Baby Photos and Chubby Toddler Legs

I just have to share some of the amazing newborn lifestyle photos my amazing friend took a couple months. She lives an hour and a half away, but was so nice to come and visit us. I haven't seen her since she took McKinlee's newborns 4 years ago, so it was fun to catch up. I really wanted a light airy lifestyle session because with 3 kids 3 and under I needed easy. I wanted to capture the happy and fun of our day to day, and that's exactly what we got. I am so happy with all of them!

Haley put a few more in her blog post and you can see them here. Eden is already 3 months old now and she's changed so much! I am so happy we decided to get these pictures to freeze that short time in our lives.

Easter Baskets on a Budget

It's not a secret that we are on a student budget right now. It has been a fun challenge to make holidays as special as I want them to be. The girls are young, so I know they won't remember too much, but I will always remember if I let a holiday slip away. I tend to hold on to things-- every embarrassing moment I've experienced since 2nd grade usually comes to me as I try to fall asleep. It's fine. 

So back to the baskets... This year I'm going small with the actual basket and I found these adorable plastic ones at Target. Nearby I found adorable monogram letters that happened to match the colors I picked out. I thought it would personalize them nicely, and McKinlee is all about letters. She is also all about dinosaurs for some reason, so when I saw this cute little dig kit for $3 I had to snatch it up. In fact, almost everything in their baskets this year is from the dollar section at Target. Isn't that what it's for?? The bubbles were an obvious choice and the crayon kit seemed like the perfect answer for our church bag needs. A good friend of ours also dropped off a pot of flowers and McKinlee has LOVED watching the flowers bloom. I picked up these little growing kits for each of the girls and I think it will be a fun activity to look forward to. We may end up buying Strawberries and placing them on dirt if nothing grows, but hey- at least she'll have the excitement! The hats were the final piece and I debated between them and some bunny ears (or these really pretty ones if I weren't on a budget ;) but I figured the hats would probably last longer in our home.
  

Because we're going small on the baskets, we also decided it's time to get a game for McKinlee. I think she's ready for an organized sit down game we can play together. She loves this one, but we ended up going with Ker Plunk. I can't wait to see her face Sunday morning. I live for holiday mornings!

What are your traditions for baskets? Do you have any or do you switch it up every year? We'll see what sticks with us next year. Have a wonderful weekend!

Pancake Day

Happy National Pancake day! Don't forget to go grab some free pancakes at IHOP today. Since we live a little too far from one, we will be celebrating at home with breakfast for dinner. Who doesn't love that? You can check out our favorite pancake recipe here, or some other recipes I'm dying to try here.

Oh What Do You Do in the Winter Time?

It has been snowing like crazy here and it won't go away! I haven't been as fun as I could be with McKinlee, because to be honest... I've been exhausted! Luckily this girl is starting to be better at independent play. She was pretty proud of her pile of books that she put in her chair. By the way, after seeing how much she loved sitting in my niece's bouncer on our visit to Chicago, Stafford dug out our old bouncer and McKinlee has been sitting in it nonstop! 

Something else we've been getting pretty good at is pillow forts. McKinlee loves them and we love them even more more daddy comes home right in time to turn it into a pillow fight. 

We've also been able to venture out and enjoy reading time at our local Barnes & Noble. They have the cutest kids area and it's a great place to go for a half hour or so when we need a break from the apartment.

Something I was able to do for myself was my very first vendor show. I had so much fun getting ready for it and then setting it up! Sometimes I don't give myself enough credit for my little shop. I enjoy it and Stafford loves that it's something fun for me to do. I don't think he loves the mess it makes in our tiny home, but I'll get better at that ;)

And there's our last couple weeks in pictures! We have so much coming up with the holidays that it's nice to have this little break beforehand. I hope you had a great weekend!

Sick Days

If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I have been down with an ear infection and major cold.  It has been a long rough week and I am just ready to get back to normal! I don't usually go rushing to the doctor for any little thing, but I knew that my ear probably needed a little more than just ibuprofen.

