Memorial Day Weekend

We had a great Memorial Day weekend with both of our families. Great food and just lots of fun playing outside. We hope everyone had a great weekend!

Ice Cream man came to Grandma and Papa Stewart's House!!
Eating with Grammy!

Her first ice cream with gum in it! :)

So fun! :)

Grandma and Papa Terry came over for dinner! Alivia was showing them her new sandbox! :)

Tent Time!

This morning I woke up at 5:45 and I noticed Ben wasn't in the bed. I then checked Alivia's bed and she wasn't in there either. On the weekends Ben sometimes sets up the tent in the living room and they sleep in the tent together but I didn't see the tent in the living room. Yes, you guessed it. They slept on the deck!!! It was too funny when I opened up the tent and Alivia was bright eyed at 5:45 in the morning since the sun was shining in. I am sure it was a great night of sleeping outside and they both had a blast. Ben is such a great dad and always does fun stuff like this with Alivia. Maybe I can sleep in the tent next time?? he, he!

Surprise Mommy!!

First Pool Day

Today we had our first pool day at our neighborhood pool. Alivia calls it the "big pool" since she has a little pool in the backyard. We had a great time minus the freezing cold water. Alivia had so much fun she fell asleep on our walk home. We are looking forward to many more of these days!!

Cooler and goodies packed!

Laying out with Mommy and Daddy

So tired!

Homework, Homework and More Homework!

I have been really bogged down with homework this weekend but after 6 hours of working I decided to take a break and enjoy the sun with Alivia and Ben. Boy, was I glad I did that. We had such a great time in the backyard! I am looking forward to many more afternoons like this! :)

Girls Night....

Tonight some of my high school friends and I got together for our monthly girls night dinner. We decided to bring the kids this time so Alivia was really excited. I am so lucky to have such wonderful friends in my life. It is a true blessing! Love you girls!

Rachael trying to get Alivia to hold her. She was bribing her with lipstick! ha!

The girls watching a movie while the moms were eating dinner and enjoying some wine. :)

Way past bed time. Ava and Alivia are enjoying apples with their blankets and pillow pets!

Mason Jackson Viscomi is Here!

My good friend from college, Jenn, had her 2nd baby today. We were all so excited to find out the sex of the baby since they kept it a secret this time. Jenn has another little girl, Makena, who is Alivia's age. Makena is going to be such a great big sister! Congratulations Viscomi family. We are so happy for you and Mason is a cutie pie!

Happy 21st Birthday Uncle Phillip

My brother's 21st birthday is May 24th so we celebrated today at Grammy's house. My "little" brother is such an amazing person. It is very often that siblings who are 7 years apart are so close but we really are best friends. I am so proud of him in everything he does. He really does amaze me in all his accomplishments. He will graduate from MU next year and I couldn't be more proud of him. He is the best uncle ever as well! Alivia just LOVES him to death. Happy 21st birthday Phillip. Be careful in Vegas and we hope you have a blast! LOVE YOU!

Cake time!

Alivia getting a bite...

Finger time!

LOVE that face!

Playing with Papa!

CHEESE! Happy Birthday!

Opening his Vegas money (the card sang Celebration)

Alivia having fun outside with her new magna doodle mat. My mom got this for her at a garage sale. It is the coolest thing. It just takes water and this marker and it is mess free. Alivia LOVES it!

New Sandbox

I just started looking for a new sandbox because I wanted to keep our water table just a water table even though it is supposed to be used for water and sand. I just knew it would annoy me when the water and sand would mix. I also wanted Alivia to be able to sit down in the sandbox and she couldn't do that with the table. Anyway, my mom was out at many garage sales this morning and she found this perfect sandbox for us!! It is exactly the same brand, shape and color I was looking for. It also fits perfectly under our deck and the lid is awesome! I also checked on the reviews and it has the best reviews I could find. It is a step 2 model. We definitely hit the jackpot on this garage sale item. Thanks Mom!!! Alivia played in it for almost 2 1/2 hours today before nap time. Alivia also helped clean out her water table, pool, slide and swing set so we are set for the summer!!! YIPEE!

