Teddy Bears Picnic

A few weeks back, on Father's day actually, Riley had her first ballet recital. To say that I was a proud parent is definitely an understatement. It made my heart swell to see my little ballerina on stage...hair, costume, makeup and all...very serious and performing her dance. She loves to dress up, loves to dance and in general loves to be a little girl.

They performed at the Mt Baker Theater and leading up to her recital, Riley kept exclaiming, "I get to dance on the stage at the Mountain Baker Theater!!!" (as a side note, one of the cuter things that Riley does is call Mt. Baker "Mountain Baker"...this started when Tyler took her skiing last winter) Anyway, she was thrilled at the idea of it and could hardly wait for her big performance.

My parents came up from Seattle and Tyler made us an awesome dinner of homemade bacon & onion hamburgers, homemade sweet potato fries, grilled veggies, green salad and i made this strawberry shortcake for dessert...everything turned out perfect and the dessert was seriously amazing. We had dinner, dessert then went to the show. Riley sat with us during the whole first half of the show as her class was the first act after intermission. It was at least an hour of sitting and she barely moved an inch. She was mesmerized by all the ballerinas and dancers. I was thoroughly enjoying myself as well - I always wished I was a dancer. I hear that the dance studio has classes for adults and that the adults can perform in the shows...watch out...you might just see Kari and I next year on stage dancing in our tutus!

Riley's class danced to The Teddy Bears Picnic song and when it was finally their turn and I got to see her perform it all felt worth it...the classes, the rehearsals, the amount of money I had to continually shell over for this performance...it was so fun and Riley was very proud of herself afterwards too. She did great on stage, although she had about a 10 second moment of completely zoning out and staring into the crowd. Other than that she was right on track and did her dance. We bought her a bouquet of pink carnations and gave them to her afterwards. It was a fun evening...something I know we will do again for years to come.

Sonja ~~ 9 months

Our sweet Sonja Drew turned 9 months old a few weeks back. At her appointment she weighed 17lbs 3.5oz and was 27 3/4 inches long. She continues to be fairly small, but I am worrying about it less and less. She is a pretty good eater - never consumes too much food, but has tried a variety of foods. She tends to like savory rather than sweet. Her favorite so far has been avocado and a recent new love are blueberries. No crawling yet, but she scoots backwards on her tummy and has just started pulling herself up on us when she's in our laps. I still nurse her every 3 hours or so and she wakes up 2-3 times per night. She is still in our room - I don't have a clear plan yet to move her into Riley's room. Most days she takes two good naps per day, so I don't want Sonja sleeping in there and therefore giving Riley no place to play. I'm not worried about it, although some nights I would like to read in bed before I fall asleep. She is as sweet and mellow as can be. She is very curious and seems to be pretty social. She loves engaging with people, although lately if I'm in the room she gets very concerned about where I am and why is she not with me! She simply adores Riley and squeals and laughs at Riley's many antics. Sonja babbles a lot and makes all kinds of noises. She is seriously a delight. We all adore her. Riley told me the other morning, "Mommy I don't never ever ever ever want Sonja to grow up. She is just so cute!"....so true...I feel the same way. Sonja Drew...we love you so.

June Update

It's been over a month since I've posted. Not for lack of things to post...we've definitely been staying busy. Just lack of time, energy and often motivation! Tyler has been in and out of town this month which always causes extra exhaustion. Not to mention my normal exhaustion from taking care of the kids and the house. It often feels like I'm treading water - just doing enough to stay afloat - namely food preparation, serving and cleaning up of said food preparation, dishes and laundry. That about sums up my day....day in and day out. No different from any other mother's life though. But, I do not complain, because I am so blessed to have the health and relationships that I have.

So this last month we have been staying busy doing the norm - naps, lots of playing, walks to parks, playdates with friends and trying to exercise and eat healthy meals. I recently participated in a 30 day food challenge with my gym. It's called whole 30 and you can read about it here. I was very pleased with the results - I lost a significant amount of weight - still have more to go, but it was a great start. But more importantly I felt great. It took lots of preparation and planning, but it became easier as time went on. I plan to implement many aspects of that style of eating into my life. I am reading lots and becoming more and more aware of all that I put into my body and how it affects my health. With cancer so prevalent (and so close to my heart) I am making healthy food a big priority for our family. It is a process and slow journey, but rather exciting, I think!

We also decided a few months back to take our house off the market. After 8 long months of our house being listed and not a single offer, we decided to stay here for a bit longer and see what the market does in another year. It was a hard decision, but I certainly am glad to not have to clean for showings anymore. Since then, and knowing we'll be here for a bit longer, I've been re-arranging and doing some much-needed decorating. I've been slowly changing Riley's room and making it more big-girl and cozy, so I'll be sure to post some pictures when I'm all finished.

A few weeks back my youngest sister Sarah graduated from Roosevelt High School. Click here to read the post I did on my brothers blog. Martha and I made a Mexican fiesta for dinner and overall we had a great night celebrating Sarah's success.

