First Weekend of Summer Break

School is finally out for summer!!! And the sun finally came out on the weekend so of course I wanted to be out in nature. The past couple of weeks have been very busy and I have felt quite a bit of stress with everything, good and bad stress, and this weekend and these moments in nature as a family soothe my soul and help ground me and feel close to my Father in Heaven and to my family.

Our first outing, we packed a dinner and had a picnic and then explored Flaming Geyser State Park. It is a favorite in our family and will always hold a special place in my heart since it is one of the first places Nate ever took me when I visited him in Washington way back when we were dating.

I think back on Nate and I all those years ago and if only we could see what the future held and that we would get to be parents to these three sweet girls. Life is so sweet and I love the life that we have created together!

Not a fan of her moss beard. :)

After our little hike, we went down to the river. McCall was happy to crawl all over the rocks.

And Baylor was quick to take her shoes off and wade through the water finding rocks and sticks and dirt to play in while Nate and Paige were determined to catch a little fish.

Oh how I love this sweet family of mine!

Then the next day, Nona and Pops joined us for our evening outdoor adventure at Dash Point State Park. We are a beach loving family and being so close to the Sound makes me so happy.

McCall loved it! She was so happy to crawl around on the soft sand.

She was so happy to play in the sand and it was the cutest thing watching her put sand in and out of the bucket. Her sisters were happy to help and play with her.

These two were happy to put their feet in the water, build some sand piles, and soak in the sun.

McCall even got to go in the water and LOVED it!

Her freckles!!!

I live for days like these!

12 Months

Happy Birthday little girl!!! This year has flown by and the days leading up to her birthday I have been on the brink of tears. My vision of how many kids I would have is definitely not what I imagined and what I have gone through has left a hole in my heart, but McCall has filled some of that void and she makes our family feel more complete. Yes I would love more children, but I'm more at peace of how everything has turned out. McCall has brought such joy to our family and she is everyone's favorite. Her smile and little dimple just melt me and I love being her mom! I just want her to stay my little baby forever, but also love each stage that she has gone through. It is so fun to watch your kids learn and grow!

Here's what McCall is up to at ONE:

• She is still a tiny little thing and most people when I tell them how old she is, they comment that she is so small. At her one year check up, she weighs 15 pounds 11.5 ounces (3rd percentile) and is 2 feet 4.07 inches long (13th percentile).
• She no longer does her army crawl and just crawls everywhere and is into everything. She loves to empty out bins, drawers, and cupboards. 
• She loves to be outside and will race as fast as she can if a door opens trying to make an escape. 
• She cruises along furniture, but still has a bit to go before walking. This week she has started to be brave enough to somewhat stand on her own though it is for seconds that it happens. 
• She loves to wave and will always wave when she hears the words "bye bye". She also loves to point, blow kisses and loves to mimic noises that you make. 
• She still doesn't say mama or dada much and her favorite word is uh-oh when she drops something and she says something that sounds like thank you when you give her a toy. She jabbers and makes noises a lot just not distinct words too much yet. My favorite is when we yell for Paige or Baylor and then she has to yell for them as well.
• She loves any toy that has a string or cord and will put it behind her neck and drag it on the ground as she crawls around.
• She takes one good nap and then depending on the day will take a second short nap. She still wakes up once at night to nurse.
• She is constantly on the go and wants to explore the world around her. She does not like to hold still and cuddle at all!
• She loves to watch out our front window especially when daddy comes home or anyone else comes to our house. She always gives whoever is coming a huge smile with lots of waves.
• She loves water and loves to splash in the water which makes bath time interesting.
• She laughs quite a bit, but is still a little more serious compared to my other two. She has pretty ticklish especially her feet. Paige is the one that gets her to laugh the most.
• She is still a great eater and will eat pretty much whatever you give her and still tries to eat whatever she finds on the ground which requires me to keep our floors clean. Nate says I've gotten really good at the finger sweep since I'm constantly having to take things out of her mouth.
• She has two teeth on the bottom and one is about to break through on the top.
• This month, she got to go to urgent care. She had a fever and runny nose at the beginning of the week and I thought it was related to her tooth on top, but then at the end of the week she ended up with a rash so I decided to take her in. It was just a viral infection and the rash was not fun to look at but didn't seem to bother her and cleared up pretty quick.
• This past week I switched all her clothes to 12 month clothes though some of them are still a little long.
• She still loves binky and blankey! 
• Every day I feel so grateful that we get to have this little girl in our lives! She is just the cutest little thing and we all love her SO much!

