Soccer!

Here's a play-by-play of our evening:

Someone is feeling very shy about her soccer shirt (a plain white t-shirt). Not sure why, but this shirt has been the cause of many tears. Only this shirt. Nothing else about soccer is making her cry - just this darn plain white t-shirt. Anyway, shortly after this picture was taken she had a small meltdown but managed to at least keep the shirt on.

dribbling the ball during warm-up

Someone knows what to do with a phone. :)

smiling at Bud and Yiyia

Lainey had a great attitude (besides the uniform drama) and did her very best out there. She really didn't move much; she even confessed that she "didn't really get the ball." Well, there's always room for improvement, right? :) She had a few good kicks and she ran some, but all in all, she mostly just observed the action around her. We are proud of her, though, for not crying, being a good listener, and keeping a positive attitude. Good job, Lainey!

Coach Aimee is awesome!

This is a crummy picture, but this shows what we did with Walker throughout most of the game. He thought he belonged in the game, and he kept running into the game and then sitting down on his bottom. He was participating in his own sit-in, protesting the fact that he wasn't allowed to play with the big kids.

This kept him occupied for about five seconds. He particularly liked the cones, trying to exit the building through the surprisingly lightweight door (slightly unnerving), and of course...the soccer ball.

I didn't catch this picture in time, but just before this shot Lainey had just spotted her cousins and aunt Tisha. She was smiling and waving to her fans. :)

Lainey is taking a little break...and waving to Daddy.

Lainey and her two teammates (and former classmates), Sara and Taylor

Saturday, June 25th

Yesterday we went to visit Grandmother, Grandfather, Aunt Sarah, and Aunt Martha. Sarah and Martha were in town visiting my grandparents from Virginia and California, and I was SO pleased that we got a chance to see them. Grandfather wasn't feeling well so we didn't see him yesterday, but we certainly soaked up some time with Grandmother, Sarah, and Martha.

One for Grandmother...

and one for Walker.

And repeat.

And don't be thrown off if he gives you one right out of his mouth.

Walker loves these wind chimes that Grandmother and Grandfather have hanging on their back porch. And my sweet aunt Martha held him up for quite awhile so that he could play with them.

Lainey pulled out the "tea party" set.

And she prepared some "cupcakes" for us (yummy, foam, block-shaped cupcakes).

And then, Aunt Sarah and Lainey called Tuck in Colorado. My kids are fascinated with Grandmother and Grandfather's phone; these kids aren't used to seeing phones with cords and connections to walls!

The kids ALWAYS get treats at Grandmother and Grandfather's house. This time they got M&Ms.

This move has replaced his "hands on cheeks" move. We've progressed to "hands on mouth." Thanks, Aunt Sarah, for taking these two pictures of the kids!

Aunt Sarah took this picture of Grandmother and Grandfather just after we left. Big hugs to you, Grandmother and Grandfather. Thanks for removing all the necessary breakable/fragile items and letting us invade your home!

AND, Happy 6th Anniversary to us! :) We celebrated by going to dinner at Roy's Hawaiian Fusion (YUM and by far, our favorite dinner-date place) and then we went to see The Hangover Part II. Hi-larious!

Dr. Walker, DDS

First patient? Elmo.

Bye-Bye, Birdies!

Man, they grow up SO fast!

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Well, hello there!

I scared this little one out of his nest (long story, and I felt really guilty, and I think his mom and dad wanted to dive-bomb me, but I used my gloved hands to safely put him back in the rosebush and then this is how I found him this evening).

I am constantly amazed by nature and wild animals in general. After this one escaped his nest, his mom and dad shadowed him and kept tweeting to him and I'm sure they were giving me a stern reprimanding as well. The little one tweeted back to his parents, too. Amazing. Everywhere he went, they followed, "speaking" to him and comforting him the whole time.

And then there was one. We are expecting storms again tonight; I hope he does okay out there! Stay safe sweet birdies. These summer storms can be ugly!

Father's Day Weekend

So, I did an awful job of taking pictures of our Father's Day festivities this weekend. On Saturday, we spent time at my mom and dad's house with my parents, my brother Matt, my aunt Nancy and uncle Dan, my cousin Anne, her husband Brian, and their baby, Tom. We missed my sweet grandparents (we will come see y'all soon, I promise!). Throughout the entire evening, I only got pictures of the three kids and only a few at that. And then, this evening, we spent time with the Harris side of the family at Greg and Tisha's house, and I didn't even take my camera out of my bag. Oh well. It was a fun-filled weekend celebrating our dads and grandfathers and husbands. Happy Father's Day to ALL you dads, husbands, and grandparents out there. Especially to Ben and my dad, two very important and special men in my life! I love you both!

