Isn't She Lovely

In the wee hours of the morning, on June 11th, my big sister and her hubby welcomed their sweet, Kelly Claire to the world! 

This baby is an answer to prayer, and she is a precious and perfect little angel. She is the spitting image of her daddy and is a tiny thing. At birth, Kelly Claire weighed 6 pounds, 7.5 ounces.

Isn't she lovely? I am already head over heels in love with this peanut!!

Congratulations, Kristi and Steve! We love all 3 of you!!

"For this child, I prayed"   ~ 1 Samual 1:27

More photos at: http://www.mbjphoto.com/blog/?p=4170

Happy Summer!

Eli wrapped up another school year. He finished strong and made straight A's all year long. I try not to boast or brag, but I cannot help but be over-joyed by his ability and effort. Gifted class was one of his favorite things about the year....besides lunch, recess, and PE. He is totally rocking this whole school thing. When he can stay focused and finish his work, there is no stopping him!

"My, how you've grown." I remember that phrase from my childhood days too.

"Just wait and see." I remember those words and how they chided me, when patient was the hardest thing to be. Because we can't make up for the time that we've lost, I must let these memories provide. No little [boy] can stop [his] world to wait for me. 

I should have known. At your age, in a string of days the year is gone. But in that space of time, it takes so long.

Because we can't make up for the time that we've lost, I must let those memories provide. No little [boy] can stop [his] world to wait for me."

This kid is bound for second grade. He is excited and sad all at the same time. He really enjoyed his teacher this year and was truly sad to say goodbye to her. At the same time, he is thrilled to be a SECOND GRADER! Wait. What? I have a second grader???? Sigh. Crazy. Truly crazy. I wish he would stop growing up....

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And as if the end of a school year wasn't enough on our plates, Eli finally got to test for his green belt in karate over the weekend. He was scheduled to test the Saturday after he broke his foot, but that didn't happen. After two months in a cast and a month of recovery/rebuilding strength/reviewing skills, he was ready to promote. Finally. It was a long time coming, so he was pretty happy.

Of course, we had to kick off summer with some fun. We got out our pool and the boys have been in it everyday so far. All three love it.  There may or may not have been some popsicles involved.

Happy Summer!

Finally, Beach Time!

Normally, beach season kicks off in March for us, but Eli's broken foot kept us away until now. We finally made it down for Memorial Day weekend.  Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Kristi, and Uncle Steve all came too. We had terrific weather and an even better time. 

Jude kept thanking us for letting him come to the beach. And for letting him play on the beach. He said he wanted to stay there forever!

This was Jonah's first trip to the beach being mobile, and was immediately in heaven! It is just one giant sandbox for him. He had no fear and would go right into the waves. He got knocked down a few time and drank a bit of salt water the first day. He learned to not be so bold as the weekend went on. He also had no fear of the sand fleas. He kept catching them and holding them and then dropping them into the bucket. So great!

Eventually he decided that he had had enough.

Eli was as happy as a clam: digging and swimming and running. He and Uncle Steve spent a lot of time digging for sand fleas. 

Each day, we headed back down to play in the sand and surf as the sun was setting. The boys loved the freedom of not having to wear their shirts and hats. The breeze was just right. A perfect way to top off a fun-filled day at the beach.

 

We finished up our weekend with friends. On Monday, the Wood family came down for the day and everyone had a super time together. The kids played hard and had a lot of fun.

So glad that there was only one more week of school. Now we can start taking advantage of the laid back summer schedule. I am hoping to get to the beach a lot this summer. So thankful to have this place to getaway to and make memories with our family.

O Canada

Earlier this month, we made a quick 5 day/4 night trip to Canada to celebrate Nana's 95th birthday! Our flight out of town left at 5:45 AM(!) I know, I know....but the tickets were cheaper and when you have to buy 4 (one day, 5!!), you opt for cheapest.  This meant we were out the door by 4 a.m. The big boys were so excited, they didn't care. Jonah went along with it, though he did seem a little dazed and confused.

Jonah's first plane ride and lollipop. He was a fan.

All three boys were total rockstars on the two flights. Jonah sat on my lap and had some minor squeals, but no major screaming fits or tantrums. I was hoping he would sleep, but no dice. Sigh.

We landed in Buffalo and were in our rental car heading north by 10:40 a.m. (The upside of an early flight!!) First stop, Toronto!