Daddy left her a note for her to see the morning of her birthday.

Paige created this cute invitation and it was a fun and simple theme to work with.

Party Time!

Her own little cake to enjoy.

Digging in! She didn't get quite as messy as I thought she would because there were lots of other distractions and people around, but she sure enjoyed the little bit that she did eat.

Present time- She had lots of helpers. :)

Cute little superheroes joined the party.

We got her this fun water table and it was cute to watch her try it out for the first time and I know it will get lots of use this summer.

Happy birthday little girl!!!

Elementary School Graduate

 We have had a busy time with all these end of school year celebrations and this past week we got to celebrate Paige graduating from elementary school! I can't believe that next year she will be in middle school. She loved elementary school and is sad to be done, but also is very excited and nervous for middle school. She has had such amazing teachers over the years and has loved all the fun things with elementary school from science projects, art lessons, orchestra, field trips, assemblies, APEX fundraisers, track, field days, and carnivals. Covid did rob her from some school experiences, but it was also memorable to do online learning and wear masks to school. She made it through some really hard times, but also had so many fun and joyous times filled with fun and learning and goodness. She excelled in school and all of her teachers loved having her in their class. She is such a good example, a good student, a good friend, and just an amazingly good person. She always tries her best and is very determined and motivated and I know these skills will help her as she moves onto middle school. We are excited for summer break and some time away from the daily grind and more time together as a family because next school year will be a big transition for our family with Paige going to middle school and Baylor going to kindergarten. I'm going to soak up every minute with my sweet girls! They are growing up way too fast and I'm so grateful that I get to be a part of every moment.

~Graduation~

One of her most favorite things she did this year was orchestra and it is because of these two awesome teachers in the left picture that made it such an amazing experience. She is continuing on with orchestra and doing it next year in middle school. Then she had an awesome teacher (picture on the right) this year and loved 5th grade and it is for sure because of Ms. Julius.

Three amazing friends! I'm grateful that these two get to go to middle school with Paige next year. There are very few going to her middle school because of the boundaries and I'm so happy that these two live in the right spot to be with Paige. I feel the Lord's hand in this and that she became friends with them so that the transition to middle school is a little easier.

Congratulations Paige! We are so proud of you and all that you have accomplished and learned during your time in elementary school!

Pictures like these are what make me want to cry and wonder how the times goes by so fast. I saw a friend post about her daughter growing up and her words resonated with me. She said I don't know whether to cry because it's gone by so fast or give her a hug and watch, in wonder, as her life unfolds, grateful to be a part of it. I feel this so much for all  of my girls especially with moments like this. 

First day and last day of elementary school.

Kindergarten

1st Grade

2nd Grade

3rd Grade

4th Grade

5th Grade

I'm so grateful for you Paige Canova Smith! I'm so grateful that I get to watch you grow, learn, and become. You are beautiful inside and out and you will be a light of kindness and goodness in middle school. I love you so much!!!

Soos Creek Botanical Garden

We have had rainy weekends which is always kind of disappointing for me when it gets to be summer months because weekends is when I love to go on adventures with my little family. Saturday morning was another one of those rainy days and I was doing house cleaning and just itching to get out of the house. After lunch, the rain stopped and it looked like it wouldn't rain for the rest of the day and even though it was still cool outside, I made a quick decision to go to Soos Creek Botanical Garden. It is a place that I love to go to at least once a year and I knew that at this time the roses would be in bloom. I'm so glad that I did! It was my favorite part of the day and put me in such a better mood for the rest of the day. The girls were happy to walk, explore, smell flowers, and just be together. It was a wonderful outing with my sweet family and as always the garden was beautiful!

We are so grateful for these sweet girls in our lives!

So many gorgeous flowers!!!

Found a slug that Baylor wanted to bring home...