miss you...

Dear Daddy,


It's just not the same here when you're gone. Every day I will hear something creak in the house and excitedly say, "Dada! Dada!" But then Mommy reminds me you went bye-bye on the airplane (& then I say, "bbbb....." like a plane) and you're coming back on Friday. We can't wait for you to come back into town tomorrow! And we know you'll come back a better father, husband, and campus minister after your week of RUF staff training, just like you always do.


And you know how Mommy was kind of dreading this week without you? Well, it's turned out to be a good bonding time for us! We've had several fun playtimes on the floor acting like animals, crawling through "tunnels," laying down and reading Babybugs, and I learned how to lay down & roll! And of course I've been obsessed with "Mo" (Sesame Street-- Elmo), coloring, & stamping ("DEEB-ah, DEEB-ah...") :)


Daddy, your girls love you & miss you! Here's some kisses! See you tomorrow!

if i had been born in...

1954


1956


1964


1968


1984


1988


2000

playground pics...

the bAld & the beautiful...

My best buddy down the street, Leah, ("Ya-ya") and I last summer...


Here we are enjoying a morning at the park together this summer!


I happen to think we looked pretty good back then. Those were the good 'ole days, Leah...


Now just look at the two of us... :)

cruisin'...

Little funny things we love about our girl...

tmi...

Warning: Okay, if you're not into toddler toilet-training stories, it might behoove you to skip this blog post. :) I (Amy) PROMISE not to be the parent that updates you on every single bowel movement, and I know even this is probably TMI (too much information) for almost all of you dear, faithful blog readers, but I think today's milestone is worth reporting and recording. (And you'll be glad there's no pictures...)

So, everybody's got their own theory on potty training, right? And even at the doctor's office they tell you not to even start potty training until kids are around 2 yrs old. Well, Marc's parents had given us a little Elmo potty for Caroline for the future, and we just so happened to get it out yesterday & attach the little seat on top of the big toilet. (in the formerly pepto-pink bathroom, nonetheless...) Granted, Caroline is only 17 months, and I'm in no hurry to pressure her to do anything, especially potty training, before she's ready.

Well anyway, after changing one of Caroline's diapers today, I just thought it'd be interesting to see what would happen if I set her on the potty. (I envisioned it perhaps taking weeks or months just to get her used to the feeling of sitting down while she would want to squirm off of it.)

"Do you want to go sit down on your potty like a big girl?" I asked.
She seemed interested. Afterall, we've read books about using the potty, and those of you with kids know that they like to be close observers of everything YOU do throughout the day... :)

So I sat her on there bare-bottomed, and said, "Do you want to go tee-tee?"
We talked & smiled for another minute, and all of a sudden I heard the sound of peeing!!! We both laughed & celebrated! Marc rushed up to see what all the commotion was about and then we celebrated right there as a family together.

And as if that wasn't exciting enough, after lunch I noticed some, um.... grunting, shall we say, so just out of curiosity, I said, "Do you want to go sit on your potty and go poopy?" and she walked to the bathroom ahead of me.

Same story. Sat her on there, talked & relaxed for a minute or so, and then her eyes got a little bigger than normal as she looked at me and we both heard plop, plop, plop! :) WOW!

Is this just beginners luck? I am in shock that she even knows what to do on a toilet! I mean, she wasn't showing the "classic" signs that you look for to begin potty training, but hey- while it's an enjoyable "activity" to her, why not take a few fun trips to the potty a day?? :)

ding, dong, the pepto's gone...

After many weeks of blood, sweat, and tears, our pepto pink bathroom remodel is finally complete! And I (Amy) MUST brag on my handy-man husband-- not only is he a wonderful pastor, husband, & father, but he also did the jobs of a plumber, electrician, carpenter, tiler, painter, etc... We didn't hire a single contractor the entire time. Wanna see the before & after pics? (just a reminder: you can click on the pictures to enlarge them if you want)

Before: pink toilet, pink wall tile, pink floor, pink tub, pink toilet paper holder...


After:


Before: pink tub, pink shower, pink soap dish, etc.


