A Shower for Baby Girl

My best friend Tara is having her first child soon, a baby girl, and it's been so much fun to be a part of her pregnancy journey!

This weekend I hosted a baby shower for her at my house, and if I do say so myself, I think it was a success!

Tara and I met my senior year of college, which means she has been by my side for pretty much every significant event of my adult life. I don't know how I would do it without her! And I sure hope we never get in an irreconcilable fight, because I shudder to think about all the dirt this girl has on me... 

Everyone knows I love a good theme party, so baby showers are right up my alley. 

We started off with some games and activities... 

My little helper... He certainly isn't used to so much pink!

The Mommy-to-be, surrounded by gifts from her incredibly generous and kind friends.

As I said, I love themes, and this obviously necessitates that the food and beverages fall in line. Pink and gold! 

And actually, I have to give credit where credit is due. I was in charge of the decorations, not the food, so a huge shout out goes to Tara's sister Kelli for providing all of the refreshments. I especially liked the pink deviled eggs!

I had a custom growth chart made as my special gift to Tara and Baby Girl. I can't wait to watch her grow up!

Tara with her super sweet nieces... she is no stranger to taking care of little girls!

It was such a fun day of celebrating, and I was so happy to see Tara showered with gifts that will help make being a first time mom that much easier. 

Now the countdown is on... Baby Girl will be here before we know it!

Happy Easter from the Alway Family

Happy Easter, everyone!

Or, as Stewart likes to refer to it, "The Best Candy Holiday." 

And oh boy, it sure seems like our little bunny has inherited Daddy's sweet tooth!

For reasons different than Stewart's, Easter is my mom's favorite holiday, so we always make sure to celebrate it with her and my family. While for me this no longer means sitting through several hours of a Catholic mass, it does include lots of fun traditions and memory-making.

Holidays just get better and better the older Ryder gets!

It was a beautiful spring day, and we spent the morning teaching Ryder how to dye Easter eggs...

To be honest, I was super busy and overwhelmed leading up to this particular holiday, so I wasn't really able to put together a proper Easter basket for Ryder. But honestly, what does a little boy really need besides a basket full of plastic eggs filled with jelly beans?

I promise, he could not have been happier... or more high on sugar. 

In my family, our tradition growing up was you had to find your hidden Easter basket, as well as colorful plastic eggs that were hidden all over the house. It was so much fun re-creating that tradition for Ryder this year. I loved hearing his adorable squeal of delight every time he found another egg.

He did also receive some non-edible gifts like sidewalk chalk and bubbles, and we spent a lot of the day playing outside in the sunshine. Then later we went over to Grandma Sally's house for a visit with even more relatives.

We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday with family and friends!

Do you have any fun Easter traditions?

Lucky in Love... Year Four

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Today is our fourth wedding anniversary, and honestly I think this past year has been the biggest blur so far. 

Our lives are so busy, and our little guy is growing up so fast -- it's hard to keep up. Between a busy new job, a firefighter's schedule, and a calendar full of toddler activities, we sadly weren't able to plan our traditional fancy dinner celebration this year. But we're hoping to fit it in one of these days soon...

In the meantime, look at the beautiful (green!) bouquet that Stewart sent to me!

I had the best of intentions to get a photo of Ryder in his St. Patrick's Day outfit, but the poor little guy apparently had an exhausting day, because he passed out on the couch early and this is the best I was able to get... 

My sweet little leprechaun... 

This past year of marriage has definitely taught us that being parents challenge a couple in ways that you could never even imagine... Especially way back when you were young, naive newlyweds. I'll admit that through the stress and sleep deprivation, I don't always handle every situation as gracefully as I should or could. But Stew supports me day in and day out, and I could never get through this crazy life without him. 

We're so lucky that we found each other... 

Lakehouse Vacation - Presidents Day Weekend 2016

The Alway Family Lakehouse isn't just for summertime fun!

Stewart and I think Valentine's Day is stupid, but since it fell over the long weekend for Presidents Day this year, we decided to plan a getaway with some of our favorite people. 

If you're seeking out Winter Wonderland, Northern Idaho is a wonderful destination. The quiet, snowy, serene lakefront is to die for, and with more than 400 miles of groomed snowmobile trails, you can have some great adventures in between relaxing cups of cocoa in front of the fire. 

We loved taking walks in the snowy woods every morning.

And Stew, Brett, Russ and Mark spent an entire day out on their snowmobiles and came back with some gorgeous photos. 

While the guys were busy adventuring, Haley and I had no problem relaxing back at the house with Ryder. This included some of my very favorite things... naps and cupcakes!

Our little baking helper...

He really prefers the eating part.

The best part about being at a cabin in the woods? No real need to get dressed! Just pop on your boots and you're good to go!

The dock sure looks different in the winter, but look at that beach! Perfect for a boy and his daddy...

Valentine's Day Love Birds.

We hope that everyone had a safe and happy holiday weekend.