Lyla's First Pedicure

During Liam's last week of school, I realized my one-on-one time with Lyla would be far less during the summer so we went on one last special mommy/daughter date to get her first pedicure! I thought for sure she would pick her favorite color (pink) but the moment she walked over to the many rows of nail polish choices, she picked the first one she saw ... a sparkly red one!

Despite being offered her own chair, most of the time she sat with me on my lap. I'll admit, it wasn't my most comfortable and relaxing pedicure I've ever gotten in my life with a big baby belly and a toddler in my lap but I loved snuggling her as she asked question after question while watching me get my toes done. She took a bit to warm up and was nervous by some of the tools they used on my feet that it would hurt but then I showed her the chair had massage buttons and it was game over. She moved on to her own chair and had a grand old time changing all the settings and squealing away as it massaged her back. haha

We had the sweetest nail technician who was incredible with kids! Lyla wanted to be closer to me than her chair would allow while she got her nails painted so the lady gave up her swivel stool for Lyla to sit on and let her hold my hand while the lady sat on the floor with Lyla's foot propped up on her knee. It was so kind. Of course there was a moment of rubbing her first two toes together too where they got smudged and needed to be redone and a few rough spots on the big toes by the time we made it home but ... the cutest sparkly red toes!

I feel so blessed to have a daughter to do these special things with and love her so much!!

Celebrating our favorite guy(s)

Then came June and what better way to start the month than celebrating our favorite guy's birthday on the first! As tradition from his childhood holds, he requested Red Lobster for dinner and surprisingly enough, I'm not sure we'll be back again next year. Poor guy ended up with a pretty bad stomach ache from his meal and immediately regretted his choice. When it came time to follow it up with dessert, he was only able to eat a few bites of oreo cheesecake but it made for a fun extension celebrating his birthday the next day too. 34 never looked so good! 

Then a couple weeks later we celebrated lots of our favorite guys with a Father's Day bbq! So grateful for the amazing role they all play in my children and I's lives!

After patiently sweeping the grass from our sidewalks and patio with a big broom for the last 10 years, we decided to gift Nic his first blower and I'm not sure he's ever been happier about a gift! The kids' cute card was a favorite too ...

Nic is such an incredible dad! He finds ways to spend time with our kids and make them feel special every day. I forgot to get a picture of Liam's but I loved Lyla's cute answers from the Father's Day questionnaire she filled out at church with her Primary teachers ... especially the "don't get out of room at night" one. haha So sweet that her favorite thing is daddy/daughter dates and I couldn't agree more that he is really good at taking care of her and giving hugs! Liam's made me laugh too because he said Nic's favorite food was salad. haha I mean, I do make that a lot. ;)

May Memories

 A few memories from May ... like the time Lyla built her first 50 piece puzzle all by herself! So proud of this smart girl but the best part was, she was even more proud of herself. 

I tested out a few different pregnancy pillows from Amazon and ended up needing to send one back. Like rugs or mattresses, they certainly don't fit in the box they came in after expanding to their full size so we found a big enough box in the garage that was storing several baby accessories and decided it was about time to set them up. One of them was the baby swing and Lyla is obsessed! She puts all of her baby dolls and stuffed animals in there, turns on the music, and rocks them to sleep. She is so cute and going to be the best big sister!

One of my favorite pictures of just a girl and her bunny on a walk around the neighborhood before the weather got too hot ...

One of Liam's end of the school year projects was to share a presentation on what he wants to be when he grows up ... he gathered all of his favorite tools to tell his class about being an archeologist because he wants to be someone who goes to Egypt to study ancient artifacts, fossils, and gems! How cute is that?! Although, one of his friends shared all about being a fighter pilot in the Air Force and must have done a pretty convincing job of it because he came home wanting to switch careers. haha Good thing he has a long time to decide. I know he'll do amazing things no matter what someday!

Memorial Day Weekend 2021

Memorial Day weekend was one for the books! Nic was off work, Uncle Brendan was in town, and we fit so many fun things into 3 days together ... starting with taking our kids fishing for the first time! Giving myself the benefit of the doubt in how many years have gone by since the last time I fished, I gave myself a pat on the back after rigging both of their poles by myself! I didn't however choose the most optimal time of day to fish (right in the middle of it haha) but our kids still had a blast casting at Settler's Park! 

Lyla and her cute Frozen fishing pole ... watching her cast with a real hook was truly terrifying! haha

Liam and his cute Spiderman fishing pole ... he was a natural caster! Although he did catch Nic's shorts with his hook at one point ...

Bless Brendan for climbing into the pond a few times to untangle their snags from rocks and various plants ... that water is disgusting!

While Liam was bummed that he didn't end up catching his first fish, he was so patient with the whole experience ...

Lyla's patience with fishing was little shorter. Instead, she enjoyed walking laps around the pond and following this momma and her baby ducks!

The next day we began the summer season by going swimming for the first time at a neighborhood pool! They both loved breaking in their goggles that they got in their stockings from Santa. 

Liam was practicing going underwater to pick up diving rings ...