We checked into the hotel, the big boys took a 45 minute catnap (again....nothing for Jonah. BIG sigh....though he did nap for a little less than an hour on our drive, so there's that. Ha.) (And just as a comparison, the boy naps 3-4 hours in the mornings and another 1 1/2-2 in the afternoons on a normal day.) Aaaaannnnyways. We wanted to squeeze in all the fun we could while in the city, so we woke up Eli and Jude and headed for the newly opened aquarium. It was really awesome.

This is Eli crawling through a tube that runs through a tank of sharks. Jude tried to be brave...you can see his little head over on the left, but a second after I took this picture, Jude freaked, screamed, cried, and ran to the other side. Poor kid. 

Overall, the boys loved the aquarium, and we would have stayed longer if we didn't have a baseball game to get to. 

Thanks to Pap Pap, we had awesome seats for the Blue Jays game. Unfortunately, Jonah was pretty much done at this point. He was only happy if he was eating. He cried through the anthems. He cried (screamed?) through the first pitch. We tried to keep feeding him for as long as we could before he completely melted. 

Never got them both in focus. Oh well....

Jude was pretty wasted tired too. He was actually laying down in his seat. I asked him if he wanted to go back to the hotel and go to bed, and he, surprisingly, said YES. Ugh. So after an inning and a half, I headed back to our hotel with Jude and Jonah. They were asleep in no time. Daddy and Eli stayed for several more innings before Eli was ready to crash. It had been a very long day.

The next day, everyone was up relatively early. Our boys don't sleep amazing in hotels. It was a rough night all around. Thankfully there were trains to watch from our hotel window.

We walked to get breakfast and then loaded back up to head over to Oshawa to stay and visit with Brandon, Christine, and their precious baby girl, Reid. We had wonderful overnight visit. We always have so much fun with our family. Eli lost a tooth, and Jonah was a fan of the pasta.

And poor Jude was wiped out after all of the travel and a rough night's sleep.

Saturday was party day, so we headed over to Barrie to celebrate Nana. There we met up with the rest of our family. All 87 of them! Yup, it was quite the crew. Nana deserved it all. She is just amazing. We love her so very, very much. 

95 years young!!!

Sadly, this is the best we could do for a family pic with Nana.

As always, the boys have an amazing time playing with their cousins. From wrestling to races. Piggy back rides to cake-eating contests. Cousins make the best playmates.

And the babies really enjoyed being around each other too, but by the time we tried to get a picture of them, they weren't having it.  (Correction: Jonah wasn't having it.)

Sunday was getaway day for the Canadians. They all had to drive back to their respective homes, but thankfully we got to spend a little more time with them before they left. 

You can't tell from here, but Eli and Reid had matching grills...Eli has lost his front teeth and they are coming in, and Reid is getting her first set. Love them!

From there, we headed to Niagara Falls. No pictures to share, but the boys rode a GINORMOUS ferris wheel from which you could see the falls. We had plans to head down to the falls after dinner, but the boys were toast. 

Traveling is exhausting!

We tried again the next morning but struck out with parking, so we headed for the border. We got to the Buffalo airport in plenty of time and had relatively uneventful flights home. (A couple of minor delays, but nothing catastrophic.)

Family time is priceless. So glad we were able to see our Canadian crew and celebrate with Nana. It was perfect (minus the constant moving from place to place...we never slept anywhere for more than one night...and minus the fact that it was such a quick trip and short visit.) Already thinking about the next time we get to be with everyone. 

Doodle Bug is Growing Up

Jude, our little Doodle Bug, is really growing up on us. He says the sweetest and funniest and silliest things lately. He is putting together some wacky phrases and making up all kinds of stories....just to get a word in on his brother's conversations. Hilarious (...though sometimes a little bit annoying...)

His hand-eye coordination is also improving daily. Jude is writing, drawing, and doing puzzles like a pro.  He especially likes to write his name or draw monsters. He also likes to draw people or faces. He is quite good at puzzles and isn't afraid to tackle a big one...with a little encouragement. 

Eli making the same face HERE

Jude is getting really strong too. He wrapped up another session of gymnastics last week. Originally, the trampoline and climbing the ladder were his favorites, but now he loves the beam and the rings. He loves to do "L" sits on the rings....abs of steel!!! Wow! 

Jude is almost 3 1/2...and definitely not a Baby Dude anymore....a Doodle Bug instead. 

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In other fun and exciting news: Eli is cast free!! Woohoo! A day or two shy of 8 weeks, and his foot finally healed enough to get the cast/boot off. He was definitely excited; feeling footloose and fancy free. 

He still has some residual pain and the muscles in his ankle and leg have been sore after so many weeks of not being used. Matt and I are going to start doing some little PT exercises with him as he still limps pretty badly. But overall, this is a major relief and super exciting.