everything matters.

Happy Monday everyone!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Ours was slow and sweet, as we were all recovering from a nasty cold that's just hung around for far too long!

However, the weather here was phenomenal so we did spend as much time outdoors, just soaking up the sun.

Anywho, today I wanted to talk a little bit about parenting, specifically one thing that it's taught us and that is-

everything matters.

I know, that's kinda broad blanket statement, but being a mama has shown me that these little babes are like sponges, and everything you say or do imprints on them.

So first and foremost, I really try hard to be a good example for him.

And it can be hard!!!

Cough cough sometimes binge watching Netflix just sounds really good.

But from putting down my phone, not raising my voice when I'm frustrated to eating healthy and working out-

everything I do now is for and because of Liam!

And secondly, everything I do matters.

The sweet words I whisper even though he doesn't understand them matter.

The time I spend putting all his toys away so he can feel triumphant and pull them allllll out matters.

Those early early early morning play times matter.

Do you see a pattern yet?

All the good you try and do for them, even though it might not get recognized or understood or feels like it matters yet.. well in fact matters.

And that's what motivates me during those kinda hard times where dang it nap time was skipped, teething's been rough, I didn't get a single to-do finished and going to the gym is not happening lol.

One perfect example of this is reading. 

Zak started reading to Liam when he was in my belly {so cute I know}, then at the hospital he read to him {Harry Potter of course}, once we were home Zak would read him all kinds fun books, after he was a little bigger Dr. Seuss was our go to and Liam loved listening to the rhymes, fast forward a few months and each morning Zak would get up with Liam and they would sit together and read all of his board books pointing at all the animals and saying all the words aloud...

and now..

now Liam {literally as I'm typing} is sitting down by himself flipping through a book babbling and pointing at all the pictures-

it's his favorite thing!

We never knew if he ever liked us reading to him, if he could understand it or cared..

but he did.

And it's helped him developmentally and hopefully reading and learning will always stick with him!

It matters!

All those books, all of those pictures all of the time spent reading with him..

instead of oh watching a show and being on our phones...

mattered!

It made a difference.

It's so incredible to see. 

And fun fact, since Liam was about 4-months-old we've partnered with an amazing literacy company, BookRoo.

Each month they send Liam a personalized box full of beautiful books that he just adores!

To this day, some of his BookRoo books are his favorites!

All of these photos are months apart, and you can see how excited he gets about reading.

If you're ever looking for a fun gift, idea or just learning tool that gets little's pumped about reading and education- you gotta try out BookRoo.

Their mission is amazing, it's affordable and a small business that truly cares about teaching kids the love of literature.

Zak and I can honestly go on and on about them..!

And my hope and belief is that maybe in five, ten or heck 20 years from now Liam looks back at his childhood and loves all the things {big and small} we did for him, like reading!!

And he in returns shows that love, compassion, respect and care not only for his little family, but for his friends, co-workers strangers-

anyone or anything!

So anywho, if you're ever feeling defeated, or tired or thinking that the little things you're doing are pointless-

they're not and they matter and you're amazing!

Have a good Monday loves!

xoxo

happy eight years love.

Happy Monday everyone!

We spent the weekend unplugged with lots of friends and family.

It was really nice!

To go along with my "blast from the past" series lol I wanted to share some photos from our anniversary dinner!

We LOVE the Sugar Bowl in Scottsdale, and any excuse we have to share a banana split there, we take it!

So for our EIGHT year anniversary we took Liam with us and he got to indulge in some ice cream for his first time!

It was so sweet.

I can't believe it's been eight years since we started dating!

So nuts.

Below I copyied and pasted our little love story of how we met!

In the back of the ice cream parlor they have a little kids area, 

so we let Liam ride the horse and I think he was in a food coma haha!

This little crew of mine makes me the happiness!

And so does this 21283829734 calorie banana split!!

What I would do for this right now!!

So here's our little love story, as promised!

Once upon a time…

Two of our friends decided to set us up on a blind date. 

We were seniors going to rival high schools, with the same group of friends, from the same little suburb and somehow never had met before. 

Anywho, back to the date. 

I was giddy. 

All I knew was that he was cute, super smart and the quarterback on a very good football team.

The high school girl in me melted over the quarterback part, so cliche yet so true. 

He was a little hesitant over the blind date.. but went ahead with the plans. 

And of course, since we were teeny-boppers it was all about safety in numbers,

we had that same couple come along with us.

I remember going over to her house to get ready.. 

trying on ten different outfits before finding the right one. 

And then the doorbell rang.

We ran downstairs.. trying to answer the door before her dad and brothers-

it was too late.

And when I looked toward the front door,

there they were.

Two boys- one I had already met.

And the other my future husband. 

Who also sported a mohawk by the way! 

It was something the whole football team did, I was told.

He was very sweet, and a tad bit shy. 

