It's Been Awhile...Hello!

Hello out there. Is anyone still out there?

I popped in for a quick update. I'd love to say I'll be back soon or Daniel will but only time will tell.

So, here goes!

I've been on food journey for quite a few months. In September, while on vacation at the beach, I read an eye-opening book, The Whole 30. On October 1st I began the Whole 30 journey. I completed another round right after Christmas. What sprung this on? My health. I wasn't feeling top notch, had some tummy issues and just didn't like my relationship with food. I still don't like my relationship with food but some days it's not such a burden. I do pray it's something I don't pass onto my girls, though. After the 30-day experiment (that's what it was to me in October) I realized it was truly life changing. I had way more energy, a few inflammation issues I have struggled with for a decade or more were gone and I just over all felt like a better version of myself. And I lost 17 pounds in 30 days. All by eating real food and exercising a little. Amazing! I went through the 30 day program again in late December into January and lost 12 pounds. I still struggle with food but I'm much more conscious of what I'm preparing and eating. We tend to not have contraband food in our home quite as much. I control it, since I do the shopping, so it stays in the store where it belongs. On my food journey, I did learn that I don't tolerate dairy very well, gluten or large amounts of sugar. I don't have allergies to it but my tummy and my head appreciate when I stay away from those food items. I try to stay away from those items as much as possible. It's still a daily struggle but I feel like I'm getting the hang of it.

Nyla started an art class back in August through a local homeschool enrichment program and she has absolutely thrived! The picture below is all the pictures she drew from August-December. It's been so amazing to seen her confidence bloom through that class. She had a great second semester and is looking forward to taking the class again this coming Fall. 

Homeschooling is what I expected to be and not at the same time. How that's possible, I don't know but it's how I feel. I'm finding myself enjoying the process. We love the unhurried mornings, the spur-of-the-moment playdates with our friends/neighbors and quick field trips to our local zoo. There is a huge learning curve with homeschooling but I feel like it's right where we need to be. I'm not patient enough or smart enough but I do feel like this is where God wants our family. Our vision is to instill truth, beauty and goodness into the lives of girls, to create an active learning environment and help them feel loved and inspired. In my mind, homeschooling is the right fit for these conditions. It's right for our family. 

The big sisters, Nyla and Naomi, are best friends. I'm so thankful for that. Nyla loves "doing school" and having lots of free time to pursue her interests, like art and crafting. She's beginning to read and is gobbling up books. We take weekly trips to the library and come home with a huge box of books. Naomi is beginning the process of reading. Even at 4.5 years old she still struggles to recognize all the letters in the alphabet but All About Reading is helping with that tremendously. She loves the program and the zebra puppet (we are using the Pre-Reading with her) and having her little school time. She won't officially be in Kindergarten until the Fall of 2017 so we have lots of time, but she's shown an interest and I'm going with it. She also loves to draw but her real passion is books. She could sit all day on the couch or the floor and read read read. She wants to flip through books constantly and have me read just as many. She really enjoys playing outside and jumping on the trampoline. She always finds the biggest sticks or logs outside and carries them around. She never walks anywhere (always running, jumping, prancing, or walking on her tiptoes) and she has a great big imagination. She is a funny girl who has us laughing constantly.

The picture below is one of the many examples of their love of books. Today we sat on the floor for an hour in a row and read a bunch of books. And then continued to read on and off throughout the day. We don't watch TV or movies so reading is a favorite in our home!

And since we're chatting about reading, here's my stack from February. I bought this stack of Ruth's books when she was having a bundle sale. The Unstuffed book is just a little sneak peak. The actual book just released a couple weeks ago and I've yet to get my hands on it. But I will. There's so much wisdom in her books about spending less and getting rid of clutter. They are books I'll come back to time and time again. 

Nyla and Naomi got big haircuts a couple months ago. Nyla's makes her look so grown up. They are just like their mama loving big haircuts!

