Daybreak Park

My kids never get tired of this park close to our house.  There is an amazing zip line and some fun playground equipment as well as some water features…I always plan on bringing home sandy, wet bums.

We also discovered a reservoir close to our house that is a blast!  A park with grass right next to a beach with water!  Nothing better.

Happy 1st Birthday Lyla

This girl lights up our home.  Every morning we all shout, "good morning baby girl" and "Lyla bean".  I cannot believe she is one year old!  She's finally starting growing a bit better since I introduced fresh, raw goat milk that I pick up from a friend every week.  She's a much pickier eater than Ethan and Sydney were at this age (and even still--they are great eaters!).  But, she melts us with her hugs and smiles.

We had some family over to celebrate today.  I made a yummy carrot cake that Doug smothered in cream cheese frosting so I couldn't enjoy it.  :-(

It ended with Uncle Tyler losing his wedding ring in our backyard while shooting a basket on the hoop on the shed and everyone hunting until past sundown.  Still, no luck.  We've hunted everywhere!

Cake Smash

Our baby is turning one this week.  My friend, Brooke of Brookie Photography, took some great pictures of Lyla.  Cannot get enough of this girl and her smiles.

She didn't know what to make of that cupcake though.

She would rather play with a little stick on the ground than touch that cake.

I stood to her side trying to get her to touch the cake--no go. She smiled for me lots of times though.

We put some icing on her face...

Deliberately trying to help me make a mess...

Uh…no go.

Mom Life

I snap photos of everyday life sometimes because I am sure these moments will become memories that fade over time.  I go to Walmart and strap Lyla into my Bjorn and get Ethan and Sydney in a cart and feel like a circus act.  I despise shopping there and look forward to our budget allowing for me to spend a little more by shopping without price matching!!

I got this gem for mother's day at church from Ethan.  Apparently I am "as old as Tiffany" years old.  Love these things!

Ethan and Sydney adore their cousin Nikki.  They have tried to reenact this exact thing with a small umbrella in our backyard and sidewalk chalk.  It must have made a big impact on them.

Lyla is the sweetest sleeper.  I am sure all kids are…but Lyla is my favorite little sleeper these days.  I found her sleeping nearly sitting up with her body slouched over her legs.  Hilarious.

Snapped some photos of my Mother's Day cards I received from Preschool as well.  Ethan's was on a purple page and Sydney's was on pink.  I guess they really like fun places…like Boondocks fun center. 

They are getting so big!  They can write their names and most of their letters.  They both color really well, but Ethan is especially perfectionistic.  I am already preparing my apologies for this behavior…as we know where he got it from!

Field Trip!

Because we enrolled E&S in preschool toward the end of the year, they had only one field trip this year.  They were so excited!  We brought sack lunch and toured the fire station.  They were able to go inside the fire truck, hear the siren, and tour the fire station to see where they slept and ate during their shift.  It was excellent.

I was happy to met the boy the Sydney had proposed marriage to (Jude)…and apologize to his parents. :-)

North Dakota

After some serious planning, I took my first work trip in a few years.  I had a few clients who wanted to see North Dakota before purchasing some investment properties there.  I made arrangements for Doug to be with the kids, but he was prepping to take his licensing exam.  He has been studying in the evenings and every weekend for three months.  He was about ready to schedule his exam but we knew I needed to take this trip.  We relied on family to help make this happen.  It felt bizarre to be away from my kids and not have someone at my feet needing food.  It was a whirlwind trip, but fascinating.  It seemed like I was taking a step back in time seeing the gold rush…so many workers, not enough housing, infrastructure just trying to 'keep up'.  It's a rush for black gold--oil.  The landscape was really quite beautiful as well.  It was freezing--we were up near the Canadian border at some points.  

It was quite the horrific experience to be pumping milk at every opportunity for a bathroom break.  I kept it all quiet from my clients and my boss.  It's so odd that feeding a baby is such a natural thing, but talking about feeding a baby in any way is extremely awkward.  The trip proved to be quite stressful in this regard without a lot of break time away from my male traveling companions.  Next business trip--I will NOT be breastfeeding.

COACH!

I cannot get enough of how much Ethan and Sydney love Lyla.  They are very affectionate…sometimes Lyla doesn't love it, but most of the time she does.  They adore her and I am so grateful.  One of my fears in having a singleton after twins was that she wouldn't feel a part of the family in a way.  Ethan and Sydney would have her for a triplet if it were possible.

She even lets me workout!  Sometimes, I have to get creative so I can finish my workouts, but she is workable!  One of her favorites is me giving her push-up kisses.  She's the best baby.

I have started coaching others through Beachbody fitness programs.  I knew I'd love it…but I didn't realize that I would love it as much as I do!!  It's been a blast to help people feel good--to feel healthy and good about themselves.  There is nothing quite like it.  Lyla is my workout buddy a lot these days.

Doug is my other workout buddy.  I beg him to join me instead of go for a jog because I love pushing myself harder when he's by my side.  I guess I'm competitive.  :-)  I try to jump higher than him, to lift heavier weights…it's great for my improvement.

I started a new program (after ChaLEAN Extreme) called T-25.  The creator of Insanity, Shaun T, developed the workout and they are fast (25 min) and intense.  It's the ones Doug enjoys doing with me.  Love changing up my routine.  It's ironic that I love working out because I used to dread my workout and think of any excuse to miss it years ago.  Now, I look forward to it and don't like to be interrupted.  How times have changed!!