in Mommy's footsteps...or shoe steps

we love having a backyard!

from last month...isn't she precious?! (please ignore the unbuttoned jeans, haha! her belly is a little big and it seems like it would have to be uncomfortable sitting down with the botton closed! i guess i forgot to button it back when we went outside :)

fieldtrips

for the last month, we've gone on one "fieldtrip" adventure a week to visit different fun things around the city. it's been super fun to get out of the house, meet up with other friends and their kiddos and spend some time outdoors with the nice weather!

here's what we've done so far:

picnic lunches at a couple different parks

Nature & Science Center

Chick-fil-A on a rainy day

Zoo

strawberry picking

at the nature center...aren't they so cute?! there were 4 of them all about the same size. they had a blast!

fascinated with the "meow, meow"

little friends

digging at the dino pit

 playing with Cannon at Chick-Fil-A (Peyton was there too, but is a little too small for the play area still)

 she sat there for so long and all the big kids has to crawl around her to climb up the steps and she loved being in the center of all that action! she said "hiiii" to each of them and just laughed and laughed. she thinks she's sooo big! while she can often be shy around adults she doesn't know, that is definitely NOT the case with older kids...she LOVES them!!!

more pics to come from our most recent adventures  :)

Daddyyyy

Kyle's birthday was yesterday and we all got to enjoy blueberry muffins together for breakfast! We had a combined bday dinner the night before with Stu and Cat (Stu's bday was 3 days earlier) and celebrated with some really yummy homemade (by Cat, not me!) ice cream cake! Since last night was our community group night, we went out for dinner instead of our normal group time and it was so much fun - sat outside to eat and then play washers...with the beautiful sunset and amazingly cool weather it was a perfect evening!

Sierra enjoyed coloring a bday card for her Daddy and we practiced singing Happy Birthday all day long.

We are SO incredibly blessed to have such an amazing husband and daddy!! He loves us and cares for us so well...and is so much fun! We love you Daddy!!!

Here are a few recent pictures/videos of Sierra and her Daddy...

 "yes, that's right. I'M her daddy" - this was ideal for both: Home Depot (daddy's fave) & a tractor (Sierra's fave)

 she was loving it - a dream come true for her...a real tractor!

 playground time after mommy and daddy got ice cream shakes (ok, sierra did get a few sips too!)

 this has been almost a daily ritual...we watch daddy get in his car and drive off to work

sierra just learned Ring Around the Rosie and to say she loves it is an understatement! she was watching barney (wow, never thought i'd show my kids barney! but we don't have cable and it's on netflix.) and they were playing Ring around the rosie. daddy got her to do it for the first time and she couldn't stop giggling! we have done it over and over ever since!



like momma, like daughter

everyone says Sierra is a little mini me...

 please ignore the bright purple socks...must have been low on clean laundry  :)

we got her a mini bottle just like this for Easter - hopefully that will keep her from using mine! we'll see!

she definitely likes to use/wear mommy's things!

Dandelions

it's so sweet to watch Sierra explore nature for the first time - the awe, excitement and pure joy

Anya is ONE

yes, this post is 2 months late. these are from cousin Anya's 1st bday in february...

(blogger has changed and i can't figure out how to rotate the pictures)

the only picture i got of all 3 cousins together. sierra LOVES cousin alex! she is so hyper when they're together. one afternoon she was in a bit of a bad mood and alex was the only one who got her to smile and laugh...just by walking in the room!

cuddling with "bap" (capt's)

look at that pose! ha, really i just got lucky that she happened to pause while i snapped her picture.

girl time...it's fun that anya is now at an age that these two can play together more! looks like they'll be the only girl cousins, at least for awhile - and they're only 4 1/2 months apart so i see lots more girl time together in their future!!

time with Grana

at one point sierra disappeared and i found her playing with the big boys and their trucks and trains! she was fascinated and giggled nonstop. they were very sweet to her as she pulled apart their tracks and trains!

i love this one - bday girl, pretty in pink, playing with the big truck  :)