Liam and Lyla Meet Rosie

My mom stayed with the kids while we were in the hospital having Rosie and they had so much fun! She spoiled them with Subway for lunch one day and choosing a toy from the store. I'm not sure we were even missed. ;) We were so glad to have her so close by this time!

We also left them each a gift to open while we were gone. They had treats and new 'big brother'/'big sister' sweatshirts inside for when they met their new baby sister!

One of the most special moments after Rosie was born was bringing her home to meet her big brother and sister! Liam was at school at first but Lyla was on a bike ride with my mom out front when we pulled up and she came running! I had to work hard to keep it together seeing this moment and the joy it brought to her world letting her hold her baby sister for the first time ...

Lyla has adored her from the moment they met! She is so good with her (maybe a little too smothering at times? haha) and incredibly helpful. I know these two girls will be the best of friends and I'm glad they have each other to go through life with. 

She kept giggling and commenting on all the noises and facial expressions Rosie made as she slept. haha 

When Liam got home from school he too came swiftly through the door looking for his baby sister. While he has been more reserved and hesitant to hold her, you can tell how much he loves her from the way he talks about her in his prayers. 

This will forever be my favorite and one that I'll always cherish. All three of my babies... <3

Can't wait to watch them grow up together!

Signs of Spring

 Warmer weather has done our hearts a lot of good lately! Time spent outside in the new playhouse ... endless giggles from a sea of bubbles streaming out of the bubble camera ...

My kind of girl wearing pink from head to toe. ;)

Feeling so grateful watching our yard come to life and having most everything we planted last summer survive! 

The blooms on these trees only lasted a coupe of weeks but they were so beautiful!

I lost one to pooling water on the other side but this bleeding heart in my front flower bed is thriving! I love the shape of their petals. <3 Also, all of the tulips bloomed from the bulbs we planted in the fall!

More doctor visits and ultrasounds for baby where the grandmas come to our rescue so Nic and I could go together! This day Grandma Edie came and brought cupcakes! She never arrives empty handed. <3

Lyla thought she was so funny when she dunked her lips in the frosting and had it all over her face ...

Another day with Sita trying on all of her jewelry! 

We go on daily walks at lunch time and in the evenings ... some of my very favorite times of the day. When the kids walk along side us they bring weapons and pretend they are on a dinosaur hunt. When they ride in the stroller they beg for a popsicle and when they are on their bikes, good luck to us keeping up with them. We are raising two speed demons!

Valentine's Day & a weekend of snow

My entryway has become one of my favorite spaces to style for holidays. I don't have a ton of Valentine decor but I do have quite a bit of pink. ;)

On Valentine's Day our kids woke up to a surprise heart attack on their doors with the many things we love about them ... a new tradition that I'm excited to continue each year!

I woke up to the sweetest gift of all, this origami card bouquet of flowers from the guy who loves me the most! He was worried with my aversion to smells that I wouldn't be able to handle real flowers in our kitchen so he did this instead. Gosh it made me smile! The best part is that they carefully fold down so I can save them and put them back up to always remember this year and his unconditional ways of showing me he loves me. 

Speaking of that sweet guy of mine, he really is man of the year because he made everyone heart shaped pancakes for breakfast too! 

They opened a few fun surprises in their Valentine mailboxes and then heart gift bags from Papa and Grandma Dee in Pocatello filled with candy. 

We wanted to make the day extra special for them this year so we gave them each a new toy they had on their wish lists ... 

Liam got a Jurassic Park lego and Lyla was so giddy to finally get this Woody doll "Buddy as she likes to call him"  ...

The gift that keeps on giving was a weekend filled with SNOW! I was able to rest while the kids spent hours and hours playing in it ...

A special weekend with the people I love! <3

Our Christmas Card & Letter 2020

I didn't send a Christmas letter with our card this year but if I did this is what it would have said. 

Merry Christmas!! We hope during this crazy year that this note finds you healthy and well. Like many of you, 2020 definitely looked different for our family but it taught us to cherish the one thing that is most important in the world, time together. Liam's last year of preschool was cut short in March and I became a full time teacher to two at home through the end of May. Our classroom was filled with walks and bike rides around the neighborhood having the hardest time not going to the parks while they were closed, doing Cosmic Kids Yoga in the living room, learning letters, numbers, colors, and shapes at the kitchen table with endless art supplies, experiencing virtual Disneyland rides on YouTube, building towers with magnet blocks, and so much more. The crazy thing is, I had prayed for just a little more quality time spent with Liam before sending him off to Kindergarten ... I didn't know what that would look like or what I was actually praying for in the moment ... but I learned it was this. It was getting to teach him his last few months of preschool and having him home every day with me. It was an answered prayer in the hardest but best way. 

In the summer we took our annual trip to Pocatello and Bear Lake. It is always one of the highlights of our year! Both of our kids have asked many times since when we get to go back. Other than that, summer was quiet. No swimming lessons, Roaring Springs passes, Children's Museum, etc. Instead, we spent many days with our blow up swimming pool splashing in our own backyard! We also transformed our yard this summer into a space we all love! We added a cozy sectional out there, a fire table for s'mores, a swing, beautiful flowers, trees, and shrubs we planted with our own two hands. We had a cement pad poured on the side of our home with our hand prints etched in it. 

