May

May was a great month mostly because we had two sets of visitors! I did separate posts with those visits, but here are a bunch of pictures from our day to day activities in May...

Tate is as cute as ever!

 First time wearing shorts! It's too much for me.

 Bryn's homemade hot air balloon for her stuffed animals

 I know this is a random picture, but it makes me laugh so hard. We had a bunch of birds that congregated every morning in the gutter right below our bedroom window. For a week or two they woke us up every morning around 4:30 am. We tried clearing out their nest again and again(there weren't any eggs in it), but they would rebuild it each day. I don't know why, but it always cracked me up to see Josh scale the house again and again to clear out the gutter, so angry at those birds! Ha ha! 

Eventually we got some wire mesh and blocked off the gutter, and that solved the problem. But May was definitely a month of early morning wake-up calls!

 This is a daily scene. She goes through so much paper and markers!

 This is totally embarrassing and also hysterical. Bryn told me she thought of a way for me to get tons of cute new clothes - by hanging signs like this around our town. It says "Hand-me downs and fashion galore. Want to donate hand-me-downs?" And then it had my phone number. Ha ha! I didn't let her hang these signs up, but at least I know she's looking out for me.... and she thinks I need some help with my clothes!

 Tate, just being cute

 I had a cold during one of Josh's business trips in May. Bryn could see that I was sick and wrote me the world's sweetest note.

Heading out to school, Bryn says "Hey Mom- do we have time for a quick pic before school?"

Bryn's homemade crown for Tate. It says "Prince Tate of Dunlap Street" "All Hail Tate" "Hooray for Tate"

 Josh and I gave each other a BBQ for Valentine's Day and Josh has been grilling up some delicious meals when he's home on Sundays.

 Three peas in a pod

Sunday evening walks. This time we walked along the "river" in our neighborhood.

 My four favorite people!

 This is right before the rain came and got us all wet

 Mya's friend Afton came over for a play date and Bryn didn't know her, so she wrote this note to "introduce herself" :)

 Mya has loved building blocks lately

 New day, new block creation

 Family drawing sessions are my favorite, especially when Josh is included! Bryn drew the dress of this princess and Josh drew the face :)

 More drawings that crack me up: Bryn's version of Kate Middleton on the left, Josh's version on the right!

 Another love note Bryn wrote me: "I love L.H. to the moon and back one million infinity times!!!!!!!"

 Posing on the porch

 Sisters!

 These two are such good buds. Mya can get Tate laughing harder than anyone else can.

See ya later, May!

Girls Night at the Watchung Stables

 A few weekends ago we had a fun girls night with my sister in law Tyra and my two cute nieces. (Josh was at the library studying for the CFA and Jake and my nephews were on the Fathers-and-Sons camp-out.) 

My niece Leah was doing a horseback riding lesson at the Watchung Stables about ten minutes from our house, so we wanted to check it out. Bryn and Mya loved watching all the riders and feeding the horses. The highlight for hem was meeting the horse named Tate!

 Ty is such a fun aunt!

After the stables we grabbed dinner and hung out at Tyra's house. I've said this a million times, but I'm so grateful to live near family!

Tate Seven Months

 Oh, Tate.... you are the best. This is a really great stage, but I know I say that at every stage. Here are some seven-month stats, so that your mama can remember all about you at this age...

First off, you are the cutest, sweetest, happiest baby in the whole world. You smile all day and are a little flirt with your family members and strangers. You smile at everyone when we run errands- just like your sister Bryn used to do at this age. (Mya was more reserved). You babble all day and mostly say "Dad. Dad. Dad. Dadadadadadada." It's obvious Dad is your favorite, but I know I'll win you over eventually. You also say "Gah, Blah, Ma (occasionally), and lots of other random sounds. You have the cutest little belly laugh that turns into a loud squeal if we get you too wound up. 

 FEEDING:

This month you changed from five nursing sessions to four: 6:30 am, 11:30 am, 4:00 pm, and 8 pm. You also do baby food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You will eat any of the fruit or veggie baby foods. You also eat cereal puffs, cheerios, and little bits of table food on occasion: homemade bread, bananas, honey dew, mashed potatoes, etc.

SLEEPING:

You sleep through the night, from 8 pm to 6 or 6:30 am. Dad is already at work by then and the girls sleep an hour later than you, so you have a bit of solo time with me in the morning while I eat breakfast and read. You nap from 8:30 to about 10:30 am, then again from about 4:00 to 5:45 pm while I'm making dinner. You also normally take a 15 minute power nap in the middle of the day when I'm driving Bryn to kindergarten. 

 You can sit up for short periods, but you still need some practice because you're pretty wobbly. You are getting faster at scooting around the room and rolling again and again, but you're still not crawling. You love the exersaucer. You love going on walks on the stroller. You love swinging at the park. Your sisters maul you all day and somehow you still love them and laugh so hard at their antics. Mya gets you to laugh harder than any of us. Also, you don't stay still for pictures, so these blurry pictures are the best we got! 

Bryn, Mya, and Tate at 7 months old

Visitors from NH

One of the highlights of May was having Catherine and Charlotte Pyfer visit! The Pyfers are some of our very best friends from Dartmouth and we have really missed them this past year. Josh was so busy studying for the CFA 24/7 and Cat's husband Brian was busy studying for finals, so we decided we should get together and keep each other company while our husbands were so busy. Best decision ever. What a fun few days we had catching up!

 Charlotte was born a few months after we moved, so we were so excited to finally meet this sweet girl!

 Charlotte + Tate

 We went on long walks (like the old days), went to a couple parks, walked around the lake, made a child-free trip to Cheesecake Factory for dessert, but mostly just hung around and chatted. Honestly, my voice was hoarse the day after Cat left because I had talked so much. It was so good for my soul to spend time with such a good friend. Love you, Cat!

Tate was trying hard to win Charlotte's heart, but first he needs to learn how to sit up!

Mother's Day

 My first Mother's Day as a mother of THREE. 

This picture was taken after church and Mya was badly needing a nap, but we had to snap a pic anyway. I love these three and I'm the luckiest lady to be their mom!

And because I always love looking back at old pictures, here are past Mother's Days from 2009-2014. (Mother's Day 2008 was the day we told our families that we were pregnant with Bryn).

Bryn's Dance Recital

 Miss Bryn took her first dance class this year - just a little tap class at the rec center - and in May she had her dance recital. Her excitement about the dance, the costume, and wearing make-up was so cute. It definitely was a fun moment to be a mom!

 Two of Bryn's friends from school, Abigail M. and Abigail G., were in her class, as well as Julia Thomas from church.

 Doing her little solo part. 

She was in heaven up on stage!

 A *few* of Bryn's pre-recital poses

Oh, Bryn we love you so much. What a joy it was to watch you proudly dance on stage with a huge smile across your face. I have a feeling this won't be the last time we see you up on stage!