Viv's Birthday: The Butterfly Conservatory

I can't believe it's taken me so long to finish Viv's birthday posts! 

Ugh!

I haven't even planned her birthday party yet. 

Double ugh. 

The same day that we were at The Strong Museum for her birthday we decided that she was probably old enough to enjoy the butterfly conservatory (inside of the museum).

We've been wanting to take her during our other trips but knew she wouldn't care much and we didn't want to spend the $8 to go through if we would have to just leave right away because Viv was too antsy.

I am so glad we went this time!

Viv was in awe and had magic in her eyes the entire time. 

We were the only ones there which was really, really nice.

The butterflies flew around Viv and kept landing on her arms and in her hair. 

She giggled the whole time!

I wore Penny in my sling and she kept reaching out to try and touch the butterflies as they flew by.

We loved watching the girls in such wonder.

Viv's Birthday: The Strong Museum of Play

For Vivienne's birthday (the day after, actually) we decided to get out of the house for the first time in months!

With the girls being so sick and it being such a terrible winter, we haven't gone anywhere as a family besides to visit family or to run errands. 

The girls were starting to feel normal this week so we took them to the Strong Museum in the city. 

I know I've posted pictures of trips there multiple times already, but when it's cold and snowy, there's not too much else to do around here! 

Viv was so excited to go to her favorite place for her birthday and to get her energy out! 

Every time we would tell her it was her birthday she would jump up and down and scream "yay!!"

She was such a thrilled little birthday lady. 

We loved watching her light up with joy and excitement. 

Even though we've been to this museum multiple times with her, she's older each time and it's really cool to see how she's growing and developing every time we go.

Now, let's talk about Penny for one second. 

I can't even begin to tell you how incredible this girl is. 

Both of our girls never cease to amaze us and make us fall even more in love with them. 

This was the first real interactive place she's been since she's been old enough to care about what's going on around her. 

She had SO much fun watching, listening, and playing!

I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am for springtime!

Now that Penny and Viv get alone so great and Penny can keep up with her sister, things are just going to be so much fun! 

I cannot wait. 

This season of life for us, and for the girls is the most beautiful time of our lives. 

Tomorrow I'll be back sharing our trip to the Butterfly Conservatory at the museum! 

XO. 

Another 2nd Birthday Post

Viv's birthday was pretty laid back.
We're throwing her a big party at the end of the month, since everyone seems to be suffering from different bugs and sicknesses.
So for her actual birthday we just stayed home and celebrated!
I got up before she did and did a little decorating and blew up some balloons.
Then I made her pink, heart shaped vegan pancakes with sprinkles and coconut whipped cream!

I sang Happy Birthday to her about 20 times throughout the day.
It excited her so much and I loved it!
I love that she knew that it was a special day for her!

In the afternoon one of her friends came over to play.
They played with Margaret, dressed up like fairies and danced around, and drew pretty pictures together.
I made them veggie pizzas for dinner and Josh brought home Viv's favorite ice cream sandwiches!
It was a simple day, but it was so, so special.

She's 2!

I know it's what everyone always says, but I cannot even wrap my head around the fact that Viv turned two yesterday! 

Where does the time go?!

Time is such a weird thing.

It goes so slow.

It goes all too fast. 

Though now, in this time of my life, it only passes too quickly. 

It's a funny thing how children make life go by so much faster.

The days are so full and they pass with only a blink. 

It feels like only yesterday I was rocking this girl to sleep as a tiny babe. 

Now she's speaking and having opinions of her own. 

I am so proud of this beautiful soul. 

She's a special one, that's for sure.

She is feisty and opinionated.

She is kind and generous. 

She is loving and nurturing. 

 She is adventurous and fearless. 

She is devoted and loyal.

This girl,

the one who made me Mama,

she never ceases to teach me new things every single day.

She is my light and an incredible happiness in my life.

Happy Birthday Week, my Vivy. 

XO.

Oh! 

And...for those of you who don't follow me on Instagram and have been overwhelmed with photos, we got Viv a kitten for her birthday! 

She is the sweetest little doll I've ever met.

Her name is Margaret Prue and she is our Sweet Love. 

Guest Posting Today!

I'm so thrilled to be sharing my breastfeeding journey today over at Danielle's blog Miss Verse!

Danielle is such an inspiring woman to me and I just adore her so much. 

I've had the privilege to get to know her for awhile now through Sakura Bloom and I'm just smitten with her and her family!

Jill started this "adventures in breastfeeding" project a while ago and then Danielle took over the project. 

I've been following since the beginning and seeing all the beautiful women's stories have inspired and encouraged me so much. 

There is such a comfort in knowing and reading about women who are on the same path as you, and hearing their stories is so uplifting. 

I hope you stop over to Miss Verse and get to know Dani and her beautiful family!

XO.