In the fall, Lyla started her first year of preschool. She LOVES it and wishes she could go more than 2 days a week. She got her first haircut (bye bye baby mullet and hello baby bangs!), learned how to ride her hand-me-down balance bike like a champion, and was completely potty trained night and day by the end of the year!! Proud of that girl of ours!

Liam's school year started 100% online until slowly he went back every other day, to eventually the elementary schools opening full time. He is thriving in Kindergarten ... reading above grade level and making all kinds of new friends! His dream of riding the bus came true, too! He learned how to ride his bike with no training wheels this summer and is the such a good example to those around him at school. We are so grateful for him!

Nic has spent the better part of a year working from a home office! It has not come without its challenges but we love getting to see him more often and spend every lunch together! He has helped the hospital in so many ways through Covid and is officially the first member of our family to be vaccinated! He is always our rock emotionally and physically and he is helped complete more projects around our home this year than he probably cared to. haha We adore him!

Then there's me. Sometimes I struggle to see the difference I make around here until I get sick or something and see many of the plates I keep spinning in the air fall. Then I realize one of my truly greatest strengths is juggling ... schedules, schools, laundry, meals, emotions ... haha! It's a real art! ;) Jokes aside, I our kid's schooling and our home were my labors of love this year. I transformed our kids bedrooms into places that make them both smile and gave me a creative outlet that I really love to express. I finally found answers to the source of the headaches and pain I'd been experiencing for over 2 years and feel relieved to say that I now have coping mechanisms in place to keep it really well managed. It has been a huge blessing!!! 

So you see, 2020 really was filled with a lot of blessings. No matter how many things were canceled or closed, times when we couldn't see family and friends, masks we had to wear, or bottles of hand sanitizer we went through to try and stay healthy. I hope you can see the blessings from your year too. They are there and I know it is thanks to a Savior who is watching over all of us, especially during hard times. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We love you!

Nic, Meagan, Liam, and Lyla

December & Christmas Break

The month of December is truly one of my very favorite months! It's always packed with family and filled with so many fun holiday traditions and memories. I love it. 

Lyla's hair is past her shoulders now and we are able to do matching braids! Ah I love having a daughter!!

How darling is she?!

On December 21st, the night we went to World of Color, a rare alignment of Jupiter and Saturn occurred called the Christmas star. It shown bright and beautiful in the night sky and made us feel a little closer to Jesus this Christmas season. We went outside to see it first but it was freezing so Lyla tried spotting it through the living room window with those ginormous binoculars. haha She could barely hold them up. 

Christmas break was the best this year, being all together. Nic took the whole thing off ... 2 weeks with us!! One day we took the kids to the Children's Museum before our year long pass expired. Unfortunately we didn't get to use it much of the year because of Covid but this was a fun last hoorah and there was hardly anyone there. 

Arg, pirates!

I have the best video of this moment with Dentist Liam asking patient Lyla to open her mouth so that he could pull out her tooth. haha

These cute astronauts who launched us to every single planet ...

We celebrated my dad's 60th birthday in December! We took him some giant balloons, ya know so he wouldn't forget his age. ;) Happy Birthday old man!! 

These two have their moments but they played so well together over Christmas break. I have no idea what they were playing haha, but one day I found them in our front room like this ...

I think Liam's asking himself, "How many more toys do you think I can fit on this table??" 

This was such an incredible Christmas experience, a drive through live nativity! You pulled into the parking lot of one of our church buildings and they had you tune in to some recordings to hear the story of the birth of Jesus. It brought the spirit of the season for our family. The camel was so amazing to see in person too!

We also participated in a really special experience where our family was asked to write down a gift we would like to give the Savior for Christmas on a sign. The signs were collected and placed in the ground surrounding a manager and lit up by a star as all of us gave our hearts to Him this season. Ours said "Show kindness and love everyone". 

Then there was Lyla's preschool Christmas party! Look at her outfit!! I'm so sad it won't fit her next year after she has worn it two years in a row. It's a favorite. She got to take a special treat to share with her friends so we made these Santa sleighs ...

Look what she brought home!!! The cutest snow globe I've ever seen!!! I'll keep it forever. 

Another fun date night downtown! We went to P.F. Changs for dinner and walked around to look at all of the Christmas lights.

We ended the night at the Village looking for a cozy new throw for our living room to snuggle up and watch movies with during the winter. It still is always strange wearing a mask everywhere you go but it sets this season of life apart from the rest so I had to document it.

My mom gave me cute entry hooks for Christmas for backpacks and coats in the winter time! I need to adjust the print now to be more centered but I love how functional it made this space. The basket has also been great for shoe storage. 

It snowed a few days after Christmas!! Our kids freaked out as it was only the second one of the season but they still went out there until it melted by noon. Liam made this tiny adorable snow bunny.  

This little lady didn't last long out there in the cold but man she makes the cutest giggling faces as I tried to snatch her through the window. ;)

Not pictured from December and Christmas break ... lots of dinners with family (it was so fun having my brother home after not seeing him for a full year), endless hours playing with new toys and games from Christmas, and walks outside where Lyla learned how to ride her new bike!