Liam turns five | a ninja party

I keep asking myself how my little Liam is FIVE ... the day he was born feels like yesterday and a lifetime ago all at the same time. His birthday landed on a Sunday this year so with church, we needed to think outside the box. We kept our birthday tradition of having him wake up to the "Happy Birthday" song and balloons. He smiled the whole time! We also had special breakfast that morning, his favorite donuts with a sparkler candle. Love his cute silly faces!! 

Being that it was a Sunday we extended the celebrating to the day before and he got to choose a friend to take to Wahooz to play for an afternoon. Bless Nic for taking the two of them, it would have sent my headache through the roof with all of the loud sounds and lights. He chose his best friend, Everett, and those boys were in heaven all afternoon playing laser tag, bumper cars, and arcade games! Nic took the cutest videos of them together and had the hardest time trying to get them to leave. 

We kept it to a family party on Sunday afternoon. Liam's only request was that it be ninja themed with a piñata. Ironic enough, that was the one thing I didn't get any pictures of. In the moment, I was trying to balance a camera while making sure no little kids were harmed by the medal high chair stick we were using to hit it with and I forgot to adjust my settings. All of the pictures were incredibly over exposed ... oops. I assure you, it was everyone's favorite part!

Besides cake, we had an assortment of snack foods for guests, my very first charcuterie board in fact! I think it turned out pretty great and Lyla must have too because I couldn't keep her fingers out of it ... ;)

The mini oreo ninjas turned out so cute!!

Liam's cake was adorable! I had a friend recommend someone locally who bakes custom cakes in her home and she did an incredible job! I'll have to take everyone else's word on how it tasted though. They said it was great!

Cute birthday boy with his ninja cake!

The cousins decorated ninja stars together and were so creative ...

They practiced their ninja star throwing skills by knocking down stacks of cups!

It was so fun having family there, especially those adorable twin nephews of ours!

Liam hid his face under the table while everyone sang to him. haha I don't know if it was nerves or if he was feeling silly! 

"It's my party and I'll hide if I want to!"

He requested the sword and ninja's face from the top of the cake. Wouldn't have expected anything less!

Present opening is always so entertaining to watch with kids. I love this serious of photos where you can see the expression on his face change from curiosity to sheer excitement! He got a fun kinetic sandbox ...

A bug detective kit and LOTS of Legos!!!

Abby is always the best helper with Lyla and keeps her entertained ... this time with tissue paper in her skirt. haha ;)

Happy Birthday to our big five year old!! We love you so much Liam and are so thankful you are a part of our family! Hope you had the most special day because we loved celebrating you!!

the zoo in the fall

Who knew the zoo would be so magical and feel like a whole new experience in the fall?! We bundled up in our hats, coats, and gloves and went first thing on a Saturday morning. Most of the animals were in their indoor enclosures because of the cold temperatures which was fun to see them in a different element than we usually do! We were so lucky, my mom got free tickets through work and took us!

The last time we went to the zoo, I was a rookie and saved all of the new exhibits for last. We hardly had any time left that day and not only rushed through them but didn't even get to see them all so that is where we went first this time. Liam's request ... the crocodile!!! When he saw it he goes, "Guys, he grew up!" haha Apparently he looked bigger since we saw him a year and a half ago. 

He was inside this time and didn't move a muscle the whole time we were there.

Can not believe zebra stripes are real! The lines are so perfect and absolutely beautiful in person! 

The penguins are always a hit and so were the bats this year. After being locked inside that stinky dark room for an eternity (haha!), Liam pretended he was a bat the rest of the time we were at the zoo. He's the cutest!

Even though it wasn't night time and none of the lights were turned on, the whole zoo was decorated for Halloween. We even caught this little guy snacking on a pumpkin! 

She was a trooper and did a lot of walking but looked so cute up on her daddy's shoulders whenever her legs got tired ...

Fascinated by the mechanics of how his zebra went up and down ...

I've always wanted to see the feeding time for the giraffes and we caught it this time! Eating big bites of lettuce over the fence ...

The prairie dogs were out too! Also one of my favorites ... I could have skipped the claustrophobic tunnel though, but anything for them ...

I'll never forget Lyla saying, "awww is sooo cuuute!" about every single animal she came across, including the snakes. haha

We just might have to try Boo at the Boise Zoo next year! 

Pumpkin Patch 2019

We went to the pumpkin patch 3 times this year and I'm highly considering a season pass for next year because I don't think 3 times was enough! haha Except for one BIG problem ...

After the last time we went with Liam, he came home with a rash all over his hands and later woke us up in the middle of the night coughing and wheezing. We figured he had an allergic reaction to something while we were there but it wasn't until a few days ago when we realized exactly what it was. We stopped by the Village to return something at a store and they had a big Halloween event going on with hay bales on each street corner. A few minutes after being exposed, he had swollen rings around both of his eyes and an hour or so later he was coughing and wheezing again. Could not be more thankful they make allergy medication for kids because it helped him so much through the night. Pretty sure Liam has developed an allergy to hay which he got from me and my side of the family. Mine is not nearly as severe as his though, poor guy.

The first pumpkin patch we went to was Linder Farms for Liam's preschool field trip. I had all my fingers and toes crossed that Nic could go with us like he did last year but he had to work. Lugging around ya ya and a backpack full of snacks and pumpkins was one heck of a work out by myself. haha I loved getting to be there with these two though and see Liam interact with all of his new cute preschool friends ...

The "sandbox" full of corn was a big hit! Liam kept making "corn angels" in it. haha

I hope he is always this sweet with his sister when surrounded by all of his friends even when he gets older ...

On a hay ride together ... Lyla sat surprisingly still for this part!

