Friday Favorites

Happy Friday! Our week was filled with yard work, school pictures, dentist appointments, library visits, and every day schedules in between and I couldn't be more thrilled to be going into the weekend with pretty much everything checked off of my to-do list. It's rare around here to have a clean house, grocery shopping done, a lot of the weekly chores taken care of before a Saturday so I'm celebrating! Which really means I'm hoping for lots of play time and enjoying this beautiful weather we've been having along with it! I think my first outside run for the season needs to happen on Saturday morning, what do you say Nic?! ;) Also, can we give my tulips in my front yard a moment because!!!

Before I sign off, I thought I would share a few Friday favorites since it has been a couple months ... 

I got these rain boots for Liam for Easter and he/we love them! They're cute, good quality, and not too clunky. Bonus, he can put them on by himself!

Speaking of rain boots, this has been a few weeks now but Target launched their limited edition line with Hunter boots and I can't tell you how excited I was to get Liam a red pair to match mine at half the price of the originals. The joke was on me though when on launch day I discovered that they were only available in the store and naturally we don't have one in our town. My sister-in-law wanted a pair for my niece too so she offered that morning to check out the Target in her town ... she got there at 10 AM and the cashier told her there was a giant line of moms waiting outside before the store opened and they were sold out in minutes. haha CARAZAY!!

Enough about boots ...

A couple weeks ago, Liam and I both had the stomach flu (Boo!) and usually when Liam is sick, it is impossible to get him to rest. If you find yourself in a similar situation with kids, we love the movie Leap that they added to Netflix! Makes me miss my dancing days. And as for the adults, Nic and I have been loving watching The Office for the first time. What took us so long?! Pam and Jim FOREVER!

We've been sprucing up our yard for the season all week and every year I say I'm going to put a swing on our front porch. But I'm thinking I'll take two of these instead! Love them! Here is an inspiration picture of what it would look like ... cute, right?

I've been getting the itch for a painting project and always thought it would be fun to have a colored front door. Do you think Nic would go for this or this (without the bats haha) on the outside and this on the inside?! Probably not. haha

I originally followed this artist back when she was doing a DIY blog but has since written her first album that she is releasing for Mother's Day. All of the songs are written about the joys and challenges of motherhood and every single one she has shared so far brings me to tears. It is like listening to everything my heart feels for my kids that I never have found the words to say myself. You can listen to one of them in this music video.

Hope your weekend is filled with sunshine wherever you are! XO

weekend getaway

One evening last week we were talking and realized it had been a while since our last Boise trip so we made a sort of last minute decision to have a weekend getaway. Nic was able to get Friday off work and despite a minor setback of what we thought might be an ear infection for him, we were on the road by 9 AM.

Take me back to the weekend because family time and sunshine is where it's at!!! As always, picture overload!

We spent most of Friday outside. My mom has a mini sandbox for Liam on her patio and he had the best time shoveling away until he got freaked out by an ant. haha I don't know where he developed this fear of bugs but anything from spiders to harmless ladybugs freak him out!

This little sweetie was cooing away while watching her brother play in the sandbox and it was so nice not to have to dress her in five layers because it was so warm!

My mom has the most beautiful backyard and the whole thing was in bloom this weekend! 

Even Lyla girl wanted to touch all the flowers!

I'm usually the one behind the camera, so pictures like this mean SO much to me ... me and my girl!

Two of my favorite faces she makes right now, the sweetest smile with her bottom lip tucked in and her lips pursed as she coos with giddiness!

Another favorite from the weekend! Love these two so much!

When Liam was over the sandbox, my mom found a spot in her yard to dig with him in the dirt. Her yard is little boy heaven!

This was a very dangerous move because can't you just see her tearing down that entire strand of lights right now?! haha Thankfully her fingers barely grazed it once but she was very entertained to be up on top of her daddy's head.

Her hair is starting to get a little more wild and fluffy and that tuft on top, almost long enough for her first pony!

On Saturday morning Edie and her friend were having a garage sale (not pictured). She is seriously the garage sale queen! Liam had the best time scoping everything out and trying to convince us we needed this set of pedals that I think you use while sitting in a chair for some biking exercise? haha One lady's trash is another little boy's treasure. ;) It did not come home with us.

Nic really needed some new dress pants for work and shorts for summer so we met my mom at the mall. While we shopped, she helped entertain Liam the way grandma's do best, buying him suckers at the candy store and letting him ride this moose around the mall. haha He looked at us like, what parents?! I don't know who they are but Sita is my world. haha By the way, he crashed this thing into another animal at the very end so don't anyone give him a set of keys for at least 20 more years!!

And you just can't go to Boise on a sunny weekend without a trip to the ZOO! This cheetah looking cat was pacing back and forth in 2 foot increments and entertaining allllllll the people. 

Kind of silly being surrounded by a whole zoo full of exotic animals but one of my favorite things we saw all day was this goose with her nest full of eggs. It was so sweet! We watched her sit down on top of them and fluff a bunch of feathers all around herself to keep her babies warm. I'd love to be there to see them hatch!

Lyla woke up from her nap a few minutes into our zoo experience and wanted to be carried the rest of the time. haha The stroller became our diaper bag/purse/camera carrier instead and we just filled it with a bunch of stuff.

It was amazing having the lion so close to the glass this trip!

Right as I was taking this picture, a plane flew over the zoo and they both turned and looked for it!

Lyla living her best life, barefoot and getting to walk around. 

LOTS of bribing had to take place to get Liam to leave this giraffe slide. 

And to keep things real, here is some 3 year old attitude shining through. ;) He didn't want his picture taken with his sister. haha 

On the other hand, she's like, "Dad, you can let go now. I'd like to explore this by myself thank you very much." She practically jumps out of our arms lately because she is so wiggley. haha

Saturday night we went back over to Edie and my dad's house for a bbq with the family!

