Spring into Summer

I'm currently 37 weeks pregnant (pic from before church last Sunday!) and ready to meet this baby girl! It's hard to believe she'll be joining us THIS month! Here's a little catch-up of our spring and summer so far.

We kicked off May by buying a car! We traded in our Santa Fe for my dream 'mom car': a white Atlas with a sun roof! I LOVE it. We got it from a dealership in Charlottesville, and left the kids with Julia, the babysitter they adore, to make an early 8-year anniversary date out of it.  After buying the car we got tacos and stopped by a winery to see the view. Cville is a dream and so is my new car.

Lyd insisted on sitting waaay back there

We celebrated Mother's Day early before I went to California. How cute is the portrait Lyd drew of me? :) Matt got me flowers and my favorite Chloe perfume (I traded it in for the right one because I told him the wrong one by accident!!)

We spent most of May closing on the house (!!) and moved in at the end of the month. It took us a couple weeks to settle in but now it really feels like our own, long-term home. Finally!!!! Mom asked me what my favorite part of the new house was and I said "the feeling of permanence." I've been waiting a long time for this.

Lydia had her LAST day of preschool ever! It's hard to believe this part of life is over for her!! On one of her last days they had 'dress up as your favorite character day' and she went as Lily Huckleberry in Japan, mostly because she wanted to wear her Korean hanbok one more time (it's already too small but aah so cute still). I didn't get the memo that every other kid would be wearing Disney princess or superhero costumes. Ha. 

Her year at this preschool has been great and we're very grateful she was able to keep learning and seeing friends every day through the pandemic, when so many others had to stay home! So thankful her school made it work. She's learned and grown by leaps and bounds.

They also had the most adorable preschool graduation. Her first cap and gown!!

We decided to take the summer off from preschool. Her school was over 20 minutes away from our new house and with Baby coming and family visiting this summer, it felt like the right thing to do. It's been 100% the right choice so far. We've spent every day going on walks around Woodlake, playing in the yard, in the kiddie pool and blow-up splash pad, meeting friends at the pool, and, most importantly, having long nap times every afternoon. It's been wonderful. 

Lydia tucked in Chickie, her bird laundry basket, for a nap.

Luke's first time at a big splash pad! 
He was unsure at first but then he looooved it

Cool man Luke (his hand in his pocket 😍)

We needed some work done in the crawl space. Lyd supervised 

Making carrot cake!

Lydia even rode her bike on the 3-mile loop trail around the lake! She did great! Next step: remove the training wheels...

Delivering flowers (that we cut in our yard!) for a neighbor's birthday

Matt has gotten really into taking care of the yard - this picture of Luke copying him is one of my favorites! 

Father's Day and my birthday were on the same day this year. Matt had the day off work that Friday, so we celebrated during the whole long weekend. He got a BBQ and fire pit for Father's Day and immediately put them to use and watched a bunch of YouTube videos about how to use them.

One weekend in June we had a BBQ with Zac and Whitey and the kids, and Will Staten and his wife and 3 kids. It was a little BYU ROTC reunion! Six adults and seven kids in the house was fun and the kids spent almost the entire time in the blow-up pool and splash pad eating Oreos.

Fourth of July! Our neighborhood put on a cute party with live music, free boat rides around the lake, food trucks, and fireworks. We also had a ward pancake breakfast and went to the pool with new ward friends!

Turn my back for one minute to heat up the water and...
this was so cute haha, I wasn't even mad

I'm still working 20 hours/week and love it. I need the mental break from family stuff to do adult stuff on a regular basis, even though the logistics of working from home are getting more complicated with another baby on the way. I want to keep making it happen. Maternity leave starts soon so I'm winding down projects and getting ready for a 6 week absence. All of which is more enjoyable in our mostly-done new office. :) 

And now the countdown is on to meet Baby Girl! Two weeks until indiction and I'm feeling way more sore and crampy than with either of the other two. We have our babysitter on call but fingers crossed this baby stays put at least until Mom arrives next week!!