First Big Girl Bath!

The kitchen sink was getting a little small for Karys' baths.  She loves to kick and wiggle in the tub and there's not room for that anymore in the sink.  Samuel thought it was pretty special that her first bath in the big bath tub was with him!  They both loved it - as you can see in the pictures!

Wide awake and beautiful!

I waited too long to put this outfit on her and now it barely fits her!

Aliyah picked this outfit out for Karys when we were shopping at Kohls together.

This outfit was a gift from Uncle Andrew and Aunt Rachel!

June 28, 2013

Grandpa and Grandma Neil couldn't come to Aliyah's birthday party this year so we celebrated her birthday with them a few weeks early! 

A Sleeping Beauty

Random June Pictures

A rainy June day . . . not my favorite, but the kids sure love putting on their rain boots and heading outside to splash in the puddles!

Smoothies and sunshine!!

We had lots of pool days in June - it was a warm month!

Aliyah gave me these glasses at 7:30am and told me to put them on.  Who knew Daryl would get out the camera and take a picture?! :)

Saturday breakfast on the deck

Smiley face made out of blueberries.  Samuel came up with this all by himself! :)

Sisters

Sisters - the best of friends and the worst of enemies!  But usually the best of friends!  When this picture was taken, they were dancing and singing a song they made up.  The song was, "We love being friends, We love being friends!"

Total Girl!

My Mom found some winners at a garage sale today - a purple shirt and purple shoes!  For Aliyah, it was love at first sight!  She immediately wanted both of them on . . . and then was determined to wear them all day . . . . in almost 90 degree weather!  She's a cutie, that's for sure!  A cutie that loves purple. :)

Sister Love :)

A summer concert!

What I want to remember . . .

What I want to remember about our day today:

• Aliyah's deep concern and worry for Hope when Hope had to go to ER to get a gash in her forehead glued.  Aliyah was very upset and tearful while Hope was gone.  She didn't really smile until Daryl sent us a picture of Hope's forehead all fixed up and glued.  You could see the relief on Aliyah's face.  Aliyah then had me take pictures of her making funny faces so that we could send them to Hope so that we could "see Hopey laugh" (direct Aliyah quote).
• The huge smile on Alityah's face when Hope called her from the ER to tell her she was all better and that she would be home shortly.
• How Aliyah ran out to the driveway right after the phone call to look for Hope and Daddy.  And how disappointed she was when they weren't there yet.
• Aliyah's shrieks of laughter and pure joy when I did "spider swing" with her on her swing tonight.  Huge smiles and beautiful, genuine laughter from my precious 2 year old that made Mommy smile with delight. :)
• Karys' huge smiles today - lots of them in a row - whenever I would start talking to her.  Her smiles came so quickly today - huge, happy, open-mouthed smiles!
• Samuel's excitement to watch the Tiger game while holding Karys on his lap.  How proud he was to hold his little sister!
• Hope and Aliyah's special quiet time together upstairs.  They are usually in separate rooms for quiet time but today they had a special treat since Samuel was gone.  They played so well together during their quiet time!

Days like today remind me just how special siblings are.  And even though they fight (a lot!), they love each other and care for each other deeply.  I pray that it will always be that way and that their bond with each other will only grow deeper and stronger!

It Finally Happened . . .

Hope's spinning and twirling and flipping and flopping finally got the best of her.  Today she was twirling and dancing around the living room when she lost her balance and crashed into the corner of our duplo storage bins.  I saw it happen out of the corner of my eye and was about to give her give her the same old lecture of how she needs to be careful and be aware of what is around her and blah blah blah but as soon as she grabbed her forehead and started crying, I knew we were in for more than just a little goose egg this time.  Since it was almost 4:30, Rambling Road said they couldn't see her and that instead she needed to go to ER.  Samuel was at my Mom's house so I grabbed the 3 girls and hopped into the car (that sentence made it sound easy but it still took me about 10 minutes to get them all ready and out to the car) and met Daryl down at Bronson.  He stayed with Hope and I went back home with Aliyah and Karys.  Thankfully the ER visit was super quick and Hope was glued and out of there in about 30 minutes.  Daryl had his bike so my Dad had to go down to the hospital and pick Daryl, Hope, and his bike up (his bike doesn't fit in our van unless we take some seats out).  Aliyah was very concerned about her sister so she was thrilled to see her home again and all fixed up!!  I wonder how many more times we'll be making that trip with our twirling, spinning, dancing, flipping, and flopping daughter!

Our Day

Hope doing what Hope does best - imagining, creating, and keeping herself entertained without much of anything!
Earlier today I was working on letters and sounds with Hope -
Me: Hope, what sound does "b" make?
Hope: buzz, buzz!

Aliyah got the Ergo out and asked me to help her put it on and put her baby in it.  She kept it on for a long time.  She would walk around the house or stand at the window and watch her brother play baseball outside while she'd rub or pat her baby's back.  Such a little Mommy!
**Aliyah calls the front back (baby carrier) a "package".  Today she asked me, "Mommy, are you going to put Karys in the package?"  Love it!

Adding another baby = One stressed out Mommy!

Joshua Olson was at our house for around 1/2 hour this evening.  He had practice at the school behind our house and his parents had to drop him off early.  Instead of waiting around at the school for practice to start he opted to come over to our house for a bit and then walk over.  Samuel loved having Joshua around to play baseball with him.  And I think Hope has a little crush on Joshua - she never has any interest in baseball and she didn't want to play until Joshua came.  Then she was all about it!  Silly girl.  I told Samuel after Joshua left that I hope that when he is 15 years old, he will be just like Joshua Olson. :)

What!?!?!  All day and not one picture of Karys?!  Tomorrow I must make up for that. :)

Getting So Big!

I can't believe how big my precious little girl is getting!  She is smiling a lot and even cooing some too!  When she gets excited and is working on smiling, sometime she sticks out her tongue instead. Such a cutie!  I tried to catch some smiles on camera tonight but I couldn't quite get one.  Starting at the end of last week we noticed Karys becoming more and more responsive and aware of those around her.  She loves to watch us and look all around her.  She tries so desperately to "talk back" to us when we are talking to her!

The not-so-cute side of Karys is that she has decided naps are for babies . . . and she's not a baby! She has been taking little cat naps for the past couple of days.  This Mommy is ready for a real nap!  Maybe tomorrow?  If not, we'll just keep on enjoying every minute of these precious baby days and beautiful baby smiles, because they are gone all too quickly!