Madelyn at 15 months

Oh this sweet silly girl! She is full of pint-sized shenanigans. She is always up to something silly!

And always finds herself in sizes not meant for her- like a doll high chair and her sister's nightgown. 

Or a size 6 month cow costume! (There's not a lot we wont do for free Chickfila).

Turns out, she loves Chickfila sauce as much as me. Maybe even a little more. I swear, you turn your back for a second!

Madelyn brings such joy to our family. The girls absolutely adore her and she tolerates most of their games. Maddie walks and climbs everywhere and is starting to run. She doesn't speak yet but is learning to follow commands like "get your shoe", "throw the diaper away", and "go show Dada". It's so cute when she does what I tell her! She is becoming more independent and likes to try to do things herself, including putting her clothes on (she needs a little more practice...) and feeding herself. She loves green beans and meat and fruit the most. She wears mostly size 18 month clothes and size 4 shoes. She just started to learn how to color. She taught herself to turn on the stereo and turns the Moana soundtrack on and starts dancing almost every day. She loves the water and swimming and splashing. She drinks 4 cups of milk a day, eats like crazy, and takes 2 2-hr naps and sleeps 11-12 hours at night. She loves to be chased. She loves exciting things- I think she's a little bit of an adrenaline junkie. She enjoys looking and and chewing on books. At her doctors appointment this morning she was 31.5 inches (85th %) and 24 lbs 5 oz (90th%). She is really chunking up and finally slowing down a little on height. She started throwing tantrums recently. When you do something she doesn't like, she just throws herself down and lays there. It's pretty cute, actually. Occasionally she adds crying. 

We love this little snuggle bug so much!

Independence Day

We had such a great 4th this year! Since the girls have recently learned how to ride their bikes well, we decided to try out the kids bike parade that Layton City does before the official parade. I think Lance was a little skeptical about how it would go, but he helped the girls decorate their bikes and the wagon so cutely. The girls were so excited!

I was extremely impressed- Reagan took off and was at the front the whole way. We didn't see her until the end of the parade route. The rest of us hung back a little slower at the back. Daryn was such a trooper and rode her little heart out, completing a good chunk of the route before cutting across the top of a u-shape with Lance to meet Reagan at the end. 

Then we found seats to watch the official parade! It was so hot, but Smiths passed out free popsicles so that helped. 

 The girls were basically only invested in the candy. 

After we came home for some naps, we drove up to Park City to spend the rest of the day with Meagan and Grace. We swam at the pool near her house for a bit, then enjoyed these beauties. 

We relaxed a little and the girls smashed open a piñata that I made for the occasion! 

Then we drove over to Meagan's now-former work, Promontory, for their big celebration. They had tons of fun for the kids and a yummy dinner. 

Bouncy houses are always a good time. 

And they had some animals! The girls really enjoyed the snakes. I kept my distance. 

And they had face painting! 

Maddie's first time- she sat very still on my lap to get her tiny firework.

 As it started to get dark we skipped the fireworks display and made the long drive home. We caught Layton City's as we were driving past and shot off a few little ones of our own at home before crashing. We didn't feel bad because our friends set off a HUGE nearly 2 hour display the night before in our neighborhood. We sat on their driveway and it literally felt like we were inside the fireworks. We all came home covered in ash and debris. Pretty cool!

We had a few other pre-holiday festivities. We hit up the Oakley Rodeo on Friday night with Meagan and Grace and it was really fun but also pretty cold once the sun went down and we spent most of the  night huddling and trying to keep the kids warm. 

Monday evening, on the 3rd, we decided on a quick hike before the neighbor's fireworks. We completed it in record time!

We love getting out in nature and blowing things up and celebrating this great county of ours!

Summer things

In what feels like the few short days we've had at home so far this summer, we have packed in the fun!

Right after Trek we had a fun Fathers' Day with literally the best guy ever. He is the greatest dad in the world! His kids love him so much. (So do I.) 

We had a quiet day at home, enjoying his requested zupa toscana and apple pie. As part of his gift, I scheduled a couples massage for us a few hours after we got home from Trek. Best idea ever. Lance actually mentioned it offhand awhile back and I followed through!

Over the past few weeks we've had an exciting bird saga in our backyard. We first noticed an empty nest in our little pear tree, and then small blue robin's eggs started appearing one by one. The girls were thrilled and we gave mama bird plenty of space while still keeping an eye on it. A couple weeks later 3 little babies showed up! One egg didn't hatch. 

Unfortunately, a few days after they hatched, we found two baby birds at the base of the tree next to the nest, and one missing. A vicious cat attack! We placed the babies and the nest back in the tree and hoped for the best, but two days later found the same things, with another baby missing. With just one baby left, and mom and dad bird still hanging around, we moved the nest to a box and secured it to the top of our monkey bars where the stupid cat couldn't reach. Sadly, the little guy didn't make it and passed away the next day. We had a little funeral the next evening. The girls were heartbroken, and Lance and I weren't thrilled either, but we felt like we did everything we could. A good lesson on how nature works, I guess. Stupid cat. 

The girls have been loving swim lessons every day. Reagan is learning how to dive. 

Maddie loves chillin like a villian on the side with me. 

She also started Mommy and Me gymnastics last week and is ridiculously adorable in her little leo, but terrible at following instructions. (She is too young for the class, but it's something to keep us busy while her sisters are in their classes). 

Family picnics and bike rides at the park! I'm loving that the girls are big enough for that. 

And Maddie thinks she is just one of the big kids- she insisted on a turn on Daryn's bike and actually almost fit it. 

Dinner at Cracker Barrel

 I know it's a lot of the same pic but her smiles seriously kill me. I cannot get enough of her!

We've been spending lots of afternoons at the library summer events, too!

 The girls really enjoyed getting buried in the soda can boxes. 

This is exciting because I looked down and Maddie was coloring for the first time! Not just eating the crayon. 

Been staying busy so far and I don't expect that to change over the next month. These girls keep me on my toes!