Family Fun

We've had a lot of fun times as a family lately. A couple weeks ago, we met with a friend of mine (who is an amazing photographer); and she took Tara's 2 year photos, as well as some family portraits. I'll have those for you soon, but in the meanwhile...




Tara and I goofing off with the camera later that evening when we got home :)








Last weekend we drove to Alton Baker Park, to enjoy the weather-and arrived to find out that there was a huge event going on. "A Bite of Eugene". Lots of local food, great smells, lots of fun. They had a bounce house for the kids, and Tara went in for the first time. She was a little intimidated, but seemed to enjoy it.





















A couple other photos from that afternoon...





She loves her daddy...









Then yesterday, we went to a mini-carnival for kids. Tara got to eat ice cream, play with some cool animals, jump in a bounce house again, and she even won a kite at a raffle! Here are a couple photos we took~


Tara loved seeing the Mara, and so did I! It's such a beautiful creature...






I was so impressed with the detail on a tortoise shell-it looks like an intricately carved wood design! So amazing...




Tara loved the bird-she kept waving at it saying "Hi bird!" and then laughing :)




Unfortunately, the wind wasn't strong enough yesterday for Tara to have a chance to fly her new kite. But hopefully we can soon! She's been wanting a kite for months now, and she's so excited to finally have one :) We'll have to post pictures when we DO go fly it...Until then~Ciao!

Rip my heart out, why don't ya?

So today, Tara went a little bit longer than usual before she went down for her afternoon nap. Which of course meant that she was more cranky and whiny beforehand. So as I was getting ready to put her down, she was crying, and yelling, and fighting me at every turn. She wanted me to read her a story before nap, but I knew she was way past the point of where she could handle being awake any more. So I told her I'd read her a story when she woke up. That of course made her cry even harder, and I laid her in her bed, stroked her hair, and started to sing to her; hoping she'd calm down. She did, and when she finally stopped crying she turns to me, looks me in the eyes and said "I was very sad." Wow! First time she's ever verbally expressed her emotions, and it ripped my heart out! I wasn't ready for that one...

The love of my life

So I'm always blogging about how cute our little girl is, but I've neglected to declare how much I adore my husband. He is the most amazing man I've ever met, and he deserves the world on a silver platter! I understand perfectly that desire to shout from the rooftops that you're head over heels for your dream guy. I think that unfortunately sometimes in life, even if you don't mean to; you get to a point where you start taking your circumstances, and your loved ones for granted. Of course in the beginning, there's constant sparks, and you feel like your romance is movie-worthy. But I can guarantee that if you've found the right partner, you'll keep having amazing experiences that make you feel like you never left that place...(you know the place I'm talking about-where you make your friends gag with how lovey-dovey you and your mate can get). Well Sean has made our life full of those moments, and sometimes my heart is so full-I can't contain the emotions. Right now, I'm overwhelmed, as I think of how amazing he's always been. He's been a constant in my life, he's my best friend, my sweetheart, my comfort, my personal comedian, daddy to our little girl, and the love of my life. He brings so much richness to everyday experiences, and there's never a dull moment when he's around. I can't begin to put into words how incredible this man is. He's the one who'd hand I love holding through good times, and bad. He's the one who's jokes can make me laugh so hard I can't breathe. I still think his touch is the most amazing thing on this planet, and love that he's the one I get to spend eternity with. I'm so excited that we share our life together, and that we have such an amazing family together. Our little Tara is the light of our lives, and our little angel. We're so excited to meet this new baby also, and to have our lives enriched even more by this new little spirit. I love my family, and am so lucky to have found a guy like Sean! I love you baby...

Fast Learner

So while I was composing the last post, Sean and Tara were right next to me on the couch. While I was writing, she was playing with daddy. We were laughing really hard because she was putting her baby doll on time out for hitting daddy! She did what we did with her too-she went to the baby to take her off time out, but I guess the baby did the same thing a second time; and went right back on time out! haha Can't say Tara's not a quick learner...

