Happy 5th Birthday Cameron

Last week Cameron turned 5 but Sunday we finally celebrated it with some pool time and bagels which he loves equally. He gets his hair cut at a salon next to the bagel place and a couple of weeks ago he walked out of the hair salon, walked into the bagel place and sat down at a table until he got his bagel. Such a determined little boy. Can't blame him either because I love bagels! He is such a little fish and does great in the water. Ev had fun splashing with her cousins and Aspen really loved the cookie cake. Like, screamed bloody murder when we took it away. My sister is renting a house for her last year of college with another girl and it is in the neighborhood I used to live in so we used that community pool. It was fun and a little cooler than mine since it is much bigger which was nice considering the heat. We love our big boy Cameron and hope he had a great birthday!

Mae crying because we wouldn't give her Ev's milk

Little chocolate monster

Nora and Ted

World Down Syndrome Day 2016

Today is World Down Syndrome Day (3/21 as in 3 copies of the 21st chromosome). Last year this fell on a Saturday so we went to the Special Needs Day at the train park in the morning and a Down Syndrome event in the evening (here). We won't be able to go to the event tonight since it is hard enough to get home before 6:00 p.m. anyways and it is all the way in Tempe but we sure do love our Cam and will be face timing with him tonight for sure. He definitely did not get handed anything easily but he is one tough little guy and sure lucked out in the mom department. He works so hard several hours every day and is the sweetest little guy. He always gives kisses when we face time him and is so good with the babies. I love how he loves to hold hands and I hope he never grows out of that. We love you Cam!

Summer Night Swim

Last  night we had our first summer night swim of the year. It is quickly heating up in AZ which means the pool is basically bathwater. It was my nephews birthday yesterday and his part is scheduled for Saturday but it was nice to see him yesterday. He hasn't been sleeping great so when my sister asked to come over and swim to tire him out before bedtime I knew Everly would be excited to have them over. She loves her boys. Cam is such a good little swimmer and his brother is pretty crazy in the water too. Everly is finally getting more comfortable with her puddle jumper and is pretty proud of herself too. Yesterday she kept saying, "Look! I'm turning. Look! I'm floating." It only took her a year! Aspen even had fun splashing around and then peed on me after, haha. It was a nice little mix-up to our week. I think with two full-time working parents and kids too young for school yet, there is not a ton that differentiates summer from the rest of the year, but nights like this definitely help. Happy 4th Birthday, Cameron!

dangerously cute

also, dangerously cute.

 

My mom stopped by and Everly on the right is working on her back float.

 

 

Mall Trip

One of the things we love to do on weekend mornings in the summer is go to the mall. It always cracks me up when we get there early and no stores are open but there are plenty of people there. Apparently it is common for people (generally elderly) to get there exercise in by walking laps around the mall. I get it, I guess. It's air-conditioned and that is the same reason we are there instead of outside at a playground. Anyways, Justin had an appointment at the apple store that morning so it was perfect. My sister was working but my mom met us with the boys and they all had a lot of fun. This 5 or 6 year old boy came up to Everly and asked her if she wanted to play tag. She got shy and didn't say anything but it only took a couple of minutes before she was giggling and chasing him. It was so cute. Cameron had a blast as well and was a little giggle monster. The play area is right next to the Disney Store so we obviously went in there after. We often don't buy anything in there but Everly loves it and calls it the princess store. We walked around the mall a little more and took a ride on the little carousel before visiting the puppies and heading out. Everly almost passed out before lunch so I guess she had fun! I know Teddy fell asleep on the way home!

 

Also, can we talk about these boys in baby blue...

 

Happy Birthday Cameron!

 

This past Monday was my nephew's 3rd Birthday and we celebrated with family last Sunday night. I posted a little after he was born, here. There is a cute little video on there from when he was in the NICU. He was pretty swollen from the C-section and I don't really think it looks like him, but in the video you can see some of his mannerisms and I just love it. He was tiny but squishy. I have learned a lot from being Cameron's Aunt and to say that we are blessed to have him in our lives is an understatement. He is only 4 months older than Everly and so they have done a lot together since they were babies. I can't believe he is going to be starting pre-school in the end of the summer. I imagine him with a little backpack on and I just can't wait to see it. One of Cameron's favorite things to do is go to splashpads. He can be having a rough morning or be tired, or even freezing if the water is cold, but at the splashpad he is always happy. He just loves it and we love seeing him happy so we had pizza (he also loves pizza) and cookie cake at a splashpad Sunday night. We got lucky and it was kind of overcast that afternoon so it wasn't even super hot. My pregnant self very much appreciated that. Happy Birthday Cam!

