Mother's Day and a Few "Firsts"

First of all....a late Happy Mother's Day to all Mamas out there reading this! I love Mother's Day for the specific reason of celebrating my own mother and what a blessing she's been in my life, but it is of course even more special to me now that I am a mommy :)

We were traveling home from Indianapolis on Mother's Day so I didn't get to celebrate with my own mom and grandma until Monday evening. Our church had a "Mothers and Others" dinner that was such an amazing treat for all of us. The ladies who planned this event did a wonderful job of including ALL age groups and I think it was a tie between my grandma and Addie of who had the best time! (They both won lots of door prize goodies :D ) I felt extremely blessed to spend a nice evening with all 4 generations of "ladies" in my family!

Sweet Lydia had her 6 month check up on Monday as well (that's why she's not smiling in the above picture!). She weighed in at 18 pounds and she's grown 3/4 of an inch and is now 27 inches tall....which are both 90% for her age. In the last couple weeks, she has become the cutest rolly polly baby, managing to get herself moved all over the floor! I can see it in her eyes that it won't be long before she's scooting around to get to all her sissy's fun toys :) She is also sitting up by herself for long periods of time. Lydia has changed drastically in the last month and it excites me to no end to watch her learn right before my eyes! She loves to grab EVERYTHING and nothing is out of her reach if she puts her mind to it! I absolutely can't wait for the day she starts crawling and chasing Addie all over the house.

Along with turning 6 months old, baby girl has started eating some yummy veggies. She's been eating rice cereal for a while now, but we added carrots and peas to the menu last week. She seems to prefer carrots over peas for now, but I think she's still getting used to the texture of the peas. I decided to try making baby food this time around and so far, it's going very well and Addie also enjoys trying some of the purees now and then :) My only issue with feeding this child "solids" is the spitting habit she's developed along with it! As soon as I put the tray on the high chair, she begins spitting at me! It's hilarious, but I have to keep from laughing because I'm trying to teach her NOT to do it (as I shield myself from the yumminess spraying all over me!).

"What Mom?"

Enjoying her carrot mess! (This mess was mild compared to some days)

Addie's hair has grown so much (for her) in the last couple months. She got to get her very first haircut on Tuesday this week! It was just a little trim, but it was fun for her to sit up in the big chair. She wasn't sure at first, but after our friend Mikaelah offered her a sucker, she was good to go! She talked about it the rest of the day and was still mentioning "I got a haircut yesterday" at the end of the week!

I love her serious expression here!

Sucker time

Showing off her 1st Haircut Certificate!

And everyone knows what goes perfectly with a new haircut....a pedicure of course! Addie loves her new "painted toes" that match Mommy's. Here I am...not much of a girly girl at all...painting my baby girl's toe nails and enjoying every second! I will leave you with this picture of these cute little toes:

Happy Half Birthday Little One!

Wow, six months has really flown and I know it sounds so cliche' but I can't remember what life was like before Lydia joined our family! She has grown and changed so much since the day we brought her home from the hospital and I can't even remember that 8 lb. 5 oz. little (but seemed HUGE to us at the time) baby any more. Her laid back personality has thankfully stuck with her and she loves to take in all of her surroundings, especially if that includes her big sissy :) Lydia and Addie love each other so much, it just melts my heart daily.

It took the chubby one a little while to get rolling over mastered, but she has it now and actually enjoys spending time on her tummy playing "airplane" (legs and arms flying off the ground). I keep telling Addie that one of these days Lydia will be crawling around chasing after her...and I can't wait to watch them interacting when they are both mobile :) Recently, Lydia discovered her voice and she sings and babbles on and on, especially when she's sitting at the table with us while we're eating or when she's in the Ergo carrier with me at the store or wherever we may be. I love hearing her "talk" to us in her own little way!

I love you, Lydia Mae, all the way from your blue eyes to your cheeky grin, right down to your dimpled knees and adorable little toesies...and everything in between!!!

Wondering what her sis is up to

Laughing at "you know who"

These will be walking feet oH sO SoOn!

My favorite cheeky grin :)

She's a heart melter, watch out!

This was my favorite pose from Addie's 6 month pics so we had to recreate it!!!

Love that baby girl!

Our Easter Weekend

I'm going to avoid writing a novel here simply because the pictures alone show the joy we felt this weekend celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. We hope everyone had a wonderful Easter! Here are just a few of my favorites:

Sweet sisters

They are really this sweet, I promise

Serious Addie :)

I have decided this is my all-time favorite picture of her...it's just simply her, lovey in hand and all!

Proud of her decorated eggs

Checking out the Easter basket filled with goodies, including her 1st Strawberry "Fruitcake" (as she says) movie

Little one LOVES her chick!

A kiss before church

Beautiful baby, chunk and all!

Love, love, love getting my girls outside

Another favorite of this girl

I could not resist this picture of Addie interacting with Papaw Mike's dog, Odie. You see, Odie is a beautiful dog, but he is afraid of EVERYONE except Addie. He loves her and it was so neat to watch them run together on Sunday afternoon.

Camera-Happy!

I recently got a new camera and I have been especially camera-happy lately...trying to capture every little moment of my precious girls. I am sitting here -inside- on this rainy day, just thinking about how fast life is going...and how fast it's going to continue going the older they get. I dream of the day when my two little birds can fly around the room together, but I certainly don't want to rush either one of them into getting one bit bigger :) Here are just a few of my favorite moments from the past two weeks:

These are the sweetest cheeks in my world!

