Some Times In Our Lives

To say that we have been busy, may be the understatement of the year. I have been trying to update the blog for over two months now, and it always seems to be the last thing on my to-do list, but the one thing I want to do the most.

I'm trying to cut myself some slack for being so behind, after all I do have two kids, a husband who works full-time and is a part-time student (at least for the summer), and I have been busy becoming a doula (and attending my first two births) and getting into a graduate program in counseling! On top of that, Maddie has had all of her regular appointments, plus a couple extra, the cat got an ingrown dew claw, we started cloth diapering, I threw a baby shower, there was a trip home, and friends and family who visited, Aiden finished his first year of preschool and Maddie started not only crawling on her knees, but pulling up on everything and cruising, which is constantly keeping me on my toes. Now, I'm busy starting a graduate assistantship, planning another trip home, an overnight getaway to Bloomington for our 7th anniversary, and a certain someone's 4th birthday party... I'm exhausted just thinking of all of it!

But, now that June is here things seem to be slowing down (slightly), and I have a little time to catch up.

So, where to start?

Maddie's on the move these days. She's into everything, and getting stuck everywhere!

Here are a few pictures from Easter. I meant to have an entire post dedicated to each of these events, but... well, you know.

Maddie's first time on the swings

Eagle Creek Park... We have a picture somewhere of Me, Dad, Barb and Tom when Tom and I where little in front of this tree stump.

We met up with my friend Lindsay and her kids, Lilly and Jack, while we were home. We're at the Earth Discovery Center at Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis.

The infamous Easter Bunny Cake!

My brother and his family came over to Granddad's house for an Easter Egg Hunt.

Aiden and my niece, Cali.

Uncle Austin took all the kids for a ride on his skateboard... BEST UNCLE EVER!! The kids LOVED it. I'm not sure he knew what he was signing up for though, because the kids didn't want to stop!

Enjoying the Easter Bunny Cake

I LOVE this picture of the 3 of them!

My BFF, Lindsay, and her family came to Pittsburgh to visit. We had a blast, and Aiden just LOVED hanging out with Lilly. He cried when we had to say goodbye... and so did I. But, while they were here we went to the Children's Museum and the Zoo. It really made me wish we lived closer to them and that we were able to do things like this more often!

Princess Lilly in the castle. I love her pose!

Aiden showing Bryan the video about how to make construction paper. I think they FINALLY made it through the entire video before someone came up and hit a button to change it to another video, something Aiden's been trying to accomplish for years!

Lindsay climbing the rope ladder.

Maddie and Jack chillin' in the strollers. Maddie's wishing I had brought her Sophie the Giraffe to chew on.

There were some disagreements over who's whale this was, Lilly's patiently waiting her turn. 

We waited over an hour while everyone else ate lunch to have this Spiderman mask painted on... this cute, shy smile was worth it. Did I mention he's now obsessed with Spiderman?

The baby shower. Our good friends Jake and Alyssa are having a baby girl at the end of July! So of course we needed to throw them a shower. The theme corresponded with her blog: What Was Old... An exploration of simple living.

We had everyone bring a retro or recycled toy for Baby Melby individually and went it on a couple bigger items as a group. I also got a bunch of used onesies at Once Upon a Child, and had the guests use (mostly) scrap fabric to decorate them with. The men really got in on this, and, in my opinion, their onesies ended up turning out the cutest! It was fun watching everyone get creative and turn old, used onesies into personalized, one-of-a-kind gifts for Baby Melby.

Sticking with the toy theme, I made a baby block cake out of chocolate and butter cake and fondant. I have never worked with fondant before, and I'm not too keen on the taste of it either, so I also had a back up cake with buttercream icing.

I love this picture! It's as if Grace is saying, "Listen girls, I gotta tell ya, it's hard growing up." Zoe looks a little concerned about this, and Maddie's bitting her fingernails, she's so nervous.

The Theatre Babies: Zoe, Maddie, Milo, Grace, and Aiden

Milo putting the moves on Maddie... we may need to have a talk.

Congratulations Jake and Alyssa! We're so happy for you guys!

The rest of the pictures are just random pictures of the kiddos being sweet. 

This was before Aiden pulled every single book off his bookshelf.

After. He pretended he was a librarian checking the books back in as he put them on the shelf. It wasn't easy at first, but once he started making a game out of it, it went much quicker.

Super Spy Aiden. He requested to wear the button down shirt and the bow tie. He wore them the entire day while we were running errands. He changed into his swimsuit for a little while to play with the water table, but when he was done he immediately wanted to put his Super Spy outfit back on.

Maddie during OT... yay for messy play! She wasn't sure about it at first, but came around a little bit by the end.

I love them so much and I can't believe how big they are getting! Every day there is something new and exciting! I am so lucky to be their Mommy, and I am reminded of that every day!