Peace

They say good things come in 3's... make that 4's...

4 kids. 4 naps. All at the same time. Sweet.

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N

We headed out this morning to visit our friends Steph and Mike in Cape Cod, Massachusettes. We had fun on our road trip! The weather was great, traffic was nonexistent, kids were AMAZING... who could ask for anything more?!
*All pictures taken with Mac camera.

Happy Mommy.

Happy Daddy.

Happy Mommy and Daddy.

Happy(ish) 3/4 of our family.

Perfect baby. Lovey. Thumb. New Toy. Happiness.

We took two 45 minute breaks. Lilly dancing in Rhode Island.

Ella stretching her legs.

Lilly picked a special treat for the drive. I cannot believe the deceit! Ridiculous. But she was happy and that was the goal.

9:20 p.m. after a very very long day. A fabulous day spent with wonderful people.

Skype

Skype is great. It's free. It's fun. And our girls get to see family they'd otherwise not see on a regular basis.

Recently the girls were skyping with Papa and Nana Kay.

It was Ella's bedtime.

Lilly enjoyed showing her grandparents her dance moves, flips on the couch, songs, and new hair cut. She's a Skype pro.

Technology fascinates me. I can't believe our girls are growing up with cell phones, digital cameras, Skype, the internet, Facebook, email, etc. I cannot even fathom what's next... I can't wait to see.

Family

Sherry called me a few days ago to tell me she was on her way to Pennsylvania to spend the weekend with Jeff's family. She wanted to know if it was ok to stop by our house on their way home. I was thrilled! It's so nice to see family. Lilly carried a picture of Kate and Elizabeths around the house and waited by the front door all morning saying, "My cousins comin!" She was beyond excited.

*This picture makes me realize I still have some weight to lose. The face... ugh.*

Cousins! So cute.
Who's the fairest of them all? Can you even see Ella? She's ghostly next to the tan girls!

Our visit was short but I'm so glad our girls were able to spend some time together and we were able to chat. Lilly had a blast. Can't wait to see them again.

Furpee

Shortly after Ella was born Aunt Sherry, Uncle Jeff, Katherine, and Elizabeth came to visit. They brought Lilly her very first wallet and inside the wallet was $2. Lilly was thrilled. She put the wallet in a very special place (her underwear drawer... shhhh!). She saved that $2 for 8 months. Just the other day she retrieved her wallet and announced, "Lets do somefing and buy somefing wif my money!!" She was carrying the wallet (and the Hello Kitty watch they gave her for her birthday I believe) and pacing the hallway while I was putting on my makeup. I asked her what she wanted to do or what she wanted to buy and she said, "A furpee."

Lilly's never had a slurpee. I once gave her some and she didn't like it. Then there was the fainting-in-Chick-Fila-due-to-a-brain-freeze time that I'd like to forget and am slightly scarred from. Since that wonderful evening (at Chick Fila) I am not a big fan of cold drinks or ice cream for Lilly. But Lilly saved $2 for 8 months at the age of 3 and I think that's pretty cool. So a 'furpee' it was (along with several long lectures about 'bwain fweezes').

Lilly loved her cherry slurpee and drank the entire thing. Note to self...
Red food dye+sugar in a slurpee+nebulizer treatments = insanity.

Pretty in Pink

"I love mulch."

"You lookin' at me?"

Gross

Target. Eating lunch. Ella eats table. Yuck.

Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny

I know this will be hard for anyone who knows me to believe but I do make my fair share of parenting mistakes! Ha! Yes that's a joke not because I don't make any mistakes; I make a lot of mistakes! But I always do the best I can.

Last summer I had a foggy moment while shopping for my trip to visit Aunt Stephanie in Florida. I bought Lilly a bikini that was on clearance at Old Navy. I think it was about $4. I thought it would be funny for her to wear it to the beach. We packed it but she never even wore it on our trip. I never thought about the suit again.

This summer Lilly happened upon her bikini. She loves it. She wants to wear it all the time (it still fits). I hid it. She found it. I think it's totally "inafrofriate" as Lilly likes to say it. I wish I hadn't bought it. But she's 3 and it's not the end of the world. I do see kids in suits like this one at the pool but I always put Lilly in a one piece suit.

Today I was tutoring and told Lilly to go put on a bathing suit so Andy could take her to the pool. She came down dressed and proud in her bikini. She danced.

She posed.

And she watched TV while waiting on Daddy.

And then they headed to the pool... bikini and all.

Goggle Girl

Lilly got new goggles. She is very strange. Daddy allowed her outside in only underwear and her Keens. She is a fast runner. She is quirky. She is funny. She is nuts.

The Letter

Today, while I was getting ready, Lilly was downstairs busy "writing" and preparing a letter for her long lost friend Jordie. She found all the materials herself and wasn't even aware that I was taking pictures. While she was working she was talking about her letter that she was going to send. It was totally adorable.

She was cutting up a "Where have you been???" letter from the dentist and using Daddy's Brooks Brothers receipt envelope to put the letter in. She has always been very resourceful.

I was upstairs when I heard her heading to the front door. I ran down with my camera and caught a glimpse of her leaving with the letter.

She was on a mission.

It had to make it to Jordie on the Cape.

When we got home today I pulled the mail out of the mailbox and Lilly climbed up on the bench to see if the mailman took her letter. Then she said, "My letter make it to Jordie?" and I assured her "Yes, it sure will."

Lilly is one happy little girl that we will be going to Cape Cod in ten days for a visit with Jordie and his new baby brother Ryan. I cannot wait to capture their reunion and to see my friend Stephanie. I know we're going to have a lot of fun watching our kids play and enjoy one another like the good 'ol days.

8 Months

I swear she was just born yesterday. Now she's a tooth growing, smiling, crawling, cruising, giggling, "Ma" saying, table food eating, champion sleeping, happy-go-lucky 8 month old.

Happy 8 month birthday sweet Ella.