A Visit from Hunter

We were so excited to get a visit from Hunter today. Thank you, Na-Nee for bringing him up with Mimi. Cade napped through half of it, but we were glad to spend time with him nonetheless. 

Here, the boys played a little before Cade became obsessed with Mimi's iPad: 

Sweet boys:

Here, Cade is back to what he loves most these days: 

And, Lyla was kind of doing her own thing today: 

It was a great afternoon, and a reminder of how the sweetest times of life are often the most simple. About 25 minutes after Hunter left, I received a phone call from Lance that he'd been in an accident that involved a semi truck on his way to work. Mercifully, he was ok, but the Civic was ultimately totaled. 

He was okay - no physical injuries - and he went to work that night as planned. It was really one of those moments, though, when you stop to realize just how blessed we all are. 

We are all so relieved that Daddy is ok. 

 

 

Gymnastics & Popsicles: Summer is Here!

Today started with Lyla's last gymnastics class at All About Kids with Ms. Jill. She's really enjoyed the last few months working on her jumping and tumbling. We've seen her go from being scared to swing on the trapeze to flying like a monkey and laughing as she lands in the foam below.

She was most excited about her green ribbon as you can see in this photo. When we got home, she insisted there must be some way for Mommy to put it in her hair.

And, then we had a playdate at home with some of our favorite neighbors. The kids played, screamed, swung, screamed some more and generally had a great afternoon until it was time for Cade's afternoon nap. 

Here, Cade is trying his very first popsicle. He originally held it by the popsicle instead of the stick, but he got the hang of it really quickly.

Of course, Lyla loves doing everything with Cade. One of her favorite games over the last few days is Big Girl Baby in which she pretends to be a baby herself. I try to humor this, however, it's not always easy to see our typically verbose girl turn into a "Baby Emily" who can utter one word sentences only. Regression may be normal, but it certainly isn't fun for Mommy & Daddy. In fact, it's not fun at all! GRRRRR!!!!

All the kids loved hanging out on the swingset. We absolutely love our neighborhood and feel so blessed that we have so many friends nearby to play with!

Cade is really starting to enjoy playing with the kids, and he loves being included in whatever the "Big Kids" are doing. He really enjoyed spending time with Brycee today. 

All in all, another fantastic summer day. 

I'm living a blessed life. 

A Little Catch Up

I read somewhere that this period of family life is characterized by long days and short years. I know that it's true. Having a 3 year old and 18 month old is the biggest challenge of our lives, but when things are sweet, it's better than I ever imagined. Ever.

Yes, it's hard to find the opportunity to blog. Hell, it's hard to find the opportunity to hear myself think most of the time. But, yesterday when Cade started calling a "choo choo train" a "Whoo Whoo", I was reminded of the fleeting nature of this moment in time and the importance of capturing it somehow. So, here I am back on the blog, trying to figure out how to do this from a Mac - one of the biggest changes we've made in the last few months. 

A couple of small recent highlights - I turned 39 last week, and had a wonderful celebration thanks to Lance. Lyla insisted on buying Mommy a heart shaped necklace and pink sparkly earrings - Lance humored her, and they are my current prized possessions. I'm so proud of them, and she beams every time I wear them. 

For my birthday, Lance asked his family over and we shared egg-free, gluten-free cupcakes, made by our family. Here they are working on the cupcakes: 

I love the way that Cade loves his Daddy - he just thinks "Daddddy" hung the moon: 

It's a blessing to turn 39. 

I love my little family.