Quarantine | Vol. 2

More from quarantine ...

This curious little one has been wondering when her tooth will fall out like her brother's. I remember the day I took a picture of his adorable toothless smile, she ran over too and squealed, "Me too, mom!"

And when it made me giggle, her silly side shown through! Since when did she get so big. 

Speaking of growing up ... Liam's sweet "Meow" has taken a backseat to his new love, Pikachu. Santa brought it at Christmas. Now Meow sleeps smashed in a corner by himself with Pikachu in his rightful spot. It's the hard part for me of watching him grow and change; each day leaving a piece of his childhood behind him. But one night, I crept in his room like I usually do to make sure he is doing okay before I fall asleep. Really it is to make sure he can breathe from winding his covers around his head like a turban ... not sure who he got that habit from. ;) That night I found Meow tucked underneath his arm and snuggled up to his face and it made me feel like I just traveled back in time to a beautiful memory for a brief moment. 

Quarantine has brought them to their wits end with each other most of the time but then there are moments like this where I am reminded how thankful I am that they have each other. A built in best friend to play and giggle with all day! My favorite part of hanging our swing in the backyard during the summer months ...

I'll bet you can never guess my very own Dora the Explorer's favorite color ...

"Pint!" as she likes to call it.

Iron Man is another love that has been slowly drifting away so it makes me smile extra big whenever he walks down our stairs in the morning dressed as his first beloved doppelganger. 

Out exploring the neighborhood and watching lots of tractors building houses!

Silly and sweet in everything she does ...

The hardest part of our summer so far was when Lyla burned her hand on the stove. We were making eggs together and as I reached to grab the plate to transfer them on, she turned to look at me and balanced herself by placing her hand on the burner I had just turned off. The look of horror on her face  when she didn't understand what just happened to her that was causing the excruciating pain broke me to pieces. After a frantic call to the urgent care for help and instructions, we spent the rest of the day with her hand in this bowl of water that she would never leave. She slept several hours that afternoon, exhausted from fighting the pain. 

It makes me cry looking at these pictures. Now she fears the heat in any way ... terrified to get in a warm car when it is time to drive home, to take a bath that isn't an ice cold one, to eat dinner if she feels warmth coming from her plate. It is so sad. 

For the next 2 and a half weeks she rocked a sock over her bandages while it healed. Now when you look at it, you'd never even know it happened. She protected it so well by always being willing to let me change the bandages and keep the sock on.

At her very first full teeth cleaning. I told her she looked like the men in black ... an adorable third member of course! haha I could not believe how well she did at this appointment. She held perfectly still, let them use varnish and fluoride, and answered everyone one of their "Are you doing okay's?" with "Mhmm!". While she hardly spoke a word while we were there which is unlike her, she went home beaming with a jeweled bracelet around her wrist for a prize! 

I'll admit, quarantine hasn't always been easy as a stay at home mom. I began to miss the routines of preschool, library day, play dates to the park, and grocery shopping. When our state finally moved to stage 4, my mom invited me to get a pedicure with her and I jumped at the chance for girl time! While it was so nice to get pampered, it wasn't as relaxing as it used to be. The masks made it so hot and we couldn't hear or understand each other very well through masks and window dividers.  

Adoring her bike and finally getting the hang of it!

I've always cut my boys' hair so it wasn't new to me during quarantine like it has been for some people. This time though, I did decide to try keeping it longer on top with shorter sides instead of buzzing the whole thing. How did I do?!

p.s. The phone he is holding is my old one that he occasionally gets to play Pokemon Go on. 

On Memorial Day, we ventured out and wandered a beautiful flag memorial for over 800 fallen veterans. It was so humbling.

More of their favorite car rides in dad's car while we got mine serviced.

Also wearing lots of pajamas around here and finally growing beautiful peonies in our own yard!

Cute space buns ...

Eating her tride and true lunch, yogurt and giving her baby a few bites in-between!

"Niam, wet's put on our soups!" 

I LOVE the dress up stage and have fond memories of me and my own brother playing dress up together. She never goes for the princess costumes though, always a super hero like her big brother. <3 p="">

 Since most things are closed or not very safe right now, we spend a lot of time adventuring outside on the weekends. This particular Saturday we discovered a new spot, Hyatt Hidden Lakes Animal Reserve! Strangely right in the middle of the city but filled with beautiful ponds, birds, frogs, turtles, and wild flowers! 

More summer quarantine adventures to come!