June 26 = Our Anniversary!

More hanging out outside... we love it when other dogs come to play :)

We had our respite care provider come over tonight so Zachary and I could go out to dinner for our seventh anniversary!  We took Miss Kayleigh Bug with us 
 

Bellinis are so good.

Kayleigh got her first real bath tonight- her umbilical cord fell off yesterday so today was a great day for a nice, warm bath.  Malia needed to supervise and although Kayleigh doesn't look happy here, she really did enjoy it.

Nice post-bath snack:

July 28 = Ice Cream Day

After dinner, Zachary sent me to the grocery store (to give me time to myself and...) to get stuff for dessert.  I decided on ice cream sundaes for everyone- it went well!

July 17 = Yummy Dinner Day

Look at this beautiful dinner Zachary made us!  This was almost a month ago so I don't exactly remember what it was but I know it involved shrimp and scallops and was delicious and even more delicious because I didn't have to cook it!

Also, this.
 

June 21 = New Game Day

He lets me love on him sometimes...

I found this really cool printable where you get all these animals and some headings so Liam can put the animals under the headings where they belong.  The headings are "on the farm," "in the zoo," and "in the ocean."  He doesn't know all of them yet but he's learning and has lots of fun velcro-ing them in the right place and making lots of animal noises.

This was our dinner tonight- tex mex rice on tortilla chips with lots of shredded cheese.  Yummmmm.

April 28 = Breakfast Shoppe Day

We took Liam to the CDC today and I was heading to chickfila to get some lunch for me and Malia but on my way I thought I might try something different so instead, we headed to The Breakfast Shoppe.  I got my bacon, sausage, ham and cheddar omelet- so so good- and I shared with Malia- she wasn't super thrilled to be there but she did a pretty good job.  It was definitely nap time when we got home though.

November 26 = Thanksgiving

This was our first Thanksgiving not with one of our families.  We definitely missed everyone but it was nice not to have to travel.  Grace posted this picture of her and Matt and I just have to share because how gorgeous are they??

 I love this picture of Daisy... she has a hernia as you can see but I just love this because she looks like a grumpy old man.

I think Daisy and Malia are going to be best friends... here's a morning cat nap...

...and then an afternoon one.

So I have a little bit of regret regarding this Thanksgiving.  I spent a lot of the day cleaning because Zachary was home and was doing such a good job of entertaining the kids and the dog.  I started the day off by trying to watch some of the Macy's parade but Liam really wanted to watch Mickey Mouse so that was shot.  We just got our new washer so I was catching up on laundry and just putting stuff away that had piled up in places where said stuff didn't belong.  But Zachary cooked everything for dinner- this was our first turkey and it was perfect.  He made the best mashed potatoes I've ever tasted.  We had macaroni and cheese as well as sweet potatoes.  It was delicious and the kids agreed.  I just wish I would have done a craft with the kids or done some more reflection or something- the day just kind of passed.  But there's always next year.

May 30 = North Carolina Food Day

I've mentioned before that when we come to North Carolina there are certain places I need to go before returning.  During this trip we made it to China King for lunch and Harbor Inn for dinner.

At China King, we were (thankfully) the only people there so we let Liam walk around a bit- he kept going up to the sliding glass door and peeking inside at our food being cooked- very inquisitive!

We had dinner at Harbor Inn with my parents, brother, his girlfriend, Grace, and my aunts Betty and Donna as well as Donna's husband, James.  You can see the mess Miss Malia made on the floor during her meal.

April 14 = Sam's Club Day

Since Malia is able to sit in the cart by herself, we took advantage at Sam's club where the cart seat will fit both kids!

 They love each other :)

 At Sam's Club we got lots of berries- strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries- I had gone to dinner at a friends house and she had berries- I let Malia try some and she loved them so I made a mixed fruit bowl and Malia was a huge fan- here she is eating a strawberry before I got a chance to cut it into Malia friendly pieces.

March 13 = Mebane Food Day

Every trip to North Carolina must include La Cocina, barbecue and lots of sweet tea.  Today we got to all three of these things.  Here's Liam waiting patiently for his barbecue-

 And Malia just being Malia entertaining herself at the restaurant.

Later we went to La Cocina to celebrate Dad's birthday- this first picture is him singing Happy Birthday do himself.

 And here's me with my Daddy- boy do I love him!

January 29 = Typical Thursday Day

I've mentioned multiple times that Thursday nights are a bit rough.  I tried to start the day off really well by giving Liam a super nutritious breakfast: clementines, kiwi and golden delicious apples.  

He ate most of it and that gave me the confidence to think we were going to have an awesome day.  It continued to go really well- we went to the library for "Babies in Bloom."  Liam sat in my lap and let me hold the book the coordinator was reading- he even tolerated one of the songs!  I wasn't able to take Malia out but Liam enjoyed himself so all in all it was a good experience.  We went home long enough for me to pump and eat a quick lunch and then we met some friends at Target.  We got some yummy snack and a face lotion for Miss Malia- her face keeps getting chapped from the cold I think.  Oh- then we ran to Bed Bath & Beyond because earlier in the 30 minutes we were home earlier, when I opened the freezer to put some milk in there to freeze, a glass bottle fell and hit the crock pot on the way down- breaking the stoneware and then shattering on the kitchen floor.  I got a new crockpot at Bed Bath & Beyond and then we headed to My Gym for Liam's therapy appointment.  We are thinking about getting a membership there for Liam and Malia so I talked to someone there about that and then we came home to see Zachary for a few minutes and then I laid Liam and Malia down for a much needed nap.  I got a few things done but the time flew and this is how Liam's mood was for the rest of the evening:

We played with a few toys but he pretty much wanted to be left alone.  So I turned my attention to Malia and tried to get her to eat one of the pouches we got at Target earlier in the day.  So far, she's rejected all purees but I thought it was worth a try.  I was right!

She loved it!  So then Liam decided he wanted attention after all so I went to pick out some toys and found this:

 So while the pieces weren't in, he did a great job of matching the pieces- the snake, elephant and lion are all in the right area and he did it all by himself!  As I took this picture, he was busy- I turned around and he was playing the keyboard!

It was a busy day complete with yummy meals, a bit of a tantrum but plenty of smiles and love too!

January 23 = Lunch with Friends Day

I started off today right- meeting a friend, Amy, for yoga!  It really is the perfect way to start off your day- by 11:00am I had already exercised, talked with a friend, did something for myself, took time to relax (the five minute svasana at the end of yoga) and showered- that's a lot more than I get done in some days.  Then I got to meet Amy and two other friends (and wives of guys Zachary has class with) for a birthday lunch at the Mexican Cafe super close to our house.  Zachary took Liam and Malia to Liam's OT appointment and all of their husbands kept their babies too so while we mainly talked about our babies, we were able to have those conversations and focus on them and not feeding and entertaining little ones- what a gift!  We had the beef lo mein I made last week that I loved and just had a nice relaxing evening at home.  This is what it looked like:

And there's nothing better than that.