Father's Day 2021

Happy Father's Day to all the good dad's out there! The whole "Dad" role has been a tricky one for Larry and me. I didn't even meet my biological dad until I was 21. I had father figures in my life, but it's not always the same. Larry has had a very complicated relationship with his father, one that has lead to them having no contact with each other these days. Because of all this we both have made it a goal to make sure our girls know what having a dad means. We have pretty high expectations and Larry meets them every time. He's a GREAT father and I get choked up seeing him be to them what I had always wanted growing up.

This year, as per our tradition, we let Larry choose what he wanted to do. I had gotten him a couple gifts (one was supposed to be for his birthday, but I just couldn't wait so he got them both this weekend). One was a game console that had all the other consoles and a bunch of games for each of the consoles. It was the gift I thought might not be as exciting, but we found a ton of games from our childhood that were on it and we both had fun looking through it. 

I also got Larry a 3D printer with some black and white ink (my mom got him a few other colors so he could have more fun with it). He seemed to be pretty excited about that.

We started the weekend with cashing some checks and getting Larry some fun spending money. We also did a hike up to Battle Creek Falls. It was a pretty hike, where we even got to witness some guys repelling down the mountain by the waterfall, but I didn't make Cara take a nap before hand so she got SASSY! She was DONE before we even got to the waterfall. 

Larry wanted to do go to Tucano's for dinner, but they had such a long wait, we did Costa Vida instead (way less wait and we'll just hit up Tucano's for his birthday). We also flew some kites and played some basketball and made some raspberry lemon muffins with a glaze. 

Overall, it was a super busy weekend with lots of fun and exhaustion and I hope Larry knows how much we love him and appreciate him as a daddy (he does SO much for the girls all day long, every day).

Lucy is Twelve Months!

   I am TWELVE months old!

 

I like: practicing walking with the sit to stand walker, being held and going around with mom or dad, eating new foods, playing with her sisters.

I dislike: strangers (still...poor 2020 baby), being put down when she wants to be moved around, and still not getting food quickly enough.

I am now: still in 9 months (almost 12 month clothes) and size 3 diapers. At her doctor appointment she was 18 lbs and  inches long.

A Typical Day looks like: 

We usually wake her up around 7:40 ish

 

7:45 ish I give her some cereal (or oatmeal) to feed herself with her probiotic and change her bum. After she finishes that she'll crawl around and play with whatever is near her or wait for Cara to come visit her. Dad will lotion her up and put clothes on at some point after I head up to work (around 8:15)

10 -11  nap time in her crib

11-12 Up from nap and around 11:30 we'll do lunch. She'll get spaghetti O's, chicken nuggets, etc. Might give her some veggie straws or chips with it.

12 - 12:30 play time (sitting, crawling, playing, etc.)

12:30-2:30 nap time.

2:30-4:50 Up from nap, mini snack, and play time for a bit and then Dad takes her downstairs around 4:15 to workout and mom will rescue her at 4:30 (when I'm done with work) and play with her for a bit. Or have her help me make dinner.

5:30 - 6 we do dinner. She gets some of our food or a scrambled egg (if she can't chew up the food we have.

6-7 doing whatever for the night (aka free/play time)

7-7:45 we start our show for the night (if we're not still out doing our activity for the night. At 7:05 she gets her last snack of the night and just relax at this point. If it's bath night (Sunday and Thursday for her), that starts at 7:30 ish

7:45 get ready for bed. We change her diaper, put cream (lotion/vaseline/etc.) on her dry spots, put on pajamas, take her upstairs, read a book, lay her down and give her the binky.

This Month: we had a lot of fun celebrating Lucy's last month as a baby. She is getting to be more adventurous, not a ton, but now that she's getting closer to walking she's okay being put down more.

And she is getting closer to walking. She loves just randomly standing without supporting herself and just standing. She'll sometimes take a couple steps so I think she'll be walking almost any day now. I can't wait either - it might just mean she'll be way more okay being on her own. But I'm sure once she walks she'll get to running very quickly.

