Yeee Haaw!

Emme will be celebrating her 5th birthday this upcoming week, so her party was on Saturday. It was at my parents' house in order to accomodate the ponies that were there for the cowgirl themed party. Here is the birthday girl! Since I remember vividly when she was born, it's hard to believe that Emme is turning 5. At almost five, Emme is energetic, smart, fun, funny, and Nina's most adored kid. Lyla, Nina, and I were very excited for another fun party.
A neighbor friend of Emme's did some face painting for the party goers...

...then Nina and the other kids got to ride "Lady" around the field (with help, of course).

There were several games, but I had to laugh at the parachute game because Nina definitely didn't abide by the rules of running into the middle to get "trapped" when your color was called. She was running into the middle on every chance. I guess that's what happens when you're three at a five year old party. All the other kids obey the rules and the three year old gets to break them all!

After the game, we went straight to RFK to watch DC United beat Chicago Fire. It was a busy afternoon/evening. Today, we took Nana and PaPaw to the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum. I am so disappointed that I forgot my camera as some of the airplanes, shuttles, and sattelites were spectacular. I guess I'll have to wait until the next trip there to get some photos. Nana and PaPaw leave tomorrow, and Mark leaves on a trip tomorrow for a week, so our fun might be coming to a lull a bit in the next few days, but hopefully we'll have another something interesting to post about in the days to come.

Off to the Farm

Nana and PaPaw arrived yesterday afternoon for few days' visit, so the girls and I took them to the farm today while Mark was at work. We got to check in on how the baby animals have grown since we were there a few months ago. We toured the farm, took a nice wagon ride, had a picnic lunch, and the girls got to play on the playground.

I Love This

Every once in awhile, we'll see some really sweet moments between the sisters. The other morning was one of them. Nina really wanted to feed Lyla her morning bottle. Lyla loves her "baba" so we aren't making her give up her morning and night baba time yet, and Nina really wanted to feed her, so we let her give it a try. Surprisingly, Lyla laid in her lap and let Nina feed her, and it was the cutest thing!

New Diva

Watch Out Elton...There's a New Diva in Town!

A Fun Weekend Away

This weekend we had the rather unusual situation where DC United didn't have a weekend game, so that meant Mark had the weekend off and we could plan to do something fun. We decided to head to Busch Gardens with the Williams family. We stayed at Garland's parents house in Gloucester Point for the weekend. They only live about 25 min. from Busch Gardens, so we spent the day at the amusement park on Saturday. Check out the web album slideshow for all the pictures!

http://picasaweb.google.com/amandabeth2/20090607?authkey=Gv1sRgCLK92v-bx43GqQE&feat=directlink

Just For Fun

Lyla was actually interested in my taking her picture today, so I took the opportunity to snap a few shots of her. There were a lot more, but I liked these three the best. She is approaching the 15 month mark (next week) and continues to be a joy. She chatters a lot of baby talk with much inflection in her tone, but she does have a few words she uses frequently: dada, mama, Nina, Lyla, paa (paci), hat, kac kac (quack quack when she sees a duck), chee (cheese), ball, juu (juice), nana (banana), car, and baba. She LOVES peaches, and Mark and I could swear we've heard her say peaches two or three times, but we can't claim that one for certainty yet. She does a lot to make us laugh, and she has been a real joy to our family.

Weekend Fun

We enjoyed a nice weekend with some visits from friends, trips to the pool, and just hanging out. Unfortunately, I didn't get to capture Nina and Emme riding in the wagon to dinner at the town center in their princess dresses, but you get the idea that it was a cute sight. We enjoyed a girls' night on Friday with Mousey, Shen, her girls, me and our girls. It was a lot of fun. On Saturday, P and Jeff came to spend some time with us and spend the night. Jeff was running a race with some friends on Sunday morning, so the visit was short but great to hang with good friends.

Jekyll and Hyde

Nina, Lyla, and I have been plagued by a respiratory bug since the weekend, and I ended up taking Lyla to the pediatrician yesterday to get looked at. I warned the doctor that Lyla isn't too keen on those in the medical profession, but the exam had to take place nevertheless. As soon as the doctor tried listening to Lyla's breathing, she began her screaming, twisting, pushing, resisting, etc. to the point where both the doctor and I were attempting to restrain her enough just to get her ears checked and breathing listened to. The doctor turned to me and said, "She's a real little pistol, isn't she?" For those of us who know Lyla, it isn't too often that Lyla and being a pistol are mentioned in the same sentence. However, as soon as the doctor left the room, Lyla returned to her normal self - smiling, chatting with her high little voice, pointing, and playing. The minute the doctor walked back into the room to hand me the perscription, it was tears, crying, angry faces, etc. Dare I say we've got another drama queen in the family?

Nina's First Big Kid Bike

Our gift to Nina this year was her first big kid bike and helmet. We "test drove" it last night at the store, Mark put it together after she went to bed, and she wanted to ride it first thing this morning. We got one that is a little big for her size so she'll have plenty of time with it now and in the future, but she actually rode this bigger size better than the smaller bikes. Our little girl is growing up!

Happy Birthday Nina!

Nina turns three tomorrow, but we celebrated with a beach party yesterday afternoon and evening. We ended up with one of the most perfect weather days of the month for a beach party which was good because I didn't have a back-up plan for how to have a fun beach party inside. Anyway, this is an occasion for another web album, so click on the link and view the slideshow to see captions that tell about the party.