After:


Before: pink & gold swirl vanity top with pink sink surrounded with pink tile on a pink floor


After:


Farewell...


and hello...

bit by a camel & peed-on by a tiger...

Ahhhh, just a relaxing day at the zoo... :) Yes, today was my very first time to go to the zoo! (about an hour from our house) Yea!


You can't even imagine how much Mommy & Daddy had always dreamed of this day. See, I've gotten so good at learning all my animals & noises from books & videos, so it was quite a treat to finally be able to go and SEE them in person! And, of course, I did all the typical, good zoo stuff like...


...see all my favorite animals like the giraffes & elephants...


...and watch the monkeys up close and personal.


Sometimes I was a little skittish and serious around the animals...


...and sometimes they were my buddies. Hey little horsey!

But what made THIS day no ordinary day at the zoo was...

...being showered with pee by THIS tiger... (he sprayed it on our whole family, but since Daddy was filming & not looking, he got the worst of it! ha!)


...and being bitten by a camel. (I was petting this friendly camel on the nose, and a second later, Mommy looked up & freaked out when she saw my entire arm inside the mouth of the camel! Thankfully I wasn't hurt at all- just had lots of camel spit covering my arm-- ewww....)


Exciting times indeed! We loved it. (well, most of it anyways) We'll certainly never forget it. :)

dramatization...

The following is a dramatization of some excerpts from "Eyes, Nose, Fingers, and Toes" by Judy Hindley. (one of my favorites right now!!) Please note: These are not actors. These are real people.



Eyes are for hiding... Peek a boo!


A nose is to blow. A nose is to sniff. A nose has holes for sniffing with.


A mouth is to laugh-- Ha-ha! Ha-ha!


Arms go up!


Arms go down.


Arms go reaching way out wide! (Ta-da!!!)

at 17 months...

I've got my ducks in a row! :) Here's what I'm up to these days...

-I hold my arms up or try to help when getting dressed/undressed. When we come home, I like the job of carrying my shoes to the basket where they go.
-I love to climb on top of anything I can! I can't understand why Mommy's not proud of me when I get up to the top of a table 30 seconds after she leaves the room. :)
-Oh the words I'm adding to my vocabulary everyday! I've gotten really good at saying "pea" (please), but I have YET to say "thank you." (I mean, once I'm given whatever is is that I've asked for, saying "pea" worked! I don't need to show that I'm GRATEFUL or anything!) :)
-I use a baby fork or spoon at each meal. When I purposefully drop food from my chair at the end of the meal, it's then my job to pick up the dropped food off the floor & put it in the trash can.
-Speaking of trash cans, I love to help Mommy throw things away or put things in boxes or close drawers/cabinets/dishwasher doors for her. She tries to take advantage of my willingness to help... :)


-Placing my food in, out, or on top of containers is pretty fun stuff.
-At the playground, I LOVE to go down slides, walk up & down steps, but still don't like the swing.
-Mommy thinks the GREATEST concept I've understood for awhile now is that when she says, "put that back, please" I know what to do. (As the explorer that I am right now, I probably hear that phrase 30 times a day!)
-My favorite toy is Mommy's "tees" (keys). I frequently set off the car horn when I push the red button, and then I get scared & cry. :)


-I just started standing on one leg! Other dance moves include: squatting up & down to the beat, spinning around with arms out or up high, going backwards, & stepping to the side.
-When I learned the phrase "oh dear!" last week, it cracked me up for an entire afternoon. (of course this was in response to a little girl falling & scraping her knee in one of our books, which is obviously no laughing matter...) :)
-I can point to most of my body parts now. I like to say & touch Mommy & Daddy's "no" (nose), "ee" (ear), or "ah" (eye). :)
-I love to "color" with crayons now. I also love to eat them, too. Did you know green & yellow are delicious?
-I know most of my shapes. "Ha" (heart) & "dah," (star) I'll say, but I can point to most of the others correctly. But when asked what color anything is, I'll ALWAYS say "pea" (pink). :)


Oh darling, (kiss kiss) at 17 months, I think you're quite amazing...