Lovin' that finger lately!


Enjoying "Mommy's swing"--the non-baby swing


Who could resist this face?

Spring is Here!!!

Yay for Spring, the most refreshing season! Everything is beginning to bloom around us and the weather is turning warmer, birds are singing, days are longer, and children can run free outside! Happiness all around, if you ask me :)

In celebration of this new season, I thought I'd post a few new pictures of my sweethearts and let you all know what we've been up to.

Addie's "Ace Ventura" hairdo after nap

Piggy tails and dirt digging--it doesn't get much better

Squeezable Sissies

Lydi loving her excersaucer

The "little one" (as Addie calls her) is growing so fast! She is the size of an average 6 month old and is wearing 6-12 month clothes already. We started her on some rice cereal this past week and so far, she enjoys the spoonfuls of milky-mush. I just dug the excersaucer out of the closet the other day and Lydia LOVES it! At first, I wasn't sure if she was old enough for it...but after a few minutes of giggles and obvious entertainment, it's a welcome addition to the many other toys taking up space in our living room ;)

Lydia gave us a few sleepless nights last week, but I think we are back on track now and into a good groove (but that's all I'm saying about that, so we don't jinx it!). I think she was going through a stage where she wanted to be awake ALL the time, even during the night just so she wouldn't miss anything. She's definitely more alert and loves to interact with us. Here is a little clip of her laughing at her silly momma.

Big Sister Addie is also growing to be quite a little girl. Sometimes she says things that just make me laugh until my stomach hurts. One evening this week, the girls and I went to dinner with my parents. Addie was sitting next to Lydia in the booth and she said, "You're getting chubby, aren't ya?" Mom and Dad and I were just tickled by this statement. She definitely mimics us in the most adult-like way. Just this morning, she slung my purse over her shoulder and said, "Bye-bye, I'm going to work, see ya later!" and closed the "door" (moved the kitchen chair) behind her. As usual, she's constantly coming up with cute sayings and I have trouble keeping track of them all, unfortunately. "Okay, then" is another one of her current quotes...you know, it just makes the usual response of "OK" a little more formal ;) So when I ask her to take her dirty clothes to the hamper she responds, "Okay, then" and off she goes, happy and willing.

Addie just loves her baby sister SO much! She enjoys reading books to her, making her laugh by blowing on her belly, singing for her, and even decorating her!

I walked in the living room to see my sweet baby being "decorated" with heart stickers :)

Reading to the little one

SWEETNESS

Precious Lydia

Another month has flown by quickly and our little baby is 4 months old already. Sweet Lydia is getting so strong and has almost mastered rolling from her back to her belly. She loves to kick her little legs and arch her back, especially during diaper changes. It is so much fun to watch the growing and learning process of a sweet innocent baby all over again. I'm trying not to rush her into growing up, but I'm looking forward to the exciting changes that I know lie ahead. Check out these squeezable cheeks (I do thoroughly enjoy squeezing my "squishy" baby several times a day!)...

She loves her big sissy :)

Nakey girl ;) (She'll love me for this one day)

"A" and "L"

Had to put this one on here too...baby #1 turned into a big girl!

Looking back over these pictures, my girls sure do favor their daddy...maybe one of these days I'll have a child who looks a little like me...but for now, I'm thankful I have a beautiful husband ;)

Sister, Sister

I am so grateful that God has blessed us with a set of sisters! They are so much fun, both individually and together. Lydia continues to be such a wonderful addition to our family, so easy going and happy about 90% of the time. My favorite moments with her are when she first wakes up in the morning. She loves to look at herself in the mirror and laugh, which is priceless. I couldn't quite capture the gigantic smiles she possesses when she starts her day, but I tried my best and here's what I got...

Happy grins!

Good morning, sweet girl!

Then there's our independent, hilarious, one of a kind, hand full of a daughter, Addie. She just cracks me up all day long, and even during her middle of the night awakenings (sometimes). There are times when we can get so frustrated with her and then she says something so clever and "Addie-like" that we just have to lighten up and smile.

Yesterday, I asked her to go talk to Lydia while I was folding some laundry and she went over to Lydia's chair and told her this: "I have to need to watch Little Bear all day morning long because my daddy will come home soon." (Our daughter has an addiction to the sweet cartoon, Little Bear, by the way). She continued to tell Lydia the details of one of her favorite episodes that would only make sense to other Little Bear addicts. Lydia was getting a little fussy today while Addie and I were finishing up lunch and Addie said to her baby sister, "Your mommy can't hold you right now, she's eating her lunch." I almost choked on my food to hear her talking so sweet, but more to hear her talking about me in 3rd person :)

She came to the dinner table in this: Pink shirt, Snow White panties, winter beanie hat, and doll pants around her ankle :D

Yesterday's creation: purple dress, orange fairy wings, pink and purple rain/snow boots, and 3 mismatched bows (including a white fuzzy one right on top)

And you must take a peek at Addie's "new smile"...she chipped both front teeth on the kitchen floor on Valentine's Day! Good thing they will fall out anyway :)

Daddy snuggling on his girls

Lydia and Addie in their "boosta seats"

The future teacher showing her very observant student some bird pictures