summer reading, ice cream, and a vw

I wish I had come up with the blog name "Naptime Diaries" because that is exactly when I blog: when Stella naps. But alas, the name already exists, so moving on.

Well, we're getting closer to move-in day, and I'm feeling pretty good about where we are in the process. We have lined up some help from family and friends for this Saturday (so thankful!) and slowly, but surely, we're taking loads over to the new place when we can. Brett has been over there twice this week replacing light bulbs, treating the new butcher block with mineral oil (we decided not to stain it), programming a garage code, and other miscellaneous tasks. Tonight he has to put in a new board of siding on our Crystal house. He couldn't do it last night because Stella went down earlier (due to sleeping in until 10:15 in the morning and then not napping), and since he would have to be loud hammering nails and stuff, he opted to do stuff at the new house instead.

Stella and I made a trip to the Ridgedale library this morning. She had so much fun in the kids' playroom. She admired one of the librarian's polished nails and even touched one of her toenails. LOL! (Whenever I get my nails done, she lies on the floor and examines my toes and likes to touch the smooth surface of the polished nails.) Stella then lifted up her little dress to show the librarian her stomach and then said, "See lady's belly?" The librarian got a kick out of that and, thankfully, she didn't reveal her midsection to us.

I have really enjoyed the weather the last two days: breezy and mid-70s. Perfect summer weather in my opinion! When she wakes up from her nap, I want to take her for a walk to the park. I need to take advantage of these nice summer days that aren't too hot and humid. 

A few weeks ago, I attended an Usborne book party, which Andrea hosted for her friend who is an Usborne seller/representative. I wanted to buy every single book, but I ended up ordering two. Stella loves these books so much, and I look forward to buying more in the future. The Lullabies book below comes with a cd of instrumental lullabies. I play it for Stella in the car, and it is so soothing. If she's tired enough, once it starts playing, she immediately starts sucking her fingers and zoning out. The Little Sisters book is SO cute. I plan on reading it to her even more frequently in the final days before the baby arrives. 

I have so missed reading, so after reading a book review on another blog for The Paris Wife, which is fictionally based on Ernest Hemingway's first marriage, I decided to reserve it from the library. I'll read it and let you know what I think. On a side note, I always find recommending books or movies to be kind of a tricky thing to do because everyone has her idea of what good literature or cinema is, and some people are more conservative than others, so I feel like I have to qualify and over-explain every detail or reason for why I like it, which is just annoying.

I keep hearing about how hilarious Bossypants is so I checked that out, too. How can I say no to hilarity? Let it ensue!

Stella and Susie went to DQ on Sunday. I'm not sure Stella likes ice cream...

And I leave you with this image. I snapped this picture at the Crystal Target. I think these particular hippies who owned this VW had a rough go of it. Oh, the adventures this van must have experienced over the years.