Here's Natalie. She's so big. She is 20 months old today and she's everywhere. She thinks she's as big as her sisters and does keep up with them pretty well. She eats anything I put in front of her, loves to jump on the trampoline, she's also and avid book lover and is the happiest girl. In 2013 I really felt like someone was missing from our family. Not a boy, just someone else. And she's definitely been the missing piece. She is so content and does so well with our ever-changing days. We can tote her anywhere and she's ready for the ride. I'm thankful for such an easy 3rd child since we're out and about frequently these days.

And there's our big update!

Love Languages

A good rule of thumb: When you think you're doing a pretty good job at this parenting thing, that's when you are getting ready to learn something new or, in this case, re-learn something old. Such was the case with us Monday evening.

At bedtime, Ginny likes to ask our two big girls three questions: 1) What made you happy today? 2) What made you sad? 3) What did you learn? We could tell Nyla was feeling off Monday, just not the typical 5-year old she usually is. After some poking and prodding, Ginny was able to get a tearful Nyla to admit that she did not get enough hugs and kisses from Mommy. (Not what you want your child to tell you.) Nyla also tearfully told me that she wanted Mommy and Daddy to draw her pictures. You see, Nyla loves to draw. I mean, she enjoys it so much. I have at least a dozen pictures in my cubicle at work that she has drawn for me. And here she is, crying that we haven't drawn her any pictures.

We are proponents of the book The Five Love Languages. It's a great read and great way to find out how you feel loved and express love. For instance, my top 2 love languages are words of affirmation and physical touch. Ginny is quality time and acts of service. Nyla, we determined, was receiving gifts and probably acts of service. You see where I'm going with this, right? Her "love tank" was empty, because she didn't get any gifts! Here she was, drawing pictures for us, and we were ignoring that as a sign that she needs to get gifts, too! Thanking her for them and telling her how pretty they are weren't enough. Needless to say, Ginny and I felt terrible. I held Nyla at bedtime and told her that I was sorry for not drawing for her, because she draws many pretty pictures for us.

So naturally, I drew her a picture that night - a picture of Madeline (from the books) and three toys. I wrote a note telling Nyla I loved her and asking her what toy she thought Madeline should pick. As you can see from the picture, my drawing (and love) was well-received.

Yesterday, she was back to being our sweet, happy Nyla. Nyla, Naomi, and I sat down at the table last night and learned how to draw birds, a sailbot, a rocket, a bat, and an elephant. (Thanks, Pinterest!) The lesson here is to always, always, always be mindful of how your child (or spouse or family or friends) loves and feels loved.

-D

Homeschool Digest #1

Nyla is reading!

Naomi is continuing to learn her letters. Letting her just play with them seems to help her.

Hello out there, it's been forever since we've blogged! I have tons of ideas rolling around in my head but alas I'm busy and never sit down to blog. 

This is our first official year of homeschooling and things are going about as I expected. It's taken us some time to get adjusted to sitting down and "doing" school. I expect things to continue to evolve and change every few weeks. Thankfully, I feel equipped to handle the changes that come our way. Since the girls are constantly growing and changing I have to be ready to embrace our changing days. And with a toddler underfoot, things are always interesting! 

As we find our groove the most important subjects I want covered daily are Bible/character study, math, reading and writing. I feel accomplished when we get those items done. We have numerous reading times throughout the day. We are not a TV watching family so reading and crafting just come natural to us. 

Speaking of crafts, I'm not overly crafty but the girls sure do enjoying hands-on activities each day. Thank goodness for Pinterest in finding EASY crafts. I like the type of crafts that I can just look at the picture and figure it out myself. I don't want to make time for reading a detailed instruction guide on how to do a 10 minute craft. We do more in-depth crafts occasionally but I want simple. We try and color once a week, but also use scissors, glue, watercolors and oil pastels. I always have googly eyes, construction paper and other crafty items on hand for the girls to choose. 