Opening presents (splash pad toys!)

 

Giving Grandma kisses while everyone sang him Happy Birthday. The sweetest!

 

Weekend in Review

When Sunday night came along, I actually thought to myself, that felt like a good long weekend. I never feel that. I am lucky to not dread my job. I don't hate going to work on Monday mornings, but I do love spending time with my daughter and husband and usually feel like there is never enough of that. We didn't even do anything spectacular last weekend, but it was just productive and relaxing at the same time. On Saturday morning I went on an early morning hike with my sister and friend. I am slow, but I get it done. It sucks that things that were once not as hard, are more difficult for me now, but I enjoy mixing up my workouts with hiking so I plan to keep doing it. I hike with a Nathan Minimalist backpack that I bought for long training runs and I love it. I can hold way more water than I need and also have my phone and keys. I don't think they make it anymore because I bought it on zulily but this is similar. It is only June and people have been dropping like flies already hiking in AZ. I know sometimes stuff can happen, but I generally don't hike alone and I go early and I try to be prepared. Late Saturday morning my mom brought my nephews over for a swim before lunch. Cameron got to try out his new puddle jumper and he did awesome and seemed to enjoy the freedom. Later that evening we went to church and Everly was wearing a diaper, but told us she had to pee as we were leaving and actually peed on the toilet at church instead of in her diaper. It is really funny how pee can make you so happy when you become a parent. Everly made a lot of progress potty training this past weekend so I am feeling a lot more confident I will only have 1 in diapers come September!!! After church we ate dinner at Desert Ridge and let the babies play in the splashpad. They love it. The next morning we went grocery shopping and hung up a ton of art around the house. We also got a good cleaning done downstairs and it felt really nice to have that done. Apparently that exhausted Everly because at lunch she barely finished her PB&J before passing out in her high chair. We ended the weekend with a nice family dinner at home. Love weekends like that!

Post-hike sillies

Big Boy Cam turns three next Monday!

Being sweet in Church

Splashpad cuties

Always shops with accessories

The wall of keys returns

....zzz

Pioneer Park Splash Pad

Last Monday we took the kids to Pioneer Park Splashpad in Peoria. It was crazy packed but the kids still had fun. It seemed to attract some older kids which I was not a fan of (older kids run fast and run over little kids) and there wasn't a ton of shaded seating close (or if there was, it was taken). It is a cool park and very big and you can go fishing there too, but I am not sure it is a splashpad we will be visiting often. It wasn't far, but it is also not super close either. Regardless, the kids burned some energy off and had fun so it was worth it.

 

He loves watching the big kids

Solo Cups are one of the best toys to bring to a splashpad

Best part of the morning: Cam's buttcrack showing almost the whole time, haha.

Mothers Day 2014

We had originally planned to have a little family breakfast at a new to us restaurant for Mother's Day, but when I realized the Schnepf Farms Peach Festival was also going on, we changed up our plans and decided to head there instead with my sister and her family. I had never been before and had been wanting to go. It is about an hour from us so it is no small trip. We packed up the car early and got to the farm before 8:00 a.m. There was already a line for the Peachy Pancake Breakfast so we decided to go pick some peaches before eating pancakes. We took a little hayride out to the orchards and all 3 kids actually did really great picking peaches and putting them in our box. Teddy was a monster peach eater. He had it all over his face. Everly actually liked it too. I am not a huge peach fan, but they were really good peaches. After we picked peaches we headed back and the kids took a little train ride while I saved our spot in line for breakfast. They pancakes were insane. The pictures don't do it justice. They were bigger in real life. After we ate the kids went on a carousel, checked out some animals, and did some bouncing on a giant air bubble thing (Kim's favorite part). It wasn't too hot out and the kids had a blast which is basically all I wanted for Mother's Day. I love being able to take Everly to do fun things and see new places. We got some pretty awesome pictures too...

 

 

Teddy is crazy and apparently Everly has outgrown that dress.

 

A good family photo (a.k.a. a miracle)

She is the sweetest.

Probably my favorite pic of the day

 

 

Larger in real life.

Belly!!!

 

Waving to papa.

He loves bouncing.

That face.

They don't care about the fact that I want a picture.

Kim said she is putting one in her backyard...haha.