Lyla's pig tails

Because yes, they deserve their very own post. 

I mean, CAN YOU EVEN!!!

She is the cutest human in the world!

She ADORES Rue! Rue TOLERATES her. ;)

When her hair is down right now it looks business in the front, party in the back but add 2 clear elastics and I've never seen a cuter length of pig tail in my life! Love her and those tippy toes so much, even if she is trying to figure out how to escape with every door handle she can find!

Poor girl has her first double ear infections today but you'd never know because, just like her brother when he is sick, she never slows down.

Adorable pig tails, it's the little things in life! :)

Spring Break

We had such a fun Spring Break this year and kicked it off by celebrating my niece's birthday at Circus Trix. I'd never heard of it before so when we showed up and I read "an aerial experience, extreme air sports" on the sign I thought to myself, what in the world am I getting myself into with a 1 and a 4 year old!?! haha For the most part though, everything was age appropriate for Liam. There were only a few things he couldn't do because of an age and height requirement which he was bummed about but loved it otherwise!! About 25% of it was age appropriate for Lyla and by that I mean, the trampolines and these hanging swings ...

Let her loose on the trampoline and she runs and jumps like a wild woman but plunk her in one of these swings and she had no idea what to think! Her facial expression was killing me! haha

I was so thankful to be there with cousins because the hardest part was trying to keep these two in the same place! It was rare. Lyla wanted to stay on the long trampolines and Liam wanted to be everywhere else. ;) I definitely got my second work out in for the day and was really wishing I had worn sweats too! 

Everyone had the best time playing together (even though I didn't really get any pictures), especially Liam and Maddox in the dodgeball part!

We all went to Freddy's for lunch afterward and the birthday girl opened her presents and shared her birthday cookies! She is definitely set for her trip to Disney in November! Girlfriend is rolling in the dough!

I loved that Ava wanted to hold Lyla for this picture and Liam's arm around Maddox is my favorite!!

On Monday we were supposed to meet some new friends at the Nature Center in downtown Boise but they ended up being sick so we made cookies at home first to take to them and went by ourselves anyway! I'd never been there before and the kids had the BEST time! Liam was begging me stay longer after we finished the whole loop but we promised to go visit Sita at her office and take her department cookies too. I can't wait to take them back again later this Spring and Summer when all the flowers are in bloom!

Nature really is the best play place ... there were so many feeders for squirrels so they were everywhere and really friendly. They both giggled as this little guy running circles up the tree trunk and scratching his ear.

My little adventurers! It feels so freeing to be going into this summer with two walkers and not having to carry a kid on one hip and a diaper bag on my back or pushing a stroller along everywhere. They are definitely both independent. 

Lyla was so cute watching the geese! There was a giant pond filled with them and some were taking a bath or gliding down and splashing on the water. She would point and exclaim "WOW"!

Liam's favorite part were these fish hatcheries ... he'd look at the signs and try to spot the different types of fish in the tank. One in particular had a picture of a crawfish "crawdad" on it and he kept saying, "mom, let's find the lobster!" haha He'd run to each one looking everywhere for one and it wasn't until the last tank on our loop that he found one ... eating a dead fish. Liam told everyone we saw/ran into that day about "this cool lobster eating a dead fish". haha Boys!

We did our usual once a week lunch date with daddy but it felt extra special because we did it on a different day since he would be home with us on our usual day we have lunch together! You can tell how much Lyla loves her boys, being in the middle, and holding both of their hands ...

We all needed sleep after all of those adventures on a Monday and when I went to get Lyla up from her nap I found her like this ... haha Girlfriend, where is your shirt!?!

On Tuesday we had a play date with Liam's cousin Olivia! It was so fun to have her and my sister-in-law over to play. We haven't been able to get together during the week all year because the kids go to preschool on opposite days. One thing I'm really looking forward to this summer is doing it more often!

On Wednesday my mom took the day off work to spend with us. We felt so spoiled to get to have her all to ourselves in the middle of the work week! We went to The Discovery Center together and had so much fun!

A giant litebrite, remember those?! They were water bottles filled with different colored water that you could move around from hole to hole and create things ... can you spot Liam's name in the picture on the left??

The one thing I didn't remember them having from when I was a kid was a toddler area. It was perfect because it was for ages 0-4 so both of my kids could play in it. One section had pool noodles hanging from the ceiling and they would run back and forth through it getting tossed around along the way. Lyla's hair!!! ;)

She was crazy about this wooden playground with a slide. At first she found her way underneath and then after that wanted to climb the stairs one foot at a time while standing, thought she was such a big girl and really freaked her momma out a few times. haha

They had so many other amazing experiments and stuff. My mom picked up Subway for lunch while I fed the kids and laid Lyla down for her nap and then she stayed and chatted with me while I started what would become a weeks worth of projects. ;) The first being the sanding, priming, and painting of a bench in our entryway. 

When Lyla woke up, she had just enough time to read a story with them before she needed to run a few errands.

Then on Thursday and Friday, daddy took 2 days off work to be with us!! It was our first weekdays with him since Christmas so we loved every minute of it. We went to Planet Kid one of the days and watched Liam explore and conquer their giant play place filled with climbing nets, obstacles, ball pits, slides, etc. Lyla and I were pretty much the only ones in the toddler area and we just kept blowing kisses to daddy. ;) 

Not pictured, the many hours spent sanding, priming, painting, and sealing our nightstands and dresser which turned out amazing, we love them! They were a black/brown stain before and the stain was looking pretty beat up with dings and scuff marks, not to mention that it didn't matter if I dusted them 1 minute ago or 1 week ago, they always looked dusty. Now they are a really beautiful green/grey color and a once a week dust is perfectly adequate. ;) We also patched 2 walls of shiplap, one in our master bedroom and the other in the living room where the previous owners had left all of the little nail holes and painted over them. They look so much more finished now!

