Weekend With the Grandpa Grandpa Grandpa!!!

We LOVE when my parents are able to come and visit because we really enjoy spending time with them.  Lydia has been really enjoying having them around too.  I am so glad that she knows who they are and loves to be with them even though they live so far away.

My parents came the weekend we were blessing Jason which was the weekend after Lydia's birthday so we decided to wait for a family birthday celebration for when they came.  They got in on Friday afternoon and Kelvin took the day off.  We spent that afternoon catching up and then went to dinner with Kelvin's parents.  Kelvin wasn't able to come because he had a thing with the young men that he did which her really enjoyed.  He was on a panel of men and the young men asked them questions about their missions and what things would really be like.  The Young men in our ward really like Kelvin.  He teaches the 16-17 year olds and I hear from mom's all the time how their kids come home with a new or different way to look at the gospel or doctrines.  They are learning a lot and Kelvin loves those kids!

Saturday we went to the Dallas Aquarium and it was awesome!  I was very impressed with how much they were able to fit in that building.  We had a great time and Jason was really well behaved.  He has got to be the best baby ever!

Here is daddy making a burrito!

This was Lydia on Saturday morning before we left for the aquarium.  She was so happy to have her Gramma and Granpa here.

Grandpa LOVED holding Jason all weekend.  Jason loved having a warm body to constantly sleep on.  I loved having someone constantly taking care of my kids!  It was a win win kind of situation!!

Nemo and Dory.  Lydia only left this exhibit by kicking and screaming.  She LOVES finding Nemo (or Elmo as she calls Nemo) and when she could see the real thing, I thought she was going to talk herself to death with excitement.  It was hilarious.

She was so upset about leaving that Grandma and Grandpa bought her "Nemo" so she could bring him home with us.

The Leopard was pacing back and forth so Lydia started to "chase" him and thought he was chasing her back.  Another little girl joined in and everyone around thought it was adorable.

Birthday Celebrations

Since Lydia's birthday was on a Sunday, we celebrated on the Friday and Saturday prior.  Friday morning her daddy got up and took her to get donuts for breakfast.  She got to choose her very own and was so excited to be with her daddy and choose her own donut.

Then we decided to go to the Frisco Science Discovery Center.  We had heard that it was a lot of fun and thought we would check it out.  I guess it was the wrong day to go (the Friday of Spring Break) because there were SO many people there is was hard to do anything she wanted.  It was a cool place but not worth what we paid to get in (again probably because it was so packed).  We did have fun though and Lydia liked being able to touch and play with anything she wanted.

Her daddy was so proud to see her engineer makings in the works.

This was her favorite thing, she would put the balls on the wooden slide and they would hit those small metal medallion type things and make chiming noises.  She spent a lot of time here. 

We got home a little late which wasn't a good idea because she was really ornery that morning from a lack of sleep and getting home late put her past her nap time. Luckily she did great since we took some family pictures that afternoon.

On Saturday I decided to celebrate her birthday with her first friend party because she was now old enough to enjoy being with her friends.  I invited a few people from our ward with kids around her age for a couple hours in the park on Saturday afternoon.  I thought that was the best idea of a party for her.  She loves being with kids and running around so it was the best of both worlds.  I told all the mom's not to worry about presents because she really doesn't need more stuff and the point was just to get out with friends and have a good time.  There were a few sweet people though that still brought her a gift and she did enjoy opening them and playing with them.

She wouldn't leave Kelvin alone until he went down the slide.

It's cake time!  I forgot to bring the candle for her to blow out so we just sang to her.

Her first play doh set!

She also got a snow white barbie that she loved to spin around.  Even though she's a little tom boy, she is still a little girl!

Here is her modeling her birthday shirt. My family tradition growing up was that on your birthday morning you were woken up by the family singing Happy Birthday and got to open your first present, a new shirt to wear.  So here is her new birthday shirt.

Lydia Turns 2!

I can't believe that my baby girl is 2!  It's been quite a ride having her in our lives but we wouldn't have it any other way.  She is such an incredible girl and we love her so much.  We are told from her nursery leaders all the time how sweet she is with the other kids and the adults.  She is one very giving child and always concerned when someone is sad.  In fact the other day I was crying from my postpartum depression but trying to hide it from her, she caught on quickly and came and gave me a big hug and said "it's alright mommy, it's alright!"  Now at random times she will come over to me and pat my back and give me the sweetest looks.

Lydia is an amazing sister.  She is very concerned about Jason and how he is doing.  Since he came into our lives I think she feels more complete like we have.  When she wakes up in the morning and comes to our room she used to wake me up but now I wake up and find her watching over her little brother making sure he has his binky and is alright.  All throughout the day to she is watchful of him but will also tell me if it's time to put him down and play with her by bringing over the bouncer and patting Jason's back.  It's so cute.

She is such an active child.  I think she could run all day long and still have enough energy to run some more.  Kelvin jokes that we should get a gerbil type wheel and have her run in claiming that it could power our apt.  I have to laugh because she probably could.  This girl REALLY needs a back yard.  We are working on that.

