Quiet Book

I've been trying to find projects to fill my time during Lyla's afternoon nap so that I don't get too lonely and depressed. :) My latest project was a fun little quietbook for Lyla to use in church when she's a little older. I found a free pattern online and used all of my fabric scraps. Here are the pages:

I know the sewing isn't great but it does the job, right? Anyone have a good idea for more projects I can keep busy with? I'm always looking for easy but productive crafts to work on.

Here are a few sweet pictures of Lyla.

Green is my new favorite color...

I've realized how much I hate dirt. Especially Idaho dirt. It gets tracked all over the house, turns to clay-mud after every rain and then covers your shoes, it's constantly in our eyes since it's always windy here, and it's ugly! Since moving in, we've been busy working on our yard- starting with the patio in the back. Paul worked hard while I was out of town doing all of this:

And here is the finished product!! Kinda hard to see in the bright sun but we've loved it so far- someday we may even have a BBQ grill out there!

Our next project was to tackle the front yard. It started like this:

Paul's brother Justin visited and helped us to level the ground and get the hundreds of rocks out

After lots of work the front looked like this: And finally like this:

Oh grass is just so wonderful! Green is such a bright, warm, pretty color and I love seeing it all around our house. We haven't done the back yet but for now we're taking a break from the hard work and enjoying what we've gotten done so far. Our great neighbors have helped a lot along the way which we greatly appreciated!

Updates

I'm so bad at posting lately so I'm just going to add lots of random pictures we've taken lately. Lyla is growing so fast- she's already 7 months!! She's such a cute chubby little girl and we have so much fun together!! She can sit up now and loves to sit and play with her fun toys! She's so happy most of the time and she loves to be tickled- she just giggles and laughs. We're still working on sleeping through the night but she's gotten very good at falling asleep on her own when she's tired.

Lyla and I were having a pink day together- which happens quite frequently! :)
When Lyla wakes up from a nap, she starts babbling in her crib and when we open the door she pokes up head up as far as she can reach.

Loves grabbing her feet!

We went camping with my family for a weekend- Cassidy loved pushing Lyla in the hammock.

We had a quiet but relaxing 4th of July. We cleaned our cars, mowed the lawn, ran a few errands and then walked around some vendors that were set up by the river.

On the actual fourth we went to church in our patriotic colors and then cooked hamburgers on our George Foreman- the closest we could come to a BBQ!

I just melt when I see Lyla's sweet smile!

Playing with daddy

Fun in Wisconsin

My mom and I visited Jeanne and her cute family in Wisconsin. The three of us had a blast together- chasing the three kiddos around and eating yummy food and going on mom's long walks in the 90 degree, 85% humidity weather! By the end of each day we were all so exhausted that we got a little crazy...

Our last night we had a sleepover in the front room- so fun!

Kaitlyn and Lyla had fun- they played together by touching each other's faces so we had to be careful to protect eyes from being poked... They looked so cute in their matchinig yellow outfits.

Jackson loved getting all of us in his train. He would yell "all aboard", stamp our tickets, and then drive the train. Such a cute energetic boy!

Lyla's started pulling her feet to her mouth to suck on her shoes or feet.

She recently started sitting by herself! She loves to sit and play with her toys- especially balls. She's such a fun happy baby and we have so much fun together. Such a darling, mischievous little face!!

"No matter our talents...we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before."

Since I'm not the most talented person when it comes to making pretty things, I have to celebrate any time something actually works out. I've been wanting to put up valances on the windows by the kitchen sink so I decided to be brave and to make them myself. I made Paul ok the fabric cuz I was too scared to choose it alone. I found a picture online that I liked and after making a few changes of my own- this is what I came up with:

Not the best pictures but you get the idea. I'm sure it's a surprise to all that I picked brown and pink fabric :) I know these really aren't very difficult to make, but now it feels more like home when I'm in the kitchen and I love the reminder that I can "create something of beauty" as President Uchtdorf taught us.

It's time for a long break from decisions and stress...

We officially live in Idaho now! We're almost all settled in (pictures will come eventually) and we've enjoyed two weeks in our new home. When I stop to think about all that has gone on in our lives lately it all seems like such a blur. In a year and four months Paul and I got married, had Lyla, took maternity leave, Paul did 2 internships then finished 3 semesters of school and graduated, we decided to move to Idaho Falls, I stopped working, we bought a house, and Paul started working full time. I don't want to make another decision for months- no wonder I'm always stressed and on edge!! Anyway, life is going well and we're excited for summer- if the weather ever decides to warm up! Here's the outside of our house on moving day. Don't mind my red eyes in these pictures- it was extremely hard to say goodbye to my family and to watch them drive away.

Little cutie

My good friend Brittany took some darling pictures of Lyla. Here are our favorites:

She's become such a fun, happy girl and I love being with her so much!!