So fun!

Cutie pie!

Having fun!

Alivia's First Manicure

Today after school I took Alivia to Jo Ann (our family friend who cuts our hair) to get her hair cut. Alivia was perfect for Jo Ann and sat real still in the chair. After she got done Alivia was adamant that I get my hair cut too! So I sat down in the chair and Jo Ann pretended to cut my hair. As she was looking at my hair she decided I really needed a cut and a highlight too. SO....her daughter, Jessica, came up and watched Alivia while I got my hair done too! Alivia sat in this chair for 25 minutes while Jessica painted her nails. I have painted her nails many times but we always get it all over the place because she never sits still long enough. I couldn't believe how big she was acting. She had such a great time. Thanks for a great girls night out of pampering with my favorite little girl! :)

So pretty....

Jessica

Pretending to blow dry her hair and read a magazine! he, he!

Having so much fun!

Funny Moment

While giving Alivia a bath tonight she looked at me while sticking out her her stomach and said, "Mommy, I have a baby sister in my belly." I said, "Alivia you do not have a baby in your belly." Alivia said, "Yes, I do Mommy and shhhh...she is sleeping." While saying this she was sticking her belly out really far and patting it as if she was pregnant. It was so hysterical! She just amazes me every day with what she knows and says. She truly is growing up way too fast!! I am sure there are many more of these moments in our future! ha!

Strep Throat :(

Well unfortunately Alivia has strep throat. She came down with a fever on Friday so my mom went to get her at Janets. Her fever went down by Sunday and we thought she was feeling better. Since we had my grandmas 90th birthday party Sunday we knew Alivia was 100% but she couldn't miss out on this family event. She was running around by the end of the party so we thought she was feeling better. My mom stayed home with her yesterday and her fever came back so my mom took her to the doctor and sure enough she has strep throat. :( This is the 3rd time she has been sick this year...ugh! I just hate it. I am so so grateful that my mom can stay home with her when she is sick. I know Alivia enjoys staying with grandma too. She is on antibiotics now so we hope she feels better soon!! :(

Ben's Graduation

Today Ben graduated with his MBA from St. Marys. I am so proud of Ben for this wonderful accomplishment. Alivia is also glad to only have one parent taking classes during the week now. One more year and then I will be done. It can't come soon enough! I don't think I will know what to do with myself without having homework. he, he! I can't wait for that time though to just be a teacher and a mom not in school. Ben, we love you so much and we are so proud of you!! :)

Alivia saying her "full name" (Alivia, Kathleen, Richeson)

I finally got Alivia on video saying her full name! Don't mind the tummy shot too! She said it kind of fast but hopefully you can still hear it! I am trying to get her stating her birthday and singing twinkle, twinkle next. WE will see!

Miss Bessie

My Grandma has been coming to help in my classroom every Tuesday and Thursday. She stays for about an hour and absolutely LOVES it. The kids love her too and call her Miss Bessie. It is too cute! Every day the kids beg and plead to work with her and constantly ask me whos turn it is to work with Miss Bessie next. This has been such a great experience for my Grandma and for me. I truly am grateful to have such an amazing Grandma. I know I say this a lot but I hope to be at least half as wonderful as her one day. Thanks Grandma for being so wonderful with my kiddos. They love you very much!

Rocking Alivia

Every night Ben and I take turns giving Alivia her bath and then Alivia and I read books together. Just recently Alivia has only wanted her Daddy to lay her down every night. I have always thought it was really cute when she would ask for her Daddy. Well Thursday night when Ben was at night class she was upset that her Daddy wasn't home to lay her down. When we got in her room she kept telling me that she wanted rocked! This may not sound weird to some of you but Alivia has never, ever been rocked. Even when she was a tiny baby she has never wanted rocked and actually we worked really hard on independent sleeping so we were glad she didn't insist on rocking. Needless to say, I seriously thought she was kidding when she asked me to rock her but I went ahead and rocked her. As we were rocking she looked at me and said, "Mommy, you just have to do it for a minute. Thats what Daddy does." At that moment I was thinking back to the countless nights I spent nursing Alivia in this chair. I couldn't believe she was actually talking to me like a big girl. It was an exciting but sad moment. Our little girl is growing up so fast!! Well she was right. I just rocked her for a little less than a minute and laid her down awake and that was all she needed! Here is a picture I captured tonight of the daddy/daughter rocking method. LOVE, LOVE it!

