Happy 6 Year Anniversary

Matt and I are celebrating our 6 years of marriage together on Saturday! I can't believe we have been together for 10 years and married for 6 with a 6 year old dog, 2 year old toddler and a baby girl on the way. Our lives have definitely changed since we met each other back in April 2001, but I couldn't imagine spending it with anyone else!

Here are the flowers Matt got me. Orange tulips and an orange vase. All I have to give him is candy and popsicles and he's happy! I guess we know each other well!

Arizona and back

We had a great trip to Arizona after Lyla's birthday. We went and visited my parents, whom you could call "winter birds", because they try to miss most of the cold weather back home. My brother, sister-in-law and nephew Colin even came! We haven't seen them since Devil's Lake weekend in October so it was nice to all be together again.

Arizona was unseasonably warm when we got there. It got up to 100 degrees one day and the high 90's for a few days as well. It was warm at first but we got used to it pretty quickly. We were definitely not complaining when it was cold back home.

Trip to the Zoo
We went to a zoo in Tucson so Lyla could see the desert animals. We went a little late as most of the animals were in the shade sleeping since it was the hottest time of the day. I guess we know for next time.

We even had to hit an outlet mall to see what bargains we could get during our trip. There was a carousel in the mall and Lyla had to go for a quick ride. She didn't understand why she had to get off at the end!

Swimming baby

We went swimming almost everyday and Lyla just loved the water! She loved jumping into the pool and getting attention from all the people around her. I think we will have to make sure to go swimming a lot this summer.

Posing for the camera!

Date night

Matt and I had a date night while my parents watched Lyla. We hardly get away so it was nice to have a relaxing meal without chasing a 2 year old around.

Belly picture

B-day time

Colin's and Lyla's birthdays are just over 1 year apart so we had to celebrate by opening presents during the visit. Lyla got toys to play with in the sandbox and for outside. Maybe she will want to help us weed this summer??

Playing together

All ready to go swimming

Sedona

We went to Sedona for the day to see the beautiful red rock and go for a little hike. It is typically 10 degrees cooler compared to Phoenix so it was a nice break from the hot weather.

Here are the guys carrying Lyla and Colin in their strollers across the rock

It's tradition to balance your rocks in this area...I believe it's a sign of good luck. Here are Matt and Lyla next to our family's balance rocks!

Family picture

We even had to go downtown to the shopping area where Lyla found this turtle to hug

Lyla did great flying to and from Arizona. I was worried since this is the first time she has flown but we kept her busy with snacks and DVD's and she even took a nap for the 3 1/2-4 hour flight.

Back Home

We've been busy since we got home from our vacation. We have been shopping for Lyla's big girl bedroom furniture, trying to figure out how to decorate the baby's room, getting Lyla's 2 year pictures taken and doing housework. We were lucky last weekend my parents came to help us trim bushes and do some clean up work outside. The bigger my belly gets, the harder it is to bend down for a long period of time so we are grateful for the help! I'm getting this urge to get everything done so it's nice to get things crossed off the list before I drive myself crazy. The last few weeks I have been getting swelling in my ankles and lower legs from being on my feet too much like I did when I was pregnant with Lyla. This is much sooner in my pregnancy though so I will have to make sure to not overdo it....we will see how that goes!

Lyla still loves to play dress up. She found her GB Packer onesie and this time put it on. I guess this is the new style to wear onesies!

Looking cool in my shades and boots

We will be celebrating Easter this weekend in WI. Happy Easter to everyone!

Lyla's Birthday Party

Lyla's 2nd Birthday Here are pictures of Lyla's actual birthday. I wanted to wait until daddy came home to open presents but this little girl couldn't wait! Right when we got home she started unwrapping her first gift and was ready to open the big one right afterwards. Lyla just loves her new Dora backpack from Uncle Mike and Aunt Nikki

Still rolling around my backpack!

Lyla's Birthday Bash!

Lyla had a great birthday party on Saturday. We had family and friends over to celebrate Lyla's special day and it was a great day. Thank you everyone that came and thank you for all of Lyla's great gifts.

This pretty much sums up how she unwrapped her presents!