Pa took all the grand kids to the park! I love this picture my sister-in-law took of all of them crossing the street together ...

Liam and Maddox, slide buddies!

And all the girl cousins!

Ava loved holding Lyla. She's like a real life baby doll! ;)

We also celebrated our nephew's birthday. Happy 4th Birthday Maddox!!

Can't take pictures seriously these days and cracking up everyone around him!

We had hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner and cheesecake for birthday dessert. 

Last but not least, Maddox opened some gifts and the cousins all played them together. 

As always, the weekend went too fast. It was such a good one and even held a couple firsts for Lyla. I'm pretty sure I can't deny it any longer after other people started recognizing it too that her first word is '"da da". I'm 0 for 2 in that department! haha She also mimicked Liam clapping in the car!! Both of which I did not catch on video, darn it. That's my mission this week! Hope you have the best one! It's hard not to with this sunshine on the forecast! XO

seven months | letter to lyla

s e v e n   m o n t h s   o l d

| LOVES |

Rocking on her hands and knees.

Spinning in circles.

Toys.

Grabbing everything in sight.

Nursing.
Liam.

| HATES |

Teething.
Getting dressed (especially  having things put over her head).

Baby carrier. 

Shoes.
Hats.
Being alone.

Not much has changed since last month ...

| DEVELOPMENT // GROWTH |

Lyla continues to get more and more mobile as the days progress. She can sit up on her own for longer periods of time now without letting go of her core muscles and toppling over. haha She spends a lot of her time on her hands and knees and while she still hasn't mastered the hand/knee coordination/movement to actually crawl yet, she still manages to get where she wants to go and quickly. haha Lots of lunging and spinning in circles! She'll grab and chew on anything in sight which means we've had to make more of a conscious effort of teaching Liam the toys he can and can not play with around her. She got her first two teeth this month and was pretty miserable throughout the whole process but we've discovered chewing on frozen baby wash cloths has helped. She is still wearing 6-12 month clothes, size 3 diapers, and 0-3 month shoes. Her bald patch is officially grown back in, the hair is just much shorter in the back than it is on top of her head.

| SLEEP |

Not much has changed in the sleep department ... I'd like to chalk it all up to teething or lack of solid foods in her diet but who knows at this point. She'll only take one 2 - 3 hour nap during the day (usually at about noon) which means she struggles to make it to bed time. We don't ever go anywhere between the hours of 5-7 at night in fear that she will try to nap then and ruin her bed time or just scream the whole time we are out. We put her down at 7 PM and she wakes every 3 to 4 hours to nurse throughout the night (some nights every 2 during teething). She typically gets up for the day at 7 AM. She is still sleeping on her tummy with her knees tucked and her cute little bum in the air!! 

| EAT |

As I mentioned last month, because of continued reflux issues we completely cut out solids from her diet. Spitting up has gotten a little better over the last couple weeks so we are hoping to reintroduce solids this next month. Maybe then she'll sleep for longer periods at night. ;) She nurses every 2 to 3 hours at this point.

Dear Lyla,

When you smile at us these days, you have two tiny teeth peeking back through your grin. It just might be the cutest thing I've ever seen but boy is it not fun in the nursing department. Let's just say you left your mark, OUCH! But I felt awful watching you be in pain so really, it was my way of hoping to take at least an ounce of your pain away from you and make you feel better. You're seven months old and I love this age so much! You are exploring every inch of the world around you, raking your fingers across different textures and grabbing onto everything you aren't supposed to. haha Your favorite game right now is to be bouncing away in the bouncer while your brother runs laps around the kitchen making silly noises and causing you both fits of giggles. It is entertaining even for us to watch! You are a stingy giggler (unless Liam looks your way!) but a raspberry on your tummy usually does the trick! You have what daddy and I like to call Disney princess eyes. Such a beautiful blue color and the prettiest almond shape. Everywhere we go people comment on what pretty lips you have too. I love that even though you aren't eating solid foods, you still have rolls for days and I'm soaking up every minute you keep your hand dimples too. When you were eating solid foods your eczema caused a rash around your mouth and it is thankfully finally starting to clear up. You'll be embarrassed to hear this some day but whenever I eat super healthy and have a lot of vegetables in my diet you get the worst gas. haha I keep hoping to take you on your first swing ride at the park but the weather hasn't permitted it so far, I think you're going to love it! You really are not a fan of walks around the neighborhood in your stroller or the baby carrier right now because you really want to see everything around you. Honestly, I don't blame you. We're hoping to get a wagon for that purpose soon. I've found myself having moments of sadness at the passing of time because it goes so quickly and you change so quickly with it so I'll hold you in my arms longer and spend more of my day soaking up everything that makes you seven months old. I love you more than you will probably ever know but I'll spend every one of my days showing you how much the best way I know how!
Love, Momma

| SEVEN MONTH PICTURES |

Liam helped me take this picture of her and now it is one of my very favorites ...

Loving on her baby sheep she got from Sita for Easter ...

Bunny ears on her first Easter!

From our rainbow babe's first St. Patrick's Day ...

This picture is really blurry but I still love it so much!

Her face haha, so determined!

We bought this bear suit for her for Christmas in a size bigger than she was at the time in hopes that it would fit her all winter long ... well, the jokes on us because it looks like it will actually fit her in the summer time. haha Still the cutest baby bear!

Snuggled up in Liam's old Sully towel ...

Poor girl was in so much pain (darn you, teething!) and sleep deprived from it in this picture ... 

Getting ready with momma in the morning! I bet she'll want to play with my make up before I know it!

She grew out of that sweet baby bonnet this month ...

Those cheeks!!!

You can see those two little toofers peeking through ...