Chalked

July 22, 2010 - 7:46 pm No Comments

Tonight after dinner, we headed out to the driveway to leave our mark. Allie LOVES to color – it might be her favorite thing in the whole world so I knew that sidewalk chalk would be a hit.

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Hey mama!

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“I color picture”

Thought I’d explain the blog hiatus (and probably upcoming one as well). I was gone for 9 days earlier this month to Peru on a mission trip (post and pictures will be here eventually). In other exciting news, we sold our home a few weeks ago and found a new place to live. We are closing on both homes soon – so I’m a packing machine. Thanks for your patience during this time of transition.

Today

July 17, 2010 - 9:41 pm 5 Comments

Dear Allie,

Today is our last day before Lauren returns. You woke up around 6:15. I changed your diaper. We played upstairs. While upstairs, we read some books and you drew some pictures – you’re drawing mostly in blue and green these days because those are the colors that you like, and because they’re the colors that I give you from the box of crayons.

For breakfast, you had an Eggo waffle, a couple of strawberries, and a piece of Poly-o string cheese. You ate most of it, and when you were done, you were very polite about finishing – “Done!” After breakfast, we changed you into clothes and went for a wagon ride. We went down to the end of the neighborhood, did a couple of streets and came home. No dogs today, just a few sprinklers. We did a load of sheets. You like to see the water flow into the washing machine – “See, See, See!” When we later moved them to the dryer, I put them on the door and you pushed them in – “Push!”

Next, we looked at some pictures posted by family members (Jeff, Dixon and Opa) on Facebook. We skipped photos of Lauren because I didn’t want you to miss her too much. I think you’ve got Jeff’s name down pretty well – “Yeff” – but we’ll see if it sticks.

We went to Big Spring Park around 10:30 and we fed the ducks and geese. You’re an expert at “duck” and “quack,” and you’re getting better at “geese.” “Honk” is still a little out of reach.

Then we went to lunch at Nuke’s. We sat at our usual table, you had your usual grilled cheese, and we got a small container of a half-dozen bread and butter pickles. What made lunch special was that you were completely happy. You smiled at me with perfect contentedness. I really enjoyed that moment, and decided I wanted to record it for you here.

We drove home after lunch and you took a three hour nap. Following the nap, we spent the evening at Clint and Leah Johnson’s with Frank, Mandy and Amara Cohee.

You’ve been getting much better at counting. Today, for the first time, you made your way to ten.

Later, when we got home and I carried you upstairs to bed, you gave me the second best hug you’ve ever given me. The best was after I returned from two weeks of business travel. This hug was almost as good. You rested your head on my shoulder and you patted my back and said “Dada, Allie night, night.”

Today was my favorite day of our time together, and I’m going to miss it.

Swinging

July 16, 2010 - 9:11 pm No Comments

Swinging with Dad and Opa

Splashfest 2010

July 8, 2010 - 5:38 am No Comments

Still trying to recover from all our time in the water this past weekend. My, O my, pruny fingers and toes.

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You can play in the kiddie pool.

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You can feed the ducks.

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You could drive the boat…

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Look over the edge…

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Chill with Hayden…

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Or go tubing. Lots of choices.

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Even parents have fun too!

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Did you see that last picture????

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We’ve had this sled about 30 years. I used to ride it when I was little. Hailey loved it. Allie and Hayden, eh, not so much but they didn’t cry. We did this about 8 in the morning before anyone else was up on the lake so the water was nice and smooth.

More pics here – sorry for the duplicates in the gallery. Trouble with the upload.

Two is Harder Than One

June 25, 2010 - 7:44 pm 2 Comments

Tonight, we babysat Isaac so Big A and Jenny could go to a work event (and actually be able to enjoy it). I was excited to see how we handled have two children at bedtime.
First hurdle was dinner. Isaac played on the playmat on the floor while we ate. Allie was not her best due to some teething difficulties. Malcolm and I ate quickly.
After dinner we headed up to the playroom. Had to watch out to make sure Allie didn’t love on Isaac too much :)

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Allie went “shopping” for the family. It was kind of her.

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Just a few minutes in to upstairs playtime, Allie had a “present” for us. Not 15 minutes later, so did Isaac. It was just too precious :)
Malcolm was in charge of Allie’s bath and bedtime while I went downstairs and gave Isaac his bottle. As soon as Malcolm got downstairs, Isaac fell asleep on his chest. There he slept until his mommy and daddy returned.

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Overall, it was tough but do-able. But two is much harder than one.

Oh and just because I’m not in any of the pictures doesn’t mean I didn’t do anything tonight.