The last Dalby wedding!

My big brother got married at the end of June--the last of the Dalby kids!-- so we flew out to Ohio to celebrate. Sara chose a beautiful location--her aunt and uncle's dreamy backyard with their ceremony outside and their reception in a huge open barn just steps away. 

The wedding was on the day after the boys' school graduations but luckily Henry's class was small enough that they moved it forward a day (lucky/loved kiddo!) and Walter will be back at the school one more year before kindergarten. We headed out on Friday morning, hung out with family already there that night (so much needed girls time--I hadn't seen my sisters in almost two years!) and then the party began on Saturday. 

I didn't get near as many pictures as I would have liked, and admittedly, I have pictures on my DSLR that I haven't touched since taking them. But nothing like writing a post about it to get me in gear! I was able to take some cute family pictures of my siblings before the wedding and I resolved to pick up my camera more, take more pictures, edit more and post more. So there's that.

But back to the wedding--here are some pictures from my phone and my sister's phone (oh that new iPhone depth setting has me wanting a new phone bad!)

Theodore's baby blessing.

Remember how I said I was going to be blogging more? I *think* that time has finally come. either way, check back for recaps of our summer and maybe one day I'll be up to date. Maybe?

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My parents and Ryan's dad came to the big apple in April for Theo's blessing and even with a rainy Saturday it was the perfect weekend to celebrate our newest baby.

My mom had been planning out Theo's baby blessing outfit for weeks, she had a vision and she was out see it come to life, and it was so cute: a darling little white and blue romper with a Peter Pan collar and a little white cardigan over it. If you ever need a personal shopper, she's who you want. And so is my sister. And my other sister's got cute style as well as amazing makeup know-how. The style apple definitely fell far from the tree with me...but I digress.

My parents came in on Thursday night so we adventured on Friday on the Upper West Side getting Levain, Gray's Papaya, Jaques Torres hot chocolate, and stocking up on Trader Joe's for groceries and goodies. Walter was a trooper and walked all around with us while Henry was in school and we got back right as he was dropped off. Ken came in on Friday night and so on Saturday we all went to Inwood Park to watch Henry play baseball. My mom got some adorable shots of Henry, I got a few videos and we all got to see him be in his element playing baseball and soaking it all up. The price to play sports is pretty steep in the city, but seeing him light up and in his adorable full uniform is totally worth it.

It started pouring as we were coming back from the game so my parents/Theo/and I stayed in for the rest of the day while Ryan/Ken/the boys headed out one more time to get a few more wiggles out and get a few items for lunch and dinner on Sunday.

The dynamic was, for the most part, my parents in charge of Theo and Ken in charge of the big boys. It was so fun to see my mom and dad in baby mode, and Ken in Henry mode, being silly with him, and even playing chess with him and helping him learn how to make more strategic moves (he's learned how to play/how all the pieces work at school).

On Sunday Ryan gave Theodore a beautiful blessing and we made sure to get a group picture right after sacrament meeting since I knew it would be total chaos/meltdown modes after church. The sooner the boys gave sweet smiles the sooner they could go to class (which they LOVE) and it worked! There are no guarantees with smiles in pictures for these two, but I'm grateful we got some pictures of our family that day. It also helped that we just did one group picture and then they were done. One and done. After church we played on Dongan Lawn with some friends and had a fun dinner of hot dogs and chips and veggies (it felt like a summer meal!).

I am so so grateful for such wonderful parents/in laws who take the time to come to our home, sleep on an air mattress, and play and LOVE my kids. Our home may not be the roomiest for our guests, but I'm grateful that they sacrifice a little comfort to hang out with us. Come back, soon!!

Henry is five!

I feel like this picture sequence from when the boys visited me in the hospital captures Henry quite well. Energetic. Creative. Not a huge concern with safety...

Henry turned five at the end of February and since Walter had a "knight" birthday last October (my first big/with friends/not in our home party) I wanted Henry to have a fun but low key experience like that as well. First off: planning a birthday party one month postpartum is no joke. Thankfully, Ryan was still on maternity leave (oh those blessed six weeks!) and Henry was happy to have a simple "red" theme. I invited all his friends to wear red shirts and we hung out in the church parking lot/basement for a scooter derby. We had pizza, brownies with raspberries on top and a piñata to end the party.

Unfortunately, the only record of the party I got was Henry blowing out his candles. But it's a cute little video and I'm grateful I remembered to get something. I fed Theo until right before we had to leave to get the party set up and he slept the entire time, what a kind little brother birthday present :).

Henry has grown in leaps and bounds since starting pre-k this fall. He's becoming both a leader and a follower, he has made so many new friends, and his interest in writing and drawing has grown so much thanks to some super loving teachers. And it's been fun to see him in Primary as a bigger kid, with Wally in the class below him. He still loves to sing in Primary and he's memorized a few lines to some favorite songs of his friends as well. We started reading chapter books after reading some picture books before bed and I love watching him listening to Ryan. He has always loved to be read to. He started baseball this spring and even got a bike as a belated birthday present (in May <--insert am="" and="" at="" been="" being="" building="" closed="" different="" emoji..="" energetic="" eyes="" for="" friend="" fun="" grateful="" hard="" has="" he="" him="" his="" i="" kid="" loves="" magnatile="" many="" monkey="" of="" outside="" p="" pictures="" playground="" practiced="" proud="" s="" see="" so="" still="" structures="" taking="" the="" them--it="" this="" to="" today.="" with="" work.="">