Shopping with Grandma Ruth

Today Bella and I had the pleasure of having lunch and doing some shopping with Grandma Ruth. I know this seems like a common occurrence, but we enjoy our bonding time with Grandma Ruth and it's nice to have some extra hands when we're out and about.

Grandma Ruth had a coupon for Ruby Tuesday, and I loathe the location at the mall, so we drove all the way to Ruby Tuesday in Riverview. The restaurant is bigger, the staff is nicer and so overall, it's a much better experience. Bella hasn't been a big fan of lunch lately, but today she managed to eat half of my plate from the salad bar and some macaroni and cheese. She colored and conversed with other patrons as they walked by, which I find absolutely adorable. It was a fairly relaxing lunch, which is something I always appreciate.

We hit Babies-R-Us after lunch to pick up a few things up. I always end up walking around and buying things we don't need, but want. Luckily today I was able to restrain myself and we only purchased what we had originally planned to purchase. To be quite honest, I was quite proud of myself. Instead of walking out of there with two new toys for Bella, I walked out with only what we needed. Yay! Go me!

After Babies-R-Us, we went over to the mall with the intention of only going to JCPenney. Well, as luck would have it, we ended up walking around the entire mall and ended up in stores other than JCPenney. Bella snagged herself some new pajamas, a singing dog and a Minnie Mouse Christmas ornament. I snagged myself a new pair of pajamas, a new bra (woohoo!) and some free chocolate from Godiva. Sadly, I think I'm most excited about the new bra... sigh. Oh, and Bella is the only child I know who can convince their grandmother to buy them a $25 singing dog from Macy's. Like the child needs another toy... let alone a damn singing dog.

By 4pm, we were back home and Bella was dunzo. She fell asleep within moments of me placing her in the crib and slept to almost 6:30pm! I woke her up so that we could go play with our friends, the McGills. Reese, Aidynn and Bella definitely need some wild-child time. They ate snacks and chased each other around the house until almost 8:30pm. All three girls were exhausted and I knew this would make for an easy bedtime at the Lasher house. Sara and I chatted and ate homemade frozen yogurt... yum! It's so nice to relax at a friend's house while all the kids play nicely together in an adjoining room. Life doesn't get much better than that!

Bella is in bed and I am not too far behind. It's been an extremely hectic and draining week. I wish I could say that I'm happy the weekend is here but that is not the case. Ian has to work and it'll be just Bella and me. Is it November yet?!? Have I mentioned lately that I cannot wait for busy season to be over?!? I just want my husband back and Bella just wants her daddy back... sigh.

Love always,
Ian, Kim & Bella