Busy girl toddler keeps things interesting. She's been walking about 3 weeks.

Naomi in her eagle mask.

   

Nyla in her eagle mask.

We enjoy staying home most days but we take a field trip every 2 to 3 weeks or so, more when the weather is nice. A few weeks ago we visited Priddy Farms pumpkin patch. We were there a couple hours and had a great time.

Field trip to Priddy Farms.

It's fun to watch our girls develop into their own person with each passing month. Naomi (our #2 girl) NEVER walks anywhere. She likes to dash, jump, twirl, tip toe, run, skip, prance, etc everywhere. I'm not sure she knows how to just walk. :) 

She enjoys flipping through books constantly. She has a BIG imagination and is constantly talking and figuring out life. She is full of questions, funny answers and sayings. This girl LOVES life! I hope she keeps that wonder of it all.

My ultimate book lover, Naomi!

Little Miss Muffet and spider craft with a proud Naomi. 

Nyla (our #1 girl) really enjoys writing. She's been able to write her name since she was 3 years old. She just figured it out on her own. I made letters and books available but she learned letter recognition pretty much on her own. She's VERY independent and wants to figure things out on her own. But she's not stubborn and will ask for help if she needs it, thankfully. She is constantly coloring and drawing pictures for people. I think Daniel comes home and always has something she's drawn him that day. She's taking an art class in a local homeschool enrichment program and she's really enjoying it. She comes home each Tuesday and draws for me what she learned in art that morning. She says she'll be able to bring her portfolio home before Christmas. I sure hope so because I'm ready to see what she's learned.

Nyla loves to write!

Natalie (our #3) girl is a budding toddler. She's been walking about 3 weeks and she is EVERYWHERE! She practically got up one day and walked across rooms, like she's known what she's doing all along. She enjoys playing outside with her sisters, she's saying a dozen or so words, enjoys flipping through books, stealing the big girls toys, coloring (I'm going to have to watch her and walls, I do believe), helping the girls with their puzzles and carrying her lovey around. Thankfully, she's an excellent sleeper (except when teething), a great eater and a fun girl. She is constantly smiling and we can tell her wheels are always turning in her little mind. She is such a ham and walks around just giggling about nothing, at least it's nothing to us. She's been the missing piece in our little family.

We're raising another bookworm!

Natalie enjoys writing on our chalkboard in the kitchen, just like her big sisters.

After our corn maze field trip with one of our homeschool groups, we checked out a local pumpkin patch.

So, that's a wrap up of the last few months. I hope to update more than every 4 months. :)

The Birth Story of Natalie Grace

Obviously, this is a touch late. I worked on this just a couple weeks after the birth of our third daughter, Natalie Grace, but life got me so I never finished it. But here it is. I hope you enjoy!





It's 4:30 a.m. and our alarm is going off. It's time to get up, shower, get dressed and get our things in the car. It's baby having day!

The ride to the hospital only takes us fifteen minutes and it's just after 5:00 a.m. so there's very little traffic on the roads. Daniel and I chat about the process we'll be going through for the morning. Since Naomi's birth was a scheduled c-section we know what to expect this time. We'll be separated for a good hour or more while they prep me in triage.

We arrive at the hospital right at 5:30 a.m. We take the elevator up to floor number two and I'm asked to fill out a little card and told by the woman up front to have a seat and I'll be called back in a few minutes. As we sit in the waiting room I update my status on Facebook because I know everyone wants to know that we're at the hospital. :) About fifteen minutes later we get called back for our insurance cards and chat with the woman in records. She sends me back to the front where another woman tells me she'll take me back to my triage room and Daniel has to go sit up front. They'll bring him back when it's closer to time. We part ways which is always hard. I don't want to go about any of this process alone. The hospital is cold and sterile. While the faces are friendly it's not somewhere I want to spend a lot of my time.

