Summer fun

Cade bought a computer kit and built himself a computer!

love this brother/sister shot :)

spray park!

making the sign for flower

BR peanut butter chocolate ice cream!

her first burrito!

Working hard in the yard

Jeff has started his summer off with a bang! He made the strip on the side of our house gorgeous and his boat is really coming along! Take a look:

before

who wouldn't want to renovate a yard with this tool?!

a layer of epoxy! Only several layers to go.

after! (3 trees and three bushes)

Olivia Layne - 17 Months

I think we can officially say our little baby is no more. You are more little girl each day, my sweetheart. Your smile will probably continue to slay me for the rest of my life. Those dimples! I think it's going to be harder and harder to keep track of the things you can do from now on, you can do so much. When you see a frog or rabbit you try to jump and it is the most adorable think to watch you concentrate on it while your heels come off the ground. Your only word is still uh-oh, but you are great at animal sounds and sometimes you even say "up" when you are playing by squating down and then popping up with your hands in the air! Sometimes you talk and talk and it is one of my favorite things to listen to you. It seems like you are having a conversation with friends, or maybe yourself, with hand motions included. You really like to watch kids dance, and then try to mimic them. I think we are all glad it's summer because it's so fun to play outside. You could stay outside all day and night! Your first canine tooth is coming in, so you're on your way to your 13th tooth! You are still a really great eater. I wish I could say the same for sleep. Well, actually, sleep is much better than it used to be, with some hiccups along the way. Just like several of my friends predicted, you had some funky nap patterns for a while, but you have started evening out your nap, with just one around 11:00 for around 2 hours. With that started later bedtimes. We thought you weren't tired. I think we thought wrong. You were probably overtired and we missed the opportune bedtime, which created a lot of frustration and going in and out of your bedroom. We are working on that now. A more routine and strict bedtime, which isn't as fun for you, since you and I have to stay in your darkened room even when you cry :( But we're figuring it out and I'm hoping soon you'll be back to sleeping more easily by 8:30. We learn a lot together, you and Mama :) I wouldn't want to learn how to parent with anyone else. Independent play is becoming something you do more often and for longer periods of time. It is an amazing thing to watch you use your imagination with your toys. I LOVE it! I could say a lot more on this, your 17th month, but I will save it. You're going to be a year and a half so soon! Like the silly cliche goes, don't blink, it goes by so fast. Loooong days, short years. You are the light of my life, baby girl. I love you so much. xoxo

The Farm

My mom, Olivia and I got to take a special trip to "the farm" last weekend. It was pretty much a perfect 5 days. OK, the 6 hour drive there on Wed night may not have been perfect, but it certainly could have been worse! I think Olivia and I had a great week of special mommy/daughter bonding time, she and Grandma got the same thing and she is much happier to spend time with Grandma now, and my grandparents got to know her better and see her growing up, too. She was always a little hesitant of Granddad, but would often stop her fussing to smile at him and eventually even walked through the yard holding his hand. The farm is right by train tracks and by the end of the stay Olivia would get really excited when she heard a train whistle and liked looking out at it roaring by. He just had a pacemaker put in and it was really good to be able to be there to help around the house and just give some love and support. I am so thankful for medical technology and the ways we have that allow us to continue enjoying life and our loved ones for many MANY years to come. I've mentioned before how much the farm means to me and how many incredibly special memories I have of our times there and I am thrilled that our kids can now start storing up their own memories, too :) We also got to spend time with lots of extended family at my cousin Christy's wedding. Such special memories! Enjoy the pictures!

just look at that adorable swimsuit!

checking out the chickie house on the farm

Grammy and Olivia

Grandma and Olivia. Olivia loved walking on that brick path :)

Saying hello to Ruby

What's in the well?

Not so sure about the wagon at first

too adorable

bubbles! 

tasting a lemon. she liked it at first, then-not so much.

gathering the eggs with Granddad!

bedtime story with Grandma

I just love this picture

they both had a blast on the swing!

Look at her smile! So much fun!

a women's fellowship breakfast we got to attend with Grammy

a lego car to keep her entertained

at cousin Christy's wedding. Could she be any cuter? nope. 

dressed up and playing in the dirt. perfect :)

I told her to laugh and she did!

I have no idea who this older couple is but they were dancing the grand march like they were 45 instead of 94! It was awesome!

My mom's cousin Jenifer and Jerald always lead the Grand March at family weddings. I was trying to give an idea of how many people participated. It was awesome!

Christy was gorgeous. She and Ryan teach ballroom dancing so their first dance was incredible!

This is a panoramic shot of all 28 of us eating breakfast!

cleaning off the old dishes for the old play kitchen. 

playing the hose water. she loved it!

she played for a LONG time with the kitchen

love this one, too. Granddad and Olivia holding hands :)

smelling the flowers she picked from the garden with Grammy

I accidentally said "park" as we were driving past this park and Olivia got REALLY excited so we made a spontaneous stop to play for a few minutes :)

Lots of my 2nd cousins, whom I love so dearly:
Joel (Lindsay's bf), Heath, Grayson and Erin, David, Lindsay, Whitney, Mark and Talon, Cameron, Michael, me and Olivia, Jody (Michael's gf), Kerrie and Kyler, Colin