June 23 = Thunderstorm Day

Zachary and Liam both had Captain America shirts on today.  We tried to get a picture to show that but Liam was too busy popping his finger in his mouth to let us get a good picture so you'll just have to trust me :)

 Malia helped Daddy do some work today.

And when the work was done, it was time to play- Liam had too much fun hitching a ride from Daddy.
 

Malia wanted in on the action too.

I wrote the other day about how I thrive when I exercise.  I also thrive when I have a clean house.  Cleaning a house and two mobile, curious children do not coexist so sometimes, Zachary takes the kids to the gym and I stay behind to clean.  When we cleaned the garage out last week, I found this canvas we had made into a chalkboard.  So I washed it off and hung it on the wall- it makes me happy!

While I was cleaning and alone in the house, it started storming.  The wind was crazy and it was thundering and lightening- it was awful.  The power kept going in and out.  And then it stopped as quickly as it started.  Zachary and the kids got home at the end of the storm- we put them to bed and then he had me walk to the end of the road to see this tree that had been uprooted.  This first picture doesn't do the beautiful yellow sky justice but I'll share anyway.

June 22 = Anniversary Celebration Day

Zachary's first real day back after this break is our anniversary- Friday.  I was so excited that our anniversary was on a Friday because I thought it'll be so fun to have an anniversary weekend!  Then the news came that all leave had to be taken before the 26th.  And so, as a military wife knows to do, I adjusted my expectations and we put the kids in the CDC today and had a day to ourselves.  We went to a place we'd never been for breakfast and it was delicious.

And then, Zachary planned a kayaking adventure for us!  We went to Quiet Waters Park and walked down a trail to this kayak rental shack and spent about an hour paddling around.

We saw a snake in the water, a couple of jumping fish and a few ducks.  There were some other people out paddleboarding but it was pretty quiet- it wasn't to busy on a Monday late morning.  Zachary would paddle us along for a while and then invite me to join in and we'd paddle as fast as we could for a few minutes just for fun and then we'd just go with the flow.  We talked about our memories and of course our kids.  We walked through some woods on the way back instead of taking the trail and then we came home and did nothing for an hour and then went and got our adorable little rascals.  It was a great day!

June 21 = Retire the Pump Day

First two pictures of my kids.  Malia insisting on using a teething ring like a pacifier.

 And then Liam letting Daddy help him use a spoon to eat ice cream!

And then for the truly thrilling part of today- I packed up the pump.  No more pumping!  Ahhhhhhh.  No more pump parts.  No more broken membranes.  No more having to come home instead of going to the last place I needed to go because I have to pump.  And the best part is, I have plenty of milk in the freezer so Malia will exclusively drink breastmilk for her first year.  Hallelujah!

Also- a little background: I have always used the bluetooth function of my phone and car to make it possible to use the speaker on my phone to make and take phone calls while I'm driving.  One day- without my doing anything- the bluetooth function also allowed whatever sound was coming from my phone to play through the speakers.  So now, without any cords, I can play music on my phone, through my car speakers.  It's a beautiful thing.  Anyway, this song came on today and I took a screen shot because I wanted to share the lyrics.  It's called Thrive by Casting Crowns.

So living water, flowing through,
God we thirst for more of you.
Fill our hearts and flood our souls with one desire:
Just to know you and to make you known.
We lift your name on high.
Shine like the sun, make darkness run and hide.
We know we were made for so much more than ordinary lives.
It's time for us to more than just survive.
We were made to thrive.

That's the chorus and I love it- the last two lines spoke to me because so often my goal of the day is to survive.  So this presents a challenge I'd like to keep in mind each day.  There are some days that are really difficult and I think on those days, it's okay give your cares to God and trust that he will sustain you.  But those should be few and far between.  On most days, I want to challenge myself to wake up thankful to be healthy and fit.  I go to yoga so often because it makes me feel good physically.  It makes me aware of what my body can do.  We know that our bodies are Gods' temples but so many of us feed our bodies stuff that's no good for it and we take this gift He has given us and use it to sit on the couch.  I want to use my able body that I am so thankful for to lift my kids and unfold and fold strollers and go for a run with my husband.  I thrive when I exercise, eat healthy foods, take time for myself to read or just listen to music or just take a breath, connect with friends, turn the tv off, put the phone upstairs, and listen and watch and follow my kids.  The bridge of this song is what made me want to remember to type out these lyrics.  It says:

