Thanks for a great year HCP!

On Tuesday, Lily's preschool had their final class of the year.  They had a program for parents at the end of class.  I was able to catch it!  What a great year that Lily has had at Hazelwood.  We are looking forward to next fall when she starts the 4-5 class.

8 months old

I am 8 months old today!

Working on his crawling stance!

He loves to eat!  Last night he ate half a breadstick and loved every bite!

It won't be long before he figures out how to move!

Here is Lily at 8 months :)

Another month has already passed! What?  Little man isn't so little anymore.  He is trying very hard to move around.  He can spin around and scoot when he is sitting.  He goes from sitting to all fours, but can't figure out how to move from there yet.  This makes him frustrated.  He also doesn't like for me to leave the room.  He prefers to be in my arms all day, but that isn't possible, so he has to fuss a bit.  He still has no teeth, but I keep thinking it should be any day with as much chewing and biting he does.  He eats very well, although because he likes food so much, he doesn't want to drink bottles as well.  He still nurses or has breast milk 3-4 times a day but, in the last two weeks, we have added 1 (sometimes 2) bottles of formula.  He doesn't seem to mind.  He eats baby food and some table foods.  I let him try whatever I think he can mash in his mouth and swallow without choking.  Another great milestone was him figuring out how to pick up food and get it in his mouth by himself!  Self feedings saves me some time :)  He also says "ba-ba."  It is very cute!  Last weekend, he got in Grandma Chris' pool for the first time.  He seemed to like it.  We will have many more days there this summer.  Sleep is still not happening consistently-boo :(  Some day!!  We love you anyway cuddle bug!

Happy Birthday Evan!

Happy 1st Birthday to our sweet nephew Evan!  We can't believe how big you are.  We hope you enjoyed your special day, and we are looking forward to celebrating with you this weekend.

It's beginning to feel a lot like summer...

Today, my friend Jeanie and I participated in a 5k in Pendleton.  The race was "For the love of Andrea" supporting a young lady who was injured in the Indiana State Fair concert accident last fall.  She was at the event-she even walked it!  Even though I don't personally know her, she went to middle school with my sister.  Good cause, good day to run!  This was Jeanie's first 5k, and I was so proud of how well she did.  I actually ran into a guy I went to high school with and we ran together.  I was the second female overall (first in the 25-34 age group), so I won a nice trophy :)  With a time of 21:40, I could be running on my high school team!  Haha!  It was a fun morning.  Thanks Jeanie for going with me!

 

 After the race, my MIL called to say her pool was open!  We tested out the pool this afternoon since it was such a hot day.  Parker liked splashing around, but I didn't get any pictures of him because he feel asleep before I could.  Lily had a blast cooling off!

Happy Mother's Day!

 What a wonderful Mother's Day it was!  My first one with TWO kids :)  I soaked in this beautiful weekend and thought about how lucky I was to have the family that I do.  I keep hearing the song that goes, "You're gonna miss these days.  You're gonna want these back.  You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast.  These are some good days, so take a good look around.  You may not know it now, but you're gonna miss this."  I have days that are overwhelming-with crying kids and dishes and work.  A lot of times, I forget to stop and enjoy my life.  I have an amazing husband and two beautiful, healthy kids.  Thanks to Jeff for making me pancakes this morning and for letting me sleep an extra hour! Jeff was able to snap one decent picture this morning before church.  Lily didn't want to look at the camera!

Love these kids!

On Saturday night, my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, two brothers-in-laws, and niece and nephew came over and cooked out.  I am so lucky to have a great family in Jeff's family.  His mom has always been wonderful to me and is a really special grandma to my kids.  I was happy to celebrate this specials Mom's day with her and Holly.

Tonight, my mom, dad, nana, sister, brother, sister-in-law, aunt and cousins came over for dinner.  We even got a fire going and had smores! mmmm!  It was another beautiful evening!!  My mom is an AMAZING woman, and I would be lost without her.  I am so thankful that God chose her as my mom.  She has taught me, and continues to teach me, how to be a wonderful mother.  I love you mom!  I am also very lucky to have my Nana in my life.  I know that a lot of my strength and independence can be attributed to her :)

**The videos at the end is from Lily's Mother's Day Tea at school this past week.  I was able to go and have a muffin and tea with her.  The class sang songs!  So cute :)

Lily wanted an angry bird kite, so Jeff got it up and flying!

Thanks to Jeff for helping me clean out the front flower bed!  It was a mess with weeds.  Mulch and new flowers made it look so much better.  One out of a thousand projects at the house complete!

Nights like these remind me why we bought this house.  Love the yard!!