9 Months and so Happy

This little girl of ours is 9 months!  Nearing 10 months actually, I'm just a little late in posting these pictures.

Here is what has been happing with Gwendolyn at 9 months:

1)  Not crawling, but will push herself around on the floor backwards.  

2) No teeth but eats everything we feed her.  No longer pureed food for her, she wants to eat what we eat.  

3)  Absolutely loves her brother and will always give him a huge smile and even laugh at whatever he does. 

4)  She was waving lots but has gotten tired of that trick and now is just starting to pick-up on some sign language.  

We have been having lots of fun the last few weeks, and there is more fun to come before summer ends.  We have taken a short trip to Tennessee, had great friends come visit from TX, and have spent many hours and evenings down at the pool.   Tyler has been working with Neal on swimming and he is doing great!  I think by the end of this summer we will have a swimmer!  Gwendolyn is not afraid of the water either and I think she will be trying to keep up with Neal sooner then we think...who knows at the rate she's going she may decide to swim before she crawls :)

Afternoon Activities and Summer Storms

This is what it looked like out our back door last night.  Isn't God amazing!!  The summer storms here in NC are one thing that I love about NC summers.  As I hear the rolling thunder and watch the dark clouds come in I am reminded of our great God.   Sitting out on the porch and watching the rain and storms roll in is a favorite pass time for us.

While summer is upon us and the heat and humidity are ramping up into full force we are trying to be creative and find fun things to occupy our time.  Besides going to the pool, our favorite summer activity, we are often looking for things to do that don't require us to run around outside in the heat. The last few weeks we have found a few activities that have been a big hit at our house.  Thanks to both ideas from friends and a fun activity book I have this is what we have been doing...

Bubble Painting

We filled a tray with dish soap and paint and then made paint bubbles by blowing into the paint with a straw.  We popped the bubbles with the paper and it made really fun looking pictures.  Neal has already asked when we can do this again.  

Family Ballon Toss

This activity was an idea from a friend of mine.  Neal either drew the faces or told me what to draw on the faces and he wrote most of our names. We made a ballon for each person in our family.  Then we had fun tossing the balloons on a blanket and trying to keep the family from falling on the ground.  

Sprinkler Trampoline Jump 

Pool Time

As always the best way to beat the heat is to go to the pool and enjoy time with family and friends. 

When you have a cutie like this at the pool to keep you company it's always a good day.

So, how do y'all enjoy the summer?  We're always looking for activities to fill our days and would love to hear about some of your favorite summer time activities.  One of Gwen's new favorite activity would be this....mmmmmm, watermelon

Disneyland!

We had the great privilege of getting to go to "The Happiest Place on Earth" while we were in California.  That's right we went to Disneyland!

I, Laura, have so many fun memories from Disneyland growing up from my trips there while in college.  In fact Tyler and I first hung out together at Disneyland (in a group of 20+ people from school), though we don't really remember each other from that day.  It was another 2 years after that trip that we started hanging out.  But that's an old story and this post is all about our recent trip to Disney and Neal's first Disneyland experience.  

We were able to go for 2 days and got to see both Disneyland and California Adventure.  Neal LOVED every part of those 2 days.  He was the perfect age to take and was tall enough to ride every ride he wanted.  His favorite rides were Star Tours, Buzz Lightyear, Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain.  Thunder Mountain was his first roller coaster and after that there wasn't anything he wouldn't try.

I was impressed how brave he was riding everything.  I am not a fan of roller coasters but there was nothing that intimidated Neal.   We got to go the first day with Tyler's whole family and all the cousins.

The kids had a great time all together.  I spend most of the day relaxing in the shade keeping company with those who didn't want to do every ride while I watched Gwendolyn.  Most of the time you would find Gwendolyn sleeping....She did however really enjoy the parade.

She was such a great sport hanging out all day in the stroller and the heat.  It was 104 and 106 degrees the two days we were there, so it was HOT!   My favorite day however was our second day.  We were able to leave Gwendolyn with Gigi and Grandfather and got to spend the whole day with just Neal. Getting to ride everything with Neal was extremely fun and loved his expressions and comments while both waiting in lines and after the rides.  My favorite was after all the roller coasters when he would say, "that was so awesome!"  

We still get to hear stories from him as he remembers all the fun we had and all the "awesome" rides.  Now if you ask about his favorite ride he will pretty much list off every single ride at Disneyland.  It is hard to pick a favorite when they are all so fun, right?  I have always loved Disneyland but going with your own kids is even more fun.  I hope we can go back again one time 'cause it really was "so awesome!"

CA Family (Vacation Part 2)

Some of the best memories and moments of our trip were seeing all the family that we have in CA.  It was not only great being away as a family but also getting to spend time with my (Laura's) extended family that we don't get to see very often.  It's was special to not only see most of my extended family but also to introduce Gwendolyn to everyone.

One of my favorite visits was the day that we spent at my grandparent's house.   The health of both my grandparents has deteriorated lately and we were so delighted to be able to have the chance to go and visit them again.  We loved being able to introduce them to Gwendolyn and for Neal to get to see them. The smiles on their faces when we showed up with the kids was priceless and we could tell that our company was greatly appreciated and enjoyed.

Neal sat in the room with us all and watched the cuckoo clock for quite some time.  That clock is one of the biggest memories I have of visiting my grandparents.  It would always wake us up in the middle of the night and was always in the background of all our playtimes and movie watching when we would visit.  Neal was fascinated and overjoyed every time the bird would pop out.   

