1st splash pad of the season

Today's weather is PERFECT. It is sunny and very warm with just the right amount of breeze. It feels like we are at the beach, without actually being at the beach.
We met up with some friends at the splash pad. I don't think Anya remembers it from last year. She was a little nervous at first but she warmed up quickly. Once she realized she loved it there was no getting her to stop. She ran around in the water for a straight hour. I had to force her to warm up under a towel and drink some water. She cried about it until I let her go back for one last run. She thought the splash pad was the coolest. Well, why wouldn't she when it's just one huge puddle to jump in!

neighbor friends

A couple weeks after bringing Anya home from the hospital a neighbor, Dawn, from across the street came outside to say hi. I was just coming home from running errands and I was just about to get Anya out of the car. Dawn said, did you just have a baby? I said, yes a baby girl. She replied, Oh, I did too.. two months ago! She told me to go to Nini Bambini asap for mom group. I was unsure but I took her advice a few weeks later. It was the best decision. ever. I met more cool moms there than I can count on my fingers. Plus, we found a nice music class to attend as well.
Anyway, now the girls are 2 years old and they are just lovely little personalities. Dawn is a school couselor which means the summers are filled with a lot more neighbor playtime. It is the best to watch the girls play together. The cutest thing is how they can see eachother if they both stand at their own front doors. Our homes are exactly straight across from one another. I never had kids my age in my neighborhood while growing up. I'm so happy Anya gets to have one! Especially this spunky little doll..

sprinkler days

I don't know about this whole sprinkler thing...

Oh a friend wants to go with me?

Watch us go!

Weeeeee

summertime giggles

This is Anya and her friend, Haley, who lives across the street. These two will be sharing a lot of giggles this summer!

How excited am I that I figured out how to make the photos show up nice and large?!

Herman

He still follows us around the house. If we are in Anya's room, so is he. :0)

Anya's favorite sayings

I'll try it and Anya turn.
Where are you?.. also Where is it?.. and I found it!

Okay, lets go!

Yes, please.

Look at me!

I love you too.

Thank you.

Last but not least I can't forget the ever popular.. more milk!

Moments like this are my reward

"Hold on to this moment. Moments like this are my reward."

Rib Fest 2011

Over the weekend we attended the annual rib fest that is held in our town. You have to take a bus there from a parking lot. When Anya saw the bus she immediately was yelling, bus! bus! oh boy! I'll try it! My turn! I had to hold her back from cutting the line. She sat in the seat with a big smile on. She was so proud to be riding a bus. I think it was her favorite part.
She also enjoyed the choo choo train ride at the festival.

We met up with our friends, Tiff, Ski and their daughter, Emily. Anya loved saying, boo!, to Emily to make her laugh. Now she says, boo, every time she sees a picture of her :) We tried a few types of ribs and enjoyed the music.
I love this pic of the guys with Anya..

cheers

On Sunday we had big things to celebrate. It was Fathers Day and I turned 30 years old! We spent the day at my parents house. It was a beautiful day to sit outside with some cocktails, music and food on the grill. I am so thankful for our family. There is no one I would have rather spent my birthday with. :) I am looking forward to these next ten years. I have a feeling it will be the most memorable decade of my life.

Fathers Day

Fatherhood is pretending the present you love most is soap-on-a-rope.

-Bill Cosby

A father carries pictures where his money used to be.
-Anonymous

Any man can be a Father but it takes someone special to be a dad.
-Anne Geddes

The greatest legacy we can leave our children is happy memories.
-Og Mandino

He didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.
-Clarence Budington Kelland

A father leaves his legacy behind with the good hearts and souls of the children he raises.
-Anonymous

Happy Fathers Day to two amazing dads in my life.. my dad and my husband :)

learning to fly

It's funny how we think we have earned our wings of life at certain stages of life. We stand up at a graduation with pride, look into the eyes of our love as we say our vows, hold our own baby for the first time and think, hell yeah I did it.

Life is filled with these moments and it rocks. The beauty of life is that the wind keeps changing which makes us continue to change ourselves. You may be disrupted with news and your world can come crashing down, yet as human beings we are strong. We learn to adjust ourselves inside to find a new way to fly.

Each time the wind changes, so do we. As a mom I have learned that children are continually growing and changing. We think we have it all figured out and they are onto a new milestone, suddenly teaching us more than we knew we had to learn.

Summer is here and we are busy. But, we aren't the running around with our heads out of line busy. We are sunshine, bare feet, picking dandelions, swimming, feeding goats, riding horses, baseball game, kind of busy. In my opinion we are the best kind of busy there can be.

Anya is showing me a new independence. She wants to walk upright up AND down the stairs now. She sometimes doesn't want to hold on to the banister. She doesn't want to sit on my lap at baseball games, and turns to nana and grampy's lap instead. She still runs to me first when she falls but now moves over to daddy for some extra hugs. I am learning to fly all over again with these wonderful changes. I am taking a step back and letting her do it on her own. It's amazing to watch her create her own, special, relationships with others. She is growing her own wings, and learning to fly. We have the coolest friends. Jess and Gracie invited us to meet their horse, Missy. Anya was in love and took her first horse ride! She wasn't the least bit scared.

I love how Anya has her hand on Gracie's shoulder..

Not only did Anya have her first horsie ride.. she had attended her first baseball game too.
She danced, she cheered, she did the wave!!!! She had an absolute blast and so did the rest of us there. Thanks for bringing us, mom and dad. She stayed up way past her bedtime and although she was kind of zoned out by the end, she was still a happy girl.

our little gardener

Anya loves to help me water our plants.


Until she decides to pour the water onto dirt to make mud puddles instead. :p

practice

I am having a blast practicing photography. Good thing I have such a fun subject to get pictures of..