Lydia loves animals, especially dogs.  Kelvin is being transferred to East Texas and there is a good chance that we will be buying a home and settling there for a while.  If this happens I have relented to getting a dog for the back yard.  We told Lydia this and she jumped up and down and squealed with delight.  I don't think she understood that we meant buying a dog to be hers and Jason's so it will be even better when we bring the dog home.

She is learning so much everyday.  More and more sentences are being constructed by her and words are coming out all the time.  She has known her alphabet since she was about 18 months old and is now figuring out that letters come together and make words.  Her favorite word to read is pie.  I think this comes from her show Word World where they have an episode on pie.

Singing and dancing are still two of her favorite things to do.  Now when she starts dancing she will grab Kelvin and I if we are on the couch and tell us to come dance with her.  It's hard to say no to her when she is so excited.  Pretty soon it will be all four of us up and dancing away in the living room.

We love you so much Lydia and are so happy that we have such an amazing, beautiful and active child in our lives.  We know you will bring us great joy as you grow up.  Being your parents has been an honor.

Silly Girl!

The start of many days of playing dress up are now coming to a reality!!  Lydia has discovered skirts and likes to wear them whenever and where-ever she can, including to bed.  We thought she looked so cute that we had to take some pictures.  She puts the skirts on and takes them off all by herself.  Don't try to take them off though or you will get a major fit!  I think it's absolutely hilarious that she sleeps with them though.

Play Date Awesomeness!!

This is what Lydia would call her afternoon on Tuesday!  There is a family moving in our ward and I offered to watch their 2 older girls for a couple of hours while they get some things done.  All mom's know how wonderful it is not to have to worry about kids when moving.  So they dropped the girls off that afternoon and they all 3 just had a ball.  They played with toys, they watched part of a movie (until they got bored and wanted to play again) and they ran around.  Lydia thought she was in heaven.  I must say that the girls were actually well behaved and played very nicely.  The oldest one is like a little mother who was so great with Lydia and would tell her that pushing isn't nice and Lydia would listen!  Kids really do learn from each other and I'm glad that this was one of those good things to learn.  When Kelvin came home he thought it was so funny watching the girls chase each other that he caught it on video.  Hopefully, this is just one of more fun afternoons to come.

One Month Old

It's amazing that one month in a pregnancy can DRAG on for what seems like forever and yet when they are here it can go so fast!  I am still shocked that it has already been a month (as of the 9th).  I am recovering really well and gaining more and more strength everyday.  It feels so good to have energy, I had forgotten what it was like not to be exhausted and in pain all the time.  I have even made a few trips to the park by myself with the 2 kiddos and so far it has gone really well.  Lydia seems to grow up more and more and is getting to be really obedient which has been wonderful for me!  It makes life so much easier.  I am a little surprised at how long it takes to get ready to leave with 2 kids now instead of just one.  The time it takes has more than doubled.  You really wouldn't think that it would be that way, but it is.  It will get better as they get older, but for now it's a process.  Jason will give us smiles every now and then and it melts my heart to see his sweet face looking at me with a big grin.  He is such a joy to us and I still can't get enough of him.

His cousin Tristan is so curious about him.  We joke that it's because he want's Jason to grow up quick so he can have a little play buddy since Lydia and Isabella play together a lot.  When we went to visit the other day, Tristan kept coming over and touching Jason and even tried to pick him up once.  He will also grab his hand as if he is silently telling him to get up and come play.  They will be good friends and be able to take on those girls soon enough.

Like I said in an older post, Jason is so big!  It makes me laugh to see my chunky little baby and I am very happy that he is that way (although my back would protest that statement).  He is averaging 5-6 ounces per feeding and eats about ever 2 1/2 hours but he will go for 6 hour stretches at night so I only have to get up once (even though I still don't get lots of sleep with a late night feeding and Lydia waking up early).  I don't think I've ever fed him less than 4 ounces since he came home.  This kid can eat!  

We got some family pictures for the first time today and we are excited to get them back.  While I still have to get over the fact that my body isn't back to where I would like, I know that it will come. I am trying to have patience with myself and not judge the pictures based on how "big" I think I look.  You will get to see our complete family portraits soon when we get them back.

We are adjusting to being a family of four fairly well and couldn't imagine life any differently.  Jason is such an amazing and sweet spirit.  He is my baby boy!

Watch out!  He might just have inherited "the look" that Lydia is famous for.

All Tucked In

One thing we are hoping for is that when we move Jason into the room with Lydia that she will start to sleep better.  Funny thing though, she has been sleeping a lot better since day light savings!  Hopefully it will stay that way but if we know our little squeaker, it probably won't.  She has gotten so much better in the car, in both being put in her car seat (she used to fight us like the furry when she was put in her car seat) and on drives (she would sometimes just cry and cry).  We think that now she see's that other kids have to be in car seats too, she is more okay with it and let go of her "equal rights for squeaky's" protests.  Plus she really enjoys having a sibling.     It's still so much fun to see her have fun with Jason and make sure he is okay and that we remember to pray for him every night.  Jason has also started to smile at her which she thinks is just the coolest thing ever!  Can I say it's just adorable?

Well, the other night we put him in her bed to snuggle for a bit when she was struggling to calm down.  He is such a calming influence on her because she is learning that she has to be soft with the baby and she really tries hard.  She is still learning of course, but progress is being made and she still adores her little brother.