I mean, it was a blind date so we were all a little shy/giggly. 

We headed to the drive-inns.

How romantic.

And ended up watching Quantum of Solace (a James Bond film).

Which wasn't so romantic. 

We played footsies.. 

as we were all squished like sardines in the back of someones mom's minivan.

And then he did the whole-

 my-arms-falling-asleep-so-I'm-going-to-move-it-and-wrap-it-around-you move.

It was cute.

I remember running to the bathroom with my girlfriend and talking about the boys.

Her asking, "what do you think?"

And me answering, "I don't know we haven't gotten to talk that much!"

And then once the movie was over we decided to catch the last end of the Twilight movie.

Afterwards we headed home. 

But before we parted ways, I went to get something out of my car.

And Zak followed shortly behind- 

giving me a goodbye hug.

He was the sweetest.

Later that night, we stayed up talking about boys, and I insisted she give him my number. 

And then the next day I remember exactly where I was 

(eating lunch at Subway with my day, obsessed much Sid?)

when I got a text from him that said, "Hey this is Zak from last night, what's up?"

And the rest is history!

We went on another "group date" to zoo lights. 

We walked side by side brushing hands with each other.

And then we went to Cold Stone Creamery to have ice cream.

Our first date alone.

And we ended up talking for hours closing down the place. 

As we walked to our cars to say goodbye,

he leaned in while I wasn't paying attention, 

and then I leaned in..

and somehow a little peck emerged in the awkwardness. 

Our first kiss.

We couldn't get enough of each other. 

We met later that week at Starbucks (even though neither of us drank coffee)

and sipped on hot chocolate while talking again for hours.

We had so much in common. 

And then we had our second kiss, in the parking lot yet again. 

He was getting ready to play in the big state football game coming up-

so his excuse was that he needed a good luck kiss.

So sly, that boy. 

And once it was game day-

You know I was there. 

I loved watching him play. I even made it to his playoff game.

He was so handsome. And a very talented quarterback, to say the least.

He's going to hate me bragging about him, but I can't help it!

And after his team won the big championship game I remember feeling horrible because I had left my phone at home. 

No way to congratulate him or tell him I was cheering him on in the stands.

Thankfully he didn't stop liking me for my forgetfulness,

and shortly after his big game we continued dating. 

Forever.

And I still feel like I have that cute boyfriend, a romantic fiancé and husband of my dreams 

every single day.

Happy eight months to my high school sweetie!!

xoxo

liam's first thanksgiving.

Hi loves!!

We hosted Thanksgiving again this year and it was so so special!!

Really, after everyone left Zak and I were just like, dang this was a good day.

And it was extra special because it was Liam's first Thanksgiving!

Funny little story!

The day before Thanksgiving, Zak and I went to Walmart to get everything-

yes big mistake, I know.

And I had called my mom asking about which kinda box stuffing to get lol and then she was like,

"sooooo how's the turkey doing?"

And I was like, "fine, it's in the cart lol."

And she was like, "is it a fresh one? I thought you were going to get a frozen one?"

Me: "I did get a frozen one, it's in my cart!"

Mom: "Sid... it has to thaw for like 3 days..."

Me:...................

Hahahaha so long story short we ended up buying two small fresh turkeys lol because they were outta big ones.

This would only happen to Zak and I, so classic.

But it ended up going well!

Super early that morning Zak and his bff Eddie man handled the bird and got her all prepped for cooking-

kinda the most stressful part!

And then we made some of the other sides till my super hero sis came in and took over!

She's just so good at cooking!

Everything came out amazingly!

Each person had a little name card with a pencil at their place setting,

and it's our little tradition that during dinner we write down all the things we're thankful for, and then go around and share!

It's one of my favorite parts of the day.

And when it was my mom and Cole's turn...

they announced they were ENGAGED!!!

How amazing/wonderful/awesome/cool is that?!

Cole is such a huge blessing in our lives and we're so so so grateful that he's apart of our family!

I mean, how did we get so lucky?!

That was def, a highlight of our afternoon!

It was also our niece's birthday that weekend so we had to end dinner with some cake and candles!

Happy birthday Kennedy!!

WE LOVE YOU!!

Then it was time for dessert, my favorite part!!

I turned my bar cart, into a pie cart- and wish it could've stayed like that forever!

It was so cute and festive.

PS you can see all of my Thanksgiving decor here!!

I made these little heart shaped blue berry pies that were amazing!!

After dinner, Zak and I love to get the kitchen all cleaned up and then we break into the sweets, put on a movie, light some candles and play some games to end the night!

Gosh I love doing life with him.

And I'm so thankful our friends and family were able to make it-

being with everyone, especially on Liam's first Thanksgiving was really the best.

On black Friday, instead of hitting the mall we hit the trails and went for a nice long hike!

