lately. around here.

 Oh Spring! Oh how we love you!! The weather these last couple of weeks has been spectacular, much more like summer, in fact. We finally got downtown to check out City Creek and while we were at it, we enjoyed some time at one of my very favorite springtime spots... the grounds at Temple Square. The tulips, daffodils and poppies were in full bloom and it was beautiful!! Leah loved running around, smelling the flowers and checking out the cute little duck that was hanging out at the reflection pond.

        

We met her bff Sawyer there and she was already swooning, flirting and trying to get him to hold her hand. He was a little more coy about showing his affection for her.

I tell you what.... this littlemiss is ALL girl and could prove to be trouble if we're not careful in how we play our cards! :)

LJ and her daddy have spent plenty of time together lately!! There's not many places she'd rather be than hanging out with Dada... especially if there is a game on. She is our little budding sports fan... and already seems to know the right times to cheer!!

We are already facing our fair share of toddler tantrums around here... from only wanting cookies for dinner to wanting Elle (Agga) to take a bath with her. Some of our parental negotiations and stands have been successful... others not so much. As you can see.... Daddy totally caved to those big brown eyes and let Elle take a bath. Although I didn't think he should have given in to her demands, I admire his problem solving and keeping his girl happy!! She wasn't sure what to think at first.... but in the end, the tears stopped and she was pretty pleased.

Leah is getting to be such a "helper". She wants to be right underfoot no matter what I am doing. She loves to do laundry and especially loves to help in the kitchen. Anytime I am cooking or wearing an apron, she wants to have her apron on too. She is obsessed with her matching doll and is fascinated that she has a twin! 

We have been fully engulfed in pom-poms around here this past month as we prepared for one of my besties baby shower!! We wanted Mama G & Baby Bee to have the bestest party there ever was! It was a smashing success and now the final countdown to her arrival is on!! 

LJ is still totally into dressing up and baby-play. She is almost always carrying around some kind of purse and some kind of baby or stuffed animal. I find her "babies" lined up on the stairs, having naps (nigh-nigh) in the cabinets and watching over her while she sleeps. I ♥ this girlie girl!

She is so fun and playful. I will find her sitting in her old baby bathtub, pretending it's a car or sitting in a laundry basket or storage bin and just yesterday... standing up in her emptied out bottom drawer, yelling for "help". She is really good at getting into things... and far less confident when it comes to getting back out or getting down. She has recently discovered climbing up into the office chair and working at the computer... just like mama! Although between nighttime and naps, she sleeps 15+ hours a day... man, oh man, is she a handful those other 9 hours! 

We have started wearing pigs!! 

Although her hair is still as crazy as ever and barely long enough... her mowhawk is finally partially  long enough to stick a pony in. It's big news and exciting stuff around here. Now... we're just trying to decide if we keep the mullet or trim it?!?

In between all of the fun that we've been having with the littlemiss... CJ and I have been able to sneak in a few date nights lately. Thanks to Auntie Gogo for coming and having some sleepovers, we snuck off to the Jazz-Phoenix game the other night and my amazingly talented nephew's school play last night. Both kept us up long past our usual bedtime... but both were totally worth it!!

And now for a look ahead to a few things we are looking forward to this next month:

Jazz playoff run (who woulda thought?!), the return of Sunday dinners at the park, making our summer bucket list, finding out what flavor of baby we're cooking (just a few more weeks), playing more tennis with my new racket, new babies being born, planting our garden, getting ready for Grandpa's birthday reunion, trip to Wheeler Farm with cousins, more trips to City Creek, sno-cones, watermelon and lots of outdoor grilling. 

Happy Easter...

18 months in and we're finally getting pretty good at these timered family portraits, especially Littlemiss! 

Leah got to enjoy her very first day of nursery today, which she l.o.v.e.d. She barely batted an eye when we finally left her and didn't seem anywhere near ready to leave when I went back to pick her up. 

I can't believe what a big girl she is now.

After lunch at Grandma & Grandpa Johnson's, a way-to-short nap and a handful of afternoon meltdowns.... she finally cheered up enough to enjoy a few surprises and an Easter Egg Hunt...

That was the edited, very condensed version....

