MG turns 2!

On Sunday our little lady MG celebrated two wonderful years of life.  The rest of us rejoiced in two years of being totally blessed to have her as part of our family.

She is a sweetie and captures our hearts with every smile and gentle touch.  Her Daddy declared recently, "Well if it wasn't certain already, I now definitely have a crush on MG."  Wrapped around her little finger and then some.  She has handled the arrival of her baby sister with flying colors.  I can tell she's been humbled in the best of ways and seems to love her sister all the more.

At two, MG has just learned to hop, which is so cute to watch.  Her hops are now incorporated into bed jumping and dancing.  She loves to dance and will boogie at the slightest hint of music.  While her words are slowly coming along, she clearly understands everything we say.  I have been surprised lately at her ability to follow pretty complex verbal directions.  Not too shabby for a lady who is barely speaking!  She does everything her brothers do, but always in a much more gentle fashion.  If they clobber the baby, she pats her gently on the head.  If they wrestle with Daddy, she piles on top for an extra hug.  If they play chase, she runs after them, laughing and having a grand old time.  The boys are very sweet with her and seem to enjoy taking care of their little sister (even if they can be a bit rough sometimes!)  She takes it in stride, is a pretty tough cookie, loves her binky and NaNa (pink elephant) if sadness strikes, and otherwise, is a sweet little lady.

MG loves Mickey Mouse and had a Minnie-themed birthday "party" (it's always a party around here! ;) Mimi and Papa joined our family for festivities, along with Gramz, who was in town to travel with the 2 older boys back to FL!  We had a cookout celebration, complete with giant-sized Minnie balloon, Minnie cake, bubbles in the backyard, and present-opening (a menagerie of Calico Critter gear--she is in heaven!)  All in all, it was a fun event and our lady felt loved...

After all the celebrating, on Monday we said farewell to these two rascals as they headed down to FL to spend an amazing week with Gramz and Pappy in Daytona!  It was T's first time on the airplane-- "I always want to fly so I can see the world" was heard as he peered out the airplane window during their travels!  They are wave riding and pool swimming and have already ventured to the science museum and chocolate factory.  Tomorrow they hit Legoland, which you can imagine will be the highlight of their year.  Can't wait to hear about the fun...

Meanwhile, it's been a little quieter around here and we've been enjoying each other.  J is in swim lessons all week and seems to be reveling in his role as biggest brother.  He's especially enjoying keeping his brothers' legos company while the boys are gone.  lol

GG is wrapping up his final weeks at the firm and was the busiest ever up until yesterday.  Last Thursday he left for work at 8am and we didn't see him until Friday at 10:30pm.  These stints were followed by some really late nights on Saturday and Sunday.  Poor guy!  The good news is he survived and this is the last craziness he'll experience before the job change.  Can I get an amen?

Mama is hanging in, tired, but feeling so blessed to have such a sweet crew to manage.  They are nuts, but the best kind of nuts a mom could ever want!  There's no doubt 5 kids is very busy, but since when did I like to sit still?  God made me for this role.  Thank you, dear Lord, for giving me such purpose.  I embrace it.

God bless from crazy G-Ville!