I get to my room and the woman hands me a bag and tells me to remove all my clothing and any jewelry and put it in the bag.
"A nurse will be with you shortly." she says.
"Thank you so much, "I tell her.
Even as uncomfortable as this process is I still put a smile on my face and am friendly to everyone I encounter.

I undress, place my stuff in the bag, lie on the bed and patiently wait. Thankfully, I don't wait long before a nurse comes.
"Good morning," she says.
I reply, "Good morning."
"Who's here with you today?"
"My husband is."
"Before we start, is there anything you need to tell me in confidence?"
"No ma'am."
"Do you feel safe going home? Do you feel safe taking your baby home with you?"
"Yes and yes."
She hooks up the baby heart monitor. These are the last few moments I'll hear Natalie Grace's sweet little heartbeat from my insides. It's been such a joy being able to carry another little person in my belly. While I've been very uncomfortable for the last 10 weeks or so and the weather turned hot on me, it's truly been a joy carrying this precious life inside of me. I know there are so many who can't or won't ever be able to experience what I've experienced in carrying 3 healthy children. This is never far from my mind as I know a few woman personally who have struggled with getting pregnant or never could get pregnant. I am thankful.

Next, what seems like one hundred questions, begins. It's everything from, "Do you have a religion preference?" to "Do you have a living will?"

Dr. Li comes in and asks how I'm doing. I tell her, "I'm good and ready."
"Do you have any questions for me?" she asks.
"Nope, just take care of me." I say.
"I will," she says.
And I believe her. I'm thankful for my doctor and know that she will take care of me. This is our third c-section together so I have every confidence in her.

Dr. Li leaves and the questions continue by one nurse and the other is poking me with a needle to get my IV going and apparently I'm a "bleeder" because out shoots a good amount of blood. I look but quickly turn away. Blood doesn't make me queasy but it was quite a lot and it's just after six in the morning and I've not eaten anything. I think it best to not look at what's going on. And she got it all over my hand, the bed and the floor. So, yeah it was quite a bit.

Finally, my IV is in, some fluids and medicines are starting and the questions are over. I ask when my husband can come back and not long after Daniel arrives in the room. Finally! I have his smiling face next to me and we can chat to pass the time.

Waiting in triage

I can't imagine going through this with any other person. I thank God for him and that he's next to me. We talk about our last guesses of how much and how long Natalie Grace will be. He's sticking with under Nyla's birth weight (she was 9 pounds 8 ounces) and I say she'll be a bit bigger but not ten pounds, though I did dream a couple weeks ago that she was 10 pounds 5 ounces. A nurse comes in and tells us it's almost time. She leaves and I ask Daniel to pray for us, just as I did with the other girls. Tears roll down my face as he's praying. I am so thankful for the spiritual leader of our family and thankful for his words during this time. Tears of anxiousness and excitement. Tears to say goodbye to being a family of 4 and hello to being a family of 5. Life as we know it is about to change. As the time has passed today, the more nervous I've gotten. I know what to expect this time and while knowing ahead of time usually makes me feel more comfortable (I'm an introvert after all), this time it has not. I'm not looking forward to the spinal or the surgery. I'm ready to get it over with and praying I don't have a similar recovery to Naomi's.

It's just before 7:30 a.m. and the time has come. It's time to move into the surgery room. I know Daniel and I have to part ways for another few minutes and this makes me more nervous but I know he'll be by my side before long.

