Summery Weekend

We had a GORGEOUS warm weekend which makes me so excited for summer.....swimming, grilling, eating outside, staying up a little later!

Our Saturday started off with Braydon's 4th birthday party at Funtastic!  The party was at 11 am and Lane went down for a nap at about 10:15 am so he and I stayed home.  They sent the sweetest party favor home for him though with his own little sippy cup.  So very sweet of them to think of the little brother!

All ready to party!

Lyla and Leah

Leah and Brooklyn

Leah making sure that Braydon knew which present was from her!  Braydon likes "creepy" toys (his words) so that's exactly what we got him!  A creepy remote control snake!  He loved it!

The whole gang!

While Daddy and Sister were away, Mommy was on mission "you will take a bottle"!  I'm determined to get this boy to take a bottle ever so often!  I picked up some Tommee Tippees on Friday and let him practice with the nipple (like a pacifier)!  Today (Sunday) Daddy gave him one of the new bottles and he did okay.  He drank about an ounce but seemed to play with it more than anything!  He thinks it's some kind of toy!

Daddy and Sister brought Mommy some Chipotle home for lunch and then we hung out in the backyard for a bit!  Daddy and Leah started washing down all of the patio furniture to get it ready for the summer!

Saturday night we were off to a 35th surprise birthday party, but I forgot to take a single picture.  Leah ate her weight in black olives there!  At one point I couldn't find her, but soon found her shoes just inside the back door (we were outside and she had gone in.....I'm proud of her for taking off her shoes EVERY time she went inside even though not necessary at the party.....some habits are hard to break!) and she was making herself a bowl full of olives from the nacho bar!  She proceeded to eat TWO bowls full of sliced black olives!

Today the 3 L's got the patio all put back together with the clean furniture while I had a girl's afternoon and went to watch The Hunger Games (I thought the movie was great, now I can't wait to start the second book)!  Somebody couldn't wait to see their mama when she got home!

I don't have near enough pics of me and my Bubs so I took it upon myself while we were bathing a mermaid!

The Mermaid!  Sister's on a new kick of wearing every single swimsuit that she owns at some point throughout each and every day.  Some days we even have swimsuit fashion shows!  I stopped washing them every day a long time ago otherwise I would never be caught up on laundry!  She has now decided to bathe in her swimsuits.  Ahhhhhh memories!  And yes, she's a mermaid with a mermaid tail!  Bubs hung out on the bath mat while I washed the mermaid's hair!

We enjoyed our first dinner of the year outside!  I look forward to a summer full of this!  Dinner was delicious.....grilled porkchops (marinated in Dale's), pasta salad (it was supposed to be orzo but I forgot to write that on the grocery list, whoops!) and zesty Italian potatoes from Pinterest (they were AMAZING)!  All three of us made happy plates!  :)

Tonight Leah played mailma'am.....not mailman, but mailma'am!  We had to ask her several times what she was saying because we just thought she was pronouncing mailman wrong!  Nope, she knew exactly what she was saying!  It's obvious that we've been practicing alot on yes/no ma'am and yes/no sir!  She was writing us lots and lots of letters to mail!  And yes, she's wearing yet another swimsuit!

There must've been a shift break at the post office because suddenly the mailma'am disappeared and returned wearing her other fashion statement as of late.....layered jammies!  She added some high heels for her mailing duties tonight!

The little man was entertained with the tag on the Boppy while I pretended to sleep so that the mailma'am could deliver my mail!

Then the mailma'am decided she needed a hat on too!

Finally it was time to put this sleepy little guy to bed!

Modern Technology

God bless modern technology!  It saves me countless trips to check on a sleeping baby when he makes even the slightest of noises, but most importantly it allows two sweet babies to see and talk to their Daddy when he's 2700 miles away!

Squash

He's a fan just like his Mama!!!!!  This boy might be eating us out of house and home before too long!!!!!