Cousin Tom :)

cute 2nd cousins (and the only boys)

Lainey loves dressing up in Emmy's jewelry and shoes. What a little diva. :)

Simply gorgeous!

Baby Bird Update

I know y'all have been waiting for an update on our little feathered friends. :) Ha!

This is what one little eager birdie did when I pressed down the branch to snap a quick picture. He thought I was Mama Bird, bringing food. No such luck, little one.

He quickly figured that out and went back to snoozing with his brothers and sisters.

They are growing so fast. I love checking on them every day and I'm feeling a bit protective of them. They are just so sweet, and helpless, and innocent. Especially with those little closed eyes and those tiny delicate wings!

Walker, 16 Months Old

Happy 16 months, Walker!

He's a cute little buddy...

Hmm. Selecting the perfect branch to play with. (These decorative branches are off-limits. But that doesn't stop him from trying to convince me that they are not off-limits.)

Clearly, he's up to no good.

And two seconds later, this is what he started doing. Hitting his sister with a branch. Very typical. He is just trying to get her attention and he wants her to play with him.

And then he found the broom. Always fun...

Apparently my bathroom needed some brooming. :) This is where the broom came to rest.

a sister-created wrestling/jumping/rolling play area

Lainey, taking flight, ready to tackle Walker.

And he's down! And thankfully happy about it!

This is my favorite picture of the day! Look how excited he is that she's about to land on him!

"Here, Mom. Take a business card."

This is what most of my pictures of the two of them look like these days.

These two broke into my jewelry armoire. (Not a hard thing to do.)

Oohing and aahing over their precious finds. (Some necklaces for Lainey, and a watch for Walker.)

____________

And now, a few facts about our sweet 16-month-old boy...

Loves:

• eating foods in their whole form (a whole piece of pizza, a half of a sandwich, etc.)
• awakening on his own and hanging out in his crib until we come and get him - many times he'll just be sitting in his crib, not making a peep, waiting for us to enter his room
• reading his books by himself (and with you, too)
• riding inside the Little Tikes cars that we have in the backyard - he loves the honking horns and the steering wheels
• pointing to the pictures of the football, basketball, soccer ball, and baseball/glove on his wall - we have to do this before every naptime and bedtime
• taking the fake, decorative branches out of their pot and hitting his sister with them (imagine the arcade game called Whac-A-Mole...that's kinda what it looks like)
• banging, hitting, throwing...arg...
• picking flowers and pointing out teeny tiny bugs
• holding Reagan's leash on walks
• riding his sister's scooter (we push the scooter while he rides on it)
• yard signs of any kind, even ones that are there to show that the house is protected by an alarm system
• broccoli
• holding Reagan's leash when we go on walks
• Swiper, Map, Backpack, and Dora from Dora the Explorer
• He loves trying to tell Swiper the fox, "Swiper no swiping!" He gets all excited and just tries to say something when he spots Swiper on TV. He does the same thing when asked to say, "Map!"
• Elmo
• bubbles (still) - he'll chase you around with the bubble wand until you start blowing bubbles for him to run after
• apples and pineapple
• peanut butter, banana, and honey sandwiches
• strawberry cream cheese
• trying to escape designated areas
• chocolate - he'll separate an entire granola bar just to get at the chocolate chips
• M&Ms
• lollipops

Accomplishments:

• can climb on stools, chairs
• Whenever he tries to communicate, he says "ettss" or "attss." Those are big words to him. Someday, we hope he clues us in on their meanings.
• New "words" are..."ba" (ball) and "ha" (hi) and "buh" (bye). And that's just what I think. I'm not sure that he's actually said anything definitive yet.
• running...well, toddling along at a very fast pace
• easily scales the ladder to the fort and can now go down the slide by himself
• can open doors that have levers as knobs - he can't turn a knob, yet, but he can definitely pull down a lever
• can throw a pretty good fit - he lays down and cries, and he's really strong so sometimes it's hard to keep that little boy from accidentally hurting himself
• definitely shaking his head back and forth means "no"
• He is starting to play upstairs with his sister...UNASSISTED. This is HUGE for us. Even if it's just five minutes before I have to go up there and tend to a crying child, it's still five minutes that I can use to do something in peace (like clean, haha). That's BIG in a mom's world!
• understands so much of what we say...and getting better and better at pointing out objects in books and doing what we ask him to do
• really getting good at sweeping his hands back and forth across his tray when he doesn't want the food that is on there, causing the food to go flying (this makes Reagan very happy...or very sick, depending on what she gets ahold of)

