The Best of... Spring 2015 edition

I am so behind with this blog... Tiegan maybe has MORE pictures of her than the others since I am constantly taking pics of her with my phone, but I never get my big camera out and I have yet to blog about her monthly updates or milestones (I'm sorry T, Mommy loves you sooo much though!).  So here is the most random assortment of pictures from our lovely spring...!

Many Monday evenings whichever of us who got to take Lainey to dance, would grab a quick dinner with her afterwards and before bible study.  This particular night was IHOP (kids eat free on Mondays!).  This girl inherited her mother's love of going out to eat.  She'll typically say and repeat something like, "This is so fun!" the whole time you're out to eat.  The one on one time is so sweet too.

Tiegan has and continues to love the water and her bath time.  She requires more frequent baths with all of that hair too!

Easter was so fun this year.  We hit a few different egg hunts, decorated eggs and did Resurrection eggs with the kids too.

Easter Sunday

With the nicer weather, we are loving getting outside and enjoying many parks.  There is a baseball complex near our house that is jam packed on many week nights and weekends but during the weekdays it's totally dead so we take advantage of the playground in the middle of all of the fields.

I love this baby and I wish I could hold her and snuggle her all day long.  She is not a high maintinence baby who NEEDS held very often but I sure do love to steal my snuggles whenever I can.

My dark eyed girls!  They are still absolutely smitten with each other.  Their love is so mutual and so lovely to watch grow.

One night as I was feeding Tiegan before bed, Lainey waltzed in with her sound machine (we rely heavily on those things around here) and said that she didn't need hers anymore and Tiegan could have it.  It was the most precious thing - she was so genuine and sweet about it.  She is such a fabulous big sister.

We registered Lainey for a spring soccer league through the city of Des Moines Parks and Rec largely because it was held right down the street from our house and Jed said he would coach.

I don't think soccer is in her future but she sure looked cute and I think she still had fun.  I couldn't believe even at this age, the difference in athletic abilities and intensity between boys and girls!

The cutest greeters at church!

We hit one of our favorite spring spots at the peak of lilac blooming season and it was so glorious!  The kids frolicked around the most giant lilac bushes and T and I followed and sniffed the blooms!

I love my little crew!

Lainey invited her friend Mia to "bring a friend week" at ballet.  It's funny to watch 3 year olds be friends.  These girls are 4 weeks apart and have been friends since birth!

We enjoyed a homeschool field trip with many other church friends a few weeks ago to a farm!  The weather was awesome and the kids loved it!

Tiegan...not so impressed.

Wyatt loved it most of all I'd say.

Sometimes I have just my littles at home and I love watching Wyatt really own his big brother role during those times.  Lainey, as the oldest, typically just runs the show when she's around but Wy is such a different kid when she's gone.  He LOVES his baby Tiegan and really truly is gentle and sweet to her.

I love baking (and much prefer it to cooking) and while it's typically easier, faster and less messy to just do it myself, I want to include the kids and let that be something they remember about their mom.  They are great at dumping in ingredients, getting started stirring things and helping me set the timer.  Oh and especially at licking the beater/spoons and watching things bake in the oven!

Spring was so wonderful and we are excited as summer is just getting started!

Easter

We had a fabulous time celebrating Easter this year.  I loved that it was later this year.  It doesn't feel much like Easter when you're practically wearing winter coats like we were last year.

We started our celebrating this year with making resurrection rolls!

We just dipped marshmallows in melted butter, then a cinnamon/sugar/brown sugar mixture then wrapped them in crescent rolls and then dipped and rolled them the same way.  They turned out perfect and Lainey was in awe of the empty tomb!

Saturday we went to an Easter Egg Hunt at Walnut Creek in Windsor Heights.

They did a nice job putting the event together.  Older kids were outside and kids 3 and under were inside.

Wyatt was slow and meticulous about his egg gathering.  He examined each egg he put in his basket.

They had face painting and a bounce house too!  Way fun!

That afternoon, we headed to my Grandma Charlotte's in Knoxville for some fam time!

My Grandma lives next to a farm pasture and they have horses.  We have to search for the horses every time we go there and most of the time, they come down to the fence, which is always a hit.

Easter Sunday we went to church and then had brunch at my house with my parents after.

