June Update (Mom & Dad's visit, Birthdays, Summer in Alaska!)

June was full of activity around here!

Lydia had her first birthday (more about that back HERE and HERE), I turned 27, Matt returned from a month-long training (that ended in mid-June), Mom and Dad visited, I continued teaching my online summer course for UAF and taught yoga, and we did our best to enjoy the beautiful Alaskan summer!

Taken at 9:30pm - June in Fairbanks means 24 hours of daylight all month long!

M & D were here for a week while Matt was away at training.

On the day they arrived we went straight from the airport to Pike's for dinner on the riverfront.

Which was a perfect kickoff for a nice, chill week, full of walks to the park...

Eating at all the best restaurants (especially the ones with outdoor seating - trying to enjoy the nice weather while it lasts)...

GF donuts at Lunch Café

spending time with L...

the farmer's market (can you believe those birch trees??)...

and some more exploring of Fairbanks.

Mom picked out this outfit for L 😍

One night we had a picnic dinner at Chena Lake and threw sticks into the river for Barkley to chase for a while. :) It was really nice!

It was so pretty that we came back another day for a walk. :)

We didn't let the million mosquitos stop us - THANK YOU Heidi and Mike for the stroller mosquito net! 💖  It's been a huge help. 

And, my very favorite picture from the visit: Lydia and Grandpa Mark making the same face at each other!! I've always loved when she can get 'grandparent time,' but it's even better now that she's old enough to interact and play. :)  

During the whole week, Lydia still got pretty emotional when Mom or Dad tried to hold her. She's still very cautious around people she doesn't see all the time (even around Matt when he comes home from long trips). We got this video that is sad, but I can't help laughing at it..!

Despite a few emotional moments from Lydia, it was a great visit and I'm so, so glad Mom and Dad could come. ❤️  Here's one last picture - a chihuahua that hopped on Dad's lap in the taxi back to the airport (sent to me from Mom). Ha!

After they left we had another week until Matt came home. We had really limited communication (once a day if we were lucky, and for just a few minutes. There was a week-long stretch where we couldn't talk or text at all).

During that time, Lydia started her newest 'thing' - hugging her toys! It's absolutely her cutest stage yet! It's funny because at her one-year doctor appointment they actually asked about hugging toys as one of her development milestones. I didn't know this was such a common thing! She does it all the time.

Matt came home the night before Lydia's first birthday. I'd been so worried that he'd miss it (we didn't know which day he'd be back) and was relieved when he (just barely) made it!

Since he got in so late the night before, he had the morning off (meaning he went into work at 9 instead of 6). We got to open her gifts all together and it was perfect! All that worrying was for nothing. :) 

When Heidi saw this picture she said "she looks so nurturing!" 😄

Grabbing a Trader Joe's bar from Aunt Ellen :D (I miss TJ's so, so much!!)

Lydia has some great aunts, uncles, and grandparents for sending her all of these nice gifts. :) This girl is so loved!

Isn't this the most beautiful wrapping paper from Zac and Whitney? 😍

Wearing the scarf from the pic above :) Thanks Aunt Sarah 💗

On her birthday the weather was perfect, and we celebrated by going to Stroller Moms in the park and the baby gym later. :) 

My birthday was 5 days later and was mostly a normal day. I had a lot of grading to do that week (the summer class I'm teaching is going really well!) and Matt had work, so it was pretty low-key. I loved the texts and calls all day though, and of course the cards and presents!!

That white binder was one of Matt's gifts to me - he organized all of the letters we wrote to each other on his mission in chronological order and put each one in a plastic sleeve. It's something we'll keep forever!

And I got myself a little present. :) Stitch Fix is really helpful when you live somewhere with no shopping!

Not too long after that, Lydia had her one-year doctor appointment. It was VERY dramatic. 

She needed a bunch of shots, and was crying and kicking so much that THREE nurses had to come in and help keep her still! I almost cried, too. 

It's a good thing we had plans to meet Mckenzie at the UAF botanical garden right after to take our minds off it :) (even if L was still a little pouty). 

We love that place. I remember last year Mom and I realized Lydia had been there about 5 times in her first few months of life!

