Bear Lake Birthday Bash

With a family as big as mine, it is getting harder and harder to get everyone all together. Everyone's own families are growing and life continues to get busier for all of us. With my Dad having a milestone birthday to celebrate this year, my mom decided it was the perfect excuse for a real, good old-fashioned FAMILY REUNION!! It had been 5 years since we had done a retreat like this, far too long!!

My mom found an amazing cabin overlooking Bear Lake and it could not have been more perfect!! A 9000+ sqft playhouse... fully equipped with indoor and outdoor slides from one level to the next, a theatre room, indoor sport court, putting green, trampoline, playhouse, swings, teeter totters, pool and ping pong tables and nearly everything in between. It could not have been more perfect for the 35+ of us and it could not have come equipped with a more incredible view!!

Leah was is heaven with the constant attention of all of her favorite people and things to do all.day.long. She loved all of her playtime with cousins and spent all day every day going full force... whether it was practicing her golf swing, playing with the bazillions of balls, swinging on swings, sliding on slides, jumping on the trampoline or just playing with her little besties and new to her toys.... she loved every single minute of it!

  

As for the rest of us... we took full advantage of the kiddies being pre-occupied and did plenty of lounging, pampering, eating and game play ourselves. It was so much fun to have everyone there, totally relaxed and settled in with no where else to be.

Of course the highlight of the weekend was celebrating the guest of honor.... 

my awesome dad!!

My mom, sisters and I had spent several months leading up to his birthday putting together a special book in his honor. It included submissions, memories, letters and tributes from all of his siblings, kids, grandkids, even great grandkids and my mom, of course. It was a look back at all he has accomplished in his life and the impact that he has had on all of us. It was a ridiculous amount of work, but so incredible to have a life sketch of such an amazing man. It is a book that I will treasure forever. I was so excited to finally give it to him and see his reaction. I was not disappointed. :)

 And here he is with all of his littlest admirers... his 3 youngest grandkids and all of his great grandkids. 

This picture makes me so happy. 

These little people are so lucky to have such an amazing grandpa and papa!!

I hope we don't have to wait another 5 years before doing this again!! It was perfect in every way. 

Happy Birthday Papa!!

***

"The love of family is life's greatest blessing."

-unknown

"You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them."

-Desmond Tutu

Dads, Heros and Loves

I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection.

- Sigmund Freud

Daddy:
a son's first hero
a daughter's first love

He is also MY hero and the love of MY life. 

I knew that I loved him before, but it was nothing like the way I love him as I see him as a father to my precious baby girl. And oh how excited and humbled I am for a little boy who will have such an incredible example to look up to and learn from.

These precious little souls are so lucky to get YOU!!

I love you!!

♥♥♥♥♥

And to my own daddy...

A dad is someone who

wants to catch you before you fall

but instead picks you up,

brushes you off,

and lets you try again. 

A dad is someone who

wants to keep you from making mistakes

but instead lets you find your own way,

even though his heart breaks in silence

when you get hurt. 

A dad is someone who

holds you when you cry,

scolds you when you break the rules,

shines with pride when you succeed,

and has faith in you even when you fail...

- Unknown

Not only has he been the best dad and one of the greatest influences in my life, but he is the best papa in the world! Not only does he love and watch over my littlemiss.... but he also loves and watches over all of her babies and loves. Sweet, pure love!

Happy Father's Day!!

Kindermusik

I have gotten a bit behind on posts and have so many things to catch up on.... the first of which is KINDERMUSIK!

We successfully completed our first year and loved every single minute of it! 

It was so fun to see Leah progress and get more comfortable in this kind of environment. When we started, she was a little 10 month old that didn't know what to think and seemed a bit overwhelmed, but by the time we finished the year, she was an active 19 month old... running around the room, dancing, playing and loving it all!!

Leah on her very first day of class.
September 2011

Leah and her BFF Sawyer on their first day.... ALL business and totally unsure if they liked it!!

And here they are on the last day... ALL smiles and ALL grown up! Love these two!

Leah and the amazing Miss Anna! We couldn't possibly love her any more!!
May 2012

2012 Class Picture
(missing lots of friends this day)

 We are already looking forward to the next class up this fall and enjoying some fun, Kindermusik summer playdates in the meantime!

Weekending 101

The older I get, the less I like tacking another year onto my age....however, it doesn't suck to have a birthday that always falls on a long holiday weekend!! If I play my cards right, I can usually get close to a solid week of celebrating in! :)

This year was no exception! My how-to tutorial would look a little something like this...

lunch with loved ones, birthday cake, creme brulee cupcakes (or 4) with friends, snuggling new babies, oodles of Thai take-out, lazy mornings, Ikea & Downeast stroll (and a mister saying "just buy it so I don't have to come back here), Mexican Food, the still on-going Baby Bee countdown/watch/wait 2012, Pedis and FroYo with besties, Brunch @ Silver Fork Lodge with some favorite friends (and being okay with a toddler eating a container of jam straight with a spoon... it's that kind of weekend), afternoon naps, staying up late watching movies, morning walks with my pals, treats left on my porch, calls, messages, texts, thoughtful gifts and visits from friends and loved ones, lunch dates, paying tribute to loved ones who have gone on without us, golfing with my love and our awesome new caddy/partner, feeding/chasing ducks @ Sugarhouse Park, dinner at The Dodo (patio dining, artichoke pie, fresh gazpacho and key lime pie is the perfect kick-off to summer), and getting a jumpstart on a new playroom, nursery and big girl room (It's going to be an exciting year around here)!!

