Monday, June 24, 2013

Birthday makes 3!

Happy, happy official birthday to our sweet MG!
G-Ville has been co-ed on the kid front for three whole years now!!  This morning MG and I snuggled on the couch while I recounted her birth story in all its glory.  What she liked hearing best was that she was the loudest baby in the postpartum wing nursery. ;)  I am thankful her exuberance at birth has only transformed into girly expression and joy.  She is a handful of love.

We had fun celebrating over the weekend and hosting MG's little buddy, D, and family for a casual brunch and party yesterday.
D and MG--sweet little buddies





The babies had fun playing, the older brothers monkeyed around, and the mommies enjoyed the chance to drink coffee and chat!
MG and her Daddy--sweetness and love.
Notice the little munch down lower right--getting in on the action!
Me and my munch
The birthday princess 


"Happy Birthday"--Just a little embarrassed :) 
Almost there...

My attempt at homemade b-day decorations ;) 
Later on, after naps, dinner, and a family bike ride/walk, MG opened a few more presents...
A Cinderella wand, dress, crown, and book were enjoyed thanks to Gramz and Pappy.
 And then this morning our little lady awoke to find a special birthday surprise...

A "new to us" kitchen!! :)  So far, it seems to be a hit...
After receiving her kitchen this morning, MG has ventured to the VBS nursery, back home, and now with a trip to the pool to watch big brother swim in a meet.  Should be fun...  A day in the life! ;)

God bless,

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Happy Birthday, V!

I am over a month behind on this one, so I'd better get moving on this post before we run into another G family birthday (coming in T minus 6 days... MG turns 3!!)

Our sweet 'Vieve turned 1 way back on May 4th (KY Derby Day!), but thanks to the lovely virus we endured, we celebrated the next day upon GG's return from a weekend trip.  We just couldn't have Daddy missing his littlest girl's first birthday, now could we?!  V (her new blog nickname!) was none-the-wiser, so we invited Mimi and Papa on over and celebrated in true post-viral fashion.

Poor V still wasn't totally back up to snuff following the illness, so our birthday eating festivities were rather subdued.  No fun smash cake, no real dinner eating to speak of.  It was all pretty uneventful and looking back at pictures, I can see how crummy my little sweetie felt.  But, such is life, and V's immune system has been learning big lessons lately.  Here's a look back at V turning 1--no need for guests when our family is party enough!

The birthday girl and her Papa.
The sweet birthday girl, eyes looking a wee bit droopy, poor thing.


Thankfully everyone else was feeling good enough to celebrate!

I can't express how much I love this picture.
M ran to the piano to play the "Happy Birthday" song for all of us!
V received some books from us, a soft lovie and PB blanket from Mimi and Papa, and a water table from G and P!  What a lucky girl!
The cards were probably her favorite!
But the siblings all preferred her water table! ;)  I had to keep reminding them it was her gift!
A few days later, V received some fun pool toys and a sweet bathing suit from Aunt J and Uncle A, her godparents.  Thank you, J and A!
If you were to have asked me back in April, I would have said V was our most verbal child to date.  Since then, though, with all of the illnesses and her focusing more on motoring around the house (still no walking yet), verbal skills have taken a back seat and are just starting to emerge again.  Today on the phone with my sister, she seemed to verbalize J's name.  We've also started hearing her sing the tune to "Twinkle Twinkle" very early like her big sister.

She is crawling and traveling up a storm, taking stairs by force and always finding some adventure with her big siblings around.  They are getting very good at telling her "NO!", which immediately sends her to tears.  Apparently she's a people-pleaser already and doesn't seem to like to be in trouble.  Excellent! :)  GG and I breathe a sigh of relief.  Without a doubt, though, she is the most loved little baby on the planet.  Just today the big boys were dancing for her in the back seat of the minivan, taking great delight when she would dance "back" in rhythm to the music.  Since around 6 months, V has been doing her little baby "shimmy", where she'll wiggle her middle when she's picked up or carried around.  I will do a little rap about "wiggle in the middle" and she starts jiving every time.  Love it!

