The Weekend

Pool

Swimming with friends at the community pool. These girls are a blast.

B.O.B.

Test driving the BOB ironman duallie.

We have a wonderful double stroller that is a travel system. Perfect for tournaments and long trips etc. (It stores everything you need for a day out and Haley can even take a nap in it) And we have a double jogging stroller. But the plan is to sell the other jogging stroller for this craigslist beauty. I like it's side by side design- to avoid future hair pulling etc., it's great for running (5K training here I come), and perfect for short trips into town. 

Shades
Haley put on her brother's shades and grabbed my cell phone. I think she looks like a sorority girl in training.

Beard
Liam need a burp cloth everywhere he goes. But this time it looked like a sweet neck beard.

Bravery
As Haley becomes less clumsy she has been gaining confidence in her physical abilities and she has become much more brave. When she helps pick up the mats at church she will usually "jump" off of them. This entails her crouching down really low, and then stepping off very enthusiastically while saying jump and giggling. But this Sunday she actually started to jump. I was so proud. She has also been consistently tackling slides on her own. (finally!!)

Art
We do not have a driveway. So, in an effort to bring more opportunities to be artistic into Haley's days I created a massive chalk board for her. This is the plywood we got to cover her sandbox in the rain. Move it up to the porch (away from the mosquitoes, and on a flat surface- I should have gotten thicker plywood) and it's a makeshift driveway. This was easy to make- I just sprayed on chalkboard paint by following the can's instructions- it took 2 cans and 3 coats. I love how vibrant the colors are. It has also already been used as a perfect photo prop.

Puddles

Warning- not for the faint of heart

My son comes by his nick name honestly...

(Don't worry, he have talked to his doctor about his massive piles of spit up. He is gaining weight, smiley and safely in the "normal" range. Personally I think his skills, though not always pleasant, are quite impressive.)

Who you calling puddles?

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Liam- 2 Months

Liam had his 2 month appointment on Tuesday the 5th (8 days after he turned 2 months old) His stats from that appointment

13lbs. 2 oz.

24in. 

He's 75th percentile for height and weight. He's dropped a few percentiles for weight and stayed about the same for height. But I have a feeling he will make up for lost time soon. 

Some facts about Liam at 2 months:
He is cooing occasionally.
He spits up puddles.
He kicks his legs constantly and is really gassy.
He has beautiful big smiles and is gernerally very content.
He has wonderful head strength and is very observant, constantly looking up and around.
He just started sleeping several hours at night.
He is starting to reach around his face for things like his binky.
He likes to suck his knuckles.
He likes to be held and to be worn.
He seems very jittery and startles easily, although his startle reflex is slowly waning.
His legs are always tightly crossed together. Its my favorite thing when he's sleepy and you pick him up and his legs stay tucked.

I love this boy!

Happy Fourth!

Here is a peak into our church going (on the 3rd), firework watching (but not the little ones), tie-dye wearing, parade riding, cooking out adventures.

Happy 4th of July!

Haley's Boyfriend part 2

i know I promised more pictures of Haley and her buddy a few days ago, and I'm sorry it took so long, but here they are. Hopefully the computer problems are over now that we have a new power cord. Now if only I could add a few extra hours to each day.

Haley's buddy is really not her boyfriend at all. In fact he's the grandson of my boss He is about 6 months older than Haley. They don't see each other often, but when they do they get along swimingly. I don't know if they've ever said two words to each other, or if they even know each other's names, but they are still buddies.

The beach retreat a year ago

This year at the Valentines Day dance

They were dancing together for several minutes, once they started they didn't really know how to stop until he eventually decided he wanted to let go. 

At the pre-beach retreat last month

Haley was playing on the basketball court. It was time to go so her buddy took her hand to lead her off. Then they kept walking together around the picnic pavilion, ad into the grass. Haley was content to follow his lead, even though I'm not sure either of them really knew where they were going. 

Precious! 

Friday Favorites- June

How to get a child to stay in her bedroom @ steady mom (this has some great ideas in the comments)

Adult roles in child's play @ not just cute

5  steps to maximize summer @ Simple Marriage

Make your own Backyard Obstacle Course @ Simple Kids

RV there yet? @ Mckmama (a post on enjoying the journey instead of focusing solely on the destination)

What I want my kids to know about marriage @ We are THAT Family

children's scrapbook ideas @ Nurture Store

Pinterest a beginners guide @ sorta crunchy

Falling in love from behind the lens @ Creative mama

6 tips for enjoying messy arts and crafts @ doodle place

Fun ideas for summer
@ smile monsters
@ she sparkles
@ simple mom- intentional summer
@ simple mom- at home

Haley's Boyfriend

Some of you saw pictures from the valentines dance.
Well, Haley and her friend were reunited for another hand holding adventure.

Stay tuned tomorrow to see more...

Haley's bug

My internet access has been in and out for a variety of reasons (storms and mac power cords...) and may continue to be so over the next few days (traveling...) so sorry if posts have been and will be scarce again for a while.

But here's a quick Haley story to make you smile.

Today after story time at the library we went to the park. There were 4 other kids there that Haley knows but she mostly kept to herself, eating her snack and wondering around our newly discovered playground. While she wandered the 3 bigger kids caught bugs. And occasionally brought them over to Haley for her to look at.

Fast forward about 6 hours.

We had some dinner guests and sent Haley to the fenced in backyard to play in her sandbox while we chatted at the table. At one point Haley came rushing to the door saying "bug, bug" with a joyful, proud grin on her face.
Squished between her two fingers she held her new little friend.
She tried to bring the bug inside and I was hesitant to let her enter with her bug in tow. At first glance it looked like a piece of dirt. But I was a little worried she would be bringing some sort of spider into the house. (We've had a lovely lightening bug in our living room the last two nights, but I think a ladybug is the only other critter I would gladly accept inside)
I leaned in closer to examine Haley's bug and saw a little head with antlers. Hmmm... I thought, is that an ant?... No. (Haley's fingers loosen and the bug begins to wiggle away, revealing little yellow and black stripes) a bee! (and not the friendly honey bee kind, the yellow jacket, sting you and make you cry, kind) I don't remember exactly what I did next but I'm pretty sure I smacked it out of her hand and yanked her inside away from it's pointy stinger.
Luckily she was not stung, and I'm sure she still doesn't understand why I didn't like her little friend that she was so proud to have captured.  Makes me think of "I'm bringing home my baby bumble bee" and I was proud that she wasn't afraid of the bugs, but we might have to work on deciding which ones are ok to bring home. All this while being careful not to impart my arachnophobia on her. (One of the Dad's at the park was doing such a great job of teaching about how good bugs and spiders are. The whole time I was thinking, yuck! spiders. eek! )

In Liam news

last night we went to bed at around 12:30. We didn't wake up until about 5:45.
I woke up and I looked at the clock to see what time it was. I immediately looked over at Liam to make sure he was ok, since he usually wakes up every 2-3 hours. I put my hand on his back and felt him peacefully breathing in his happy sleepy place. The panic left as quickly as it had set in and I smiled knowing my little boy practically slept through the night.

Liam's bed at the home :)