If you happen to be a grandma, a close relative or if you just really, really like us, you may be interested in the full, unedited version... she got the hang of things pretty fast and was so much fun! 

*****

I am so humbled and thankful for my little growing family this beautiful Easter Sunday and even more importantly for the sweet, tender reminders I've had today of what we are really celebrating...

He absolutely lives!

*****

Happy Easter!

eighteen

...months old, that is.

Hard to believe that another half year has flown by. I find myself having panic attacks and nightmares where I wake up and she's already eighteen.... years old, that is. I am constantly in awe of how quickly time traipses along... even when the hours and days sometimes seem to drag.

Mostly I stand in awe of this amazing, sweet, curious, silly, happy, playful and adorable little human being that continues to grow and develop and change before my very eyes. She is at such a fun stage, I can't get enough of her... I know that I've felt that about every stage, but right now is particularly fun as her personality is developing so much and her curiosity about everything around her is at an all new high. I relish the opportunity to see and experience the world through her eyes and notice things that I long ago stopped noticing on a regular basis, whether it's a barking dog outside, bugs on the ground, a loud noisy truck or fire engine, literally stopping to smell the flowers, birds in the sky, the wind blowing through the trees, windchimes spinning or making music or even something as unimportant as hats on people's heads. She watches and observes everything and she is fascinated by the world around her and I couldn't love it anymore!!

Leah's first trip to Blickenstaffs. She was obsessed with the cart just her size and found plenty of treasures to fill it!

She is finally walking.... like really walking. She seems to have finally given up crawling and now prefers to be vertical, something I was beginning to think might never happen. She still toddles and looks adorable, though I know it won't be long until she's running. 

This littlemiss is all girl. From the moment she wakes up, she is getting into drawers (both mine and her's) looking for things to dress up in. She is particularly fond of hats, purses and necklaces. (It's all about the accessories, I suppose) She makes me giggle and swoon when she comes toddling out with sweaters half way on, multiple hats, necklaces as deep as Mr T, some kind of purse and often a baby in hand. 

♥

Yes, that's a swimsuit on her head and yes, that's what she wore while watching General Conference.

She has recently become so engulfed in all of her babies and stuffed animals. She is always dragging several around, cradling them and giving them loves. She especially likes them to take naps. 

She likes to put a blanket on the floor and lay them all down, giving binkies to some, often times covering some with her little blankies, reads them books and then gives them all "nigh-nigh" kisses. It's so fascinating (and ridiculously cute) to watch her pretend and play.

We've been spending as much time as possible outside as the weather has permitted. We are loving Spring so far and expect to log a lot more miles on the stroller in the coming months.

She is still babbling non-stop and seems to pick up new words every day. She currently and clearly says dada, mama, papa, mama(gma), gaga(jojo), wa-wa (water), nigh-nigh, all done, apple, nana (banana), dis(this) and plenty of other random babblings. She knows nearly all of her body parts and what they do (smell, listen, blink, etc). She knows several animal sounds and is learning more all the time. She just learned the actions to "EensyWeensySpider" and she has now finally mastered a handful signs and is especially good at her please and thank yous. :)

(AND...we somehow have her convinced that everyone, including her, has a baby in their stomach. :( not sure how we missed the boat on that one)

I can't believe what a big girl she is becoming. She is happy, playful and social. She is an amazing sleeper, a mediocre eater (I hear it's normal for her age) and just has a sweet-natured disposition. Chris and I regularly lay in bed, reminiscing about how smitten we are with her or funny things she's done and wonder how we ever got so lucky. We said the other night that if we are blessed with another baby that is even half as cool as this one.... we will officially be the luckiest people on the planet!! ♥

 In honor of her half birthday yesterday, we celebrated last night by making this for dinner (omg... so good, so easy and good for you to boot) and capped it off with delicious celebratory cupcakes from Tulie.

We really, really love birthdays (and cupcakes) around here!

Happy Half-Birthday Littlemiss LJ!!

You are, without a doubt, the best thing that has ever happened to us. ♥

***

18 month stats:

Height: 31 inches (15th percentile)

Weight: 22.13 lbs (18th percentile)

Head Circumference: 18.9 inches (75th percentile)

It seems like she's a bit petite, but with a good head on her shoulders. Not a bad way to be! ;)