The petting zoo where they weren't supposed to feed the animals, ummmm ...... who's kids are these again?!

See that precariously stacked hay in the background of that last photo?!?! It was the most treacherous slide I've ever seen. All it would have taken would have been one accidental side step or one kid getting mad and pushing another and there would have been a 12 foot drop (paranoid overprotective helicopter parent here!). Of course both of my kids wanted to go down it .... Liam made it out of there in one piece and I convinced Lyla the line was too long. ;)

Then it was time for each kid to pick a pumpkin to take home! They taught all of the preschool kids how a pumpkin grows ... starts as a seed, slowly grows as a small green pumpkin, and eventually turns orange telling you it is ready to be picked from the vine ... well Liam had no interest in listening and began wandering through the pumpkin patch as far away as he could. When I finally caught up to him with Lyla he joyfully exclaims, "Mom, I found the PERFECT PUMPKIN!" and holds up this small green one that was half already rotting because it had clearly been pulled from the vine before it was ready. The perfectionist side of me deep down wanted to tell him he needed to exchange it for an orange one that had grown properly and would last more than a day but THAT FACE and his excitement ... the small green pumpkin came home with us. It only lasted more than a day as I imagined it would but he carried it around with pride pretty much the entire 12 hours he was awake and I've never loved him more than seeing him shine as exactly who he is and being proud of what he likes, even when it doesn't follow the norm.

Don't tell my kids but I think this was my favorite trip to the pumpkin patch this season ... double date night! We went with our friends Lauren and Spencer and it was one of my favorite dates we've ever had! They had food trucks and we all ate the most amazing fire grilled pizzas and never once had to get up during the meal to help someone who spilled and needed a napkin, or another drink, or have their pizza cut into bites, etc.! We went through the corn maze (us girls found the way out thank you very much ;))! We went on a hay ride bundled up together under a blanket and ended the night with hot chocolate and a bucket of mini chocolate chip cookies straight from the oven! My mouth is watering just thinking about them!

We loved getting to know our friends so much more and can't wait for another date night with them!

Even after our first two trips to the pumpkin patch we still didn't come home with carving pumpkins so we went back to Farmstead a second time. This time with the whole Cardon family and joked the whole time that it was a lot less stress when it was just the four of us. haha Insert this picture here ...

Lyla is our runner. Half the time we're chasing her wherever SHE wants to go!

They have this amazing blown up dragon/lizard looking creature that has a maze inside. It is 95% dark where you feel your way through it with a few little colored lights here and there. You get to see the lizard's heart and it has sound effects throughout. My claustrophobic self did not love it but Liam, Liam LOVED IT! He was bummed the line got too long to go a second time.

We took another hay ride, this time getting off at the pumpkin patch. These two cuties ...

Taking the path less traveled ... ;)

Lauren and Spencer's kids ... Avaree!

Liam (just like our Liam!) and Ephriam!

And baby Griffin! Lyla, the little baby loving momma, fed him popcorn in his stroller the whole time.

Our kids frolicked around the pumpkin patch and waited until the hay ride was starting its engine to finally choose carving pumpkins and we ran to catch it back to the entrance.

Love them so much!!!

My favorite picture from this whole fall season!!! The cutest little pumpkin!

Until next year! XO

Transitioning Lyla to a toddler bed

I had no intention of transitioning Lyla to a toddler bed anytime soon ... until she figured out how to climb out of her crib and made the decision for me! It was nap time and I was painting one of the walls in our downstairs entry room. It had been 20 minutes or so since laying her down when all of the sudden I heard a "Hi momma! Hi momma! Hi momma". It was both adorable seeing the joy in her face and terrifying knowing what would come next. I just started saying noooooo nooooo out loud because I was so shocked/in disbelief and it totally hurt her feelings and made her cry. haha I felt terrible about it. I gently carried her back up to her crib telling her it was night night time and quickly grabbed the baby monitor to bring back downstairs with me. I watched it for a solid 20 minutes until she looked like she was fast asleep, set it down, and began painting again ... a few minutes later I heard a thud and some whimpering. I ran up there as fast as I could (she was totally fine, just didn't land gracefully) and I knew her time in her crib was up.

When Nic got home from work that night he took down the side of the crib and put up the toddler rail (a first for us because Liam never climbed out of his crib before we transitioned him to a big boy bed anyway). She has loved it from the moment those bars came off (FREEDOM!!! ... for her, not for me. haha).

Her first night in her toddler bed, sweet girl ...

The first night she tanked in my arms because she had skipped her nap after her shenanigans that day. It wasn't until the next day that we got a real feel for how she would do.

It has been learning curve ... many nap times skipped since, dresser drawers emptied, reading books, knocking on her door, flicking her light on and off, playing with the buttons on her sound machine, and anything else she can possibly get into, she's tried. 

With the advice of a friend who had twins that she had a similar transition experience with, recommended adding a childproof handle on the door knob so she couldn't come out 100 times, shifting her bed down so she can't reach her light switch, hiding the sound machine under her bed, and moving everything but her bed out of her room. It's sad seeing it so empty in there but we shifted everything to her closet for now and it has helped so much.

I think this was her way of boycotting those changes by falling asleep on her floor instead of her bed ...

It has happened a handful of times and she does well when I go in there and move her to her bed. So sweet holding on to her bunny ...

Naps in general have become harder. Some days she takes one and wakes up miserable, only to fall asleep again in my arms on the couch ... other days she doesn't take one at all. 

But our favorite time together since this big change is reading books in her bed that I can now climb into with her. She loves scooting into my lap with her sippy cup of milk and her puppy books. We read together and I sing her a song and then tuck her in with a kiss and an "I love you". She may be even more of a toddler in her new bed but she'll always be my baby.