I love when weeks feel both productive and fun and this one was the perfect mixture of the two! If this is a little bit like what summer will look like (minus people taking off work all the time to be with us haha) then maybe I'll survive with these two. ;) Kidding! I love the adventures we have together and am looking forward to a summer in a new city with so much more to explore! XO

March Memories

A few memories from the month of March ...

There is no one in the world who can make her laugh like he can! When he looks at her, when he tickles her, when he makes a silly face, or tells a joke he thinks is really funny he can always count on her laugh. These moments make me smile so much because I can already see the special bond they share.

It's hard for me to believe that when we moved to this city she wasn't even a year old yet. She'd hardly taken a handful of steps and was still fitting in 6-12 month clothing. She was still a baby and now she is much more toddler. So adventurous with absolutely no fear! The sweetest thigh rolls, dimply fingers, and chubby cheeks remain and they make me thankful I can hold on to a small part of her that is still a baby ...

The tongue!

She loves on all of her stuffed animals giving them kisses, hugs, and lulling them to sleep with "sh sh sh's". She adores dress up and still asks every day to have me stuff her in this 6-12 month pig costume from Halloween. She folds her arms when we pray together and it melts my heart every time.

We said goodbye to the final patch of snow for the season and have been putting on lighter "rain" jackets or sweatshirts to play outside ever since ...

(speaking of Lyla getting so big, she grew out of those little pink moccasins this month too, sad day)

This little one struggles with nap time. I'm sure it's because she knows her brother is awake and doesn't want to miss out on all of the fun but it takes hours sometimes for her to fall asleep and then she gets very little and hates being woken up. I feel terrible doing it so I try to carefully open up her blinds, pick up her room, anything to make a little noise and encourage her to slowly stir awake from this adorable slumber ...

The neighborhood behind us is in full force build mode and the kids love to walk through it spotting the tractors and playing in the dirt. On days it isn't raining we can usually be found there ...

I love this little princess and her goldfish! :)

This month Lyla turned 18 months and started going to nursery at church. She looked adorable as ever for her first day and loves playing toys and being around other kids her age! Nic took her in and said the first week she seemed shy and wouldn't really say anything or interact with anyone and then the next week when he set her down she turned right around and waved goodbye to him. Such a fearless girl!

She squints her one eye shut whenever it is too bright outside (thankfully the Easter bunny is bringing her a new pair of sunglasses!) and pants with her tongue sticking straight out whenever she sees the neighbor's puppy! haha ;)

The real MVP carrying both kids up the stairs for bed time and Liam's adorable little drawings he made on the front of his cousin Ava's birthday cards!

More walks where she reaches to hold one of my fingers (ADORE) and more of the cute one-eyed squint!

The last week of March was Spring Break for Liam! I'll be back tomorrow to share all about our adventures! XO

St. Patrick's Day 2019

The year that this holiday became magical for me! 

Honestly, I've never really done much to celebrate St. Patrick's Day in the past but I'll never forget when Liam came home from preschool last year and told me a leprechaun had done silly things at his preschool and all of his friends' houses "but why didn't he come to our house, mom?!" It wasn't a mom guilt thing but as a lover of celebrating holidays and making them fun for my family I didn't want to miss the opportunity to have special memories with them this year!

Starting with wearing green! Before you laugh, this was just about all the green they had in their closets. A pair of green sweats and a rainbow colored bow for Lyla that was next to impossible to keep in her hair. haha And yet, no pinching for us! ;)

Liam and I made this leprechaun trap together and were sure it would do the trick. ;) A rainbow ladder and tunnel that led to a pot of gold, only to have him accidentally step on that piece of tissue paper and fall trapped inside of the box ... we were convinced it was genius!

The next morning we found this ...

Liam goes, "Next year mom, we need to make it out of metal!" haha That sneaky guy had ripped right through the side leaving behind a trail of toilet paper all over the house, green foot prints, chocolate gold coins, and ...

LUCKY CHARMS CUPCAKES!!!

He forgave the leprechaun for "bascaping" and happily ate his cupcake but was not convinced that was it! He spent the entire day looking around our house for clues. The first one being a half a receipt he spotted blowing across the backyard from the window. He ran outside after it and asked Nic to read it to him. Nic told him it said "There is a leprechaun kingdom and he need to ... oh no! The rest of the message was torn off! You better look for the other half!" haha So Liam searched every room and every piece of paper became another "clue" ... a book about leprechauns, a note in Nic's nightstand I'd written to him years ago. Nic was really egging all of this on and told him my mom's house had a secret portal to the leprechaun kingdom so he searched every room there too looking for a black hole. When he finally gave up he goes, "Guys, I've been HOODWINKED!" haha I don't think we've ever laughed so hard! I love his imagination so much!! 

My favorite part of the whole day was watching Lyla devour her cupcake!! After every single bite she'd go "mmm" "mmm" "mmm". Girl after my own heart!

We had Sunday dinner at Sita's house and enjoyed one of our first evenings playing outside without coats on!

Pointing at the airplanes in the sky ...

My mom bought a new lawn mower and while Nic was helping put it together for her Liam loved playing inside of the box! 

I'm truly the LUCKIEST mom in the whole world!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!