I have the Best Dad!

Yesterday, Amy hosted playgroup at her mother-in-law's house for several of us along with our kiddos. Amy's husband has now also joined the ranks of a Phoenix fire-fighter and they both were off shift that day. So we decided to invite Andrew & Eric along to experience playgroup for themselves . . . I still can't decide which was the more deciding factor, the wonderful gourmet lunch or the toys!!! Based on the following pictures, I'll let you decide!





On Sunday we spent the afternoon at the Mall with the Price's. We were dying to get out of the house for a change of scenery as last week was exceptionally warm with each day over 111 degrees. It gets too hot to go anyplace in this heat. I know all of you who live in the southeast say it's a dry heat, but 110 is the lowest setting that my oven gets to!!! Anyhow, Amy and I commented as we left the mall that times certainly have changed for our husbands since walking around this mall in high school. Can you imagine what these 2 boys were doing at this mall a few 15 or so years ago?!?!? Does it get any better :) I love you Eric!

Great Friends

I consider myself so blessed to be surrounded by such amazing families and moms at this time in my life. I spent so many years dreaming about what it would be like to have my own kids and family, and I never imagined being in the presence of such great
women! This is from Nolan Riley's dedication last week. What an amazing event to be able to celebrate as we have for each other's children. Thank you Amy, Jackie, & Megan, along with several other moms, for making my dreams of motherhood so complete!


The Price's, The Riley's, The Holt's, The D'Ortenzio's


Amy w/Meghan's baby Nolan, Meghan w/Amy's baby Annabelle, Me & Kylie, Jackie & Brody

Kicked out of swimming lessons...

I never thought of Kylie as a "trouble-maker" but apparently the swim instructor for our city swim class didn't agree with me :0 Well, it wasn't so much that she was a trouble-maker, but I guess her consistent crying for the entire 35 minute class, 3 days in a row was enough of a disruption :{ The instructor said she was too much of a distraction for the other kids and ashamedly, I have to agree. I just hate to be the mom of "that kid" that wouldn't stop crying. Kylie has always loved being in the water and was comfortable in it from a very young age. So, we thought swim lessons would be appropriate, but apparently she's not quite ready for this class. It was pretty heartbreaking to listen to my child's cries across an entire city pool. I guess we'll continue to just play in the water and make an attempt at official lessons later. Here are the pictures that I thought would be included on her scrapbook page of my "first swim lessons." I guess those pictures will come later . . . And check out her painful expression on the 2nd photo down, it's a heartbreaker!

Wee Movement Class

Now that it's "100-teens" degrees on a consistent basis in Phoenix, we've been looking for more things to do inside to keep us busy out of our house. I've become a huge fan of the Parks & Rec system and hope that we can get into more classes this fall! On Mondays, we've been taking a Wee Movement class with about 8 other kiddos. Kylie can be pretty shy with kids she doesn't know, but by the last class, she was doing the movements, jumping like a frog, and sailing along on the "ally ally oop" river! Here's a few action shots along with just a simply adorable picture of her! (Kylie is in the pink shirt and brown shorts.) We've also registered for a Toddler Tumbling class that starts next week, so we can't wait for something new to try out! Stay tuned for an update on that next week.

My little "mother"

Up until now, the extent of Kylie's playtime with other babies has been her doll. She is such a little momma and wants to spend her time feeding baby, changing baby's diaper, giving baby her boppy, putting baby to bed, putting baby on the big girl potty, etc, you get the point :) She has a fully loaded baby stroller, a baby cradle with bedding, a baby doll snugli, baby diapers/bottles/blankies/boppies, etc... I can't wait to see how Kylie will interact with her future siblings, Lord willing. I remember from as far back as I can always wanting to be a mommy and now I get the chance to fulfill that dream. I can only hope & pray that Kylie gets to fulfill her dreams that same way, whatever they may be!

My Future Denver Broncos Cheerleader!

Both of our families have long histories of being some die hard Broncos fans and our children will be no different. Kylie's Uncle Brian & Aunt Susan found these adorable outfits for Kylie and she always gets comments from fans as we're out and about during the day.