Summertime!!!

Both girls are napping this afternoon, which is a rare occurrence lately so I thought I'd take a minute or two to update the blog :) Summer is officially here and we are enjoying lots of fun times! I can vividly remember last summer, watching Addie run around in the sprinkler by herself and thinking "next summer Lydia will be chasing after her!" and here they are....the best of friends, playing together and enjoying being sisters. I could not be happier, just knowing they have each other and love each other SO much :)

They truly ARE the best of friends :) They play this little "game" ALL.THE.TIME. where Addie calls herself "Mama" and she calls Lydia "Sweetie Pie." Mama holds Sweetie Pie's hand wherever they go and is just so mothering, patient, and sweet to her. I don't have pictures to document this part, but Mama even takes Sweetie Pie to the potty, taking off her diaper and pretty much doing everything I would do (all under my supervision of course). And the greatest part is that Sweetie Pie doesn't put up a fight with "Mama" like she does with me on occasion ;)

Lydia and her sweet friend, Jenna riding the Jeep :)

Since we didn't take advantage of Spring camping weather this year, we decided to have a little camp out in our living room a few weeks ago. We had planned to do some real camping over at Papaw Mike's house, but it was just TOO stinkin' hot....so we opted for the A/C and comforts of home.

Daddy pitched a little tent in the living room, we ate "camping" type food out on the deck, swam ALL day in our little blow up pool, and slept horribly (because that's usually how it goes when you're really camping, right?). Although the girls loved the idea of playing in the tent before bedtime, neither one actually slept IN the tent. Chris and I had mattresses on the floor for ourselves and Addie ended up sleeping between us....and the little Rascal a.k.a. Sweetie Pie, couldn't get settled down so she was banished to her crib. Needless to say, we only attempted the tent one night and everyone was back to their own beds the next night :)

We did go on one little outing while pretend camping....to the camp store (a.k.a. Target). Addie has been asking for a bicycle for a while now and we thought it would be a good almost half-birthday present to get her one. Since we don't have a very flat area for her to practice pedaling, we decided to get her a princess scooter instead which she was thrilled about! She has gotten better over the last couple weeks with lots of practice....we'll see about getting a bicycle for Christmas :)

This is how Lydia feels about Addie getting a scooter...just kidding!

Even though it's been HOT HOT HOT outside, we have been trying to get outside to play every single day....the earlier the better. The girls have discovered their love of sidewalk chalk and our driveway is ALWAYS decorated :) Addie taught herself how to write her name about a month ago so she is loving to sign her name by her art and trying to write other letters too. If I would let them, they would spend all day and night in their swimsuits playing in the pool on the deck. Lydia is so funny, every day looking out the window saying, "wet, pool, swim, outside" over and over. The other morning, they spent over an hour collecting bouquets of clover and berries, humming along just as happy as could be...getting sweaty little heads and rosy little cheeks :)

One of my favorite parts about being the mom of these two cuties, is that they don't NEED actual toys to have fun. They are so imaginative and creative in the way they play together. We have a good amount of their toys in storage right now while we're trying to sell our house and it just amazes me that we don't miss them one bit. The newest addition to their list of favorites is the box that our new dishwasher came in. Sometimes it's a house and other times it's a dress store or other places. When it's too hot to go outside, they are playing in and with that box! They use kitchen items and my decorations as their "props" and just go to town playing together.

Nothing really new to report about baby #3. I am currently 31 weeks, which means I have NO MORE THAN 9 weeks to go :D This has been a wonderful pregnancy, other than trying to stay cool in this heat, and we can't wait to meet our newest little sweet pea sometime in August! Sorry baby #3 for not taking any belly pictures of you yet....that's okay, we're having our wonderful friend take some maternity pictures in a few weeks (which we've never had done before so that makes you special!).

Happy first week of Summer!