Life Lately! (Almost Walking, H&M's Visit, Midnight Sun)

Sometimes I wonder how much longer I'll blog. I love having our life all documented, but it takes a lot of time. I only know a couple other ladies who do it (the way I do), and sometimes it feels like it's definitely TMI, especially since I share it on Fb. So what do I do? Stop sharing on social media? Set it to private and only let a few people see? Stop blogging all together? I don't know.

I've kept blogging because I can't think of a better way to record our pictures, videos AND stories all together. It's like a photo album on steroids. :) And being able to share them with friends and family makes it even better! Any suggestions? Or should I just keep going as it is?

Until I think of a better way, here we are. :) Here's an update of the highlights of the last month and a half!

Lydia is ALMOST walking!

Her favorite thing to do these days is to stand by the coffee table and pull all the books onto the ground. :)

The same goes for the bookshelf in her room!

She also LOVES the new push cart Matt bought her. Here's a video of it that we've watched about 100 times!

Just a couple weeks ago I had to help her stand up against the table, but now she can stand on her own (holding onto something) and can even cruise up and down tables and furniture. :)

In her Sunday best!

She's also starting to climb on everything!

So glad Matt bolted this bookshelf to the wall!

Heidi and Mike visited! They stayed with us for a weekend before their Alaskan cruise. Their two days with us were packed: they were here for Lydia's birthday party, video chatting with Daniel from his mission in Ukraine, and Mother's Day!

See the "Love Alaska" sign on the left? :)

It was really good to spend time with them, and let Lydia have some time with her grandparents. We're so glad they could stop by!

It was really cool to be able to video chat with Daniel, who's  is on his mission in Ukraine right now, because missionaries only get to video chat a couple times a year. Mother's Day is one of those times! (The other time is Christmas, when we were also with Heidi and Mike! Funny coincidence!)

Everyone in Matt's immediate family (plus Grandpa Hill) called in to talk to him! We were all in different states: I think it was Hawaii, Arizona, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska! 

Other Mother's Day events included Matt and Mike making Mother's Day breakfast for Heidi and me before we all went to church. :)

Matt also took them to Ester Dome to see the view. For only a two day trip, we covered a lot of ground!

Home improvement stuff

Matt and I had a flurry of home improvement projects in early May. First, I finally found a way to decorate the awkward wall in our kitchen:

I wish I'd thought of it a year ago! I was a little nervous to ship 9 glass frames to Alaska (I thought for sure they'd all arrive broken) but they were totally fine! Target does it again. :) 

He did a bunch of baby proofing (now that L is more mobile than ever) and yard stuff. Meanwhile, Lydia helped me pick out a new carpet for the living room. :) 

Checking out the options...

I told Matt she chose the one we ended up with herself, because while I was looking at a different carpet, she started grabbing onto this one:

And we ended up buying it. :) It's SO soft and fluffy - we all love it. Also, I dragged it through Lowe's by myself at 9:30pm (after teaching yoga), in and out of the car, AND up the stairs in our house. It's 10 feet long!

Worth it. :)

It's so soft that she grabs onto it like her blanket when she's tired. :) 

Another project was in the half bathroom, where we finally put up a mirror and hung the beautiful tile artwork of Creamer's Field that Heidi and Mike gave us. 

Between the picture wall, the new carpet, completed bathroom, and baby / yard projects, it feels like we're finally 100% settled in. It only took a year and a half..!

I started going to Stroller Strong Moms again, and will be teaching yoga for them this summer!

It's the perfect workout and teaching situation for us, because I bring Lydia and it's really social and fun. Plus we get to be outside! Win, win, win. 

Matt was gone for a long training but we got to FaceTime a few times. He sent me these screen shots and said "look at these in progression!" :) 

Waving to Daddy!

Hahahahha. Barkley was not happy that he left!

While he was away, I watched our friend's dogs for a few days. It was interesting being in charge of 3 dogs and a baby by myself!! But they were good dogs and Barkley liked the extra friends.

We had our last play date with Aubrey and Bailey before they left. :( It's hard to believe they're gone!

A church selfie...

and a pre-church selfie. :)

These next pictures are to remind me that when I put L to bed at night she gets so excited that she grabs her blanket, snuggles into it, and smiles. :) Sometimes there's even excited leg kicking. This girl loves her sleep! 

Rubbing her eyes because she's so tired, but smiling!

Dinners when Matt's gone are pretty relaxed...

Typical scene these days: L playing with her cart!

This was from a while ago (there was still snow on the ground!) but before our trip to southern Alaska, Matt wanted to try out the hiking backpack by walking to the park with it. :) 

❤️ ❤️

Lydia loved it. :) 

FaceTiming with Ellen!!

A little photo shoot in her new sweater that I love. :)

And a new dress from Gma Trudy and Gpa Mark!

Before Matt left for his trip:

(Thanks Heidi for the pictures!)

Lydia got an amazing unicorn towel as an early birthday present - thank you Kristi and Blake! I had a hard time stopping myself from taking 2943857953 pictures of her in it. :)

Now that the weather is perfect, we're taking lots of trips to the park. (We're in that magical time between snow and mosquitos in Alaska!)

These days Lydia has a "new food of the day" as she transitions off formula and onto regular food. So far the winners are cheddar cheese (she won't stop eating it and I have to cut her off!), yogurt with rice cereal mixed in, applesauce, berry crisp, oatmeal-quinoa-berry bars, zucchini bread, and fruit smoothies (I've been doing 1/2 a banana, mixed berries, frozen spinach, PB and almond milk). 

But she did NOT like pasta... more ended up on the ground than in her mouth. That was Barkley's favorite day. :) 

And I'll end this post with the 3am sunrise. Interior Alaska has 24 hours of daylight now! The sun sets at 11:45pm and rises around 3am, but it doesn't get dark in between - just dusky. Oh, and I never sleep any more, which is how I was able to get this picture (it's actually a really bad problem).

3am sunrise

That's all for now. :) Thanks for checking in!