Author: Allie Zottola

Our Dog’s Sweet Tooth + Swimming + Best Way to Wake Up

Temperatures have been in the 90s here in Pittsburgh lately, so Sadie and I took a dip in our neighbor’s pool yesterday.

Toddler in life jacket by pool Mom and daughter ready to go swimming

We have been very blessed with wonderful neighbors. They help us with Malcolm when we go out of town, let us go swimming in their pool, and have become cherished friends to us over the past six years.

Swimming with Sadie totally had me missing swimming on the swim team. I swam competitively from middle school through a bit of college, was a lifeguard, and taught swim lessons. It’s funny, though, that I don’t feel like I can teach Sadie to swim and would rather sign her up for lessons?!

Have I ever mentioned that Niva has a major sweet tooth? She has consumed sticks of butter, bags of chocolate chips, dozens of cookies, and last night she had a new first…

Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Brownie Mix

Yup, she ate a box of brownie mix in the middle of the night. That was a fun time at 2:00 am with Jimmy, cleaning up brownie mix and watching Niva have a major case of the zoomies from all the sugar.

Today will be spent mopping the floors and deep cleaning the puke off our couch. And wishing I had those brownies, because man do they look good!

Just the other day I had to laugh because we had cookies cooling in our bedroom with the door shut because we can’t cool them in our kitchen. Nowhere (including on top of the refrigerator) is safe from our Cookie Monster husky!

Cowboy cookies cooling

While I was at the grocery store buying the aforementioned brownie mix, Jimmy was home with Sadie when she woke up from a late nap. I checked on her on our baby monitor and found the scene below.

Dad in crib with baby

I think Sadie thought that was the coolest way to wake up from a nap 🙂

Do you enjoy swimming?

Pictures from the Picnic

Our Independence Day shindig turned out to be quite the fun day! We had my parents, sister’s family and their dog, in-laws and their puppy, my cousin and her daughter, and a friend over for a cookout and it was a lovely day.

Jimmy and I prepped the house in the morning by cleaning, cooking, and getting the yard spruced up. Everyone came over in the afternoon and we grilled, chilled, and enjoyed watching the dogs and babies run around!

Just popping in to share some pictures so I can reflect on the fun, blessed day all over again 🙂

Picnic in yardToddler and girl sitting on porch step in red white and blue outfitsGirls leaning against fence in grassMom cupping daughter's head while laying in grass
Grandma holding toddler in red dress
Grandma on trampoline with babiesMom and baby in red white and blue outfits laying in grassDogwood tree with sun shining through branchesMom and toddler smiling in grass in black and white picture

Jimmy and I were wiped. out. on Sunday. We went to church, cleaned up the house and yard, and then went back to church in the evening.

We did manage to sneak in a few frisbee tosses after Sadie went to bed on Sunday night, which felt like the perfect way to end the weekend.

Tell me about your weekend!