The room is very cold and sterile. I move to a thin, hard table for the surgery. I have to sit back and hunched over to get the spinal. I'm nervous. The anesthesiologist talks with me about what to expect, what I'll feel and the order it all goes in. He's really nice and comforting. It helps a little to have him tell me each step. His assistant does the actual spinal and he keeps talking to me. She presses on my back to find the right spot and this is fairly uncomfortable. The shot to numb the area comes next and it hurts. My nurse, Lindsey, is there next to me. I'm hunched over holding a pillow saying, "ouch ouch ouch." I have a very low tolerance for pain yet I take pregnancy and all that comes with it like a champ. At least I think I do. Next comes the actual spinal. I'm glad I don't see the needle because I expect it's fairly large. I feel quite a bit of pressure from the needle and I'm thankful when it's over. Now I have to lay down and my legs are going numb. It's such an odd sensation. I remember with Naomi I went numb almost instantly and I don't this time and it worries me. I don't want to feel anything and I don't want to get incubated because the spinal doesn't work. Thankfully, it starts to kick in as they're prepping me. The next thing I know the sheet is coming up in front of me, my chest feels heavy and it's hard to take deep breaths. It feels like I have an elephant sitting on top of me. The assistant anesthesiologist pricks me here and there and asks if I can feel anything on different areas of my body. Most importantly, I don't feel below my chest so I know I'm good to go!

He's ready!

Daniel comes in and sits down next to me. I'm thankful for his calming presence. We are ready to meet our baby girl.

Anxiously waiting

I don't hear too much around me. Well, really, I'm blocking it out and trying to talk to Daniel. I want him to distract me so I don't hear anything that scares me or freaks me out. I feel quite a lot of tugging and pulling for a few minutes. I keep thinking Natalie Grace should be here, I don't remember it taking so long with Naomi. Dr. Li says I have a good bit of scar tissue and that's why it's taking a bit longer. Well, that explains it. But soon enough I feel tons of pressure on my chest. It's almost as if someone is sitting on me to pull her out. "You'll feel lots of pressure," someone calls out. I definitely do. Then I hear, "That's a big baby!" And then I hear her cry. There is nothing quite like hearing your baby's first cry. As I did the two times before, I cry tears of joy. Natalie Grace is here. Each girls cry are so very different and I just love that. I know I won't ever really remember exactly what it sounds like, just that it's one of the most beautiful sounds in all the world. Thankful. Grateful. Full. Joyful. Loved. All my emotions hit me at once. This pregnancy is finally over. Natalie Grace is finally here. Praise God for this little life.

She's here and she's beautiful!

Yes, you're reading this right. 11 pounds 9 oz.
We had so many comments on her weight. I would proudly tell people she's not my first 11 pound baby. Naomi was 11 pounds 4 oz. :)

Big girl!

5 Months Old

Dear Natalie Grace,

I cannot believe you are 5 months old! It really does go by so quickly, but especially with you since I am caring for your big sisters. Speaking of big sisters, they are in love with you and vice versa. You smile at them constantly. I think they may get more smiles than Daddy and me. I get you out of bed each morning and the first thing they ask, "Can I hold her?" They kiss on you constantly and try and make you laugh. Naomi's latest to you is, "Natalie, I just love you so much." And she does it in her baby voice. :) They are smitten.

You refuse to lay on the floor for longer than 5 minutes. You haven't rolled over yet but you do try and sit up. You lift your head up off the changing table, your bed and the floor to try and sit up. I will occasionally put the boppy pillow behind you but you soon topple over. You have a large head. :)

You smile constantly and love to laugh. The silliest things make you laugh. I act like a complete moron just to hear your baby giggles. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

You weigh over 19 pounds and you just moved up to 12 month clothes. I think you were in  9 month clothes for 8 days. We love your chunkiness and talk about it daily. You LOVE to nurse and are great at it. You are nursing 7-9 times a day or roughly every two hours. I don't mind since you sleep 10-12 hours a night. Thanks for that, by the way.

You are an excellent sleeper. As I said, you like to sleep 10-12 hours at night. The funny thing is when you wake up you like to be up 1-2 hours before your first nap of the day. Below is a picture of you fussing because you are ready to go upstairs. You take a 2 hour nap in the morning and a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. You prefer an early bedtime, 6:30 to be exact. For the first few weeks of your life we were keeping you up and you were an overtired baby. Once we finally figured out you wanted to be in bed early, you became much easier to handle at night. Oh, and you hate night lights and the humidifier being on in your room. You are sensitive to those lights and sounds and want nothing to do with them. You like it quiet in your room. :)

You are loved, little bit. So loved. We are enjoying your baby stages. They seem to be flying by even quicker than with the big girls.
You have a few nicknames and they are little bit, butter bean and monkey. I'm not sure you'll know your real name for the longest time because we all call you by your nickname.