By far her eyes are the bluest of our four blue-eyed ones.  Most people she meets think she favors our T, which has been my prediction since we met her at birth.  Along the way we've seen glimpses of her other brothers too.  The jury is still out!

What we do know is how much we love this little lady.  She is our precious blessing and my heart is full of love for her.  Every day with her is a gift and I am grateful how God is using her to shape and mold our family into more of a tightly knit family unit.  Thank you, sweet V, for teaching us about how love multiplies and God's great mercy in it.  You are our angel.

Friday, June 14, 2013

Summer Commencement

T minus a half hour until the big boys come running...

Welcome summer break!  We are so happy you're here!!

Call me crazy, but I can't wait to have my babies home.  I'm a homeschooling-mama-wannabe, so the summer offers plenty of opportunities for adventure, learning, and togetherness.  These days we are also media-free during the week, so I'm uber-excited for all the little extras we're going to be able to enjoy without the temptation of the computer or TV--lots of reading, enjoying music, playing to our heart's content (even mom!), lego fun, day trips, etc.  Add onto all of that our new pool membership to a local community center and we have a recipe for exercise, fun, entertainment, and total summer awesomeness.  I can't wait.

Here's a look at our crew this morning, heading off to the last day of school:

Looking so mature to me these days... ;)
You can see that they are almost equal in height (don't remind M!) ;)
Here's the farewell committee, cuter than cute.

Wouldn't your day be a bit brighter seeing these smiles?
Love these lovies more than life!
Off they go, one last time.
We are planning to head to the pool this afternoon for an end-of-school party.  It will be crawling with kids and I know my guys are going to have a blast.  J wrapped up swim lessons yesterday with a thumbs-up from his teacher and a green ribbon congratulating his hard work.  By the lessons' end, he can successfully jump in and flip to his back and float; complete the elements of elementary backstroke; swim freestyle a short distance; and kick with rocket arms to and from the wall and with a kick board. I am amazed at his progress and am so excited for what this means for his fun (and more importantly, SAFE!) summer of swimming.  Here are a few shots from lessons...

Baby G ate lunch on the go while J swam
This little love had a great time playing
And here's the fish--wish I could get the video to upload!  Blogger is being difficult.
Hope your summers are brilliantly in full swing...  6 days until the season officially commences!


God bless,

Friday, June 7, 2013

Our Week, In Numbers

4 swim lessons for our J-boy, who is taking the water by storm and loving it!  Who knew the kid didn't like to put his head underwater before day #1?  He's now working on the elements of freestyle and backstroke.  Way to go, J!

4 pre-team swim lessons for our T, who was trying to make the summer team, but couldn't finish a lap of the pool.  No worries!  He did his best and can keep trying all summer with the potential of competing in the last meet.

4 swim team practices for our M, who is making huge improvements on his freestyle, backstroke, and kicking.  Wow!  Gramz and Pappy swung by on Wed. and couldn't believe how much he has improved.  He is a super zoomer and we're excited for our first meet on Sunday!

2 sweet girls who are always going along for the ride various places.  MG always asks to put on her swim suit when the boys are getting lessons.  Both are taking to the water slowly, but thankfully with fewer tears from baby G this week!

1 visit from my parents, who delighted with 4 gifts for the older 4-- 3 water blasters and one Minnie Mouse 3D set of bubbles.  Can you guess who got what?

103F--baby G's temp today bringing about...
1 trip to the doc this morning.  Doc thinks its a virus and thankfully her ears were clean!  Can this child please stay well???

20 couples we will be "hosting" this weekend on an Engaged Encounter retreat

22 hours--the number of hours our awesome babysitter will be watching the kids while we're speaking. Mama will be heading back home each night to sleep with the kiddos.

1st swim meet on Sunday--M will be racing and I will be a strokes/turns judge!  Let's see if I can remember all the rules... ;)  Hopefully my many years of USS will come back to me. ;)

I can't wait to check in on Monday and tell you we made it.
These are the days, aren't they??
Lilypie First Birthday tickers