Strong, strong dislikes:

• spicy food – even pepperonis - he cries and and cries and tries to get the food out of his mouth
• when he's told "no" - especially if you do it in a loud voice...it brings on many, many tears
• swimming and being in cold water - no swim lessons for this kid any time soon
• shopping carts
• snacks when he really wants a meal
• carrots, tomatoes, sometimes grapes...his food preferences are definitely changing

Funny stuff:

• anything can be a phone - including an apple juice box and a dollhouse TV
• Instead of putting his fists to his cheeks to express frustration, he now puts his hands over his mouth.
• has picked up his fair share of Reagan poop and rabbit poop (awesome)

I'm really looking forward to what next month brings. Little ones change so fast at this stage! We love you, Walkies. Thanks for making our lives brighter!

Swimming!

Lainey is swimming! Well, sort of. After realizing that I would not be the best swim teacher for Lainey (despite having taught swim lessons for 10 years, coached a swim team for several summers, and swam competitively for over ten years...I have zero skills when it comes to trying to teach my own child how to swim), I signed up Lainey for some hardcore, tough-love, no-nonsense swim lessons with Ms. Cindy. Ms. Cindy teaches babies and kids (6 months to 6 years) the water-survival technique of swim/float/swim (and repeat). We started taking the lessons Monday. Before Monday, Lainey refused to put her face in the water and was pretty hesitant to get in the water at all. Well, at least on anyone's terms but her own. So yes, I was very anxious about her first lesson!

Monday was rough. She cried for the entire ten minutes (each lesson is only ten minutes long...I'm sure it's because the teacher can only handle ten minutes of crying from each child at a time) and kept asking for me. Heartbreaking. But, at the end of the lesson she climbed out of the water smiling and proud of herself for having put her face in the water and done what the teacher asked of her. And, like any good mom would do, we went to Target's Dollar Spot and picked out a toy. :) Her choice? Hello Kitty bubbles (that, sadly, didn't produce actual bubbles in the shape of Hello Kitty). Throughout the day on Monday, she kept asking me, "Mommy? Are you so proud of me from swimming?" I kept assuring her that I was. She must have asked me that question twenty times. We talked about her swimming lesson all day long. Understandably, it made a big impact on her.

Tuesday was better...yet worse. She completely freaked out when it was time to start her lesson and ran away from Ms. Cindy. She panicked. But, after I got her and she realized that she wasn't getting out of this lesson, she got in the water and did really well. No crying. Today, Lainey had her best lesson yet. She went to Ms. Cindy without any fuss and she did everything Ms. Cindy asked of her. Throughout the lesson, being the sweet little people-pleaser that she is, Lainey kept looking at me and saying, "Mommy! I did it! Are you so proud of me?" Walker and I would cheer for her and clap our hands and shout our praises. I am almost 100% sure that Ms. Cindy thinks that we're crazy. But I am so proud of Lainey. Five more lessons to go! Keep up the good work, sweet girl! I love you!

Funny Sister

Lainey is great at entertaining Walker and she can always make him laugh - and laugh hard. It's hilarious. She does the silliest things to get his attention and he always stops what he is doing and toddles along after her, giggling and squealing and doing his best to keep up with her. It's so cute to see, and it also allows me a few minutes to clean the kitchen or fold a load of laundry. Lately, she's been trying to get him to do "plays" with her (which consist of made-up songs and dance moves and random props), but he doesn't understand any of that. That day will come, I'm sure. I'm interested to see what parts he gets to play in future "plays."

In this picture, Lainey is pouring cold water on herself and giggling about it. Walker thought it was just hysterical - except when she tried to do it to him! That boy does not like cold water.

"Hi, Daddy!"

I'm pretty sure Lainey thinks that her dad can see her and hear her talking to him. :) Even Walker is starting to get in on the fun!