Wedding, Zoo, America

 Let's start at the beginning shall we? OK, not the beginning, but the most exciting...
My sister got MARRIED!!!! It was a gorgeous wedding and a fantastic party. Unfortunately, the only pictures I have currently are from the rehearsal, but, trust me, the professional ones (shot by the wonderful Samantha Kelly (who does all our family photos)) are going to be worth the wait

 The strangest part of this new union is that I now have a brother. I know, it should be that my sister's married or changed her last name or I can say "my sister's husband", but to me, it's having a brother-in-law (or outlaw, I guess)

 

  He's a great guy, and, bonus, we actually like to hang out with him. Plus my sister can put up with him.

 Along with all the wedding festivities, we have been going to the zoo quite frequently. As a mother's day gift, Michael and the kids got me a membership so we've been taking advantage of it. Lucy loves the animals, Ethan loves the stuff. They both encourage each other to explore the other.

This melts me

The boys on the skyride

 Lucy was terrified of the sky ride (which she called skateboard for awhile). The boys went up alone and we cruised the gift shop

 The kids had their bi-annual dentist appointment and did sensationally, both are members of the "no cavity club" and there were no tears. As a reward/incentive/bribe we went to the penny arcade in Manitou and pumped them full of sugar and video games.

 Then, somehow, it turned into July!! The kids celebrated the majority of the day with Grandma and Papa with the excitement of fireworks for later....
....if you didn't know, our city has had some pretty devastating fires the past two years and it was shocking that the city allowed the fireworks show to go on...

 The whole fam attended the shindig, along with thousands upon thousands of others. Lucy had a blast, until the fireworks started and then she hid her face for the most of it. Ethan had fun the whole time, he even conducted the fireworks for a small part, blew them up during another, and then ducked from them for the rest.

This evening we were blessed to have a good old (he's not old, well, not that old, we've just known him for a long time) friend over for dinner, dessert and some truck time

 Nothing feels quite as American as hanging out in the bed of a Chevy

My Light, My 2 Year Old

The meaning of the name Lucy is 'Light'

Lucy, a few minutes old

 and, although we didn't choose it based on it's meaning, this little girl:

Lucy, age 1

Has embodied the meaning of her name.

Lucy, almost age 2, dirty, missing a shoe, fishing

She is a light to everyone around her, sometimes it's a comforting light a nightlight in the dark, when she snuggles close to me and wants me to tickle her tiny legs and soft back

Lucy, passed out in a Disney hotel

 Sometimes it's a bright, loud light like a firecracker, when she shows her sassy side

Lucy, the naked artist

Sometimes it's a joyous light, like the first warm sunshine on a spring day that makes you want to jump in your swimsuit and run through the sprinklers. I feel this way when she runs up to me and tells me she missed me after a day at work.

Lucy, first ride at Disney World

 My Lucy, she is my light. For the last two years she has captured my heart, brought out so much laughter and has made our family whole

Lucy riding Dumbo, elephants are her favorite

 She is a challenge, she is smart, she is stubborn and she is beautiful. On the difficult days I often pause and think, "I cannot wait to see who this girl will be when she grows up." She has such a spirit and personality, she attracts people like a magnet

Lucy, blowing bubbles

 I am so grateful for the past two years I have been granted with this child

Lucy at the beach, Anna Marie Island, FL

Lucy and Ethan catching some last glimpses of the sun before it sets on the last night of vacation

Happy birthday, my Lucy

Easter and the Happenings

 To say we've been busy lately is a bit of an understatement. It feels like we went from having nothing but time to having to pencil things into our schedule. We have karate, play dates, errands, work, school, all the normal stuff of a family with growing children. And it's only getting worse (but better?).

Ethan is officially enrolled in FULL DAY kindergarten, starting in the fall! Next week we have a Kindergarten round up/prep for both kids and parents.

 He's ready, but am I? We've been reworking our parenting with him, not in big life changing ways, but in small (hopefully meaningful ones). He's been having a rough time, which makes our lives difficult. Tantrums, attitude, not listening, you know the normal kid stuff. But, now we have 2 of them! She feeds off of him, and then he feeds off of her. Disciplining a five year old is different than a (almost) two year old, but you have to be fair and consistent with both. Ugh, exhausting!! Applause out there to the mamas and dads of more than two, it's tough work. But we like to be able to change as they do and that's what we're doing, this is new so I can't tell you if it'll work or not but I hope it'll bring us closer together. Cause I can't resist this face:

 Or this one

 Then there's our chatterbox. She's in the stage where she doesn't understand why she can't climb into a book and go fishing with Thomas the Train, all her stuffed animals are babies for her to care for, she loves cooking and playing in dirt, but also likes snuggling with her mama.

 Potty training is, slow. She's just not quite ready, but when she is, that'll be it, won't take more than a few days. She acts shy but then will talk about you for days afterward, even if she never said a word to you. She LOVES her brother and will laugh hysterically with him over anything, except sharing (we're working on it). Her laugh is contagious and she knows it. She loves to scowl and sing happy birthday.

 She also really likes Disney movies, Monsters, Inc and Lion King, especially. Hopefully, she'll enjoy a trip to Disney World this summer.

 Easter was really fun this year. It was Michael's birthday so it proved to be a little challenging. First off because the kids wanted to get him a life sized boxing robot, where do you buy that?! And on a budget? Secondly, it was hard to make it special for him and then make it special for the kids in a completely different way. But the Easter bunny helped me out a lot

 Here's that scowl, she opened every piece of chocolate, took a bite and threw it back in her basket.

 One of her all time favorite people, anytime we leave the house she wants to go see Grandma.

Bribery, aka Potty Training

 I never knew anyone could get so messy eating M&Ms.

 She puts "Melt in your mouth, not in your hand" to the test

But goodness she's cute, even covered in weird M&M colors. (if you mix them together all over your face they turn a weird greenish brown color)

Cousins

 Where to begin...I've been a bit MIA lately. For some reason, my kids don't care if I blog or not, and have been keeping me very busy, and tired.
So, let's start with the vacation that we have named...drumroll...

"Can We Have A Do Over?"

The idea of the trip was wonderful; Christine (a.k.a. Aunt Teenie Weanie), Jamie, Madalyn and Mirabelle would fly out for a week; we'd do whatever we can in February in Colorado (most importantly make sure the Floridians see snow). Simple, right?

Vacation started with a delayed flight; not too bad.

 Then starts the sickness; between the 8 of us there was something different EVERY day! We had headaches, UTI, pneumonia, an ear infection, colds, coughs, vomiting, lack of sleep; at least six trips to Walgreens for different medicines, a trip to urgent care, a trip to the pediatrician, a chest x-ray, did I mention lack of sleep?

Nurse Madalyn, making sure our pneumonia patient was well cared for

While it was great to see the kids interact and become friends, and we are so grateful for the additional distractions and parents in the house; we only got about two things checked off of our "to do" list. We took a week off work and ended up spending it in the house with our sick babies.

Lucy LOVED having Mirabelle around, she still asks for "Belle"

 

How to entertain kids for Florida? Give them a set of stairs. (they don't see them much down there)

Making business deals with Michael Michael

Finally getting out of the house (in our jammies) to the penny arcade in Manitou

Brother and sister, or the unibomber and Beverly Hills

 Guess when they all started feeling better? On Saturday, when they were going home...