We decided that's going to be our new black Friday tradition- spending less money and more time outside!

We're so lucky to have some beautiful mountains literally across the street from us!

The fact that we don't have to drive to get a good hike in, is really awesome.

It was also the perfect way to walk off some of those calories we consumed the day before lol.

Gosh I love my little crew!

That weekend we mainly hung out at home-

I got some snuggly time with my babe- I never want him to grow up!

And yes, we also snagged a ton of leftovers..

so you know we were eating those all weekend long!

Oh yeah!

We also spent some time over at Zak's dad's house, and Liam had a blast playing basketball, he was in heaven!!

Look at that face!!

He loves any type of ball, I wonder who he gets it from!?

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving!!

xoxo

celebrating life's moments.

Hi all!

Hope your week has been going well!

This week was Zak's kinda first time back at school in like two months...

so we've been adjusting!!

And before that we were really trying to just soak up that time together and I took a little break from posting.

But I'm back!!

Haha it's only been like two weeks, but feels like forever!

And now I wanna do a few blast from the past posts if yah don't mind?!

Since the holidays I feel like I left out some just life stuff.

And my phone storage is about to explode and I realized I had forgotten some stuff!

I post all the time to Instagram stories now, and it almost feels like a little blog post at times.

But, bear with me as we take it back to drum roll please...

NOVEMBER!!!

Gasp!

I know, I know.

I'm sorry!!

Lets blame it on the holiday craziness okay?!

Anywho, the boys crashed a lunch date with my bff Charlcie-

but it was okay because we were celebrating that...

SHE'S PREGNANT!!!!

I can't wait to meet that little precious GIRL!!!

She already has the best parents in the whole wide world.

And is SO loved by SO many!!!

And Liam can't wait to meet her either!

Also way back in November was the ever so sweet presidential election....!!

And how fitting is it that I'm posting this the night of the inauguration?!

Haha who'd a thought!

Back in the day, election night usually meant I was running around like a mad woman at the news station covering the local elections-

but this year I was obviously home and we had to throw a little election themed dinner!

Because regardless of political affiliation or the outcome-

you gotta celebrate democracy-

even if it's kinda cray cray!

Did I say that?!

Politics man.

Zak and I love having themed dinner nights, special occasions {like ordering take-out from our fav place for the last game of the World Series}!

It's the little things in life that make the big picture so great.

November is also when Arizona started showing off her glorious winter weather!!

In the afternoons you could always catch us playing outside!

This is also the month that Liam started giving KISSES!!!

I think Zak and I about died.

To this day, we still ask for multiple kisses!

It's the best feeling in the world getting a little smooch from him-

you can see the video here!

This kid seriously makes me the happiest!

His personality is just so cute and funny and silly and feisty.

I was sent this cute t-shirt from @wivescloset on Instagram and it's one of my favorites now!

And I kinda love the saying,

'Mom life is the best life!"

We also celebrated Liam's 9 month birthday!

Complete with homemade cupcakes!

We let him just go to town, to see if he'd like them...

lol and obviously this child LOVED them.

Giving them new foods is seriously so fun.

I think he might have a sweet tooth like his mama!

Zak and I also got to sneak away for a few date nights- shout out to my mom!

We saw Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them-

It was so good!!

The crazy animal lady in me just loved it.

And PS I also just love this handsome man of mine!

Thanks for still taking me on hot dates, letting me always get ice cream after and supporting my wild dreams!

I love you!

I also got to see my pop too!!!

And he's also coming in a few days and I seriously can't wait!!!!!

We try to see each other monthly, but December was kinda crazy so we've been way overdue for a visit, and I'm so excited!!!!

Zak snapped this pic of the sunset- I swear Arizona has THE BEST sunsets!

Ask anyone!

I mentioned above that Zak had like two months off from school, and man was that amazing!

I feel like him and Liam grew a whole new bond because of it!

He's at such a big boy stage now, and the two of them are just like best buds.

Zak's seriously the best.

This whole parenting gig has always been a partnership from the beginning, and I'm so grateful he's such a hands on 2000000% involved parent.

I could just go on and on..

ah like in the mornings!!

He always takes Liam in the morning and mama gets a couple hours to sleep in!!

And then when I wake up I hear the cutest laughs, giggles and roars coming from the living room-

my favorite sounds in the whole wide world.

Anyway, Zak's the best and Liam loves him so much.

He's def the cooler parent!

I mean, I have to frame this picture!!

Zak's been taking Liam on hiking adventures, just the two of them and it kills me.

So stinkin cute.

These two have my whole heart I tell yah!

So anywho those were just some photos that I hadn't got to share from November.

And I think something that I wanted to remind everyone about is to celebrate life's moments-

no matter how big or small, celebrating all of life's moments is what paints the big picture!

We like  to say there's always an excuse to celebrate- so do it!

Have a great night everyone!

xoxo