Swallowing pills isn't the easiest thing for me, so in the hospital after giving birth the nurses taught me this trick. I now crush up any huge pill and put it in applesauce. Problem solved. Besides all of my coughing, sore throat, and ear pain, my little baby girl is keeping me quite entertained (even with her sad little hives). Every day she gets more and more personality. We've had lots of play time where mommy gets to sit (or lay) and watch. It's like she understands that I need some rest time. I love it.

This is what our week has looked like. And now as a reward for being such a nice girl, Stafford is taking McKinlee to our ward's daddy daughter campout. They're only going for dinner and smores, but I know that M will love it! Happy Friday!

Our Summer in Pictures

If you didn't know, Stafford had an internship in Washington this summer and that's where we've been! We stayed with my family and got to party non stop basically.  Ok well at least McKinlee and I got to party non stop while this hunk of man went to work everyday.

Our summer was full of county fair milkshakes, petting zoos, campfires & s'mores, carnivals, swimming and lots of playtime with M's aunts. I was so grateful to have my family around. It's different going home as an adult with a family of my own. I totally revert to my daughter state of mind and happily let my mom cook for me and fold my laundry. M absolutely loved playing with grandma and helping grandpa water the lawn after work. She learned so much this summer and grew like crazy! More on that in her 19 month update in a few days.

In the middle of our summer we were able to take a trip to Arizona to see Stafford's family. We went to a Diamondbacks game and played with M's cousins. She was in heaven with all those younger kids! After our trip to AZ we stopped by my grandparent's town to celebrate the town's history. I've never seen that little town so full of people!

This summer was full of family bonding time. My little sisters are 10 years younger than me, so being able to be home for long periods of time gives me a taste of what it would've been like to grow up with them. My favorite thing to do with my little sisters is to have a spa night complete with mani's or pedi's and a homemade (gross smelling) face mask. This one was a real crowd pleaser! Haha I hope your summer was absolutely wonderful...  And now for FALL!

Moisturizing Face Mask:

     - 1/4 cup yogurt
     - 2 TBS honey
     - 1/2 mashed banana

Leave on for 5-10 minutes then wash off with warm water. Enjoy!

Our 4th of July

We had such a fun day complete with too much food and plenty of sun! We're in Washington for the summer for Stafford's internship and we're staying with my parents. We went to the church for a pancake breakfast, then played, then napped, then played some more. My parents put up a little kiddie pool for McKinlee to play in and she LOVED it! Stafford grilled up ribs and some delicious chicken kabobs my mom made. We had corn on the cob, baked beans, Au Gratin potatoes, brussel sprouts, angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream, and brownies. Needless to say, no one left the table hungry. We finished off the day with sparklers and the neighborhood firework show. McKinlee liked the sparklers a little too much I think. She was pretty comfortable with holding them and waving them around. Luckily daddy was holding her and kept her flailing arms away from hair, eyes, and other important facial features. We laid out a blanket for the firework show and McKinlee was sweet enough to give everyone some cuddle time. She loved looking up in the sky and dancing to the music.
We had a great weekend and are looking forward to packing up for Arizona next week... Arizona in July... why did we do that?! Then it's off to Nevada for a short trip and back to Washington to finish out the summer. I am so grateful to spend this summer with our families! I know someday we won't be students anymore and it will be harder to get away. I'll take it while I can!

swimsuit: old, similar here / headband  

How was your Fourth? Do you have any traditions with your littles?? I love to hear what other mamas do :)

Easter Recap

I'm getting so good at keeping up with holiday posts! -Not. Our Easter was really laid back this year. We didn't even dye eggs! With finals coming up for Stafford, me having a nanny job for a little bit, 4 April birthdays to shop for and celebrate (and another on Cinco de Mayo), Easter came up a little too fast! I did spend the night before filling eggs and baskets for my loves- some of those eggs are still missing by the way. We had Pull-Aparts and a sausage/egg casserole for breakfast then relaxed until church.

Dress: Camilla (Marshalls) /  Headband / Shoes

This little lady LOVED the Magna Doodle that the Easter bunny brought for her. She plays with it every day and doesn't get sick of it. I love that she'll sit down and put it on her lap with her little toes peeking out of the other side.

It was a beautiful day and very relaxing which let us focus on the messages at church. He is risen! I am grateful for that knowledge and grateful that because of our Lord and Savior I can be with my cute little family for eternity.