"I swear..."

So this morning as we're all about to head out the door to church, I walk towards the bathroom to put on some lotion, and some earrings. I see Tara standing there, and she said "I want to go!". I responded by saying "I know you want to go honey, and we're GOING to go in just a moment here. Mommy needs to grab something first, and then we'll get going-okay?" I headed into the bathroom, and shut the door. I immediately hear Sean cracking up over something. I came out, and he said that after the exchange that Tara and I had, and after I shut the door, apparently Tara was wanting to go to church so bad that when I told her "just a moment" she had a look of utter frustration on her face, and said "I swear."

I couldn't believe it! What a gal...

My honey...

So there's a conversation that takes place quite often in our home now. I thought I'd share it with you...

Tara (upon wanting daddy for something): "Sean!!!"

Me: "That's daddy to you!"

Tara: "Oh honey!!!"

Me: "He's MY honey, and YOUR daddy."

Tara: "Daddy!!!"

Me: "That's better."




*Sigh*

Little Miss Turned 2!!!!

On July 15th, our little girl turned 2 years old!!! We had a birthday party for her, and she had a blast :) And I'm pretty proud of myself-I planned and executed a 2 year old birthday party, while battling morning sickness the whole time. It all came together beautifully though, and she had so much fun. Another point for mom? I baked 2 boxes worth of cupcakes, and a cake-and I never ate a single bite. Yay for me!!! Not that I don't like cake, but I just am really picky about where I get my sugar from, and white cake mix with vanilla frosting is not one of my faves. I had a blast making them though, especially the cupcakes. I wanted a rainbow theme for her party, since the girl LOVES rainbows. So I found a fun recipe for "Colorburst Cupcakes" from a favorite foodie website of mine. It was a blast to make, and a bit involved-but so worth it. Here are some photos I took:










I had to divide the cake batter and dye each portion, then layer a couple tablespoons of each color into each individual cupcake liner. It was time consuming, but a TON of fun. I felt like a kid getting to play with her food :)





Great presentation, if I don't say so myself...lol









And here are some photos from the party :)





Singing "Happy Birthday" to Tara. The wind blew out the candles for her :(






Trying to ride her new tricycle, while holding her cupcake. Which after all my hard work, she ended up having no interest in. She carried it around, but I never saw her take a bite! lol She's picky about sweets just like her mom...














A couple days after her birthday, my mom came by with a huge bunch of balloons for her. She took those balloons with her all over the house, everywhere she went; the balloons went too. So easy to please...

Idaho Trip-Part 3: Birthday cake, pooltime, and playing

So since my sweet mother in law Becky has a birthday on July 3rd, and Tara's was coming up on July 15th; we had a combined birthday celebration. Two cakes, two birthday songs, lots of fun :) I didn't get a photo however, of Becky's cake-because Jake (Sean's brother) loaded up her cake with all 56 candles, and melted the top of the cake! haha So I only have a photo of Tara blowing out her candles, and she was so good at it!



She acts all grown up when she holds a phone, look at the way she's standing! haha


We spent TONS of time picking fresh strawberries out of grandmas strawberry patch. Yummy...















Cousin Rylee



















This girl loves her yogurt...


Tara was teasing Rylee-she kept lifting her leg onto Rylee's lap :)


My beautiful girl...





Peek-a-boo!


On the way to the Boise airport, we stopped by Uncle Jake's work to say goodbye





She was so unbelievably excited about being so close to the airplanes. Every time we got on one, it was all she could talk about. "Airplane!!"

Idaho Trip-Part 2: Yellowstone (Day 2)

More pictures, and OLD FAITHFUL!!! So beautiful...






Lot's of sleeping in the car









Breathtaking!




We saw a couple of people flyfishing





Old Faithful




A beautiful waterfall in the canyon





The only bison I saw





After the four hour car trip back to Burley, this is how we found our daughter...I couldn't help but take a photo :)