Our Garden

I think the thing we are most excited about when we think of Spring (along with the park, Popsicles, neighborhood walks, the farmers market, etc) is our garden.  This is our first one...ever...and we are so ready to get to work!  Rhonald grew up with a Grandpa and a Dad who loved to garden.  I remember my Grandparents had beautiful gardens every summer as well.  We have always talked about having one and honestly we were pushed into it this year by Cole.  He has really loved helping his Paw Paw in his garden every summer and asked us if we could have one of our own this year.  So, Paw Paw has come up two different times to help us build our garden beds, fill them and help us plan out what we will grow.  I think he is anxious to see how we do as well.  This past Friday and Saturday were so beautiful and we all really loved getting our hands dirty and prepping our future garden spot.  We have big plans for this project....I know we will learn a lot and enjoy it so much!  I cannot wait to see those first few sprouts come up!!!!

Snow, Snow Go Away!

I think I was spoiled to grow up in the North with so much snow to play in.  I say that because every single time it snows....even a tiny bit, my family gets so excited and totally goes nuts!  It is so much fun to watch them (Rhonald included) get so into it.  I firmly believe if it is going to be freezing cold and snow that it should SNOW...like a lot!  This year, however, we have had just a couple of small little snow "storms."  No matter how much we get my crew is out for as long as they can be playing and having fun!  This time the slide was the highlight.  It was wet and slippery and they would fly down it and soar off the end into what turned into a huge snowy, muddy puddle.  Where is mommy in all of this fun you ask?  I was there....long enough to get some good pictures and see the sweet smiles and then I headed inside to prepare the post snow hot apple cider and play doh fun.  It seems like, for some reason, we always enjoy both of those things after playing in the snow.  I love playing but I also love the warm kitchen :)  And now I am ready for Spring...so snow, snow go away and bring us a beautiful sunny day!

Wordless Wednesday

The Spa

I have said it before and I will say it as long as I live...we have great friends.  We have several groups of friends that we love and that we share life with and we are so thankful.  Friendships are something that we do not take for granted in this house.  My good friend, Keisha, is about to give birth to her 3rd boy so, to celebrate her (and him) and give her something "girly" to look forward to a few of us decided to have an overnight getaway at a spa.  Yes, a spa.  It was so fun and so relaxing to be away and be pampered.  After a day of pure relaxation we headed to a local diner for some yummy and totally unhealthy food and then we stayed up super late talking and laughing.  It felt like high school all over again and it was so wonderful!  I really appreciate my sweet hubby (well, all of our hubby's) for watching the kids and encouraging me to go and do something for myself.  It was so good for my soul!

What Lily Kate Has Been Up To....

Sister is the Queen of getting into trouble in a split second when no one is looking.  She was a great baby and never got into very much trouble .... and then she turned two!  Holy smokes!  Sister is fun and adventurous and super fast.  The other day when I was helping Cole with something for literally 2 minutes I realized Lily, who was in the kitchen, was being very quiet.  Never a good sign.  When I went to investigate I found this happy and proud mess waiting for me.  In 2 minutes Lily had found an avocado on the counter, opened it with her bare hands, mushed it up and placed it in the microwave.  She was so excited to show me her hands and all of the mess!  You can't help but smile at a toddler so full of joy about something so insane :)

Lily has always been much more independent than Cole was at this young age.  She loves her bed and her space but lately she has been more and more cuddly.  We love this new side to her and cherish the cuddles we get.  One thing that she is trying very hard to make a habit of is napping in our bed.  She has not been a "good" napper ever since she gave up her paci.  She rocks the night sleep but napping is tough.  However, in our bed, she sleeps about 30-45 minutes longer than in her bed so I can't help but allow her to nap here.  One thing I love about her is that she always...and I mean always since she has been a baby.... lays her blankie out on her pillow to sleep on.  Before she had a pillow I would find her like this at night in her crib and now it is part of her "routine" before falling asleep.  She loves soft, cuddly things and I love that she has found this way to have even more comfort in her sleep. 

The biggest (and best) thing Lily has been up to lately is using the potty!  She decided a couple of weeks ago that she wanted to do this.  With Cole it was my idea....Lily was due soon and I knew he could do it so we went for it.  This time it was all Lily.  She started using the potty before her bath for fun and we all made a big deal about it.  I told myself if she showed any interest in pooping in the potty we would become more serious with potty training.  She is still young and I did not want to push her.  Well, a few days after being pretty consistent with peeing in the potty at night, she did it.  She pooped in the potty!  That began the road to being potty trained.  We did a modified version of the three day potty training method just like with Cole and it worked like a charm.  I do put her in pull ups at night but she normally wakes up dry anyway.  Lily is our shy one...by far....so she has struggled a bit with using the potty with anyone other than Rhonald or I.  She does best for us and at home, although she will go in public if she needs to.  School has been more of an issue.  She has 2 wonderful teachers whom she loves but she only wants one of them to take her to the potty.  If Miss S is busy Lily has no trouble peeing in her pants.  Something we are working on - but she is young and she has plenty of time to master the potty with others.  She has gotten so used to being cheered for when going potty that she now cheers for all of us when we go potty.  It's so cute and so silly to hear "yeah mama!  yeah mama!" while in the bathroom.  But hey - whatever works right?!

 

 

So that is a brief update on Lily's life over the past couple of weeks.  Such a sweet and fun and challenging age.  We just love her to pieces.

Wordless Wednesday

Sweet Cole

"I believe that God send you into my life to give me something to fight for, to show me there is love in this world, to give me joy.  All the proof in God I need is in you.  You are a gift from the heavens."

 

 

My Dear Cole, You do bring us such amazing joy.  I am so proud of you and the boy you are growing up to be.  May you never lose your love for God and your love for others.  May you always know you are cherished and adored by your Daddy, Lily and I.  You make this world a better place every day and I am so very thankful to have you in my life.