Stewart is TWO!! - And Memorial Day

My little baby boy is no longer a baby, he is a little boy! Although I don't think he quite understood what was happening, he was so happy the whole day. I mean - who wouldn't be when you get new toys and play at the park, and are surrounded by cousins all day. May 27th turned out to fall on Memorial Day this year which was so fun to have Paul home all day and be able to celebrate with the family traditions we do every year. Stewart opened his gift in the morning which was a little lawn mower. He is always so fascinated when he sees people mowing the lawn and he always follows Paul or I around the yard when we are using ours. But now he thinks it is pretty awesome that we has one of his very own. 

Then we were off to Logan to the Stewart family reunion at the park. Despite the warmer temperatures and the brightly shining sun, it never fails to be windy and chilly in that covered tunnel. Every year I wish I would have thought of jackets. Next year they will be packed for sure, even if it says it will be 80 degrees!

I am so excited that Stewart and Paul have each other as little buddies. They were out in the field or on the basketball court playing for hours. Paul is such a patient, sweet daddy and I couldn't ask for anyone better than him to help me teach, raise, and have fun with our kids. Stewart's already getting the frisbee throwing down. Can't imagine how good he will be in just a few years. 

Then we headed to Centerville for some Heslop family time and a bbq. Lily was in heaven playing "Life" with the big kids. She was even doing quite well :)

Last but not least for the day, was the cake! Stewart was SOO incredibly proud of himself that he blew the candle out all by himself. Probably safe to say it was the highlight of his day. I had grand plans to make a cute basketball cake, but a few disasters later and a long busy day, he ended up with a lopsided-circular blob. I kinda felt like a terrible mother because of the crazy pressures and expectations we mothers give ourselves, especially on our childrens' birthdays. But I decided to move past it because for one, Stewart could care less at this point and two, there is always next year!

Lily's Dance Recital '13

Lily had her Spring dance recital with Prestige Dance Company last week. She was adorable up on that stage! I am so proud of the confident, beautiful, little girl she has become. I already got her all registered for next year because she loves dance so much. She is constantly "sha-saying" around the house and showing me all of the moves that Shay has taught her. She is my tiny dancer...

 

Mother's Day Letters

Dear Lily,

You gave me the oppurtunity to become a momma four years ago. I will never forget that precious moment when your daddy put you in my arms for the first time. You were so tiny and perfect and you have grown into a gorgeous little girl. You have the most beautiful little freckles that fall perfectly on your sweet little nose, cheeks, and forehead. They are one of my favorite things about you! You are such a good little helper, especially when it has to do with making your brother happy. You two are constantly hugging and putting your arms around each other and it makes me so proud that you are such a good sister. Whenever we go on errands or leave the house, I always tell Stew that I am leaving so help him hurry and you always get so concerned for him and tell me to go get him and not leave without him. I am so relieved to know that he will always have you for a big sister.

You are so funny and are developing a quirky little sense of humor (which must have come from your daddy). You are starting to tease and trick me and your daddy all the time. Your favorite is to play the copy-cat game where you say everything I say. I use it my advantage and say things like, "I love my momma sooo much!" because I love to her it come out of your sweet little mouth. Today at church the choir sang Consider the Lilies and it touched my heart. That beautiful song reminds me how special of a little girl you are and how much I have to be thankful for when it come to you. It is such a blessing for me to be able to see you continue to grow and develop into your own little person. Thank you my little Lily for being such an amazing daughter. I love you very much! - Love Momma

Dear Stewart,
You are my little buddy boy and I am so grateful for the special bond that we have. I only hope that it is something you will not grow out of! You sure do love me at this time in your life and are very attached to me. It makes my heart melt every time I see you running towards me, shouting, "Mama, mama" with your little arms outstretched. And the cherry on top of it all is the sweet pat that you give me with your little hands to finish off the squeezy hug! You make me smile everyday because of your tender heart. You are almost two and in that stage where you want to test your limits. I have come to realize in the past couple days just how smart you are too. Every time you do something naughty and I tell you to stop, you throw your arms up in the air and with the most innocent face you say, "DAH, DAH." Not sure what that is, but you know exactly what you are doing because it makes me smile and I cannot continue my little lecture to you.

You are also so quick to fix when you have wronged someone. Whether it is pushing Lily out of your way, biting me (which I know you do out of love but we still have to fix that because I have gotten some major bruises from your strong little teeth), or accidentally hitting me when your rolling all over me, you immediately give a kiss. I hope this is one of your traits throughout your life to always be quick to ask for forgiveness and make right your mistakes. Your kisses are so precious and sincere! I ask for as many as I can each day for fear that you won't be as free to give them in the next couple years. The little smack that comes from your lips is to die for, soo sweet! I love you Bubos and I am so proud that you are mine and daddy's! - Love Momma

Dear Mom,
Anything that I know about motherhood, is because of you! You are the most self-less, giving person that I know. You are constantly serving your family and others around you. I only hope to someday have a portion of the charity that you have. I love being around you and am so grateful to be your only daughter (of course for selfless reasons). My favorite memories growing up were when the boys would go on their male-bonding outings. I was always so excited when they left so that me and you could have all weekend to hang out. I wouldn't trade those time for anything. I hope that as my kids are growing, I am as cool and fun as you are so that they will look forward to spending time with me :)

