Big Girl Swim Lessons

Today was the last day of Lyla's first round of "Big Girl" Swim Lessons - you know the kind, where Mommy & Daddy aren't in the water with her. She did great! We are so proud of her progress through her lessons with Miss Olivia. She is now swimming completely on her own with a backpack and a noodle, and she's getting closer to needing no flotation devices at all!

This is the closest (and most interested) Cade has been in the water - he loves watching his Big Sister, so much so that he had to be "rescued" from child care to come and watch her - and to spend time with beloved Daddy, of course. dd

Here she is getting ready to jump into the water:

Miss Olivia thinks it's funny that Lyla's first words after hitting the water: "It's really wet." Or, "It's still really wet!"

Lyla is really working on developing some good self confidence in the water - she's so proud of herself: 

We think this could be a YMCA advertisement. Lyla loves Miss Olivia. 

Our Best Friends

Above anything else, the greatest joy in my life right now is watching these two beautiful kids become best friends. They laugh together, fight together, run around the house together…they are growing closer each and every day. 

A few of my favorite things right now: 

-Watching Cade imitate anything Lyla does. If she runs and jumps, he wants to do it too - and he's always willing to give it a try.

-Watching Lyla try to do everything Cade does…from uttering a rudimentary "PEEAAZZZ" (aka "Please") to running away from Mommy, if Cade does it, Lyla wants to try it too.

-Lyla's latest nickname for Cade is "Donnie". We think she got it from a show she's watching a lot these days (Doc McStuffins - she also refers to herself as "Doc"), but it's hilarious to hear her announce to Daddy that she has a little brother named "Donnie". 

Here are some of my most prized photos ever…captured with my iPhone. We were in the backyard, and Cade and Lyla discovered a ladybug struggling to take flight from a blade of grass. Here, Cade is trying to pick the bug up with his hand. I love how Lyla sat back and let him try, all the while thrilled to watch:

And, here is my all-time favorite. He managed to get the ladybug on his hand, and they watched it for a split second before it took flight and was gone as quickly as we discovered it. I love the jubilance on Lyla's face and the concentration on Cade's.

I pray that they will continue to grow to love and care for each other. The sibling relationship is an amazing gift. 

I'm so happy they have each other. 

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. 

 

 

Cousins Fun Day

Today was Cousins Fun Day at our house - we had a great time getting everyone together for a day of fun, sun and a little water. Here is (almost) everyone - it's very difficult to get 5 kids under 4 in one photo, but we were successful here:

Here's another attempt - you can see that Lyla & Isabella are quite engaged in a pretty heated conversation here: 

Here's Van - the only cousin not in the picture - he's still spending most of his time with Mommy: 

Cade loves hanging out with Cousin Emory…well, he will love hanging out with her as soon as they surpass parallel play: 

Lyla loves nothing more than being with all her "Big Girl Friends". She had such a good day she really didn't want for it to end: 

Cade loves swinging on the swingset, and invariably, when he's in his swing and settled, he asks for his "owl". He loves nothing more than to sit in his swing and drink a few swigs of water in the sunshine:

Here are Isabella and Blaire attempting to swing on a baby swing that is much too small for them both:

What a magical day! We had so much fun that Lyla was disappointed we weren't doing it all over again the next day. Can't wait to do it again!

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. 

Cade the Eater!

Cade started using his fork and spoon all on his own - we think he's benefitting from watching his sister: 

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.