Friday morning playdates. Every week my girlfriends and I switch off hosting, and it's always such a fun time. All of the kids are so close in age with just months between them and it's been amazing watching them all grow and change from tiny babies to wild toddlers. It's also great to have these women in my life who I'd be friends with even without our common bond of being mothers. This photo is from 2 weeks ago when it was my turn to host: I served blueberry bread and lots of fresh fruit!
Henry and Hank, and how adorable they are together. This particular photo was taken right after Henry said "We sleep Daddy!" and then squeezed his eyes shut so tight and nestled up to his papa. These two crack me up and our house is constantly full of laughter from all three of us as Henry lights up every moment.
Date night. Thanks to wonderful grandparents Hank and I have been going on date nights a little more often lately and it's been such a treat. Our favorite thing to do is go to our fave spot downtown (a historic hotel) and sit on the porch or inside and play checkers while sipping on yummy drinks. Hank doesn't drink so he gets ones of their special sodas, and I usually treat myself to one of their homemade sangrias, with homegrown herbs and fruits from their garden. So good.
Breaking out of my comfort zone, fashion-wise. In my mind I always had these ideas of what I shouldn't wear. I'm short so I thought that maxi-length things looked weird, but this summer I've been embracing them and really love it. They're so comfy and especially convenient for chasing Henry around. I used to wear dresses a lot, but so many of my shorter ones just don't work these days with all the chasing, bending, and climbing on park equipment I do. Forgive the Myspace-esque (I guess it's more IG-esque now, right?) mirror-pic, will ya? ;)
This weather. When people think of Arizona they usually imagine a 100+ degree heat, cacti, and a dry tumbleweed rolling across hot asphalt. We however, live 2 hours north of hot hot Phoenix, up in the mountains, so we experience very seasonal weather. And I LOVE it. I am a broken record about how much I enjoy it here but Fall here is one of the best times. Right now our temperatures are in the 70s and a dream. I snapped this quick photo yesterday morning on a family walk.
Quiet lunches while Henry naps. I've been reading a lot more than usual lately, and recently decided to tackle a huge list of novels I've always meant to read, but never got around to in college. The first book on my list is Anna Karenina. I'm about 100 pages in now and I'm hooked. Have any of you read it? I've been reading a lot during lunch and it's become a nice quiet bit of "me time" in my day.
Seeing the relationship between my Dad and Henry blossom. Henry has taken to calling my Dad Pop-Pop or Poppy (Henry totally made this name up himself, which is so cute!) and they have such a special bond. My Dad is a total guy's guy- always tinkering in his garage, watching sports, etc. and although he swears up and down he only wanted daughters, I think a part of him would have loved having a son. Luckily Henry and him are two peas in a pod and my Dad is able to really enjoy all of those "boy" things he wasn't able to with Lauren or myself. It warms my heart to see the two of them together; the way Henry looks up at him for approval, the way my Dad belly-laughs while playing trucks on the floor. It's awesome.