My Grandpa loved talking to the kids and my Grandma loved hearing us visit and tell her stories of what we have been doing over the last few years.  Gwendolyn wanted to sit as close to Grandma as possible and was always trying to reach out and grab her hand (or arm or anything).  My Grandma would get the biggest smile on her face each time Gwen would look at her.

It was an afternoon filled with lots of great stories, memories told about my Grandpa's old taxi driving days and about how he and Grandma met.   I will treasure our visit with them for a long time and hope that maybe we can see them again soon.

The rest of our trip was filled with visits to see other extended family and we had so much fun getting to see and catch-up with everyone.

We didn't get pictures with everyone but we sure did have fun mixing family visits with swimming, hiking, movie watching and of course Graduation!

Congrats Aunt the Bud! (Natalie)

She loves the water

Vasquez Rocks

Star Wars watching

Getting ready for the beach

A California Vacation - Part 1

At he beginning of this month we finally got to get away as a family on a much needed and anticipated family vacation.   Our destination was California and our plan for the trip was to have fun and relax with family.  It was a great trip filled with lots of family time, visiting with my (Laura's) extended family, celebrating Natalie's Graduation form College creating a family reunion with Tyler's family, and of course Disneyland!

We had a great start with a simple and easy flight cross country (even though it took all day).  The kids did great on the flight.  Gwendolyn was facinated with the TV's and so excited that she could touch the screen (something she never gets to play with at home).  During our layover in San Francisco this happened...

The only thing better then the baby napping on a long trip is having both kids nap.   The 3 hour time change was a bit of a challenge and we were so thankful that we planned to get to California a few days before all the graduation activities to allow us and the kids time to adjust.

We filled our first few days with small family trips and lots of time at "home" taking naps and getting acclimated to the time change.   One of our first activities was eating at In-N-Out.  You can't go to LA and not eat there, right?  Neal loved it, not so much because of the burger, but because he got his very own pop and a whole basket of fries.

We all loved being back at our old stomping grounds from our college years.  It was fun to be back to the place where Tyler and I met and to see some old friends and professors at the school.

We not only got to walk down memory lane but got to introduce Neal to something new that every little boy, or kid for that matter, longs to do...Go Karts!!   I'm pretty sure Tyler had just as much fun as Neal did on the go karts.  It was a great little taste of the fun that we would be having at Disneyland in the week to come...(more about Disneyland in another post).

Play Ball!

I think Tyler and I have been waiting for this day since the day Neal was born, the day that our son would start to play baseball...T-ball to be exact.  

This spring we signed Neal up for his first T-ball team.  It is a league for 4-6 year olds and meets close to our house.  The kids meet for six saturdays this spring and practice for 30 minuets and then play one inning against another team.   It is the perfect introduction to T-ball for him and he LOVES it!   Actually I wasn't sure on the first day if Neal or Tyler and I were more excited. 

It was really fun to have my sister, Anna, here for his first T-ball game.  Neal had his own little cheering squad from the sidelines.  We had fun cheering for him and watching him hit the ball and run the bases.   Gwendolyn even skipped her morning nap to watch all the fun.  

Tyler his been helping work with Neal's team and gets to be out in the field with the kids, throwing balls and helping them in the field.  I love getting to see them together enjoying the game and I know its really special for Tyler to get to teach his son how to play his favorite game.  

Tyler has been teaching him to bat left handed and Neal has done great.   Now as his mom I think everything that Neal does is great, but really he has quite the swing and can hit the ball a good distance.

We love to play in our backyard and practicing with him and we're looking forward to many more springs filled with T-ball and baseball games.  I have to say one of my favorite spring pastimes is enjoying the sun with friends and family at a ballgame, and it's even better when your son is the one playing :) 

 

Our Easter - 2014

What a wonderful weekend!!  Our Easter was filled with lots of fun memories and all the usual Easter activities.  

We had a sunny day on Sunday and enjoyed all heading out to church a bit early to visit with everyone there over coffee and doughnuts to celebrate Resurrection Sunday.   This was the first Easter Gwendolyn and though she didn't really participate in any of our Easter activities (she slept through most everything) she sure did have fun playing with her brothers Easter eggs.

One of the highlights of my Easter was that Gwendolyn stayed with us for the entire church service.  She usually goes to the nursery after the worship but she was so happy and quiet that I kept her with us on Sunday and she lasted the entire service.  I loved getting to hold and snuggle my little girl during the sermon, which made for a wonderful start to my Easter.

Neal loved doing a small egg hunt first thing in the morning and was so excited about the small little Easter Basket he got after finding all the hidden eggs.  He has been enjoying his Easter candy for the last few days, and I have too :)  

Out church always does a big church picnic for Easter dinner and this year was once again a lot of fun.  We were able to be outside at a park this year and it was a wonderful time with our church family.  We ate lots, lots and lots of food, played family games and enjoyed great fellowship with everyone.  I love spending the holidays with lots of friends and family and so an all church picnic was a great way to spend time with those we consider "family" here in NC.  

And naturally what would a holiday be without a little photo shoot right?...

There were a lot of pictures taken of the kids and at the end of the day I realized we didn't take one family photo.  I need to get better at remembering to get all of us in a photo, I don't know that we really have any family photos of the four of us. This was the closest I got to getting all of us and this was by accident since Neal photo bombed the picture of us girls :)

We hope that y'all had a great time celebrating Easter and that you were able to have lots of meaningful and good conversations with family and friends about the good news of our Risen Savior.  I know we talked about the Cross and Christ's Resurrection with Neal lots throughout the last few weeks and he had lots of questions so I continue to pray that the Lord would stir in him (and Gwen) a love for God and a faith that leads to salvation.