Happy Mother's Day

I had a wonderful Mother's Day spent with family. Our day started off with an awesome children's musical at church and then we headed to Ben's mom and dad's house to wish Mary a Happy Mother's Day. We then came home and played outside in Alivia's water table for a while and then met my mom and dad and grammy for dinner at our favorite mexican restaurant, Dos Amigos. I had a wonderful day with everyone. I am truly blessed to have the most wonderful mom in the world. She really is my best friend who I talk to every single day. Her successes in life have really made me strive to do my best in everything I do. She amazes me in every way. My only hope is that Alivia and I can have that same relationship. I love you mom. Thanks for everything you have done for me and continue to do on a daily basis. I know I don't say thank you enough. I am thankful for you each and every day!

Happy Mother's Day Mary! (don't mind Alivia's pouty face)

My baby girl....

Happy Mother's Day to Grammy!! She got a great-grandmother ring with my mom, brother, me and Alivia's birthstone in it. So neat!

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Playing with Papa

Such a neat gift! I got this from my grandma. She recorded her voice on each page as if she was reading it to Alivia. This is Alivia's favorite song and sings it all of the time. I haven't been able to get through the book without crying yet! Such a memorable gift that I will treasure forever.

Water table time!

To end our busy day we decided to play outside and set-up Alivia's water table. Alivia was so excited to get out her water toys and wear her swimsuit. I was pretty excited to get some sun as well!! What a wonderful family night outside. We are so excited for summer!!! :)

Grammy's Doctorate

Today my grandma received an honorary doctorate award from Missouri Valley college. She is on the board and president of the alumni association there. She has always supported the college and participates in various events there. She gave a wonderful speech at commencement. We were so proud! I know I say this a lot but she truly is such an amazing person. She is the true meaning of who I aspire to be one day. We love you grandma! :)

Doesn't she look so cute in her cap and gown?

Thats her with the microphone giving her speech...

My dad, Alivia and my mom

Jenn's Surprise Baby Shower

This morning we had a surprise baby shower for Jenn. This is Jenn's second baby and she isn't finding out the gender this time. Everyone was supposed to bring a gift for a boy or a girl depending on what we thought it was. ha! EVERYONE brought boy stuff. We will see in a few short weeks if we are all right! Makena is going to be a great big sister. All the kids had a lot of fun seeing each other as well. Happy shower day Jenn! We love you!

Baby Viscomi's shoes...

TOO CUTE!

All the kids....

Claire, Alivia and Aven

Kisses for Aven

Ring around the rosie...

Mommy Daughter Night

Tonight Ben had class and we usually go to my parents house on Thursday for dinner but I wanted to enroll Alivia in dance class. I have really been looking forward to this. Alivia is actually going to go to Starz Studio of Performing Arts. This is where I went when I was young too so it was really neat seeing my teachers again and even seeing some of my old dance pictures on the walls in the studio. Alivia and I enjoyed watching some of the kids dance since it was picture week for their recital so we got to see them all dressed up. Alivia really liked that! She starts class June 23rd! I can't wait to see how she does. My mom found my first pair of tap shoes and she is going to wear those. They are a little big as she is still in size 4 shoes and the tap shoes are size 5. We are still on the search for some ballet shoes that are smallest enough for her tiny feet. Most places only start at size 5 for shoes. I can't wait to buy her dance outfits. We DO have her dance bag ready!! Can you tell how excited I am? Here are a few pics of our fun night of spoiling! :)

After we left the dance studio we got Sonic for dinner (Alivia's favorite)! She was quite excited! We also celebrated with Alivia's favorite oreo treat! :)

LOVES her Sonic drinks!