Happy Birthday!

HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY LILY!

We love you more than words.

Asparagus pickin'

(Backtracking a few weeks, back to Kansas)

Nanny and Lily ventured out to the asparagus 'farm' a few times while we were home.

Searching, picking, placing in the bucket, then finally weighing and 

paying was quite the adventure for our city girl!

 Too bad she wouldn't actually eat the asparagus she harvested.  

But no worries, her mama more than made up for her lack of effort!  Yummy!

Last day of school

I can't believe Lily had her last day of preschool.

It seems like just last week, it was the middle of August.

She had a great year, loved her teachers, 

learned lots of fun new things, and made some great friends.

She'll be back in the fall for the 3's program and is already excited!

1st day of school

Last day of school

Lily-ism's

~You are my mommy, and when the baby comes, I will be his Mommy.  
Maybe we could share the baby and both take care of him? 
NO! I don't want to share my baby. 


~Lily, you can talk to the baby in Mommy's tummy.  
Hiiii baby!...Mommy, he didn't talk back to me.  
Well, he is too little to talk back to you.  
That's right Mommy, because babies only say WAHHHH!


~I'm my baby's Mommy, so I'm my baby's boss.  Just like Mommy is my boss.


~Daddy, you are a good driver, right?  
That's right Lily.  
Yeah, that means you are a BOY driver!

~Oh, wait a second...I have an idea!...
(Often said when trying to negotiate after being told she couldn't do something)


~My legs are tired, I just need to rest them for a bit.  
(Said twice this week, she then crawled into bed, and slept for almost three hours). 

It's summertime

With temperatures already in the low 100's, 
we've been spending lots of time in our swimming gear! 

28 weeks

the outtakes....what a photo shoot in our house is really like

~I've officially entered the third trimester and still have done absolutely nothing to prepare for this baby.  Hopefully 'nesting' will kick in soon, and I'll get my bum into gear!
~Lily has moved into her big girl bed.  She slept in a regular bed at Nanny's house and called to tell Ryan she wanted to sleep in one at her house.  So the first night we were home, we tried.  Easiest transition ever...makes up for the horrors of potty training, I guess!
~We often find Lily 'reading' in her bed after she's supposed to be asleep.  She doesn't make a peep and completely entertains herself until she is tired.  Sounds a lot like her mama, who can't fall asleep until she's read in bed. 
~Lily still calls the baby 'George' and gets seriously mad if you suggest otherwise.  The nickname just might stick as we now all refer to the baby as 'George'.  
~The past weekend was the perfect birthday/Mother's Day weekend.  Perfect in that it was a fairly typical weekend, but just seemed extra sweet.  We spent lots of time as a little family - swimming, traditional Saturday morning Starbucks, Sunday brunch, etc.  Plus Ryan surprised me with a babysitter and date night - he definitely knows the way to my heart.  If I could dine out every night, I would!  :)

Blooming flowers

At preschool, Lily and friends have been learning all about planting and growing flowers.  Which is ironic in the fact that we live in the desert and the only plants blooming right now are cactus flowers.  However, this has sparked a strong interest in gardening, and Nanny was thrilled to oblige.

a morning stroll to the nursery

picking out her flowers

thrilled with her purchases

"Nanny, flowers needs lots of water and sunshine"

planting

and watering

I love the simple pleasures of childhood and am so thankful for Nanny who takes time and lots (and lots) of patience doing such fun activities with Lily. 

A horse, of course

Before leaving on our trip, Lily kept talking about three things...

...seeing Grandpa's motorcycle, his tractor, and his horse, of course.

She was not disappointed!

Grandpa let her feed the horse a yummy snack of hay.

She was a bit nervous at first, but with Grandpa helping, ended up very brave.

I love that Lily was able to spend some time in the country with two of her favorite people. 

Such a fantastic contrast to our suburban life in Arizona!