Maddie

We took an evening trip to the park and I realized how much my daughter has grown. We haven't been to the park much this summer; I think it has something to do with the blazing heat. So my memory of park trips are from the beginning of the year, when Maddie was just a little thing. She has lost any hesitation for fully enjoying the playground equipment. She thinks she can crawl up any climbing apparatus, without Mom's assistance of course. She loves to hang from monkey bars, and is always yelling "a big one!" when I'm pushing her on the swings.

She is very much into books; which I love! She will sit in her bedroom and "read" through them one by one. She has become more independent in her playing and can entertain herself without Mom. Too many times she says, "No Mom. No following!"

She's the cutest little singer, especially when she doesn't realize I'm listening. I'm amazed at how much she recalls from my singing to her at night. She has picked up on a few of my key phrases as well, "Just a minute!" (which I say way too often to her). And the other day we were at Fiesta Mall, she was in the ice cream truck, I was ordering my hot dog from her when she asked, "Do you want a Diet Dr. Pepper?" Um, too many drive through McDonald's trips for Mom. I'm surprised she didn't ask me if I wanted light ice.

She is so funny about naming herself and her parents after movie characters. Among her alter egos are Nemo, McQueen, Hogarth, Birthday Bear, Gus, Pablo, Boots...I can't keep track of them all. But the amazing thing is, she can! Plus all of our corresponding names. By us I mean me, Casey and Raheem. She sometimes includes other family members as well.

When did my daughter outgrow her toddler-ness!?

The Art of Racing in the Rain

This is a story told through the perspective of Enzo, a dog. When choosing this book, I thought, "Oh it's from a dog's perspective, there won't be any language or bad scenes, dogs won't think that way." Nope, still had the language. But despite that aspect, I still ended up enjoying it. I cried on several occasions, fretted on many others and had a few giggles here and there (but very few.)
Enzo's owner, Denny, is a race car driver, and Enzo shares his love for the "sport." It's the story of Denny's struggles with his wife and daughter, and Enzo's readiness to become a human. If you're looking for a happy, uplifting, cheerful book; this isn't what you're looking for.

Naptime

There are two bad words in our house: "dinnertime" and "naptime." Lately Maddie has been beyond stubborn when it comes to her naps, and she has learned she can climb out of her crib, so my attempts are pretty fruitless. I usually resort to lying with her on the couch until she falls asleep, but today she wouldn't even do that. I put on a movie for myself and continued to ask her to come lay down by me. She would smile, then retreat to play under her table. She sang made up songs. I heard words here and there about things she had done recently. She played with her fork like it was a doll. She tried to eat popcorn kernels she found on the floor. She asked for her McQueen pillow and eventually...fell asleep. I love this stubborn girl.

August Reading

I've been waiting so long for this book to come out. If you haven't read the Hunger Games series, do it! And it's fabulous that all three are out now (that's the entire series), because you can just read them one right after another. I didn't reread Catching Fire before Mockinjay, and I found myself confused on a few happenings and characters. It's a series I will definitely reread and definitely own as soon as possible. It's the story of Katniss, a seventeen year old girl, who participates in the Hunger Games. The Capitol is the head of Panem. Panem is made up of 13 districts. The Capitol is evil and controls the districts. The Hunger Games is an annual fight to the death, among children from each district. There's your general summary.
I will say this; I did like Mockingjay a lot. When I first closed the book; I didn't love it, but after contemplation, I feel quite satisfied with how it all ended. I hope to discuss more with others who've read it. Thank you Suzanne Collins. Bring on the movie!

Maddie's New Favorite Book

On more than one occasion I have caught these two enjoying crib time together. Maddie thinks it's absolutely wonderful when Dad plays inside her crib with her. As do I. She has a new favorite book. Where the Wild Things Are. It's the cutest thing to watch her "read" it. She knows the jist of every page and has memorized quite a few lines. My favorite is when she says, "I eat you up!" in her most growly voice. My hopes are high that this little one will be a bookworm, and I envision a bookshelf filled with well worn books for her to enjoy.

Romance

I can see myself becoming one of those women who lounge around all day reading romance novels. I took on the task of sampling romance for the month of July, and accomplished that task in less than a week. I even went and got another romance novel for July since I had so much time left in the month, but for the life of me I cannot remember the name or author of the book, but it doesn't matter because I didn't like it much.
I'll be honest, I was a little scared to read romance; I didn't want to feel like I was reading super trashy stuff. But I found this website called All About Romance which gives a rating system for romance novels. The first book I read was "warm" on their charts and the second book was "subtle". Their system isn't too accurate because I felt like the second book was more "detailed" than the first one I read. So if you're interested in reading a romance, but a little nervous, you can try their rating system. I'd stick with "kisses" if you don't want any of that stuff in your book, because it will be in the rest. After reading a "subtle" book, I can't imagine what a "burning" novel is like.
On to the book, Almost Heaven, I really liked it. It had a Pride and Prejudice feel to it and was set in the same time period and location. The main character is a beautiful girl who had many suitors, but after a run in with one man, lost all respect and prospects in society. I found myself reading until 2 am some nights, and that rarely happens with me. It's by no means an intelligent read, and does have a few scenes that made me giggle and roll my eyes, but it's a fun fast read. I will definitely be turning to romance when I want to be quickly entertained in the future.

Vegas

We have come to the conclusion that Vegas is not the place for a Lewis vacation; at least not at this point in our lives (being poor and having a two year old). I think we got off to a bad start. Our very first stop as we pulled into town was going to the M&M store on the strip. Trying to navigate that place with a stroller is beyond frustrating, as was most places we went. When we made our way back to the car our tire was completely flat. Thank goodness Casey was so fast in changing it because it was sooo hot in that parking garage. We ended up having to buy a new tire, which was not in our budget for the trip. I got to meet up with one of my best friends, Jodie, and her two kids, so that was a definite bonus. Friday was the wedding so I was occupied from 9 am till about 7 pm with wedding stuff. Tasha and Derek had the wedding at Mandalay Bay, and it was so nice. I was a bridesmaid and Maddie was a flower girl. We ended up walking down the aisle together because, as anyone who knows Maddie knows, she is quite shy and quite attached to her mother. I led her to Casey then walked to my spot up front. Five seconds later she begins her wail; this is just as Tasha is supposed to be entering, so Maddie runs to me and the only way I get her to stop is to tell her, "Tasha is coming!" in my most excited voice. This gets her to stop because she knows that Tasha is wearing a beautiful dress, and if there's one thing Maddie enjoys, it's a beautiful dress.
Casey and I did get a night out, thanks to my mom for taking Maddie. We had huge plans of staying out super late and riding the rides at the Stratosphere, but when it came down to it, we're just old and cheap. We ate dinner, gambled away $20, watched the Volcano at Mirage then headed home at midnight. I would say the highlights for me were: the wedding (of course), seeing Jodie and fam, the creme brule at dinner, my cute scarf I bought at H&M and watching the volcano in Casey's arms.