Taking my shoes off so I can put on my new shoes from Grandma Brown and then Auntie Kristi

Unwrapping presents with buddy Natalie. Natalie is Lyla's friend from daycare. Walking around in princess shoes with Natalie

Cake time

Momma attempted to make a cake for Lyla's 2nd birthday and now I know why bakeries are in business! I attempted a new frosting I found online and it was terrible (maybe I should have tried it before I started to put it on the cake)! So needless to say, Matt ran to the grocery store right before the party to pick us up a cake!

Wondering why everyone is looking at me and singing!

Blowing out my candle

Let's see how much I can put in my mouth at once

Family picture

Grandma and Grandpa Brown

Auntie Kristi even came from Chicago to celebrate with Lyla

Playing dress-up Hope you enjoyed the many pictures from Lyla's birthday. Have a great week!

Happy Birthday Lyla Marie!

Happy Birthday to my sweet baby girl! You might only be 2, but we are so amazed at who you have become already. You are still a mover and a shaker like you were when you were born and are continuing to grow into a beautiful little girl everyday. I love your "luv you" every night, kisses on the cheek when you want to give them and running to give momma a hug goodbye when I drop you off at daycare. Your momma and daddy love you so much!

Matt was out of town this week in St. Louis for week and planned on coming home tonight to spend Lyla's 2nd birthday with the family. He ended up having a couple cancelations/delays and is stuck in Milwaukee tonight. Daddy might be bummed that he missed seeing his little girl on her birthday but we have "birthday weeks" so we have plenty of days to celebrate together!

We are celebrating Lyla's birthday this weekend with family and friends. It's a Minnie Mouse themed party b/c she can't get enough Mickey Mouse! Our typical Saturday and Sunday mornings are her sitting on daddy's lap with her sippy cup and cheerios and watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I think that's daddy's favorite part of the weekend too!

We are going to be a little delayed on Lyla's 2 year old pictures. We were going to get them taken last weekend but she had a little daycare accident with her buddy Cole and ended up getting a couple scratches under her eye. Even though we are having another girl, I think she has a brother at daycare! We will have her pictures taken after we get back from Arizona (which we leave in a few days)! We are excited for warm weather and getting out of this unseasonably cold weather in WI!

I will hopefully be able to update with pictures this weekend in between cleaning up and packing. Happy Birthday Lyla!

The Verdict is out....

We are having a Girl!

The tech said she was 90% sure it was a girl so it looks pretty promising. Now Matt is going to have a houseful of girls!

Lyla Videos

Since we are in a middle of another big snow/freezing rain storm, what not a better opportunity to take some videos of Lyla and show what she has been up to lately.

This video is showing how she just loves to help her momma clean around the house.

Since I showed you how she can climb out of her crib, why not show how she can climb in and out of her crib as well! She is still a little monkey!

Lyla really enjoys letting Ella in and out of the house. According to Lyla, Ella needs to go potty every 5-10 minutes!

If you can hear her in the 2nd and 3rd video, her new little phrase is "I wanna see it" meaning she wants to see the video I'm taking of her! Hope you enjoyed the videos!

Colds, Colds and More Colds!

Lyla got a bad cold a couple weeks ago, passed it to Matt and myself and we are still not over it! I didn't have a voice on Monday and Tuesday this week and with my job requiring me to talk all day, it was difficult to get a lot done! We are doing better lately but still are not 100% over the nice winter cold! At least it is in the mid to upper 30's this weekend so we can get out of the below 0 weather.

Lyla got a little 4-wheeler from daddy for Christmas. We finally put it together and she loves to ride or push it around the house. She is also wearing her favorite shirt Frosty! She just loves Frosty. She will walk around the house pointing to all the snowman saying "Frosty" and goes to the next. I'm glad I have so many snowmen in my house!

Go Pack Go! Of course we were all dressed up in Packer gear last weekend for the big Superbowl. Lyla wanted to wear her cheerleading outfit with her cowboy boots (very fitting with them playing in TX) but didn't want to get her picture taken.


Even more upset with momma

Yummy chips and dip made her feel better though

We couldn't be happier with the big Packer win!

Matt decided to get the 4-wheeler out today to get Ella to run around and Lyla have a quick ride. It's nice to get outside too.