Matt and I have been a couple times this summer - once just to look around, and once for a free concert. I told Matt it's my favorite place in Fairbanks. :)

On the summer solstice, Matt went to the Midnight Sun baseball game with Blake. Fairbanks makes a big deal out of the longest day of the year because of how light it stays around the clock, and this is just one of the annual events they do. It was literally at midnight but broad daylight out!

I like how in this picture someone is shading their eyes from the sun... at midnight. 😄

Lydia and I were happy to be asleep during that time :) but now that she's a big one-year-old 😉  she needs a couple outings every day. We do a combination of things, including get-togethers with friends...

Play date! They played peek-a-boo with each other behind the curtain!!

the library...
We LOVE the North Pole library. We walk from our house, and they have toys and activities for L and she loves crawling around and exploring. One day she stood up on a rolling chair and pushed it around like a walker - I hope you can see the video!

Stroller Strong Moms...

I'm teaching yoga for them this summer, which is really fun and different! Since it's outside and there are kids running around it's the opposite of a quiet, controlled studio environment. :) But I like it! I try to go twice a week to work out plus the days that I teach. The picture below was taken on Lydia's first birthday!

walks to the park.. 

❤️ ❤️

One day we took her push cart to the park and let her walk around with it (video):

Watching the 'Alaska' train go by

walks to the river...

 

I love the Fairbanks wildflowers :)

From a picnic with a friend but the same idea :)

playtime at home...

Including reading stories, although it's rare these days because she doesn't like to sit still any more! PS she is waving :)

and/or My Gym (the baby gym). 

This place is a little silly, but it's been helping Lydia come out of her shell. She's still really shy and cautious around adults, but lets other babies come up to her now.

She LOVES playing with puppets - she always has! Like the dragon puppet that made her laugh for the first time ever, and Roadkill Ralph in Sundance. 😄

The staff there are amazing, too, and work 1-on-1 with her to get her more comfortable with strangers. In the pic below she'd been crying moments before. The nice girl who was working with us pushed her on the swing (one of L's favorite activities) and tickled her feet and made funny noises with her... and got Lydia to smile!

I hope as we keep going she'll open up a lot more.

Between activities Lydia usually naps, and that's my time to work: emails, grading, etc.

Lydia is still trying new foods almost every day! The eggs and avocado in the pic below mostly ended up on the floor (lucky Barkley!) She's been a little pickier recently, but cheese is still her favorite. :)

She's still all about MILK these days, but she's on whole milk now instead of formula!

Bath time is still fun. :) No matter how tired she is, she perks up for her bath. 

And playtime before bed is the best - especially when Dad is home!

😍

Church has been interesting since she started being so busy, and moving non-stop! We miss the days when she'd fall asleep in her car seat. :) She likes to walk up and down the pew holding onto the seat, pull everything out of my bag, and eat Cheerios by the handful. :)

One day I wrangled her for 45 minutes with no luck, but as soon as Matt took her she fell asleep! I will take the credit for wearing her out. :)

After church one day we had a picnic dinner by the lake. It was beautiful and so nice out!

On a different Sunday night we tried to take some self-timer family pictures and they just did not turn out. Haha. We used to be able to get nice ones...

I felt like we were in the Amazon jungle but we were just at Chena Lake!

We had a nice Father's Day. We had a pancake breakfast with berry topping (just frozen berries microwaved and poured over the pancakes like syrup), and gave Matt cards before going to church. We made Lydia's card at a Stroller Moms activity after class one day. :)

And here are a few more random pics...

Lydia likes to make this face a lot now. :) 

I love this picture because it looks like she's reading. :) And Barkley's face is so funny!

When L reaches out her arm like this it means she wants you to help her walk. She's very cautious about walking on her own, but she could do it if she wanted. 

She almost never falls asleep on my shoulder any more but when she does, it's adorable. 

One of her favorite activities is pulling everything out of this bin. We usually keep these pink wings in it, and I couldn't resist trying them on her one day. :)

Drizzly trip to the farmer's market. :)

Chomping on a strawberry bar. :)

Our happy girl! We have a few big projects that we're starting this July so we're going to be good and busy starting right about now. I'm hoping they all go well so we can report back about them here! Thanks for checking in. :)