Popsicles and Playtime

William has warmed up to being outside, whereas he used to be absolutely petrified of it.
Matthew works at a private dental clinic on Tuesday nights, so William and I got to spend all of Tuesday together and cap off our mommy-son day with a visit from the ice cream truck and a Scooby Doo Popsicle.

Not sure what it is yet

Getting sleepy right at the same time each night (it's about 6:30pm).

After first taste and now he knows it's a DESSERT

Not sure about these messy hands

Thoroughly enjoying his treat

 On Saturday we needed to work on irrigating our front yard so it'll last through this summer heat.  We were just going to use a couple of soaker hoses and call it done.  But when you have a stepfather who can tell you every part you need for an easy irrigation system AND walk you through how to put it together over the phone....how can you say no to that?

The only catch was that Matthew had to dig beneath the concrete to run the main water line across to reach both sides. 

After shovels weren't working he decided to just start digging with his hand and a screwdriver

I think Matthew really enjoyed himself

William enjoyed eating apple slices in his stroller while watching daddy get covered in mud

Impersonating my laugh as I'm cracking up taking pictures of his silliness

Little ham

Played on a blanket for a while.  He is loving any toy with wheels right now.

Spent some time at his water table

The tongue stickin out means he's concentrating

SPLASH  SPLASH  SPLASH  SPLASH  SPLASH

He talked on the "phone" a while

And begged daddy for some s'mores cookie bars

I live with a couple of cute messes.

Celebrating Baby Lixey

It was a lot of fun getting to throw my dear friend Nicki a baby shower along with other dear friends Cassie and Trish.  Babies are a great excuse for a party!!

The spread

Yummy cupcakes

Trish and Gna!

Decorations and Trish's delicious coffee punch aka Wendy's frosty with hint of coffee flavoring

Water and tulips.  Couldn't find teal flowers...go figure...so went with contrasting color instead.

Nicki sharing her funny stories and workin the crowd

Trish's crockpot party mix was yum. 

Hanging out while playing Cassie's fun games she made for us

Present time with Cassie and Nicki

Baby boy or girl???  We won't know until July!

The lovely mama and Tiffany

Nicki's husband Brian on boy patrol

Jen learning way more than she could ever want to know about babies

Watermelon baby carriage.. haha.

Seems like crystal goes better with tablecloths but we just kinda tried to mix elegant and rustic!

Wreath for baby boy/girl.

My husband ate a steak for dinner, with his bare hands.  Nights like these I wonder what his life would really be like without a woman in it..... #Isaybarbaric  #hesaysmanlier

Nicki and big brother Sawyer!

Mom and Paul Bring Green Thumbs!

My mother and stepfather Paul came through on their way to a wedding (tis the season for matrimony!!!).

In true Mills-Wilson loving fashion, they always help us with the projects Matthew and I have usually somewhat started, attempted, and then left half-done with a big "we'll get to it...sometime!" :)  It's always more motivating for me to have someone else step in and give that extra push and assistance to finish a task.  And since mom and Paul know about plants (and we don't), we tackled the front yard!  Of course there was lots of snuggling with lil' bit as well.

Now the real challenge is if I can keep these plants alive.........

William with YaYa and PopPop

Looking at the new pretty flowers

Checking out the lavendar

Got a couple new Cleyera bushes (right), a gardenia (right front),  two hydrangeas, some hostas, and then some midwestern type flowers.

Japanese maple coming this fall.  We were too afraid to plant something that large in this heat.

Still needs more distinct bed lines, irrigation and mulch

<3

It was fun laying the rocks out that mom and Paul brought to us from the side of the road!  We broke apart some with the pick axes to get the right shapes and sizes.  In the fall we'd like to transplant the three big bushes to another corner of the house and just have flowers in this bed.

Waving to cars

Cute toes

Giggles with Pop Pop

Love having coneflowers.  They remind me so much of our time in Colorado.