Pleasantly dull

As I caught up with my mom on the phone today, getting the scoop on her trip to Kansas, downloading on all of the latest family happenings, and reviewing what's been going in my world, I realized that it's the latter of the three topics that is the most dull... pleasantly, happily, perfectly dull. We're all doing really well, but there's just nothing major to report right now. Lacey is as much of a joy as she has ever been. She is the funniest, most active and independent little thing! She's 16 months old now and she thinks she is such a big girl, though when has that not been the case with her? She has so many words and expressions that we are constantly shocked and so amused by her. She can proudly tell you where Daddy is when he's not with us by clearly saying "Office!". She happily runs for the pantry, demanding "snacks" the whole way (fruit snacks). She can say "I love you", though that is admittedly not perfectly clear but clear enough to know what she's saying. If she's thirsty, she requests "water", "juice", or "cup" to meet that need. She says "nigh-night" when she's tired, "outside" when she's eager to run outdoors, "pool" if she wants to swim, "up" if she wants to be held, etc. etc. etc. We're often surprised at how verbose she is, until we remember that she's my child and, well, how could she not be talkative?! She has become quite skilled at feeding herself with a spoon and fork and even manages to do it without making quite the disaster that she once did. She is a total summer girl and absolutely loves being at the pool and the park. She dances all of the time and she has even begun to sing as well. When I'm rocking her at nap time, she sings right along with me. It's so sweet! We're also beginning to phase out the bottles, which has thus far been fairly successful. She has gone all week without a naptime bottle and as long we rock her, she does it without a fuss. We'll work on the night time bottle later, but for now, this feels like progress to me. Her facial expressions absolutely crack everyone up. She's so dang funny! I would love to know what she's thinking most of the time, but it's pretty funny to watch her figure it all out. Basically, she's a doll and we cannot get enough!
Meanwhile, things are going quite well at the office. We've had a great summer so far! With a new layout, our amazing staff, and our great patients, we just feel so incredibly blessed. Mike is such a hard worker and I'm grateful that he is seeing the fruits of his labors. In just a couple of weeks, Mike's chiropractic hero will be visiting the office. CJ Mertz is the president of the National Chiropractic Association as well as the founder of the Waiting List Practice, which is the practice management group that Mike belongs to. He is very successful, highly motivating, and has helped Mike to turn his once shaky practice into a successful one. He is also starting to take notice of Mike and the practice, which is pretty exciting. It may be seem stupid, but it's somewhat like having the CEO of your company come in to your office and giving you a huge pat on the back. Well, Mike doesn't have a boss, but CJ is a mentor and pretty noteworthy in the profession, so it's a big deal. Anyway, in July, he's going to be in Dallas and wants to pay Mike a visit to see how things are going, offer his advice, and to help Mike to continue to grow. Later in July, we'll be traveling to Scottsdale, Arizona to get a weekend full of CJ at a chiropractic seminar. We go to at least two of these a year to get more great ideas and motivation and they always help tremendously. I'm pretty excited because it means a weekend away for us. We'll be at a beautiful hotel with great pools, people to clean and cook for us, and an opportunity to spend time together. Lacey will be here with Nanny and Papa, likely having the time of her life. I am very much looking forward to this!
And as for me personally, I can't complain. How could I? I have the most amazing husband who is the best father that I could have asked for, an incredible baby girl, a beautiful home, lots of family support, the Gospel... I mean really... what more could a girl want? I'm very close to reaching my weight-loss goal, which is pretty exciting. I continue to try to beautify my house, slowly but surely. I FINALLY bought curtains for the kitchen and my bedroom this week and I can't wait to see how they look! The paper blinds have lasted far too long! Lastly, I'm VERY excited that my best friend Melanie is going to visit me in August!!!! Ohhhhh the fun we will have!! CANNOT WAIT!!!!
So, yes, life is good. That was a long description of our somewhat dull existence, but like I said, Lacey gets her talkative nature from her mother! You're all filled in now, so no need to wonder. Now you can go watch something interesting on tv because we are happily drama free. :)