Abby’s Saturday // One Hundred Seventy-Four

Highlight of the Week

On Thursday night, we went down to Irwin’s Light Up Night Parade! We may have put up our Christmas Tree last weekend (it was quite the ordeal) but the Christmas season doesn’t officially kick off until Light Up Night! It’s always a major event for our little town as the streets are literally packed out with people – it’s a bit insane. We aren’t the type of people who go down to the parade route hours early in order to “reserve” a good spot – so, we usually just squeeze in somewhere with minutes to spare. Braelynn has been to multiple parades before, but this was the first one she actually realized what was going on & got in on the candy action! We brought home an overflowing bucket of candy (who is going to eat all of it?!) It was a ton of fun though & it officially feels like Christmas has arrived now!

Yes, This Happened

• Tuesday was, once again, my favorite day of the month! But this time, Tuesdays Together was extra special as I fully stepped into my new role as “co-leader” and led this month’s meeting! My friend Tiffany, who is officially in charge of our Tuesdays Together Greensburg, PA Group, was away at a conference in the Outer Banks, so that meant that I got to be in charge for the night! It was a lot of fun! I have absolutely no recollection of what I said. I mean, I had an outline and a rough plan for what I wanted us to chat about, but I truly can’t remember anything I actually said. Which is probably good, because normally, I remember everything I say & afterward, mull over how silly/stupid it was. So, since I can’t remember, I’m just pretending like it went absolutely amazing!
• Auntie Amy came over for dinner last night. Over the last few weeks, it seems like everyone has been over except her, so we invited just her to come hang out. Braelynn loves it whenever any of her Aunties comes over!
• So, last weekend, Derrick & I were in the kitchen making lunch, and Braelynn pops her head in and says: “Mommy, are you happy?”. I responded, “Yes baby, of course Mommy’s happy.” She shook her head and said, “Mommy, you’re not happy.” We both looked at her quizzically and I asked, “Why is Mommy not happy?” To which she replied, “Because I pooped my pants.” Needless to say, Derrick & I ended up rolling on the floor at that one!
  Seriously though: I feel like we might be FINALLY turning a corner with potty training! We’ve only been doing this ALL YEAR LONG – but this week, Braelynn has done so good! Better than (almost) ever! Fingers crossed that this is it!! (Nutshell: we started potty training early on this year & she did amazing – like so good. And then we went on vacation and summer travels hit hard and we’ve been trying to catch back up ever since.)
• Derrick published 2 new YouTube videos this week! Check them out here & here!
• So, I’ve had this “patch” of dry, itchy skin on my left eyelid for months. I’ve tried putting oils on it, creams, coconut oil, nothing seemed to take care of it. I thought maybe it was a gluten allergy, but even though cutting out gluten seemed to help, it still didn’t completely solve the issue. So, I decided to try something different. My friend Larissa had told me about these necklaces that are made out of Hazelwood that absorb excess acid in the body – they’re specifically supposed to help eczema, ulcers, and a few other things. All you do is wear them. She has eczema and told me that nothing has cleared her skin like wearing one of these necklaces (which she wears as an anklet) has. So, 3 weeks ago, I got one. I ordered this one off of Amazon and I immediately started wearing it. I figured it wouldn’t be an instant thing – like I wasn’t expecting to wake up the next morning with my eye being clear (surprise, when I woke up the next morning, nothing had changed). But, it’s been 3 weeks, and you know what, I think it’s actually working. Stike that – I know it’s actually working. 3 weeks after starting to wear it, my eye is actually clear! Seriously! I’m still a little in shock because I’ve literally been dealing with this for months – but it’s so exciting! I’m still crossing my fingers, but so far, so good!

Feeling Blessed

Last Saturday, after our insane Christmas Tree day – we had the opportunity to go spend a relaxing night in a hotel! It was totally spur-of-the-moment, but long-story-short, a photographer friend of mine had used the room during the day & offered it up to anyone who would use it that night – for free! The hotel was about 20 minutes away & had a pool, so we said that we’d go! Braelynn was so excited, she packed her little backpack up & was jumping all around – but she fell asleep on the way there. So, instead of hanging out in the pool Saturday night, Derrick & I simply chilled in the room with our sleeping babe. We did get up the next morning and spend some time in the pool before we had to check out. It was literally the most random, spur-of-the-moment thing we’ve ever done, but it was exactly what we needed after our stressful day!