Thursday, June 2, 2011

The little things

So between busy weekends, life around here has been good. Spring has sprung and summer seems right around the corner. The flowers are blooming, mulch has been spread, and outside toys pulled out. I have to confess, it sometimes takes a lot for me to pull out the camera and catch the 'little things' I was so good when Selah was little in capturing every moment on camera, but with two littles running around it takes a little more preparation and effort. Nonetheless, the kids LOVE being outside. And if I can stand it long enough with my allergies, that is where you will find us.

Our swingset was the best investment we ever made. I love watching Selah push Finn now. It is never prompted, Selah just decides she wants to push Finn. And most of all I love that whenever you put Selah on her swing it automatically prompts her to start singing in her sing-songy voice made up songs that you can barely make out the words to or her repetoire of songs she knows by heart. And if I start to sing with her she says, "No mommy! I sing it by myself!" Of course there are days when she says, "Mommy, you sing with me?" and then my heart melts. Those little moments I try to hold onto forever. They are growing up to fast and with it their childhood innocence.
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Finn...what can I say. He is still all boy. I have given up trying to contain him and have instead decided to let him free! He pushes things all over the driveway. Eats anything he can get into his mouth without me seeing, grass, rocks, dirts...you name it, he has probably eaten it at some point.
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And even though he can sit in the car himself, he would much rather push Selah around which of course she loves and encourages most of the time informing him to push her whenever she is in something that moves.
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And then there is his new crawl. He is taking around 7 steps at a time now, but would much rather crawl still because he is so speedy. He has adapted this new crawl to the outdoors since he doesn't like his knees touching the concrete or grass. So hopefully soon we will be to the all walking stage.
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And we play and play until the kiddos are worn out. To which Selah protests "I not tired mommy!" as her whining and full blown fit follows.
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And last but not least, Finn's new game. Peakaboo between his legs. Along with his new crawl he discovered he can see between his legs. So he crawls for a while, stops and peeks through to see if he can see any faces and if he finds you, your reward is his sweet belly laugh! Priceless.
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And because she is so sweet...a few more pics of Selah. She still enjoys having her picture taken when it is her idea of course. If she does something sweet or is hugging someone she will say, "Take my picture mom!" Oh my, what have I created :)
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And for all my fellow hair experimenters...Here are the bantu knots I have started at night when Selah sleeps. After detangling and moisturizing her hair I put it up like this.
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After she wakes up the 'knots' are removed and you get nice, non-tangled, non-frizzed, run-your-hand-through-your-hair hair that is wonderful. Of course it takes lots of effort to do something every time, but it definately helps. We are slowly but surely getting there and learning how to manage Selah's hair because we are trying to grow it out.
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A weekend to Remember 2011

The weekend of the 20th we got to head to Indy for Family Life's weekend to remember. This was our second time of going so we were considered 'alumni'. It was great to get away without the kiddos. Thanks to Joyce and Barry and Grandma G for watching them for us.
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It started out with staying at the amazing JW Marriott hotel. It was a brand new hotel made in February.
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Our bellhop explained where everything was around the city. This was out our window overlooking downtown Indy.
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This is the incredible cute couple, Ryan and Liz that we shared the weekend with :) They are going to hate that I put this picture in here, but I thought it was a good one!
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The weekend didn't quite go as planned. We both ended up sick over the weekend. Tadd barely had a voice and we were both run down, so the energy level wasn't quite there. But, since this was our second time around we skipped a session one day and took a long nap in the hotel room. Overall we got more rest than we would have at home, got our focus back centered on our marriage and each other, and spent some good quality time with each other = mission accomplished! Another great year, we would definately suggest this event for anyone who hasn't gone. Just because you go does not mean you are having issues in your marriage (a common misconception). It just helps you to refocus on the purpose of your marriage, priorities, and serving God and each other to your fullest! This was a peek at room service I got late one night for dessert...mmmm mmmmm!
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Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Part 2 of Finn's Birthday

So here is a picture of our monkey with his shirt I made him, isn't he cute :)
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Here he is with our other monkey...
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Cake time. I remember Selah had to be prompted as to where her cake was, you know where you place their hand into the cake so they get the idea. Yeah, Finn didn't need any help. He just dug right in. He was trying to do it face first and if the plate hadn't been so wide he would have stuck his whole head in it I think! Selah of course had been telling us the whole week that she was going to get to "help" Finn blow out his candle.
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Enjoying every minute of his party!
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Getting him to hold still to snap a picture was quite the challenge. Gifts followed suit. I think we lost him three separate times while opening gifts and would stop and say, "where did Finn go?" Yep, he couldn't stay in one place long enough to open presents, but Selah didn't mind :) She stepped in to help him out.
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Happy Birthday Finn! We love you so much. Your energy and spunk for life, your laughter, and your love towards your sis. You are already a little man - a toddler! We pray that God will continue to bless you as you grow up into the man He wants you to be.

The day has come, Finn is one!

Now my husband would say this birthday was over the top. I would say, it was just right for my little man! Just keep in mind, I LOVE the decorating and little details planning part of the party scene. I may seem stressed the week of getting it to all come together, so thanks to Tadd for helping me, but I did truly enjoy his party to the fullest!
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We had a meal beforehand with family and friends.
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The little goody bags for the kids.
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His monkey cake we went bananas over :)
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And the dessert table
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His monkey smash cake
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And all of our guests - thanks for coming everyone, for sharing in our day and for the gifts! We love you all! And we missed you Dad G!
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One for the memory books...

My aunt and uncle flew in from California this week which means lots of family time. We got together pretty much for three straight nights with all my cousins, lots of chaos but great times and memories with cousins. Friday night we were at my parents for Easter with my dad's side of the family. And Finn had his first Easter egg hunt, a little late but they loved it all the same. Here they are preparing for the great hunt - yes, our family is a little goofy (or for sure Trent that is!) J/K
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Since we wanted to keep Finn's birthday all about him on Saturday, we decided to celebrate/remember Laynie's birthday on Friday night. It is hard to believe that she would have been 4 already this year! Her and Finn's birthdays are only two days apart - hers April 30th and his May 2. I made the annual ladybug cupcakes and each of the kiddos got to blow out candles for Laynie.
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Then I had "high hopes" (no pun intended) for the sky lanterns I had bought online. I imagined this solemn moment as the lantern floats effortlessly into the air, soaring higher and higher until we couldn't see them anymore. Didn't quite happen like that. First off, I should have read that winds cannot be above 5 mph...slight difference than the gusts we had that night :) My family were great sports though and after a few minor adjustments we even got one to sail off.
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and it was beautiful!
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so beautiful we decided we must try again, with two at the same time. It went great until...
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one of them headed straight for the telephone pole and there it stayed.
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After the drama subsided and the fire was put out from the lantern we still had to time to reflect on our first baby girl. We love you Laynie and so do your sister and brother!
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Sunday we got to visit Laynie's grave. Selah had picked out a flower at the store to give to her so we went to put that out. She hasn't got the concept yet I don't think that Laynie was actually here, but if you ask her she will tell you for sure. She loves Laynie, she is her sister, and she lives in heaven with Jesus. She always gives Laynie's pictures kisses around the house. During the lantern flying she started crying. She wanted to be in heaven with Laynie and was upset she couldn't go up there too. Each moment like that melts my heart, the innocence of children and to know that someday she WILL get to meet her sister who spent such a short time on this earth, but filled our hearts with such love!
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