Mila Mooskie

She's a girl with many names, and many moods to match!  The only thing consistent in this one's life is her love of food!  Meal time is her favorite time of day and she likes everything from spicy peach salsa from Trader Joe's to the lemon slices out of my iced tea!  She's working on all four eye teeth right now, sleeps past seven every morning, and has decided she absolutely hates bath time!  She won't even sit in the water and completely freaks when it's time to wash her hair.  Cruz always loved his baths, so this phase is a new one for us and has altered our once very peaceful bathtime regimen.  I took the kids to the pool for the first time yesterday and sure enough, her water phobia surfaced there, too.  She was not a fan of getting splashed and not a fan of her swimsuit!  She kept yanking on the straps, pulling it down to flash everyone around her, a look of uncomfortable contempt on her face for most of the afternoon.  She warmed up a little, but was mostly content to sit on the edge with her toes skimming the water, watching her brother hunt for diving sticks.  If only I could read what was going through her mind!  I couldn't decide if I was disappointed she wasn't more of the fish I was expecting her to be, or thankful I didn't have to chase two children in the opposite directions! 

We love our disheveled little princess who most definitely keeps us on our toes and gives us many reasons to laugh every day.  She is one smart cookie, too smart for her own good most days, and she adds such a spark to our lives with her sweetness and spunk.  She loves her daddy, loves her blankie, and loves her accessories, loves to read the same three books over and over again, and loves to listen to music and dance herself dizzy (literally).  Her hair has only gotten curlier as it grows, especially when it's humid outside, and I'm convinced her poor little knees will have permanent scabs on them all summer long.  She gives the best kisses, paired with a big "muah" sound effect, and knows just how to push her mommy's buttons, like when she throws big handfuls of food on the floor and follows it up with a finger point and a "no, no" before I can even respond myself.  But at the end of the day, when she's sticking her toes in my face looking for kisses to mimic the book Ten Little Kisses before bedtime, or sacked out in her crib, with her blanket up by her face and the back of her neck lined with dishwater blonde girls, I smile and realize she is just the little girl God intended for me.  She's gonna be my best friend for life, and she's gonna teach me a few lessons along the way.  For that, I'm sure. :)  

Some pictures I took of Mila at sixteen months...

She's a politician, loves to wave and say "hi" to others, over and over and over again.  Just as proud and as confident as can be. 

"If you're happy and you know it, stomp your feet!"

21/52

"a portrait of each of my children, once each week, in 2015"

Cruz: He was so excited to get outside and play in the water table yesterday.  In pure childlike sincerity, he asked, "Mommy, can I take my shirt off while I play?"  He could hardly contain his excitement, to which I delightfully replied with a freezy pop break.  Summer is here!

Mila: After Cruz whipped his shirt off, Mila looked at me longingly, pulling at her white onesie waiting for my help.  I obliged and watched my kiddos play together in the water table while Beau and I cleaned the garage.  Mila poured bucket after bucket of icy cold hose water down her chest, her diaper growing in weight as her spirits soared.  It's going to be a busy summer chasing these two, but I can't wait to watch Mila experience many of the thrills for the very first time.   

Summer Bucket List Time

One of my favorite pictures of the kiddos from last summer.  Snapped on my phone while waiting for sno-cones outside the pool.  I look at this picture and can smell the chlorine and coconut sunscreen!

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It's almost here, folks!  The start of summertime.  As a student and now teacher, I have always lived for this season of sunshine, for it is a much-needed break from the normal routine that starts to feel a bit heavy after a long, cold winter.  The anticipation is always palpable and for weeks leading up to Memorial Day weekend, our family loves to make plans and dream up simple ways to spend our summer days.  I love looking back at my blog posts from each of our summers, for we have been blessed to travel the four corners of this country on vacations that created unforgettable memories; yet, it's the simple days I cherish most of all.  Watching Cruz devour his first ice cream cone on our back deck, melted ice cream running down his tan chubby fingers.  Picnicking at Alice Wyth Lake and blowing out birthday candles on the dock.  Strolling down Main Street on the perfect summer night, stopping for coffees at Cup of Joe before crossing the bridge to the park.  Planting our first vegetable garden and watching tomato plants grow taller than all of us.  Strawberry picking and picnics afterwards.  For five summers now, I have been carefully crafting some of our favorite ideas into a summer bucket list to help keep us creative throughout the summer months.  It's nothing more than a place for ideas, a fun tradition that I want the kids to help craft with me each summer.  One of my favorite parts of this tradition is looking back at each list and recalling sweet memories from every adventure checked.  The big, the small, and the unexpected adventures that always come out of nowhere.  