Joy unspeakable
Faith unsinkable
Love unstoppable
Anything is possible

I could learn every word and phrase in every language but there still wouldn't be adequate words to express the joy I feel each and every day.  My faith is unsinkable because I believe that God has a plan for my life and I'm so glad that His ways are not my ways- that takes a lot of pressure off.  Love unstoppable- I have so much love in my heart.  It's bursting with love for my little family.  Anything is possible.  It's possible for me to thrive.  It takes work and dedication and motivation but where's the fun in doing easy things?

June 20 = Pink Shoes Day

We went out and picked the rest of the lettuce that was ready so we could ahead and grow some more!

And then it was off for errands for the day!

When we found out we were expecting a girl in February of 2014, we got tiny pink shoes for our little lady and posted a picture on facebook as our way of letting everyone know.

Malia has always had disproportionately small feet so she was just now able to wear those tiny shoes:

Our first stop was Barnes & Noble.  Zachary and I watch The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon every night before we go to bed and he's been promoting his children's book for the past few days- it's daddy animals teaching their animal babies to say dada but they all end up just making their own sound.  We figured Liam would love it since he loves making animal sounds.  On our way out, Liam started shouting his version of "Grandma's Car!" "Pop's Car."  We just said, "yeah buddy, they're somewhere..." and then Zachary saw that there was an identical model of each car in the parking lot that he was pointing to.  Smart boy!

We then headed to Buffalo Wild Wings.  Zachary has been wanting to go there for as long as I can remember- he used to go with the guys before class so he hasn't been in a while now.  The manager was so nice and brought Malia some mandarin oranges and brought Liam some ice cream!

 

We've also been working on cleaning out our garage for the past few days- we unpacked a few boxes that haven't been touched since they were packed in Jacksonville- that was fun!

June 19 = Spaghetti w/ Eggplant Day

Climbing stairs is the go-to pastime in our house now

 Liam helped Daddy get dinner out of the oven- not really.

We tried eggplant for the first time a few weeks ago and we loved it- the kids especially loved it.  So we had it with our spaghetti tonight and Miss Malia tore it up.  Shocking.

June 18 = Late Picture Day

Time to take another monthly picture of Miss Malia!  But I couldn't find the original "1."  I had bought a new "1" for the 10 month picture, knowing I would need an extra for the 11 month picture.  But now I needed to go get a third "1" and I got a lowercase "L" instead.  Oops.  Just as with Liam the 11th month picture didn't come out so well because she's too active!  She didn't want to sit still for a picture so we got a few action shots.

At 11 months Malia knows how to wave, blow a kiss and clap hands and will do it if we tell her to with no modeling.  She eats everything.  And lots of everything.  She's getting so close to letting Zachary throw her up in the air and enjoying it- any day now I think!  She's pushing the walker around and walking behind it so it should be really soon she'll be walking independently.  Her eyes have gotten more green in them so they look even more like her daddy's.  She wakes up every morning with a smile.  She loves her family so much and she is so loved.

More pictures of Malia:

She held this for so long!

Two Gigis

She's on the move!

June 17 = Lunch Date Day

Liam was at the CDC today and I had an appointment this morning so Zachary took Malia on some errands and then we met at a Japanese steakhouse for lunch. 

Malia thought it would be fun to eat without using her hands:

She was uncharacteristically cranky today.  She was fine if she had food in her mouth and thankfully I had a bag of yogurt melts.
 

Also I had a very exciting development!  We had enough lettuce for Zachary to use some for his sandwich!  He said it was very good :)

June 16 = Share with Sister Day

Liam went through a phase where he loved pushing Malia over.  Malia was a tough little thing and didn't really cry but it obviously was a behavior we were interested in stopping.  I talked to a few different people- mostly his therapists- and tried different strategies.  And just like with everything else you try to keep your child from doing or try to make your child do- one day he just quit.  You can read, discuss, plan and he's just going to stop pushing her one day, he's just going to walk one day, he's just going to leave that cabinet alone one day, he's just going to let you brush his teeth one day.  Well I don't even know when he stopped pushing her over but now he has a new thing he likes to do- and it's a positive!  He loves sharing.  Mostly food.  He will break off a tiny (virtually too small to see) piece of whatever he's eating and give it to Malia.  Toys are a little more difficult to share but this was right after he handed her the Lego in her hands.  It just warms my heart!