Indeed, I would call it a success!!

(save the lack of pictures from so much of it!)

half way cooked...

 It's still a little hard to believe that we really have another baby on the way and even harder to believe that we have already reached the half-way mark. We have been anxiously counting down the days to the big reveal in order to find out what flavor of baby we've been baking!! 

The  results are in and it looks like the ingredients we're dealing with are...

slugs and snails and puppy dogs' tails!!

Littlemiss is getting a baby BROTHER!!!

I don't think we could possibly be more over the moon excited!! (although we would have been either way) 

However, I have a lot of learning to do about baby boys!! (and shopping too!!)

We especially loved this little "I'm #1" shot that he gave us... it sort of looked like he might already be practicing for this?? (or maybe scolding us.... a little hard to say which. Maybe he's just already a little cocky!)

Regardless.... we are madly and deeply in love with this little man already and can't wait to meet him!!

Leah is still not so sure.... but we hope she'll come around.

***

"A boy's best friend is his mother."
-- Joseph Stefano

I can't wait to be his mama!!

xox

lately. around here.

 Oh Spring! Oh how we love you!! The weather these last couple of weeks has been spectacular, much more like summer, in fact. We finally got downtown to check out City Creek and while we were at it, we enjoyed some time at one of my very favorite springtime spots... the grounds at Temple Square. The tulips, daffodils and poppies were in full bloom and it was beautiful!! Leah loved running around, smelling the flowers and checking out the cute little duck that was hanging out at the reflection pond.

        

We met her bff Sawyer there and she was already swooning, flirting and trying to get him to hold her hand. He was a little more coy about showing his affection for her.

I tell you what.... this littlemiss is ALL girl and could prove to be trouble if we're not careful in how we play our cards! :)

LJ and her daddy have spent plenty of time together lately!! There's not many places she'd rather be than hanging out with Dada... especially if there is a game on. She is our little budding sports fan... and already seems to know the right times to cheer!!

We are already facing our fair share of toddler tantrums around here... from only wanting cookies for dinner to wanting Elle (Agga) to take a bath with her. Some of our parental negotiations and stands have been successful... others not so much. As you can see.... Daddy totally caved to those big brown eyes and let Elle take a bath. Although I didn't think he should have given in to her demands, I admire his problem solving and keeping his girl happy!! She wasn't sure what to think at first.... but in the end, the tears stopped and she was pretty pleased.

Leah is getting to be such a "helper". She wants to be right underfoot no matter what I am doing. She loves to do laundry and especially loves to help in the kitchen. Anytime I am cooking or wearing an apron, she wants to have her apron on too. She is obsessed with her matching doll and is fascinated that she has a twin! 

We have been fully engulfed in pom-poms around here this past month as we prepared for one of my besties baby shower!! We wanted Mama G & Baby Bee to have the bestest party there ever was! It was a smashing success and now the final countdown to her arrival is on!! 

LJ is still totally into dressing up and baby-play. She is almost always carrying around some kind of purse and some kind of baby or stuffed animal. I find her "babies" lined up on the stairs, having naps (nigh-nigh) in the cabinets and watching over her while she sleeps. I ♥ this girlie girl!

She is so fun and playful. I will find her sitting in her old baby bathtub, pretending it's a car or sitting in a laundry basket or storage bin and just yesterday... standing up in her emptied out bottom drawer, yelling for "help". She is really good at getting into things... and far less confident when it comes to getting back out or getting down. She has recently discovered climbing up into the office chair and working at the computer... just like mama! Although between nighttime and naps, she sleeps 15+ hours a day... man, oh man, is she a handful those other 9 hours! 

We have started wearing pigs!! 

Although her hair is still as crazy as ever and barely long enough... her mowhawk is finally partially  long enough to stick a pony in. It's big news and exciting stuff around here. Now... we're just trying to decide if we keep the mullet or trim it?!?

In between all of the fun that we've been having with the littlemiss... CJ and I have been able to sneak in a few date nights lately. Thanks to Auntie Gogo for coming and having some sleepovers, we snuck off to the Jazz-Phoenix game the other night and my amazingly talented nephew's school play last night. Both kept us up long past our usual bedtime... but both were totally worth it!!

And now for a look ahead to a few things we are looking forward to this next month:

Jazz playoff run (who woulda thought?!), the return of Sunday dinners at the park, making our summer bucket list, finding out what flavor of baby we're cooking (just a few more weeks), playing more tennis with my new racket, new babies being born, planting our garden, getting ready for Grandpa's birthday reunion, trip to Wheeler Farm with cousins, more trips to City Creek, sno-cones, watermelon and lots of outdoor grilling. 