Here is our 2015 list.  On here for memories and on a poster on our wall for Cruz to keep us accountable. :)

1. Ride bikes until the sun goes down

2. Read the paper and sip coffee outside on a Saturday morning
3. Sink our toes in the sand on the Florida coast
4. Mumford in Waverly! 
5. Fly a kite with Cruz
6. Picnic at Castle Hill Park
7. Pick flowers with Mila
8. Get burgers and ice cream from La Calle and take a stroll through campus afterwards 
9. Mom and Dad date night
10. Eat fresh seafood on the beach 
11. Donate some books to a neighborhood library
12. Decorate the porch for the Fourth of July

13. Roar with lions and tigers at the zoo
14. Grill pizzas and drink wine on the deck
15. Experiment with homemade flavored lemonades 
16. Cruz and Mom date
17. Go strawberry picking
18. Let the kids get all sorts of sticky with melty ice cream cones
19. Send Cruz to his very first VBS 
20. Plant some shrubs
21. Re-pot all my indoor plants 
22. Eat cotton candy and ride a ferris wheel with Cruz 
23. Road trip to a pizza farm
24. Take Cruz to the Minion Movie in the theater 
25. Bring homemade chocolate chips cookies to Daddy’s office 
26. Borrow books from the library – participate in their summer reading program
27. Make homemade popsicles 
28. Go on a bear hunt in the forest
29. Pack the kids’ lunchies and see where the day takes us 
30. Sip a vanilla bean frappe and chase the kids at the park 
31. Bake a cake
32. Start a new book

33. Sit on the deck and watch a storm roll in

34. Visit the Splash Pad

35. Play hopscotch

36. Watch Cruz play tee ball

37. Ride bikes around Prairie Lakes Park.  Stop to watch the sunset.

38. Explore a city with Beau for our anniversary

39. Eat hot dogs at a baseball game

40. Sip gin and tonics on the front porch after the kids go to bed

41. Hang some lights on our back deck

42. Pack a picnic lunch and eat supper at the pool

43. Run through the sprinklers with the kids

44. Set out a big piece of paper and let the kids paint

45. Make dinner from farmer’s market finds

46. Make iced coffee

47. Pizza picnic at the ballpark

48. Go fishing

49. Eat Pablos outside

50. Catch fireflies in mason jars

Happy happy summer!

  

What a Year Makes

Cruz Man officially made it through his first year of preschool!  He went two afternoons each week and bonded with a small class of ten!  I loved the small class size and the new friends he was able to make this year.  He's perfected how to write his z's, has mastered the scissors, and knows his numbers and most of his letters (those darn n's and m's).  He also learned nursery rhymes this year and lots more about God.  We are so very proud of our Cruz Man and look forward to one more year of learning at a center we are so blessed to be part of.

  

The Nest // Cruz's Room

We've been in our house over two months and we are slowly but surely making this our home.  The boxes are unpacked, we had a successful garage sale this past weekend and sold a lot of house stuff I've updated, and now I'm going room by room, deep cleaning (we live in the middle of a dust bowl) and deciding what to put on walls and how to personalize each space for us.  I'm still determining my style and have discovered it's best to live in the space for awhile to get a feel for what I'm seeing and how I want things to look.  The kiddos' rooms were first on my massive move-in to-do list and I'd say they're both near complete.  They are the only carpeted rooms in the house and while I do love the look of my dark wood floors, I have to say their rooms are my favorite to play in.  They're cozy, soft, and functional, and each represents just who they are right now. 

Come in on to Cruz's superhero room... :)

And some more progress as of late.  Ferns, stripes, and painted terra cotta pots have completed our front porch.  Now if only we could get us some grass! 

A new shag rug and worn leather ottoman have added to our living space.

Lighting does wonders for a room.  Love the lamp light in Mila's room. 

Our back deck will likely be our haven while we await our lawn to grow.  The steps just recently became home to another inhabitant, a mama robin and three perfectly blue eggs.  Not sure how she decided to build her nest in a construction zone, but she's sure to be away from predators up there (minus Mila, of course).