Happy Birthday!

Our sweet Lucy is 4 today!  She is so very excited about her birthday!  She was born on a Sunday morning...caught her parents completely by surprise since we had an induction scheduled for the 18th...and had the good sense to arrive on her Great Grandmother's Birthday!  Here's the two of them in 2007 at Lucy's first birthday!  Happy Birthday to Lucy and Grandma! 

Cousin Jen

When Lucy, Eli and I were in Texas in early July we got to spend time visiting with Jen and Mark!  Mark had a convention in Dallas and they spent a few extra days at Mom and Dad's house with us!  We last saw them at their wedding reception in October.  Jen and I keep up mainly through email and through our Mothers' conversations, so we enjoyed some good face-to-face catching up!

Jen and I are a year apart and I have so many good memories of her when we were growing up!  She grew up in suburban Philadelphia and I grew up in very rural Texas...there were a lot of differences!

The cool stuff always happened in Pennsylvania first...Jen and her older sister, Stacey, introduced me to the GAP, Benetton, how to roll my jeans, friendship bracelets and Duran Duran.  We spent hours playing Cabbage Patch Kids in the basement (even a basement was cool to this Texas gal!)  We spent summers at the Jersey Shore and ate a lot of delicious homemade meatballs at their house.  We would laugh at each others' accents...she made me talk to her friends on the phone and say "y'all." 

Jen and Mark moved to California a few years ago and have created a great life out there!  Visiting with them in Texas was such a treat since we don't see them when we visit Pennsylvania and we haven't made it to California...yet...but we promise to visit!

Jen is currently go through her second-round of treatment for breast cancer.  I've struggled with how to write this post because I don't think I can do justice to everything she has been through.  It is exponentially sad/awful/scary/dreadful and that just feels like the tip of the iceberg.  But, even though she is going through treatment with her family across the country this time, she has Mark by her side and he is a wonderful husband.  And, she has her can-do attitude and her smile...which is awesome...and when I think of our many memories together, she is smiling...smiling when we played pranks on Mike and Amy...smiling when she was cheering...smiling through nursing school...and smiling (beaming!) when she married Mark!

So, here we are during their visit to Texas...these pictures are from the Fort Worth Stockyards and the main attraction there is the longhorns.  Jen is, of course, smiling!  And we all smiled and had fun too! 

Fancy & Messy

Here's Lu at a Fancy Nancy Tea Party at a local toy store...the idea is that you'll come for the party and hopefully buy lots of stuff...our sweet girl didn't ask for a thing and had a wonderful time!  She loved drinking out of a "big girl" cup, playing the game, eating sweet treats, and the new sparkly ring she got from Fancy Nancy! 

I enjoyed some time alone with her...I cannot believe she'll be 4 next month!  This week, she's told me that I'm her Best Friend and that she wants to live with me when she grows up...I love her so much!  She picked out her dress the night before and was already wearing her matching purple panties when she woke me up the morning of the party at 6:15am (yawn!)

Later the same day, Eli and Lucy played in the sprinkler...all that water made mud and Eli had a fantastic time making a huge mess...he decided to crawl in the mulch too! 

This is what 18-months looks like...

Our sweet Eli is 18-months old today...sigh...so hard to believe.  And, so different than he was just 6-months ago.  He has a very confident walk...almost a swagger we think...and will climb onto anything if you give him about 4 seconds.  He eats everything, likes to wear hats, and loves to read books.  The book he picks up to read most right now is "Otis" by Loren Long.  He also really enjoys singing...but only if he can be the soloist and will go through his entire repertoire of songs each morning...the A, B, C's, "This Is The Day", "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and the intro song for "Bob The Builder"  When we're not traveling, our days are very low-key...lots of time at home, playing with friends and eating more than our fair share of Chick-Fil-A.  When we're at home, Eli enjoys playing with trucks and doing whatever Lucy is doing.  They have made-up a game where they run around with hooded sweaters over the heads...Lucy is "Super Bunny" and Eli is "ZuZu!" 

June Celebrations!

I'm out of chronological order on my posts...so sorry about that!  

June was busy with many fun things to celebrate!  We got together with Kay, Fred and Kelly for a belated birthday celebration for Kelly and me.  Our birthdays are days apart and it is fun to celebrate together! 

Then, the same crowd gathered for Father's Day!  Lucy and I got crafty and made a banner for Chris.  We included a picture from Father's Day last year and also pictures of the (grand)dads!  Lucy also had a gift for Chris that she made at school before they got out for summer!

Our minister gave a great sermon about fathers and how important it is for them to play with their kids.  Chris does a wonderful job playing with Eli and Lucy.  Lucy has a medical kit and she loves to play "doctor" with Chris...his name is always Dr. Charles Higginbothom (which makes her laugh, hysterically) and his usual diagnosis for her is "watermelon-itis"...which can only be cured by eating a lot of watermelon.  She likes to take her turn being the doctor also...she is Dr. Marissa and likes for you to wait in the waiting room.  We've recently taught her that she must speak softly when looking into someone's ears (HELLO!) and she enjoys checking your reflexes too.  Chris wrestles with both kids a lot and they are always a pile of giggles.  They also enjoy helping him get dressed in the morning.  Chris is an fabulous father...we are lucky to have such good, loving examples of fatherhood in Dad and Fred.

Two of Lucy and Eli's sweet friends have had birthdays!  Claiborne had a Star Wars party to celebrate his 4th birthday!  I couldn't resist posting this picture of the first time Claiborne and Lucy met...she is 6-days old and he is 2-months old.

And, Maggie Mayer is 3!  Lucy wanted to be "fancy" for Maggie Mayer's party...she insisted that Maggie Mayer would love her tutu!  It is so much fun to watch these kids grow up!