While The Daddies Are Away

On Sunday we loaded up the MDX and headed to Folsom for the day to hang out with Lindsay, Hudson and Zoe!  Jason is a furniture sales rep as well so he's in North Carolina for market too!  Lindsay and I thought it would be fun to tag team the parental duties while the Daddies were away!  We had tons of fun!  We got there early and stayed late even getting baths out of the way before we drove home!  Leah and Zoe play so well together and Hudson and Lane took turns napping and eating!  Fun times for sure!  I took the most random pictures for some reason!  I must be sleep deprived!

These two are going to be great buddies one day just like their sissies!

This quiet peaceful moment lasted all of 35 seconds!

The girls were playing movie theatre!  Bubbs wanted in on it too!

Nana Came To Town

I really and truly do not know what I would do without my family!  Luke goes to market four times a year (once a quarter, alternating between Vegas and North Carolina for 5-10 days each time).  EACH AND EVERY SINGLE TIME (minus maybe one or two and once Leah and I went to Texas instead with my dad flying out to fly back with us) that he has gone to market someone from my family comes out to stay with us.....either my mom, dad or sister and sometimes Mimi comes too!  They have never once asked if I needed help while Luke was away, they just automatically ask when he's going to be gone next and volunteer to come out and stay with us knowing that we're here all alone while Luke's across the country working.  I don't think that I will ever be able to thank them enough.  My parents still work, so they use all of their vacation days to be with their grandkids.....Leah, Lane and Caroline.  I feel so bad that they fly back and forth so much, but my mom told me once that she knows these babies are only little once and will grow up way too fast and that they would never let money, time or distance hold them back from loving on these sweet grandbabies especially during their very early years.  You don't get this time or these memories back!  This is exactly the kind of grandparent I want to be someday!  They love Luke to pieces, but him being gone is just one more excuse to get to see these pumpkins!  We are very blessed in the fact that even though we live so far away, we have already seen my family a combination of four times since January with plans already in the works for June!  I could not ask for any better arrangement than that!  We don't plan on living in California forever so we plan fun adventures when they're here too.....San Francisco, Tahoe both in the winter and summer, Santa Cruz and we have plans for Yosemite this summer!  We're checking off our "California Bucket List" one trip at a time!  I know that I don't thank my family enough for all that they do for my sweet babies, so THANK YOU once again!

All this to say.....Luke is away in North Carolina this week and we were very excited that Nana came out to stay with us!  She helped us out a TON!  She drove Luke's car home from the airport (saving us $29/day), cooked us breakfast, lunch and dinner each day, helped with laundry, put Leah to bed each night and came and took Lane each morning so that I could sleep in ALL WITHOUT ASKING!  And of course she watched Laney Bug while Sister and I were on our field trip!  I had been itching to make Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls so one day we got the kitchen totally turned upside down and whipped up 9 pans of cinnamon rolls!  I had some very happy neighbors that day!  (And thank goodness the cleaning ladies come tomorrow.....the butter spots on the floor are starting to drive me crazy)!

Back to the ALL WITHOUT ASKING part.....after my friend Lindsay had her baby boy, Hudson, last May she really opened my eyes up to something and totally changed my approach on truly helping others.  It was a time that she needed help, but didn't know how to ask for it and honestly didn't want to ask for help.  The people who helped her the most were those who did so without asking.....just emptying the dishwasher, taking out the trash, buying groceries, bringing dinner, walking their dog all without even asking if they could.  These are the moments that she still talks about to this day that got her through a rough few months of adjusting to her new "normal".  There are moments in our lives where we don't need people to ask us if they can help us or what they can do for us.  Some moments require us to just jump in and do things to help each other out.  Too many times we ask people "Can I help you?" and the answer is almost always "No thanks" because we don't want to feel like a burden to others.  There are times in our lives when we need people to help us and to just do things without asking.  Had my mom asked me if she could take him in the morning I would have said no (not wanting to feel like a burden to her very early in the morning) but she would just come in my room when she heard him wake up and take him so that I could sleep in!  To me, this is the true meaning of "help".....doing something that you know needs to be done without asking.  Same thing with laundry.....had she asked me if she could do it for me I would have said "no" not wanting to bother her with that while she was here.  Instead, I was greeted with "the sheets are all washed and the bed is made ready for your next guest!"  Moments like this, although so simple, mean so very much!  Again, thank you Mom!