I am working on a few other posts and will hopefully get those up soon!

most days riley is re-arranging our house and playing some variation of "bus, school, house, park, store, etc" with all her animals

i can't remember why the grumpy face, but here riley had just taken her bear on "a magic carpet ride"

usually riley stays in her pj's until late afternoon, when we finally manage to leave the house after sonja's naps. it takes some convincing to get riley out of her pj's...but otherwise she is usually in some sort of dress up costume

i can only convince riley 1x/week to take a bath with her sister...she ends up enjoying it and SHE EVEN LETS ME WASH HER HAIR W/O SCREAMING (this is huge people)

riley is becoming a champ on her glider bike...a real bike w/no training wheels is in her near future

one morning while sonja was napping riley helped me make this simple tea towel apron - she is so happy to finally have her own apron. i made one for myself out of a different tea towel.

one sunny morning riley ate her waffles outside while sonja played and i hung diapers on the line. lately she has been carrying her bear on this necklace aka make-shift sling

this weekend

last friday night was the jr ski to sea parade. some friends came over for a fun and casual backyard happy hour for the moms and hot dogs for the kids. we decorated bikes and strollers and then walked to the start of the parade. we actually marched in the parade, which initially felt kind of silly, but proved to be a very fun experience. the parade ended just blocks from a friends house where we ended the night with a bbq. very, very fun evening. i am so proud of riley too. she rode her skuut/glider bike for over a mile. that was the longest she'd gone. then on sunday we went on another bike ride but this time she rode for 3 miles. we were all so excited. we are getting closer and closer to her riding an actual bike!

saturday morning was picture day at riley's ballet studio. they got to put on their outfits for their upcoming show. it was really difficult to get a cute picture with my phone, but i think you get the idea. cuteness all around.

saturday evening my littlest sister sarah went to her senior prom. she graduates in less than 1 month and is headed to the university of denver in the fall. i am so proud of her!

most of you already know this, but my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in april. one week ago today she had a mastectomy. she was very brave and the surgery was a success. she is at home recovering and resting for a few weeks before she goes back to work to finish up the rest of the school year. a friend picked her up on saturday evening so she could partake in sarah's prom picture night with the other parents. my mom's friend took all these photos for my mom. doesn't my mom look amazing? please keep her in your thoughts - that she will heal and move forward into a cancer-free life. my mom is a very brave and amazing woman.

may 17, our wedding anniversary

on tuesday, may 17 tyler and i celebrated 8 years of marriage. what a joy to be married to someone for 8 years who is a great husband and father and loves me through all the ups and downs. we laugh (rather than cry) about all the adventures/trials we have endured over the past 8 years. i'm so thankful our marriage and love have grown deeper and stronger because of it.

this year we celebrated by sending riley to seattle for the weekend so she could spend time with nana and we could have a quiet, low key weekend at home in bellingham with just sonja. we spent the weekend eating out, doing a little shopping, haircuts for both of us, naps, movies and playing with sonja. it was very relaxing and we are so thankful my family took riley in for the weekend. she had a blast with nana and the crew. in fact, she scowled when i walked in the door to pick her up. i'm so grateful she feels at home at my mom's house. it truly is a second home for her. her weekend was spent picking out a new princess polly pocket and barney movie, friday night pizza and movie night and lots of playing and hanging around.

last friday when i took riley to seattle i met martha and henry at the zoo in the morning. after the zoo we stopped at the park and the kids had fun running around. sonja took a ride on the slide with riley as well as a ride in the swing. riley is a very helpful big sister. sometimes a little too helpful, but we are working on that.

on tuesday, our actual anniversary, we went for a quick spin on our tandem/bike trailer combo. riley had been begging to get the trailer out and go for a ride, so when the sun was out on tuesday i thought it'd be the perfect way to remember tyler's dad (who passed away on our anniversary, 5 years ago). we loaded the kids up and took a quick ride around the neighborhood. it was sonja's first ride in the trailer and she seemed to really like it. i got pretty sentimental as i watched riley in the trailer - i have so many good memories of carting her all around town from the time she was about 6 months old. she has always loved riding in the trailer and now her long legs and tall body can barely fit! i'm hoping she is able to fit all summer long, as it's such a fun and easy way to get around town with the kids.

after we put the kids to bed i made this awesome dinner for tyler and i. it was in last month's sunset magazine and kari made it and said it was really good, so i had to try it. i loved it. i definitely will make it again this summer. we had dinner on the patio in the crisp evening air. it was a great end to a fun celebration.

my two beauty queens

sonja's first...

ride in the swing

tulips

food!

easter

we have been busy around here. mostly just busy with caring for the needs and demands of two small children who are constantly growing and changing and keeping me on my toes (like, literally, i never sit down!). i really can't figure out how to get everything done all the time, so things like blogging and general communication with the outside world tend to be neglected. but we are well and next week riley will be 3 1/2 years and sonja will be 8 months old...it leaves me speechless thinking about it. i am enjoying our fairly non-scheduled life right now, so as to enjoy the most of the simple moments. happy may!