Life...Unedited

I pride myself on our blog being a true representation of our life as a family, and my posts are true and (mostly) unembellished.  But I realized that although my narratives are factual, editing software gives me the ability to crop, edit, and display pictures to my liking.  The other night, I got out the camera at dinner time to capture how messy little Leah is... at every single meal.  Often we just put her straight into the bathtub because it's the easiest way to clean up after a toddler who insists on feeding herself.  The above picture is our cute, smiling, very messy daughter = Life Edited. 

But here's what was really going on in the background as I tried to take that "perfect picture" of messy mealtime. 

Someone's big brother was running laps around the entire first floor of our house, catapulting himself over the couch and screaming like a banshee:

Superhero Luke would also run at full speed toward his sister's high chair...

...giggling with glee and extremely pleased with himself for providing this mealtime entertainment:

Again, the above cropped picture doesn't quite capture the true nature of Captain Underpants:

Thinking that she was flying under the radar, Winnie used these chaotic moments as an opportunity to scarf down a few falling noodles and lick Leah's seat:

However, Nutty didn't seem to mind, and was quite delighted with all of the shenanigans:

There's certainly never a dull moment around here, especially with Life Unedited!!

Family Fun

We had a fun family weekend and attended a Greenville Drive baseball game yesterday. L & L wore their baseball hats and were very excited about the game: 

We tracked down Reedy Rip'It, and Luke (who is an old pro at mascot sightings by now) posed for a cute picture with the giant frog:

Leah also wanted to greet Reedy, and we briefly thought that she may be over her fear of giant stuffed creatures:

But Leah then let us know that she isn't quite ready for a family photo with Reedy:

The highlight of the game (according to Daddy and Luke) was a homerun by one of the Drive players, which was followed by fireworks.  Luke sat attentively through many innings and really seemed to take in much of the action:

What cute baseball fans!

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We also spent Saturday morning at the zoo, where our cuties snuggled on top of the bear statue:

What a great weekend of family fun! 

Pigtails, Parties, & Pals

It's official!  I have my first picture of Leah in pigtails!  The children were so cute yesterday as they looked out the window at the lawn being mowed, and it was the perfect opportunity to capture the back of that pigtailed head:

I also want to write about Leah turning 18 months old before her 19 month birthday tomorrow, so here are a few of Leah's 18 month stats:

Height: 32.75 inches (75th percentile)
Weight: 25.4 lb (63rd percentile)

Leah has some new favorite words:  "No!"  and "I do!".  Both are age appropriate and show our little girls' budding independence, but I think that our passive, laid back baby is developing quite a mind of her own!  Leah's been on a stroller boycott lately, and refuses to sit in shopping carts most of the time as well.  She prefers to be toted around in Mommy's arms, and is still just a delicious, lovable little peanut.  I can not believe that we are halfway through Leah's second year of life already.  My baby girl is becoming quite a talkative toddler, and she wants to be a big girl so badly!  Leah adores Luke immensely, and imitates his words and mannerisms frequently.  Here she is, snuggling with her beloved "Bubba":

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Luke has been entertaining us this week with several theological musings. Some of his recent thoughts/quotes include:

"Last night I dreamt about things that I'm not quite sure about, like how God puts all our parts together when we're in our Mommy's tummies."

-"God gives so much food to Publix (the grocery store) so that we can buy it there."

-"The Bible says that God has enough love for you AND me, Mommy!"

And my favorite, Luke's interpretation of this Bible story:

Luke: "Mommy, why is Joshua's city not sturdy?"

Mommy: "Joshua who?"

Luke (rolling eyes, exasperated): "Mommy, you KNOW this. Joshua in Jericho!"

Mommy: "WHAT?"

Luke: "Jericho was like the 3 Little Pigs' House that was built of sticks. It was not too sturdy and the walls came tumbling down..."

Oh, what thoughts go through that 4 year-old's brain!  I can almost see the wheels turning as Luke processes the new CD of Bible stories and sing-along songs that he has been listening to this month. 


Luke can also be such a silly little man.  Here he is, posing with his "octo-apple" breakfast last week. (He's showing you all of his octopus arms and legs!)

Other events in our house this week have included celebrating Mark's birthday on Monday.  Luke was very excited to help me put up decorations and make a special birthday dessert for Daddy.  Luke, Leah, and Winnie all "helped" Mark open presents, and I'm not sure who was the most excited about the festivities. 

After the birthday craziness died down, the children enjoyed some special reading and snuggle time with their Daddy:

We also had special guests at the beginning of the week.  My high school best friend visited with her two adorable children, which was a special treat for us.  Lisa and I hadn't seen each other for 6 years, since the B.C. days ("Before Children"), and it was lots of fun for our kids to meet:  

With 4 children ages 4, 3, 2, and 1, our time was spent exchanging quick snippets of adult conversation among the giggles, mayhem, and chaos.  Even bedtime turned out to be quite the exciting slumber party: 

Leah didn't get the memo to roll over for this picture!

This 4-way hug among new friends was a sweet way for our special visitors to conclude their time with us.  Hopefully we will see them again soon! 

Adventures in PA

Part 3 (and the final leg) of our July vacation was our time in Pennsylvania.  The children and I have an annual summer tradition of spending a week in Harrisburg with Mimi and Grandpa while Mark returns to work.  One of the items that is always on our must-do list is a visit to Chocolate World in Hershey:  

After posing for silly pictures outside Chocolate World, we went on the ride that teaches us how chocolate is made:

Both kids loved checking out all of the goodies on display.  Leah was thrilled to be surrounded by so much tasty chocolate, and she rewarded us with her best cheesy smile:

Next it was time to taste our annual milkshakes from the sweetest place on Earth:

The verdict:  DELICIOUS!

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Another of our fun Pennsylvania activities was to return to City Island in downtown Harrisburg, where we rode the steam locomotive around the island.  While we waited at the train station to board, the children rode a miniature version of our choo-choo train, and posed for some adorable pictures:

Before we knew it, we heard "All Aboard"!  By a stroke of luck, we had the entire train all to ourselves, and took our own private tour:   

After the train ride, we couldn't resist an opportunity to ride on the City Island carousel:

What a fun morning it was!

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We also had lots of fun out and about during our week in PA.  Some of our favorite things were:

Eating ice cream cones at the Farmer's Market:

Exploring all of Mimi's knick knacks:

Visiting the playground across the street from Mimi's house:

Playing with Mommy's childhood toys and looking at photo albums:

Luke loved Mommy's old record player!

-and entertaining everyone with Patty-Cake, somersaults, and tickles:

After all of our PA adventures last week, we had very tired, happy kiddos:

 

I flew back to SC alone with the children on Saturday morning, concluding our almost 3 week-long whirlwind vacation. Despite my nerves about how to manage a preschooler and toddler on the plane, both Luke and Leah handled their 4:30 a.m. wake-up call cheerfully, were angels waiting in looonng lines at the airport, and the actual flight was a piece of cake. My secret was my carry-on filled to the brim with every snack imaginable, and I think that the kids consumed 2 ziploc bags of goldfish, 1.5 boxes of animal crackers, 2 bags of airplane snack pretzels, 2 granola bars, 4 Dum Dums, 2 packages of fruit snacks, and 2 packs of dried fruit... all before we landed at 9:20 a.m. 

 

And now we are Home Sweet Home, looking forward to a quiet August of pajama days, swimming at the pool, and more summer fun.