After we took Nana to the airport, we came home and cleaned out closets!  Fun, fun!  I had the most adorable little "helpers" indeed (although their idea of helping is the exact opposite of what I just mentioned)!  Ha!

And then we played in our very favorite spot on the couch!  I'll miss this when Laney Bug really starts moving!  Right now he'll sit on the couch and play for minutes on end with his toys (all supervised of course)!

 Sister was looking pretty tired since she was up so early to take Nana to the airport!  Of course, not tired enough to nap though!  That would turn her 9:30 bedtime into midnight bedtime!

Peas

Somebody got their first taste of veggies tonight.....peas to be exact!  They were a hit!  My sweet baby boy just keeps growing and growing!  I promise not to blog each and every single time the boy tries a new food, but his Daddy is in North Carolina this week and I don't want him to miss a thing!

Field Trip To The Dairy

Yesterday was Leah's all school field trip to the dairy (or farm as I keep calling it)!  We got to go on a hay ride, watch cows being milked, see and feed baby cows, goats, baby chicks, baby kittens, touch a cold milk tank, make a picture frame and have a picnic lunch!  It was so much fun although we came home covered in a layer of dirt (or so it seems)!  Mama's a city girl, but I survived the field trip to the farm!  Next year,though, I think Daddy should go instead!  Ha!  We're already looking forward to the next field trip in just a couple of weeks!  The whole family gets to go on that one!

Almost all the gang ready to start the field trip!  The dairy was so kind and provided shirts for each child, a craft activity, chocolate milk, a fancy sack lunch and ice cream for dessert!  We will most definitely be sending a very special "thank you" to them!

Our first "rotation" was to the petting zoo!  First up.....feeding the goats tortilla chips!  Leah wanted nothing to do with this!  In her defense, the goats were a little agressive trying to get those chips!  A couple other moms were trying to make her feel better by telling her they were just like dogs!  Um.....she fears dogs so this was no help whatsoever!  This girl's just like her mama when it comes to animals!  We prefer the kind under water and behind glass!

She enjoyed the pigs, baby chicks and baby kittens who were all "contained" much much better!

Time for a hay ride where we got up close and personal with some cows!  Moooooooo!!!!!

Class pic after the hay ride!

Craft time!

Time for the milking station!  This is where the kiddos got to drink chocolate milk while watching the cows get milked!

Yummy chocolate milk from the cows (that's what we told them anyway)!  Poor Leah rubbed sunscreen in her eyes so she wasn't the happiest of campers here, but she sure did enjoy her chocolate milk!

At the maternal pen.  (I think this is what they called it!)  In here was a brand new baby (just born yesterday afternoon), his mama and a couple of mama-to-be's.  One was ready to pop today or tomorrow!

Next up.....the cold tanks where the milk is stored until the milk trucks come to pick it up!  A truck just happened to pull in while we were there!  Of course, all of the kiddos had to touch the tank to see that it really was cold!

Time to see all the baby cows!  These were actually pretty cute (although a little stinky)!  Each calf was in it's own little "crib".  Too cute!  We even got to try to feed them with a bottle!  Some cows were much hungrier than others!

We ended our field trip with a picnic lunch, ice cream, a game of princesses and knights in shining armor with Leah deeming herself the dragon and picking purple flowers!  All in all, our very first field trip was a success!

As for Bubbs and Nana, they had a wonderful morning together!  I was gone from 8:30 am until about 2:30 pm (one of the longest stretches that I've been away from the boy who won't take a bottle) and he did great!  Nana has the magic touch!  She kept me updated with lots of pictures!  He took two naps, ate cereal when he got hungry and was as happy and content as can be!  Who needs a bottle!