Now that you are far away from me, I know how much I took you and Dad for granted. Just today I had 15 minutes to kill before I needed to pick Lily up from dance class and I thought, "I wish I could stop up at Mom and Dad's house just to say hi". I miss popping in whenever I wanted whether it was to just free me and the kids from our house for a minute or to hang out for the evening when Paul was out of town. And my intention is not to make you feel bad, I just want you to know how much you are loved and missed! I am so grateful to be your daughter and I am forever blessed for everything that you and Dad taught me and and have done for me. I love you very much! - Love Laura

Tulip Festival

All the Heslop girls went to the Tulip Festival last week. It was so refreshing to spend some good 'girl time' and see the exciting signs of Spring. It hasn't felt much like Spring yet because the Winter is dragging on forever! It was been so cold, but luckily, we had blue skies and sunshine on our outting to Thanksgiving Point. The flowers were beyond gorgeous. It inspired me to plant at least a few flowers in our yard this year (still working on getting that done)!

Lily and Stewart were in heaven spending some outdoors time. They loved roaming around and hanging out with the little cousins. Stewart of coarse was mesmerized by the water fountains and would have jumped right in had I let him!

It was a great day and hopefully we will make it a tradition with the Heslop girls! Thanks Joan for making this day possible for all of us to be together!

Daddy-Daughter Date

Paul took Lily on her first daddy-daughter date last week. Lily said to him, "I never been on a date before!" I was a little jealous :) but so glad that they got to spend some precious time together. Paul took her to Station Park to see a movie...

When they got home Lily was soo tired, it was way past bed-time. Paul said he had to cover her eyes a couple of times, so hopefully she doesn't get nightmares! I know that the Wizard of Oz gave me some sleepless nights back in my day.

This is just the first of many daddy-daughter dates my sweet little girl will get to cherish her whole life! She is one lucky girl to have such an amazing daddy that loves her so much.

The Simple Things

Three things that made me so incredibly happy this last weekend that I am reminiscing on already are:

1. Stewart's sweet kisses on my back, arm, hands, and cheeks as I was building the kid's little playhouse. He has been so generous with his smacking lips lately and it is my most favorite thing in the world! No matter how I am feeling, when I hear his little smack and see his arms around me, I melt with my unconditional love that I have for my little buddy.

(picture taken by my Dad in St. George, he emailed it to me after he read this post and I had to share)

2. The "date-night" Paul and I had in the garage finishing setting up the playhouse. It reminded me of our first year of marriage when we were establishing our little apartment as our home. I can't help but laugh every time I see Paul with a screwdriver in one hand, and a little screw in the other. About 65% of the time, he drops that little screw and it makes him so irrational. I love it about him! The little blurts of anger and frustration that come out of him, makes me smile every time. It was a good night!

3. Watching the second session on Sunday of General Conference cuddled up with my little Lily in the cheerio chair. Paul was on his way to Chicago, and I had just put Stew in bed for his nap. That left me and Lily to have some quality time and she was so sweet as she sat there and pointed out the apostles that she knows, "President Monson and President Uchdorf," and asking who the others were. It was a little heaven on Earth listening to the prophets testify of Christ and spending that special time with my little girl.

I am so grateful for quality time that I get to spend with each person in my family. I think that it is so important to spend one-on-one time and build those special memories and moments I hope to cherish forever. When I think back at my time with my parents and brothers, my very most favorite times are when I got to spend one-on-one time with each of them. I hope that my children and I will have solid relationships and that I can show them how much I love them individually.

Easter Weekend

Our Easter weekend was perfect this year. We were busy with extended family, neighborhood, and our own little family celebrations, but it was just the right about of busy. We started off Saturday morning with a neighborhood Easter egg hunt in the park. Lily was a bit timid and not very aggressive, just like her little personality, but to my surprise, so was Stew! Maybe he just needs another year to really understand the concept, but it was fine by me because the less candy we come home with, the better. 

Stewart happened to find a treasure of an egg (I think I have been watching too much Jake and the Neverland Pirates, because in my head I can hear Captain Hook saying "treasure of an egg"). A BASKETBALL Easter egg...he was in heaven. Once he found that precious egg, he could care less about all the others laying in the grass up for grabs. He just threw his special egg around making shots.

Then in the afternoon we made our way up to Hooper for a little hot-dog roasting pot luck and egg hunt. By this hunt, the kids were a little more enthusiastic and ran all over that yard.

Sunday morning the Easter Bunny came later on in the morning. Paul had fallen asleep on the couch downstairs (staying up way too late because of some exciting/intense business meeting coming up the next day). But, the Easter Bunny made his way back to our house while the kids were locked in our room watching a show :) They loved seeing the eggs in the their rooms, they were jumping up and down! The Easter Bunny also brought them cutie little Sunday clothes, painting books, and of course, balls!

Then Paul got to go on his annual savanger Easter hunt. Either he is getting smarter, or my poems are getting better because he knocked it out much faster this year.

Then, we got to top it all off by going to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building for church! Danny and Holland blessed their little Desmond. I haven't been in the building for a while but it brought back amazing memories of taking pictures with my brand new husband on our wedding day. I am so grateful for the Savior and his Resurrection and Atonment. How blessed I am to be able to live in Heaven someday, despite all of these flaws I currently have. So grateful for my incredible family, and to have the true gospel in my life.