You have strawberry blond hair and look so similar to Nyla. Comparing pictures of the two of you, it's almost scary how similar you two look. We also think you look like Sir. I think the strawberry blonde hair and bright blue eyes have something to do with it. Your eyes have lightened up in the last few weeks but I hope they stay blue! 

I was recently talking to Aunt Ernie about what kind of personality we think you'll have. I'll be honest, I'm hoping you're more even-tempered like your biggest sister, Nyla. Naomi is our blond spark plug but I'm not sure I have the energy for another firecracker in this family. Though, if your red hair stays around, you just might be a firecracker!

Happy 5 months sweet one! You have brought so much joy to our family. I love you, little bit.

Mommy

The Newest Member of the Family

Hello, dear readers, and welcome back to the blog. Your pal Daniel is a little sleep-deprived as I type this, though admittedly it could be much, much worse. The reason for my sleep deprivation is that we welcomed a new addition into this world.

We arrived at Baptist Women's Hospital at 5:30am Thursday morning eager to meet our new baby girl.

Side note: Ginny had reached her pregnancy limit before this of course, so she was ready - so much so that she was trying to encourage Natalie to come early. I was not in favor of this. I wanted her to wait until the scheduled date, for whatever reason I did not immediately know. Until Labor Day. When I was sick from about 4:00pm through 8:00am. And when I mean sick, we're talking stomach bug sick, as in the worst thing that someone 3 days away from having a newborn could have. By the grace of God, and I do not use that term flippantly, no one else in the house got sick. I quarantined myself and used more disinfectant spray than most hospitals.

In any event, we arrived in the hospital, and soon enough Ginny was getting prepped for surgery. By now, we were used to the routine, and I had no trouble waiting around to see her... until of course they actually wheeled her away for surgery, at which point the nerves ratcheted up. Still, the time passed quickly, and I was next to Ginny in the operating room, awaiting the arrival our sweet Natalie.

The anesthetist not long after motioned and practically dragged me to peer up and watch Natalie be pulled out. The fact that I did not pass out is amazing. Everyone of course exclaimed that was a big baby (as if we would have a small one!), and soon she was fully in this world and letting everyone know how unhappy that made her. The nurses cleaned her up and placed her on the scale, where she weighed 5,240 grams, which made no sense to me because my metric to American conversions are a bit fuzzy these days. I'm sure yours are, too. Fortunately, I've taken a picture of "our" measurements...

Yeah, 11 pounds, 9 ounces. My baby could and probably did eat your baby for breakfast. As is the case with big babies, her blood sugar was low. Fortunately, the nurse attending to her was far better and nicer than when this happened with Naomi. Poor Naomi only saw us for a few minutes before being whisked away to the nursery for a bottle. This time, the nurse actually let me hold her and show her to Ginny. That made parting with her a lot easier. I followed the nurse to the nursery, where Natalie would get all of the love and good stuff she needed.(By the time I checked on her an hour later, her blood sugar had come up, and it stabilized at a good level the rest of the time.)

Meanwhile, back in the surgery room, Ginny was being sewn up and off to recovery. With Naomi, her recovery was difficult. Without grossing you out too much, with Naomi, she had a lot of bleeding that did not stop for a long time. Thankfully, this time there was no issue, and the three of us were all united in a room before lunch! We are so thankful that we were in a room quickly to snuggle with and love on our baby girl.

Here is our beautiful new girl, just hours old, resting in Mommy's arms.

Natalie, we love you and are so thankful you came into our lives!