After naps, it was too beautiful to stay inside.  Jed is training for Dam to Dam so he needed to get a long run in.  He ran to Gray's Lake, we drove and walked one lap while he ran one lap then we played for awhile at the playground.

I can hardly believe it's getting to be tank tops and shorts weather!

We finished off the day with a trip to Orange Leaf for dinner for a snack, naturally.

We had a great weekend celebrating our risen Savior!

Weekend Recap

There was nothing particularly exceptional about this weekend, it was pretty normal, but we had a great weekend as a family.  Busyness so often gets in the way of taking time to enjoy family moments. 

Every once in awhile I start thinking about how quickly time is passing and how fast kids grow up.  It's one of those cliche's everyone says but you don't really understand until you're experiencing it for yourself.  I think with the nice weather we're FINALLY getting, we're finally getting outside more, and it made me think about the last time we had nice weather and played outside, which was before Wyatt was born.  Lainey was just slowly and carefully toddling around the yard last fall with me waddling after her :)  Now, she's talking like crazy, running, pointing out a million things and exploring every inch of the yard and sidewalk.  And Wyatt... he was just hanging out in my belly, kicking my insides like crazy.  Now, he's smiling, babbling, grabbing his toes, giggling and growing like a weed!

We started out the weekend with a quick visit to Jed's work to say hello and bring some treats.

Like she owns the place...

Enjoying some snacks on the porch Saturday morning.

Such a fun and silly girl!  Mom's new shoes are Lainey approved!

Lainey has to check on "her" flowers at least once per day!

My little stud.  He was a rock star with some nap (re)training this weekend.  With being sick last month and then having a slight fever and general sadness with teething (I think) last week, we had some regression in his sleeping but we are back on track.  He even out-napped his big sis today.

We did a bunch of cleaning and rearranging on Saturday so now Lainey's little table is in the kitchen.  I had to document her bedhead Sunday morning.  It was particularly amazing.

I love capturing these sweet moments with these two!

Grandma and Grandpa Johnson stopped for a quick visit and spent Sunday afternoon and evening with us.  They always have fun surprises in tow and this visit was no exception.

Dad's old Lincoln Logs.  I'm pretty sure Jed was more excited about it than Lainey was.  He built a giant tower and of course, Lainey got to knock it down.

First time playing in the sandbox!  We were given this turtle sandbox by our neighbors who moved last summer.  Lainey was still in the "put everything in my mouth" stage last fall so we hadn't tried it yet.  She had a blast and was totally filthy.  I have a feeling we'll be needing more frequent baths during the summer... :)

My wild haired girl.  She loves peeking in and out of the windows and doors of the play house.

Children are such a blessing!  Family is such a blessing!

Numbers...

Lots of random numbers and countdowns floating around in my head these days...

• 5 ... number of toppings on the Papa John's pizza we enjoyed for my birthday dinner!  It could not have tasted more delicious!
• 34 ... number of weeks baby boy #2 has been cooking in my belly which means...
• 6 ... (approximate) number of weeks until our family is a FAMILY OF 4!  Definitely getting ready.  I'm so thankful but I have a lot of the typical sleepless nights and swollen legs and feet.  Ready to snuggle our boy (and my organs are ready to not get bumped and kicked all day and night long).
• 28 ... the age I am as of today!  I honestly forget how old I am most days and sometimes I still think I'm 24 but, sure enough, I was born in 1984 and it is 2012, which means today I am 28!
• 30 ... number of miles from our house to Center Grove Orchard in Cambridge!  Jed took today off of work for my birthday so we could have a whole family day and take Lainey to the apple orchard!  It was such a perfect fall day.  I think she'll like it even more next year but we had a really fun time together.  The highlight was definitely the corn pool!  We of course had to take advantage and take some pictures...

Before we left, Lainey wasn't sure all of the excitement that lay ahead could trump her teething pain...Poor thing!  Unrelated note, look at our beautiful tree in our front yard - love the leaves changing color.  Not so much when they actually fall... 

I love these two...

Had to make another stop in the corn pool before we left...

So blessed and thankful that I got to celebrate my birthday with my two loves!  It was a fabulous day!  Excited to see what year 28 brings!