Happy Birthday, Nina!

http://picasaweb.google.com/amandabeth2/107?authkey=Gv1sRgCNvQ1IHRua7HhAE&feat=directlink

The 3rd Annual Hawk Hunt

The 3rd Annual Hawk Hunt was this morning at my mom and dad's house. The hawk hunt actually included bugs this year, so it was officially the Hawk and Bug Hunt this year. There were so many great parts of the day, and too many pictures to put on the blog post, so I put them on a web album.

Click the link below, then choose the Slideshow option. I narrated the day with captions on the pictures, so you'll follow the great event. Be sure to click through to the end for a ssssssssssuper sssssssspecial ssssssssssssurprise (hint, hint) that was the grand finale to the hunt this year.

http://picasaweb.google.com/amandabeth2/106?authkey=Gv1sRgCJr2v42RlaWjaA&feat=directlink

She Likes the Wind

Now every one of you who grew up in the 80's or has ever seen the movie Dirty Dancing is sharing the same miserable fate that I am. You saw the title to this post and immediately the very sappy and quite awful 80's hit She's Like the Wind is now ringing in your head. Good luck getting it out. It's unfortunately been stuck in my head for awhile now. I came into Lyla's room after her nap, and found a funny sight. I had put the fan in her room to cool it down, and I found her laughing and smiling standing up at the point in her crib where the wind was blowing, and she was letting it blow in her face and hair. It was cute, and I hope you enjoy the pictures because now most of you are going to be annoyed with me at having gotten this song stuck in your head!

You Know Your Life is Exciting When...

...a big night out is going to Red Robin. Ok, so you sense the sarcasm dripping from my words, but Nina loves Red Robin. In fact, we've had conversation before about who would be her favorite bird - Talon (the DC United mascot who she loves) or Red (pictured below). It's a tough decision that she can never quite commit to. So, I decided to take my old camera in the diaper bag last night in hopes of catching a picture with Nina and her bird. Lyla was not as sure about the Red Robin. With some prodding (ok, pushing) on the back from Nina, Lyla did get close enough to Red to give him a high five, but shockingly enough, she wouldn't accept the balloon he was trying to give her. Lyla LOVES balloons, so that was a bit surprising, but I don't think she's quite warmed up to the idea of an oversized red bird yet.

I also had to include this picture of Nina's drawings this morning. I think they are getting so cute!

A Walk in the Park

Every day that the weather is nice, we try to get out to take a walk around the neighborhood. There is always something interesting for the girls to look at, the fresh air is great, and Nina loves to ride her tricycle and Lyla loves to ride in in the car. Since it was such a nice day today, I decided to take my camera with me, so I ended up getting some pictures of the girls when we stopped to play on the rocks. Nina is doing quite well these days. She still has a ton of energy, asks what seem like hundreds of questions a day, and still has the strong will she's had since she was a baby. Lyla is doing good as well. She refuses all baby food anymore and uses those six little teeth to try to eat anything that Nina is eating. She is also a bit more of a rascal now than she used to be. She's figured out some buttons to push to antagonize her sister, and she seems to be quite adept at doing so these days. Most all of it is done with the knowing/coy smile, so we're quite sure she knows exactly what she's up to...as all younger sisters do!

Also, Nina is still quite the fashionista in training (as are probably the majority of little girls this age). EVERYTHING has to match. I'm talking about even the slightest things... Dresses are always the preferred item for the day, and right now the #2 way to her heart is to compliment her outfit (#1 being offering her candy)!

A Nice Day

I had a great Mother's Day today. The weather was beautiful, and I enjoyed the time with Mark, the girls, and my family. After church I tried getting a picture with the girls. Nina was quite cooperative.

Lyla was not cooperating with having her picture taken, so no pictures with just Lyla this year. She was intent on carrying Mark's minnow bucket around the driveway instead!For lunch, my parents and Bo came over, and we got to celebrate the day with my mom as well.My sister and her family were in Gloucester, so my mom is missing one child in this picture.

Happy Day to those grandmothers, mothers, expectant mothers, and women waiting for their time to be mothers. I can say that I know and love some amazing women that fit those categories, and I'm thinking about you all today.

An Excuse for a Party

It had been a little while since the cousins were out at Mousey and Poppy's in the name of a party, and they were itching to get together, so we threw together a Cinco de Mayo fiesta out at my parents' house yesterday evening. Aside from the sombreros, the music, and the food, the evening was less Cinco de Mayo and more a scene of four girls enjoying playing together and destroying my parents' house (it's a good thing they're not up tight about the condition of their house when we're over)!

Old Friends, New Friends

Today, Mark and I got to hang out with old friends, Judd and Chrissy, while Nina and Lyla got to hang out with a new friend, Margaret. This was our first time meeting Judd and Chrissy's little girl, and she seemed to be entertained by Nina. Even though it was dreary and rainy outside, there was plenty of energy inside to go around!

Coffee for a Good Cause

I got this info. today from the International Justice Mission (IJM) and thought I would pass it on. Join us in drinking coffee for a good cause this month!

This month, drinking great coffee can literally change lives. During the month of May Storyville Coffee is dedicating 100% of its revenue to IJM — up to $1,000,000 — to stop slavery, human trafficking, and other forms of violent oppression.Simply go to WWW.STORYVILLE.COM, purchase coffee, receive fresh roasted coffee beans in the mail, brew and enjoy — or consider a gift of gourment coffee for Mother's Day or to celebrate graduations this month. Storyville is based on the idea that coffee is a ritual that gives us time to think, create and dream. In dreaming, we remember those who cannot. Your support can enable victims of modern-day slavery to dream again and to build new lives. Spread the word by forwarding this email to a friend.