-D

10 Days and Counting

We aren't counting down or anything around here! 10 days (or less) until the newest member of our family makes her debut. And we are all very excited! Mommy is getting VERY uncomfortable, especially at night and the 105 heat index days aren't helping.

We have been soaking up the last few weeks as a family of 4. It's a bittersweet time, really. We started preschool homeschool back in June and went strong for about 4 weeks but have taken an extended break. We try to get out of the house, have play dates, swing and slide at our locals parks, swim and just soak up time together. And that's exactly what's been happening and I wouldn't have it any other way! I know that once Natalie comes we'll still be able to play outside but leaving the house for a few weeks just won't happen. And that's okay. I know we'll get back to that within a month or so of a good routine. I'm praying for an easier recovery than I had with Naomi since I have two busy girls to keep up with this go around.

My big girls are excited to welcome Natalie Grace but at the same time I think they have expectations that she's going to be a ball of fun like they are. We have quite a few friends with baby girls who are about a year old and 1 year olds are totally different than newborns! We keep explaining to them that all Natalie will do for awhile is sleep, cry, eat and lay around. They'll understand once she comes. But right now that seems so foreign to them. 

Below are a few pictures of what's been going on in our home lately. July and August have proven to be busy months. I'm glad we aren't doing formal "school" right now. It would just get in the way of our fun! We are continuing to keep the TV OFF and reading tons of books together each day, as well as crafting and honing their fine motor skills. They seem to be enjoying our days together. I know I am!

We went to Chick-fil-a last week for breakfast. This picture is a great description of their two VERY different personalities!

Watercolor fun!
It's been hot hot hot here. We enjoy the mornings outside but have to come back in and find other things to do.

We all got haircuts Wednesday and we desperately needed them!

We have recently started Milly-Molly-Mandy, a chapter book, and both girls love it! It's a great little book, written in the 20's. While the language is a bit different and I have to explain what some words and phrases mean, they seem to like it. Each chapter is separate from the next and they are about 6 pages long. I'm trying to get Nyla to dialogue with me so I'll stop every couple paragraphs and ask her questions. Sometimes she gets them, sometimes not, but it's good practice for her.
In the picture above, she's looking at a picture (there are very few) and making up her own little stories or somewhat retelling what I've read. She's obviously getting something out of the book. 

Naomi loves pushing her old stroller around and wearing her sunglass. She's "cool dude."

Daddy and Nyla have visited Putt-Putt a few times this summer. We think one of Nyla's love languages is quality time so she's really enjoyed going and playing with him. She's getting pretty good, too!

We took Naomi a couple weeks ago (before it was scorching hot) and she wasn't interested at first but soon wanted to play. She is funny to watch. She's learning some Putt-Putt etiquette as well. :)

For Nyla's 4th birthday I took her to a local nail salon and we got matching pedicures. Back in the Spring, my mom, sister and I went to this salon and they and a little pink chair just for little girls, complete with butterfly wings. I had never seen that before and told Nyla about it. She immediately wanted to go! I told her for her birthday we'd go and do that. We don't do physical gifts for birthdays, we do gifts of experience. She loved it! We had a great time sitting next to one another and I loved watching her face has her feet soaked and they scrubbed her feet, massaged her legs and painted her toes. And since she's a quality time person, this was right up her alley. We completed our birthday celebration by going and eating taco's together. Another favorite activity of hers!

We love our popsicles on hot days!

Sweet Naomi praying
Nyla enjoyed VBS at my parents church again this summer. Naomi isn't quite old enough to be in a class but each night we dropped Sissy off we HAD to stay for the opening program. They had great music, dancing, puppets, devotion and prayer. She loved it! She can't wait to go next year!!!

Biker buds

My dad likes a picture now and then of his grand girls. I told Nyla, "Sir wants a picture of you. Can you smile for me?"
She said, " yes" and then said, "Sir wants a picture of me being 4." (she had just turned 4 that week... so sweet!)