Update on last month's goals:

• First Birthday: Went off without a hitch! It was a pricier than other birthdays, but very much worth it. See this post about party details.
  
  
• More walking practice: she's getting closer, but not walking yet. But we do practice quite a bit.
  
  
• Enjoy the summer and get in the water more: we are getting out so much more and I'm having a great summer with my kiddos!
  

Lucy's Birthday Party

For the first time in our history of being parents we threw a first birthday party ON the actual first birthday. This made it a busy busy day though!

To start we had to do our family pictures. We went to Camera Shy in Daybreak (we were hoping to do it at Gardner Village, but they were booked up) and it was quick and painless. The girls did great (Lucy didn't smile, but she hardly cried as well) and the shots turned out amazing (I can't get over how adorable Cara and Gwen look with curled hair)!

I mean...can you even??

We then headed over to Gardner Village. I promised to get the girls a candy at the candy shop for doing so great with pictures. So after we did that we went and fed the ducks some duck food we got from the candy shop as well. Then we met up with my family for lunch at Archibald's. Larry took the girls back to the house for nap time while I did some store browsing with the family (since my mom was visiting it was a nice girl's day).

After that we went home to rally the kids and get ready for the party. Larry took the girls to the playground and I grabbed the food and cake. It took a BUNCH of driving around, but luckily by the time we got to the party almost everyone was there and having fun mingling.

We were able to get the food out, have everyone eat, eat some cake (and do the smash cake tradition with the most beautiful cake!), and open gifts. The best part was we had a company bring a pony for little kid rides and a couple bunnies for everyone to pet. They were so cute and the kids seemed to LOVE doing pony rides. 

Overall we had such a great party. It was everything I could ask for and want! Lucy did have some stranger danger moments, but got over them quickly. I had a lot of fun talking to everyone that came and catching up. And we got quite a bit of goodies. Everyone said the cake was really good, but we didn't get to try any so that's too bad. 

Memorial Day 2021

I never knew Memorial Day weekend could be so fun! Let me also say, the original plan for our weekend was to go on hikes, go to our pool, hit up Costco (since next weekend I have to clean for my mom's visit and Lucy's birthday), organize our outdoor toys, and any other outdoor fun we can squeeze in.

What ended up happening was we started going to Costco on Saturday and while there just happened to see they had a playground set we had been eyeing for weeks, but was always out of stock. They only had about 3 sets and there were quite a few people oohing and aahing over it so I felt pressure to get it right then and there. Unfortunately, we had all kids with us and had no way of getting it to our house. So as we checked out I asked an employee if we could buy it now and they would hold it until we could come back with an empty car to get it. Once they agreed to hold it until the end of the day we rushed home, unpacked what we did buy, clear out the van, and Larry ran back to get the set while I got lunch ready.

 

We ended spending a bulk of the weekend having Larry build the playground set. From sun up to dinner time he was busy building while I took care of the girls.

Of course the backs of my legs would get burned

Saturday, while the girls napped I went to see A Quiet Place 2 in theaters. It was a really great movie. And after dinner we ended up walking over to a nearby snow cone shack and got us all snow cones. The walk was a bit longer than I thought it would be so my feet ended up being REALLY sore (and still are), but the girls loved the snow cones and it was a fun activity.

Sunday and Monday, to help distract the girls after nap time, I set up the water table and our unicorn mini pool. Since the sun takes over our entire backyard from 11 till 8 and it was SO hot I figured the water would be good for them.

While I thought we'd have a pretty low key, borderline boring compared to other people Memorial Day Weekend, it ended up being one of the most fun weekend! We didn't get to go on any hikes or to the pool, but the girls got a bomb playground! It isn't finished yet, but we're SO close to getting it done. The girls are going to have such a great summer with this playground and now that our neighborhood pool is officially open and it's so warm we're going to have a GREAT time!!

So excited for their playground!