June 15 = Come Home Day

Well it was time to return to Maryland.  The morning we left for Smithfield, I found a pacifier clip- it was very exciting.  As we were packing everything up to come back home, we couldn't find the pacifier clip.  So Zachary made one of his own using yarn:

 As soon as we got home, as I do every time we come home now, I checked out my plants- very exciting!

June 14 = Church Day

One of the best parts of visiting Zachary's family is going to church together on Sundays.  One day, it will be awesome to have Liam and Malia sit with us during church but for now it is better for everyone involved if they hang out in the nursery.  When we came to pick Malia up at the end she was doing this:

Later, we went shopping- we tried to find some shoes for Liam that will fit around his little braces but we didn't have a lot of luck.  Grandma found the cutest overalls and a shirt to match for Ms. Malia and we went to toys-r-us to find this broom set for Liam.  He is so cute- always wanting to help whether it be sweeping or putting the dishes in the dishwasher.  So this is a nice clean broom he can use to help!  We gave him the choice between orange and green and he chose green- that's my boy!

I think Liam's second favorite part of coming to Smithfield (the first being spending time with his grandparents of course) is getting to play in the fenced in back yard.  Mo and I were chatting while Liam roamed around:

Then he decided he should join the conversation and had a seat:

Later, Zachary found some bubble and Malia was fascinated!

June 13 = Triathlon Day

So if anyone was in doubt of my love for Zachary- let me provide you with some proof.  I got up at 5:30 for this crazy man.  And happily!  We got up, I got dressed in a haze and then we got to the race spot.  Zachary put his bike where it belonged and then we sat in the lobby of the gym for a while, walked in the pool area to check it out and sat on the bleachers until it was time to line up.  Zachary started off swimming- here he is waiting to start on the side:

 Here he is in position, waiting for the cue to start:

 And in action:

After a few laps, I went ahead outside so I could see him run out.  They ran from the pool, barefoot to where the bikes were parked:

 And here is the start of the bike route.  It was down the road so there wasn't a better view than this.

So as soon as I couldn't see him anymore, I went and got a prime spot at the finish line.  Now, I have been to a few races- half marathons, marathons, 5ks... and one thing that really aggravates me is when people who know the person they're supporting isn't going to finish for a while but they stand right there anyway.  I wasn't going to have to deal with that today though because I was gonna get there before everyone else.  Well I did but that didn't stop a family of four from walking right in front of me as I was taking a video of Zachary crossing the finish line.  

Oh well.  I got this picture right after my failed video shoot.

He had so much fun!  He said it was a lot more fun than a marathon.  So we sat at some picnic tables and let him recover a bit and then we headed back to the house.  We picked up a swimsuit for Liam on the way and we got him changed when we got back and then headed back to the same place the triathlon was held and Liam got to play around in a splash pool!

Malia hung out in her umbrella stroller:
 

I decided to walk in the splash pool too so I didn't get too many pictures but afterwards, Zachary jumped in the big pool.  Here's Grandma walking with Liam to the pool:

And here's Liam and Daddy playing some basketball:

After our pool adventures we headed home where I took a nap and then we headed to Raleigh to meet my family for dinner at McAlisters.  After dinner, we had a photo shoot!

 

Zachary likes to ask his parents to drive when we all ride together in the van so that we can relive the old days and sit in the back of a sienna together- how sweet is he?  So Grandma got this silly picture of Malia from the front seat- this is her new favorite posture.

Also Malia said "mama" today!  I kept thinking she might be but when we got back to the house she said it again and Zachary confirmed- so we had a very special day.  Zachary got to use his God given talents and really enjoyed himself, Liam got to spend time with mainly Grandma & his daddy at the pool which was a fun and different environment, we got to see my parents, Matthew and his girlfriend and I got to hear the sound every "mama" yearns for!  Oh and Zachary I got to sit real close in the back seat :)