This New Year

With the start of this new year I wanted to get motivated to start blogging regularly again. 

I've been blogging for 3.5 years now but I've always been a lazy blogger. I'll have months where I will post almost every day and then I'll have a month or two where I don't even think about it. I feel like blogging is so important in my life though. It's hard for me to keep written record of things, so this place is where I can look back on my kids growing up.With this new year I want to stay current with keeping up with our family's adventures - even just the little daily things. I want to remember and share the things that inspire me in this time of my life. I want to remember who I was when I was twenty two years old. 

With this new year I have so many things that I want to accomplish and many things I want to work on as a wife and as a mother but also for myself. I want to practice patience and kindness with everyone I interact with. I want to give my husband and my children all of myself - I want to be present in these short, precious moments. I want to travel, even if it's close by. I want to create and learn and push myself to be the best that I can be. I want to love unconditionally and have no fear of doing the things I love. 

My theme for this new year is life. I want to breathe in the everyday and live fully even in the smallest moments. I don't want to hold back. I want my children to be free and to enjoy this beautiful, fleeting life.  

I know I'm a little late, but what are your hopes and goals for this new year?

2013 Year In Review!

I know, I am so behind on this but I didn't want time to slip away and not have done this post. 

-- Here is our 2011 and 2012 --

I really love these "year in review" posts - it really gives such a great flashback and it's always nice to look back on memories without scrolling through different albums. 

I never can believe how fast a year goes by, and they go by faster with each child.

My mom always says that time isn't supposed to go by fast when you're young...it's supposed to be slow because before you know it, it's over.

We had an incredible, incredible year in 2013.

Our family once again grew in number and we celebrated so many new successes. 

We grew in love and in faith.

We had struggles and heartaches.

We focused on the beauty and the details of this life.

We grasped little fingers and held on tight and breathed in the love and the innocence.

Here is our 2013 recap!

January:

January was a bit of a slow month. 

It's always the hardest month - the holidays are over and it's just snow for what seems like a lifetime.

The biggest thing that happened in January for us was finding out that we were going to have another sweet baby girl! I will never forget the feeling that overcame me when I found out that I was going to have another beautiful daughter. My whole life I had dreamed of raising daughters - I was over the moon. 

February:

February started out with a bang - Viv turned 1! 

I planned and threw together a small family party the night before using things that I grabbed at the dollar tree and Walmart at 9pm. We weren't planning on doing anything huge, just cake with family, but I ended up feeling bad that I didn't decorate and stayed up all night making the house magical for her! 

The rest of the month was pretty slow since it was still cold and snowy but we made the most of it and made sure to go to a few different museums and spent a lot of time snuggled inside with friends.

March:

March was an amazing month!

We started it out by taking our yearly trip to Florida with Josh's family. We always the best time ever with them and visiting all Josh's family that lives down there - it's definitely my favorite time of the year! March was also filled with a lot of Easter parties! We spent Easter with both our families, went to church for sunrise service, and I made a huge dinner the day after. My brother and sister-in-law were in town too which made it even more special. The weather slowly started to get decent so we started to get outside more and kick our cabin fever!

April:

April was that perfect springtime month. The sun was warm and the flowers were blooming!

We spent every spare second outside in the sun. 

We went to the zoo, discovered new parks, explored the city, had picnics at the beach. 

April was just what we needed after a long cold winter!

May:

May was another gorgeous month.

Viv loved spending time outside with the grass between her toes and dirt on her knees.

We spent the month waiting and preparing to welcome Penny into the world and making sure that Viv got loads of special time and attention. 

June:

June was the best month of our year for obvious reasons! 

Penny was (and is) the absolute most perfect addition to our little family. 

Bringing her home and getting to know her was our greatest gift.

July:

July is always our fun-in-the-sun month.

We basked in the sunshine every chance we got. 

We celebrated The Fourth with all of our friends and family, we swam anywhere and everywhere we could, we went to the county fair, and we even went to my old hometown to ride the carousel.

July was magic.

August:

In August we went on another beautiful vacation with Josh's family. We stayed in a cute little college on a sparkling lake nearby. 

We spent a lot of time at the beach this month too - swimming and running free.

Josh and I turned 22.

And we also became Aunt and Uncle! 

September:

In September we spent time going to different animal farms and enjoying the last of the warm days. 

October:

October of course was for pumpkins, cider, and beautiful leaves.

The crispness in the air was so refreshing.

November:

November was fabulous!

We moved into our new, beautiful home!

Josh got settled into the schedule of his new job, we did lots of fun projects for the house, and we even had Thanksgiving here! 

It was an incredibly memorable month for us all. 

December:

December went by the quickest, as it usually does, with all it's magic and busyness.

We had so many friends over, we baked cookies, we watched movies, we played in the snow, we drank hot cocoa. 

Christmas went by much too quickly but was beautiful and magical.