocks and rock candy come out of them and it looked perfect. She used real records as place settings also.

   

One of the awesome parts of the decorations were the black drapery. Becky totally had that idea to call in a favor to get those and it looked so good. I never would have thought to ask. The main banner and focal point of the room had "Just Dance" spelled out on records hanging with ribbon.

 

The goodie bags were awesome. She found bubbles that looked like a microphone in them. 

 

 

The cake was awesome and really cheap!! It was a guitar made out of cupcakes and my local Kroger's did it for less than $20! The only negative? That icing was dark and a total mess!! Note to self, only light icing next time... 

During the party we had a karaoke machine with a cd of Griffin's favorite songs playing. Then we turned on a projector and had a youtube playlist of Just Dance videos of kid friendly songs. So. much. fun. We also had cardstock guitars the kids could decorate and take with them. 

  

 

We even got to see Kiki again!!! 

What a fun day celebrating our cute, growing-up 4 year old!!