Baby Girl

How in the world is it possible that this angel baby is two??? I cannot imagine our world without her and we love her so.
It just seems like ten minutes ago this is what she looked like. My labor with her was super long and I just laid awake all night in the hospital watching her little monitor. We were so tired from a baseball tournament but I was so excited to finally meet our little girl. After seven years of only blue, trucks, balls, and trains, I just could not imagine how pink would look in our home!

But these two fell in love with her immediately and we all just laugh and laugh at her each day. Kyle is the protector and worrier while David is her constant playmate.

She is still a Momma's girl, but she and her Daddy are pretty tight too. She is the lover of all princess stuff but loves to drag out the T-ball stuff in the yard. (Look how much Kyle has matured in the last two years-gasp!)

We cannot imagine our life without princess books, play makeup, and baby dolls now.

This is a TERRIBLE picture of me moments after giving birth to her but for some weird reason I love it. I love that we are literally face to face and I just remember crying after such a long ridiculous labor with her that she was finally here and that she was perfect. I could still cry now thinking about what a perfect moment that was. Right after this moment our beloved pediatrician took Hope outside to meet my Mom and Kyle who were anxiously awaiting news about her. I remember being annoyed that the nurses were working with me and I could not witness that moment.

So here is our birthday girl two years later and we are so thankful for all the joy she bring to our family.

She is so verbal and literally talks all day long. She is funny and oh so silly! She is still super shy but she is coming out of that a little bit. She loves to wear dresses ("fresses") and she loves her books and the pool.

Just in the last month she has had a huge growth spurt and she has become even more independent than usual. She wants to buckle her own seat belt, drink out of a regular cup, and do everything herself. My birthday girl is growing up so fast!

So on her birthday today I thank God for the gift he graciously gave us two years ago. She is our angel baby and we cannot imagine our life without her!

Happy Birthday-may God bless you sweet girl!

Three Little Pigs and a Party

We have had such a full, fun weekend. Saturday morning while Mike was at graduation and Kyle was at baseball practice, Ashley and I headed to the Barter Theatre with these cuties to watch the play The Three Little Pigs. It was so much fun to have a morning at the theatre and a pizza lunch afterwards.

Kelsey, Hope, and David before the show started.

Hope insisted on her own seat and program and here they are waiting for the show!

Posing after the show with "Maxie" the wolf. It was really a tame, family-friendly version of the story. David loved it!

Saturday night we attended a super fun pool party with some of our dearest friends at the country club pool. The weather was iffy until the party started and then the sun came out and we got to go ahead with the party.

Ashley might kill me for putting this on here, but frankly it is so priceless that I had to. I love this picture of her going off of the board!! Every adult swam with the kids and it was a fun, family night at the pool. Even Mike went off of the board a few times. After the stress and intensity of the last few weeks of school, it was fun to catch up and relax at the pool.

David with Myrtle the Turtle going off of the board. He is so brave that it scares me, but he had such fun with his friends and Ashley and Jason showed up to surprise him!! He is a blessed little boy.

This kid went off of the board 6 million times doing tricks like this!

Miss Hope thought about going off of the diving board. She actually jumped off of the side beside it instead. I bet by the end of the summer she will get brave enough to try it.

The pool has a neat deck above where we sat up the food and drinks.

It baffles my mind how big girl my Hope is these days. Rarely does she cling to me anymore. She now acts like a big kid and here she is posing with Kelsey. I know I have said it before, but that puddle jumper was truly the best money we have spent in a while!

One of the highlights of the night was a rowdy game of chicken! Here is cute father/son game going! I hate to brag, but Mike and Kyle were the undefeated duo of the night. Mike did complain about being sore this morning from this-ha!

My almost two year old cutie swam her heart out until the very last moment of the party. This little one loves to swim and that makes me so happy. The kids thought it was so cool when the lights came on in the pool:)

Kyle had a friend spend the night and here was the sight at my breakfast table this morning before church. I love summer because there is actually time for more playdates and sleepovers! I also loved hearing Kyle tell his friend Caleb that he was going to love Sunday school!!

While I was cleaning up the house a bit today, this one was playing so quietly in my room and when I saw her I realized why. She had helped herself to some of my mascara-I am actually impressed that she knew where to put it:) I will have to relocate my makeup bag now for sure!

This is a big week around our house. Our princess-lover is turning two on Wednesday (gasp!) I cannot believe her birthday is rolling around again. We will celebrate as a family on Wednesday and then later in the month she will have a joint birthday pool party with David. She is super excited about her party and talks about what friends she wants to come swim with her. I love hearing her talk about Macy Jo and "Sawah and Libia" (Sarah and Olivia) and hearing her sing Happy Birthday to herself. So cute:)

This week we also have David's ENT appointment on Wednesday. Iam curious as to what he will say about sweet Dave's ruptured ear drums. This week is also food pantry week at church which means that we will be working hard at church to sort, pack, and distribute food to our neighbors in need. It is hard work, but I LOVE This ministry at church.

I am off to reclaim my house after the craziness of the last week and weekend! Happy week everyone!

Welcome Summer!!!

Another school year is now complete and we are so excited around here to welcome summer!!!! I went to both boys' schools today to say goodbye, give out presents, and say thanks for a wonderful year. Both boys had great teachers this year and it is always hard to properly say thank you to people who have invested so much in your child. I always wipe a tear or two away as we depart on the last day.

Here are my three babes heading out on the last day of school. Hope and I went to David's school to volunteer for the first grade farm party. She was so excited to volunteer today!

Here is Kyle with two of his teachers. These ladies are great and he had such a great third grade year. It blows my mind that I now have a fourth grader. We joked during our picture taking that Kyle is almost taller than his teachers!!!

The first graders at David's school rotated around stations and here is Hope enjoying some ice cream with David and his friends.

Here is my boy doing the sack race. First grade had organized a farm party and it was so cute. They decorated these cute hats and then got to rotate around and play some games. It just seems like yesterday that I was hugely pregnant with Hope at Kyle's first grade farm party.

Here is DAvid's class after they decorated their hats. Earlier in the week they made these cute tie-dye shirts that they wore for their show. They got to wear them again today fro their party! So cute.

Dave wearing his cute hat that he decorated.

This picture is so precious to me because these three ladies are amazing and have been such a blessing to David. Thankfully we did not have to say goodbye today because DAvid will have these ladies again next year. I still teared up saying thank you and goodbye today to them!

My three cuties! I cannot believe how fast time is flying. Didn't Kyle just graduate from preschool last week?

Our family has a tradition of going to Hungry Mother Park right after school on the last day to cool off and officially welcome summer. The kids love going and it is a perfect way to relax after a hot crazy morning at school.

Hope and Kyle swimming together. Kyle has really morphed into this awesome helper to me lately and I am so appreciative. When he wants to he has such a helpful, sweet spirit.

I am not clear whyt his picture is kind of hazy, but here are my three swimming together. The beach was crowded today but they had such fun.

Thank you Lord for the gift of these children and that I am blessed to get to spend my days with them. I know this summer there will be high drama days in our house, but I am so thankful that we will be together this summer.

So welcome summer 2011-we have waited soooooo long for you!!!!