He wouldn't do it without plugging his nose though so it made it complicated to swim with only one arm. It made me really wish those swimming lessons I signed them up for were at the beginning of summer instead of the only available session at the end. 

Then there was Lyla who happily convinced us to dote her around the deep end while she kicked her legs to her heart's content! 

Liam even learned how to do his first flip underwater that day!

On Memorial Day we went to Roaring Springs for the first time of the season! Lyla is loving being able to ride all of the slides in the kiddy area with Liam this year. I couldn't help but capture them holding hands while walking to the line together, so sweet!

I think this might be one of Lyla's favorite slides but it truly terrifies her about halfway down it every time because she spreads her legs and gets sprayed with a ton of water or spins in a circle. haha

The pure joy on their faces makes coming to this busy place so worth it!

Liam has no fear this year and wants to ride everything! I'm excited to get this kid in swimming lessons so I feel a little more comfortable with his confidence in the water. haha

Just the start of so many more summer adventures like these ones ahead! 

A decade

 Nic and I celebrated 10 years of marriage in May! For so many reasons, it feels like a lifetime ago but none of the memories or feelings from that day have left me. A whole decade later and he is still the best decision I ever made. 

We left the kids overnight with my mom and snuck away to dinner at P.F. Chang's followed by a walk around downtown Boise, grabbed a brownie and ice cream from Stella's, and lounged in our hotel bed watching reruns of the Office, Friends, and Schitt's Creek. While we may not have been on that trip to Hawaii like we talked about in our early years of marriage due to Covid and a baby on the way, it was truly the best way to spend our day!  

When I opened my fortune cookie after dinner and found this inside, I couldn't help but to tuck it in my pocket and keep it as a special reminder that the best is yet to come for us. <3 

While our actual anniversary was wonderful, the next day was a little rough. We took our time checking out of the hotel in the morning and planned to go to breakfast. We tried to get into 8 different restaurants all over town between 9:30 - 11:00, all of which had over an hour wait until finally giving in and settling on skipping breakfast entirely for an early lunch. The nearest place was Smoky Mountain so we pulled up and were their second customers of the day. They immediately greeted us with frazzled faces, got us a table next to the front door, and told us they only had 2 staff members on site so the service would be slow. It took a long while to get our food while we proceeded to awkwardly watch them turn away customer after customer instead of putting a sign on their door that they couldn't offer any more service due to short staffing issues. Instead of having time to take a long leisure walk around the Village ponds like we had planned, we were left with only enough time to race from lunch in the rain to my second vaccine appointment. It was a day, that's for sure! So grateful we had the wonderful day together before and to my mom for watching our kids. 

Happy 10 years to my favorite person! I love you!!

Jurassic World Tour

 One thing I love about living in a bigger city is the entertainment opportunities we can experience together. Liam has been loving dinosaurs lately and all things Jurassic World so we surprised our kids and took them to see life-size Jurassic dinosaurs in a car tour! They give you a link to an audio recording to listen to as you go from dinosaur to dinosaur that explains each one in great detail, many of which we'd never even seen or heard of before! At the beginning of the tour, this lady was holding a baby t-rex that looked so real ... it was moving, making realistic sounds, and everything! 

Liam was a boy of few words during the whole thing because he was so enraptured! Lyla on the other hand was screaming out the window the whole time, "Look at that little cutie! or Wow, it's so BIG!" haha 

I could not believe the size of some of these dinosaurs! This particular one was from the pterodactyl family and had a wingspan of 32 feet or something crazy like that. Can you imagine that thing flying through the sky?! 

Many of the dinosaurs towered over our car! 

Lyla loved hanging her head out of the sun roof and being able to help drive the car for a few minutes too. ;)

I was so impressed that the whole tour lasted close to two hours. It ended with getting to see two of Liam's favorite dinosaurs ... the megalodon and the t-rex!

Lyla's Last Day of Preschool

 Considering we are halfway through the summer, I figured it was about time to share Lyla's last day of preschool. ;) I know life will only get busier when this third baby comes!

My favorite thing that I'll always cherish about these preschool days are the "MOMMY!" followed by the running hugs I'd get when I would pick her up from school! It made my day every single time knowing I was missed!

Lyla grew so much in so many ways this year! I was shocked when I looked at her first day and compared it to her last ... she went from being my almost 3 year old toddler to a big girl full of life and so very smart.

First Day ...

Last Day ...

She adored her teacher, Miss Melissa, and still talks about her well into summer. I know she will miss her so much when fall rolls around since she won't be teaching next year. When it wasn't a preschool day, Lyla was crushed. She wanted to go every single day like Liam. This year she learned all of her colors, many shapes, how to count well past 20, and that her name starts with the letter "L"! Her obsession with puzzles was born! She talked all the time about her preschool friends and I later learned that she befriended her teacher's son the most who was doing virtual school at home. She'd say, "I need to go check on Maddox real quick," leave the classroom, and come back to announce that he was doing just fine. haha Such a little sweetheart!

She's already counting down the days until she gets to go back in the fall, my big girl!