Love month

Whew, what a busy month February was! We have a family birthday every weekend of the month so I kept busy planning parties and baking cakes!

We started off the month with the unfortunate Seahawks loss at the super bowl. Maddie wasn't feeling well, so we stayed at home with Mary & Greg. Poor seahawks, but it was still a fun game to watch and there's always next year!

Cold weather can't stop our trips to the beach! We had the whole beach to ourselves! 

That afternoon I took Maddie to Emma's birthday party. It was so fun to have it be just girls .. it was definitely the quietest party i've ever been to! Everyone played so well together, and of course the cake was a hit! So sweet. Happy Birthday Emma!

For my birthday, my mom bought tickets for us to go to SYTYCD. It was such a breathtaking performance! The way that the dancers can move their bodies is simply incredible! I would love to go again!

Before we went to the performance, I finally go to hold baby Finley! He is such a tiny sweetie!

Something I dont want to forget is this stage with grocery shopping. Both kids beg to sit in the big part of the cart, which leaves tiny tiny space to put actual groceries in.

We went out to visit Adelle at her house in order to help her work on packing up their apartment. They just bought a fabulous house in Snohomish. The kids had a blast digging in the dirt with all their machines. 

Colter got on a major heart making kit. It was so sweet to see him think about what friends he wanted to make them for. 

Ben and I went out on an awesome date to a new bbq place and then watched the sunset at the mukilteo lighthouse. Man do we have some gorgeous views in Seattle. 

Spring is really starting to make an appearance in Seattle. Ben decided to try his hand at planting seed starters this year. So far so good! That day we also went to mukilteo to soak up the beautiful sunshine. Gigi and Grandpa bought Maddie hunter boots for her birthday, so now she and I are twinsies!

More beautiful sunshine! Check out Maddie's shades haha!

My dad came into town in the middle of birthday craziness. We all met up at the beach for some chilly fun! 

My sister and Mark organized a whirly ball outing to celebrate surviving the first year with twins.  I had never played whirly ball, and it was so much fun! I got pretty into trying to snag the ball and I made a few points. I definitely felt my age though.. all the bumping made my body ache for a few days afterwards.. There was one time that I was so excited about getting the ball, I forgot to take my foot off the gas and slammed into the wall so hard. oh man.

Speaking of the twins, Paige and Preston turned one! My sister hosted a beautiful shower with a "bee theme." I tried out a new honey cupcake recipe that was so tasty. I also got some sweet cuddle time in with Mr. Finley

For Colter's birthday, my dad got him a HUGE rocket. We launched it and actually found it both times! Our most successful launch yet!

I drove all the way out to Monroe to pick up some feed corn for Colter's birthday. I didn't want to drive all the way out there for just a sketchy wal mart trip, so the kids and I drove around until we found a place to explore. We started on a wooded trail, and then found this gorgeous river to throw rocks in. As I sat in the warmth of the sun, watching my kids so contentedly playing, I felt such incredible joy for being able to experience daily life with them. I feel so privileged to be their mom and to be able to watch them learn and explore. I am going to miss these kinds of days when they go to school. 

We met up with Jackie and her kiddos in West Seattle for some fun. We first stopped at a super tasty bakery, and then made our way to Schmitz park to explore. Colter and Rowan pretty much ran the whole time, and I was so proud of the way that Colter engaged in play and conversation with Rowan. They were always ahead, sneaking off the trail to scare us. Such a fun time.

We met up with Harlow and Sam at the zoo for one last outing before baby Jack's arrival. Maddie was SO excited to see Harlow, they kept holding hands the whole time. Any time Harlow was out of sight, Maddie would look around concerned and ask "where's hello (how she says Harlow)?"

I try to be a "yes" mom, which means I try to say yes as much as possible, even when it's inconvenient. I got out the play pool to fill up with corn for Colter's party, and the kids immediately wanted to get in with their swimsuits on. I knew it was way too cold and they would last like 5 seconds, but they were so so excited about it, that I let them. Somehow Maddie lasted about 5 minutes, but Colter was in and out. Those two cant wait until summer.. they are going to live in their swimsuits!

We finished the month with Colter's birthday party, but i'll blog about that in a separate post. Thanks for making it through all these pictures!