Rainy Nature Center Birthday Party

Parker was invited to his pal, Avery's, birthday party on Saturday.  It was at Westwood Hills Nature Center.  A week prior the weather was looking perfect, but the tides turned and it rained ALL DAY!  We did lots of fun indoor stuff including petting a snake and searching for things in pond water.  Parker participates in his own way, but still had a lot of fun!

We had Costco pizza and a yummy chocolate snake cake made by Avery's mom, aunt, and grandma.

Thanks for inviting us to your awesome party Avery!  Happy Birthday!

Esme's One Year Pictures

We had so much fun in studio with Christy at Rustic Media Photography at the beginning of April.  She had so many great set-ups and these are a few of my favorite shots!

This one is my absolute favorite and will be printed very large and hung somewhere!

Quick Nebraska Trip

My mom, the kids, and I took a quick trip to Nebraska this weekend for some of my cousin's grad parties.  We spent Friday night at my parents so we could easily load up and head out in the morning.  We had a campfire and burned the original Esme tree that dies last year.  She doesn't remember it, but it made me a little sad.  Esme tree 2.0 is budding already, so it should be a winner.

 We got on the road a little later than planned, but still had enough time.  Lunch was at a little Pizza Ranch in Sibley, Iowa.  Parker loved the dessert pizza!  Fun fact: Pizza Ranch franchises are not allowed to have Cactus Bread (aka the best non-chocolate dessert in the world) until they have $45,000 in revenue.  Super bummed, but it was still delicious.

 We strolled around the veteran's memorial to burn off a little energy before finishing the drive.

 Parker has always been an awesome traveler and it seems like Esme is following suit.  She got a little crabby a few times, but that is expected.  We made both trips in 7.5 hours, which is pretty good with  hour long lunch stops.

 The first party was down a bunch of hilly gravel roads.  It's hard to see in this picture, but it is a really gorgeous area.  Most people don't realize Nebraska has parts like this!

 We saw a few family members on my mom's side last summer, but lots of them got to meet Esme for the first time.

 Above with cousin Melissa and below with great aunt Margaret and cousin Carly.

 So many cousins! Melissa, Claire, Megan, Landry, Ellison, Me, Esme, Carly, Felicia.

 We went to visit all the farm animals before heading out Sunday morning.  Parker was saying "puppy" the whole time he was with the sheep.

 Then we found some real puppies.

 Esme was super sweet with the bunny and even "let" the cow lick her hand.

It was a speedy and fun trip that ended perfectly with a twist cone!  I hope we get back again this summer to see some more family.

Esme June - Thirteen Months Old

Esme is 13 months old today.  She is the speediest crawler ever, but also loves to cruise along furniture and with her push toys.  I am guessing that independent walking is just around the corner.  She can reach a lot more stuff now that she can pull to standing so easily as well.  One of the cutest things is how she bee-lines to Parker's snack cup in the afternoon.  He is quick to move it out of her reach now, but can be a great sharer when asked.  She is showing more personality each day which comes with a little sass and attitude (just like her mama!)

She is in all 18 month clothing and is wearing size 3 or 4 shoes.  She is in size 4 diapers during the day and size 5 overnight.  We have completely transitioned to whole milk and she is getting 3 solid meals and several snacks each day.  I think we have finally found a couple of sippy cups that she can drink from well so we are down to one bottle at bedtime, but occasionally give her one during the day if she isn't drinking well from a cup.  She still refuses to hold the cp herself, so that is a skill we are working on.  Self-feeding is going really well.  Her favorite food is bananas, but she also likes mac and cheese, sweet potatoes and cheesy penguin crackers.

She loves to talk and babble and uses lots of different consonant sounds.  She seems to be using "mama" and "dada" more appropriately, but it's not consistent enough to say for sure.  She absolutely loves her big brother (and he loves her too.)  We have started letting them have some snuggle/wrestle/silly time in the evenings and it's my favorite.  They both laugh so hard and have so much fun.

This video is from a couple weeks ago when she was just starting to walk behind her car.  She is a lot faster now.  She also has more room outside to keep going.

Keep growing strong little one!

Playing with Siblings and Friends

It's car watching season!  Parker is 19 months on the left below, Esme is 13 months.  The wonder of our front door isn't as intriguing to Parker anymore so it's fun to see another little person enjoy it.

 They have been playing so nicely together lately.  Parker is getting better at sharing and Esme doesn't seem to mind too much when he takes her stuff.

Esme had her first fat lip last week when a small side table came tumbling down on her.  She cut her lip pretty good so there was some blood and loose skin, but it healed pretty quickly.

 Our ECFE class ended a couple weeks ago, but we got together with a few friends for a playdate on Wednesday night.

Esme and Lily

Truman, Esme, and Lily

Parker and Truman's brother, Avery, became fast friends in sibling care too.

Lots of playdates in store for this fun group, it will be a great summer!

The Great Outdoors

It was a gorgeous sunny weekend and we took full advantage!  We went to Minnehaha Park on Friday night.

 Then it was off to Lake Calhoun Saturday morning for the Great Strides walk for Cystic Fibrosis.  Our friends Brandon and Allie have an adorable son, Carter, who was diagnosed with CF after his newborn screening.  It was a gorgeous 3.1 miles!

We broke out another cute dress for Esme on Sunday, Dr. Seuss "Oh the Places You'll Go."

 We had a friend's birthday party in the afternoon, then headed out to Lake of the Isles in the afternoon.  We were all wipes out (and a little sun-kissed) by Sunday night!  Looking forward to more weekends like these!