Happy Easter...

18 months in and we're finally getting pretty good at these timered family portraits, especially Littlemiss! 

Leah got to enjoy her very first day of nursery today, which she l.o.v.e.d. She barely batted an eye when we finally left her and didn't seem anywhere near ready to leave when I went back to pick her up. 

I can't believe what a big girl she is now.

After lunch at Grandma & Grandpa Johnson's, a way-to-short nap and a handful of afternoon meltdowns.... she finally cheered up enough to enjoy a few surprises and an Easter Egg Hunt...

That was the edited, very condensed version....

If you happen to be a grandma, a close relative or if you just really, really like us, you may be interested in the full, unedited version... she got the hang of things pretty fast and was so much fun! 

*****

I am so humbled and thankful for my little growing family this beautiful Easter Sunday and even more importantly for the sweet, tender reminders I've had today of what we are really celebrating...

He absolutely lives!

*****

Happy Easter!

eighteen

...months old, that is.

Hard to believe that another half year has flown by. I find myself having panic attacks and nightmares where I wake up and she's already eighteen.... years old, that is. I am constantly in awe of how quickly time traipses along... even when the hours and days sometimes seem to drag.

Mostly I stand in awe of this amazing, sweet, curious, silly, happy, playful and adorable little human being that continues to grow and develop and change before my very eyes. She is at such a fun stage, I can't get enough of her... I know that I've felt that about every stage, but right now is particularly fun as her personality is developing so much and her curiosity about everything around her is at an all new high. I relish the opportunity to see and experience the world through her eyes and notice things that I long ago stopped noticing on a regular basis, whether it's a barking dog outside, bugs on the ground, a loud noisy truck or fire engine, literally stopping to smell the flowers, birds in the sky, the wind blowing through the trees, windchimes spinning or making music or even something as unimportant as hats on people's heads. She watches and observes everything and she is fascinated by the world around her and I couldn't love it anymore!!

Leah's first trip to Blickenstaffs. She was obsessed with the cart just her size and found plenty of treasures to fill it!

She is finally walking.... like really walking. She seems to have finally given up crawling and now prefers to be vertical, something I was beginning to think might never happen. She still toddles and looks adorable, though I know it won't be long until she's running. 

This littlemiss is all girl. From the moment she wakes up, she is getting into drawers (both mine and her's) looking for things to dress up in. She is particularly fond of hats, purses and necklaces. (It's all about the accessories, I suppose) She makes me giggle and swoon when she comes toddling out with sweaters half way on, multiple hats, necklaces as deep as Mr T, some kind of purse and often a baby in hand. 

♥

Yes, that's a swimsuit on her head and yes, that's what she wore while watching General Conference.

She has recently become so engulfed in all of her babies and stuffed animals. She is always dragging several around, cradling them and giving them loves. She especially likes them to take naps. 

She likes to put a blanket on the floor and lay them all down, giving binkies to some, often times covering some with her little blankies, reads them books and then gives them all "nigh-nigh" kisses. It's so fascinating (and ridiculously cute) to watch her pretend and play.

We've been spending as much time as possible outside as the weather has permitted. We are loving Spring so far and expect to log a lot more miles on the stroller in the coming months.

She is still babbling non-stop and seems to pick up new words every day. She currently and clearly says dada, mama, papa, mama(gma), gaga(jojo), wa-wa (water), nigh-nigh, all done, apple, nana (banana), dis(this) and plenty of other random babblings. She knows nearly all of her body parts and what they do (smell, listen, blink, etc). She knows several animal sounds and is learning more all the time. She just learned the actions to "EensyWeensySpider" and she has now finally mastered a handful signs and is especially good at her please and thank yous. :)

(AND...we somehow have her convinced that everyone, including her, has a baby in their stomach. :( not sure how we missed the boat on that one)

I can't believe what a big girl she is becoming. She is happy, playful and social. She is an amazing sleeper, a mediocre eater (I hear it's normal for her age) and just has a sweet-natured disposition. Chris and I regularly lay in bed, reminiscing about how smitten we are with her or funny things she's done and wonder how we ever got so lucky. We said the other night that if we are blessed with another baby that is even half as cool as this one.... we will officially be the luckiest people on the planet!! ♥

 In honor of her half birthday yesterday, we celebrated last night by making this for dinner (omg... so good, so easy and good for you to boot) and capped it off with delicious celebratory cupcakes from Tulie.

We really, really love birthdays (and cupcakes) around here!

Happy Half-Birthday Littlemiss LJ!!

You are, without a doubt, the best thing that has ever happened to us. ♥

***

18 month stats:

Height: 31 inches (15th percentile)

Weight: 22.13 lbs (18th percentile)

Head Circumference: 18.9 inches (75th percentile)

It seems like she's a bit petite, but with a good head on her shoulders. Not a bad way to be! ;)