End of the Summer Pool Playdate...

a great time but so sad.  Three of us start back to school next week so it was a bitter sweet end to our wonderful summer with our girls.  It was a perfect day and such a great time.  Thank you, Becca, for allowing us to accompany you!

Isn't Caroline so cute! The only one that listened to me when I asked them to look. :)

Juliette being chased.

 

The girls having fun in the water.

Reese ran over to me to show me her goggles so I just HAD to take a picture.  She is adorable!

Sam just watching and learning from the girls.  I wonder what he is going to think one year from now when he will be running after them!

 

The crew: Caroline, Reese, Kendall, Juliette and Connor eating each others lunch.

New Loves

Connor has really begun to love coloring.  She got Melissa and Doug crayons for her birthday and they are great  because they do not break!  I haven't found a crayon that didn't break until we received these.  They are great, too, because they are helping to teach her how to properly hold a crayon.  We color at least twice a day and we make pictures for our relatives and friends!

 She has always loved listening to a book but now she loves to go to the library and pick out her own books.  It is so cute to see her do this and even better when I read her the book she picked out.  I don't know if she really realizes that I am reading the book she picked but her face just lights up when I do.  I also make sure to keep books in the car because we all know she is not the best passenger so when she starts getting loud, I hand her a book!  It is great!  It gives me at least five minutes of quiet...

Thankful Thursday

I am so thankful for my family. Enjoy!

The Fun of the Mountains

Connor has had a blast in the mountains.  She has helped Meme bake, played in her pool and sandbox, visited a petting zoo and so much more.  It is great when Justin's parents get some time to spend with her.  We don't get to see them that often so when we do, we try and make a short trip out of it.  And now that Connor is getting older, she is beginning to appreciate the mountains and all they have to offer.  Anyway, here are some pictures of her from our trip:

She was able to bake cookies, peach cobbler and chicken casserole.  It was great to see her show so much interest because Justin has been waiting patiently to get her in the kitchen with him.  She is ready, Daddy!

She walks around with my cup and I think it is so funny because she does that at my mom's house too but with my mom's mug.

She had fun at the playground and just clowning around with Meme and her glasses.

Today, I am 16 Months Old!

And I am into everything!  The pictures that are in this post were from a 15 minute time span.  I wanted to give a good idea of how busy she is.

No worries though!  We love it and we love you!

For documentation purposes:

new words are: apple, ok, water (wawa), hello (hewo), book, clock, yuck yuck, swing, meme, cracker, cookie, doodle, pappy, see, bird, moo, bow (and you put it on your head), shoe
*very rarely sign anymore. You have replaced it with words
* you are very good at following directions (it is pretty cool)
* you are pretty much saying something different everyday
* we are trying to break your two naps, only because of daycare in the fall :(
*we read at least 5 books to you every day and if one that we choose is not up to your standards then you close the book, get down from our lap and go choose another one. (You know what you want)!
* when asked, "where did he/she go?" you flip your hands over and reply, "don't know"
* you sleep with a pillow in your bed and you have a pillow case for every holiday (made specially by Aunt Kerri)  The pillow has helped you sleep better
* You sleep about 11 1/2 hours every night with one or two one-hour naps during the day
*You have at least 45 bows.  Some of this is not my fault.  You have to wear something in your hair every day because you hair is almost out of control.  This being said, mommy got bored with the pastel color bows and had to expand our collection to include all different colors.
* You know where your eyes, ears, nose, toes, feet, tongue, teeth, hair, hands and knees
* You are wearing 18 month clothes and are in a size 5 shoe.

It is amazing to watch you grow.  We have loved this stage because you have started to understand what we are saying and asking of you.  It is so cool, I will ask you to throw something away or go get something and you understand.  Awesome!

Keep growing, little girl!  We love you so much and wish you a very happy 16 month birthday!


Love,

Mommy and Daddy

Connor's Cousins come to Spend the Night

Kerri and the girls came to spend the night with us!  We had so much fun.  I think Connor enjoyed it the most because all she did was watch them and laugh.  She learned so much from them too.  We went to our pool and then went to the aquarium.  It was such a great time.  Kerri and I were able to sit and chat too which was much needed.

I painted Kendall and Juliette's toes and even put white dots on them.  They looked really bad to me but they loved them.  I guess that is all that matters!

After a long day in the sun, we gave the girls a bath.

The next day we went to the aquarium and had a blast with the rest of our family.  Connor loved the penguins and they were my favorite exhibit too.  They are so quirky and silly!  Another exhibit we enjoyed was the sea anemone.

And as always, Grandma and Grandpa had a  blast too!

Breakfast Shenanigans

Mommy, how am I doing with feeding myself?

Learning to Plant

Connor and I picked up cilantro, basil and rosemary from the store today.  I had the herbs planted last year and the winter weather killed them all so I wanted to try again.  Justin is the cook in our family and frequently uses all three herbs when he is cooking for us.  He is excited because all he has to do is step out our back door and pick what he needs.  I am excited because we no longer will have to buy a big bunch of each and watch them go bad, wasting money.  Either way, we both win!  Connor does too because she was able to help plant.

She couldn't understand that you don't eat the dirt.

Connor did a great job of patting the soil to make sure the plants stayed where they were supposed to. :)

 Of course, Oscar is always supervising:

She did not love that there was dirt on her socks (so did not even THINK to take them off).  She wasn't fond of the sandbox either.  I wonder why?

Connor sticking in the last stake smelling the fragrant herbs:

The finished product (please excuse the cilantro.  That is all they had at the store.  We will see what happens to the sorry looking thing)

 We can't forget about the birds!

A job well done!