Summer fun

Nothing new to report these days. Just hanging with the family and trying to keep cool. We are experiencing a major heat wave in the Midwest. 

Mya is loving Tee ball and is continues to enjoy her new found freedom of swimming all by herself (videos to come). Kate is climbing, talking and becoming her own little person. She said "bye-bye" for the first time a few days ago. Kate is very active and keeps us on our toes. She gets into everything and tries to keep up with her big sister. With Mya we never had to child proof much. With Kate, we are finding the need to childproof everything. She's our daredevil.  

 Kate's first solo slide ride

Mya and Zoe digging for bugs and worms 

 Uncle Mark taking a turn

 Daddy and his girls

 Kate thinking up a plan to climb Mya's bunk bed ladder. 

She was successful!

 At the pool with Aunt Sarah

Mya meets Justin Bieber at the Mall.

Tee Ball adventures

Mya showed an interest in playing Tee Ball this summer. We signed her up through the YMCA. The director asked for volunteers to coach. I offered. Then one afternoon I got the call. They wanted me. I was pumped. I was a Tee Ball coach to be. I picked Mya up from school to share the news with her only to hear cries of disappointment. She did not want me to coach. Mya wanted Daddy to coach. When I asked for an explanation she simply said, "Boys coach Tball, girls don't." I did my best to handle the rejection with pride and told her we would have to ask Daddy when he got home.  

Brian came home from work and to his surprise Mya jumped into his arms and yelled, "Daddy, you're going to be my Tee ball coach." She gazed into his eyes with expressions of joy and pure sweetness as she anxiously awaited a response. Brian had no choice but to accept (as if he had a choice). 

Brian is officially a coach! The first game was Saturday, the day before Father's Day. Mya presented him with an early Father's day gift for him to wear at the game. She got him a Cardinals shirt with 'Dad 1' printed on the backside. I swear Brian shed a tear. He could not have been more proud to wear that shirt and Mya was just as proud to have her Daddy to be the coach of her team. They both came out of this as winners if you ask me. 

Oh yeah, I am not at a total loss. After Mya's game she came up to me and said, "Mom, you can coach my basketball team one day." So for now, I will just take a back seat and enjoy the ride. 

Ballet recital and other news

The other week we attended Mya's second annual ballet recital. It was amusing to say the least. I can't believe how much she's learned and improved within a year's time. We are very proud parents.

Recently, Mya and I took a trip to Bloomington, IL to see my cousin Kayla graduate from High School. It was a lot of fun to have a "big girls'" trip. At the end of the day Mya was so pooped she actually asked to go to bed. I tucked her in as she requested I sing her the song I sang her when she was a baby. We said our prayers, talked about our favorite part of the day, and read a story. Then I caressed my fingers through her hair, singly softly as my sweet baby drifted off to sleep. It was a tender moment as I realized that one day my baby will be graduating high school and starting her own separate life.

 Our Prima Ballerina

My Clone

 Mya, Kennedy, and Gabby. These are very best buddies

 Digging in the dirt. Mya's favorite pastime.

 Daddy's girls! Kate still loves this baby carrier. She brings it to us periodically throughout the day.

 Wild child!

 Playtime with Daddy

 Playtime!

 Mya and Great Aunt Mary

 Great Grandma

 The proud graduate!

 Kayla and Eric

 I love this picture!

 Kayla and Brady

Our future Graduate!

Yes Mya Day

Yes Mya day was an idea from a friend. It's purpose is to empower the child by allowing them to be in control. They can pick what they'd like to eat, what they want to do for the day etc.  Mya took great pleasure in hearing Brian and me say "Yes, Mya," over and over.

Mya chose to take a family trip to the Botanical Gardens. She wanted to hit up the Magic House, Bounce U, the park and the movies but unfortunately for us, we just didn't have time.

The only request she really had that made us double think the idea was that she wanted candy all day long. We limited her choices to three pieces total but she could tell us when she wanted it.

We watched a British cartoon based called Mr. Bump (one of her favorites), watched Mr. Grinch, ate ice cream, snuggled, ate dessert before dinner, and played at the park. It was a long but fun day.

Here are a few pics of our day out. 

Kate is One!

Our little Katie Bug turned one last Thursday. It is so hard to believe she is already one! Poor baby has been riddled with ear infections so she spent her birthday sick and tired with Papa and Nanny while we were working. We had her Ladybug party Easter Sunday and had a great time with family. Poor Kate was still miserable. ENT here we come Friday!!!

This whole year feels like a blur. Now she is taking her first steps and enjoys saying her first real word. "iitty". Translation: "Kitty". She chases Henry around the house repeating the word and sounds like she is trying to say Henry as well. Kate also seems to try to say Mya. She is becoming more verbal about her likes and dislikes and seems to really enjoy being outside. She cries when we go indoors.  She also likes to thrust herself backwards if she doesn't like something. Just like Mya.

Her favorite toy is a wooden block and a plastic car she can push around on the floor given to her by her Aunt Mary and cousins, Kayla and Brady.

She has four teeth, and seems to like to eat anything. She is still a shrimp but she tripled her birth weight and  she holds her own. She loves to be around big sister Mya and she still likes to cuddle at night before I put her down to bed. I am going to miss these days. However, I won't miss the ear infections, and night waking.

Happy Birthday beautiful Kate! We love you!