Big Milestone

I could just pee my own pants because that lunch box is so cute. And it will go down in the books as Naomi's first one of many to come!Yep, today was a big one - Naomi went to "Mother's Day Out" for the first time. She will now be leaving me for a whole 4.5hrs two days a week for the coming school year. With grad school clinicals creeping up on me in the Spring, I've known this would be best to start exposing her to a new environment and other babies! She did wonderfully and clearly tuckered herself out! BEFORE: AFTER: And that "after" shot is technically a "before" shot too, because it was taken BEFORE I had even pulled out of our parking spot after I picked her up! She was so tired her little eyes were red and swollen when I arrived at her room. You'd have thought she had pulled an all-nighter! Bless her. And no pics of the school or teachers because the sweet, but screaming, separation anxiety-laden other children in the morning didn't exactly create the greatest photo op. We'll get one next week. Here's to all things new with a side dish of first-time parent emotion! :)

Tuesday.

Sipping on some milk...

Enjoying some Elmo lovin'... A little balancing act...And showing off the growing locks...

All in a Tuesday's hard work!

Weekend FUN

My youngest brother is a Freshman this year at college and this last weekend was for dropping him off at school. We were so happy to just be three hours away to be able to make the drive and join the fun. I wasn't that great at taking pics of pertinent material - ie., his dorm room, the campus, etc. But between all the cameras present, I'm sure the right pictures are out there somewhere.Kate Gosselin would cringe. She wouldn't even let her kids walk on hotel carpet barefoot, and here's my bare-bummied baby having a ball.Alright. A bath followed. A big hit toward the end of the trip was Pinky the Pig, a Cracker Barrel find. Little did we know it was one of those toys you would wish on your worst enemy. The noise that thing makes would make many people uncontrollably twitch. Video to come soon. Too bad Naomi loves it. Loves. Twitch. It. Twitch.Men in black.Drew and Julz joined us for a bit of Friday, so the sweet girls got to chill and get some good stroller time in together. Two of the best, easiest-going babies I know!This is the way the lady rides... gallopy gallopy trot!So proud of you, Will! Can't wait to watch you experience the next four years!!You did it, Mom and Dad! You successfully launched four grown children out of the nest! It might be a bittersweet transition, but we're praying for you that the pauses to process the bitter will be stormed in by the floods of SWEET the Lord has in store for you both!

Summer Days Leaving Fast...

Here are some random pics sent to me from our trip to Indiana. Silly faces and swimming!

Pizza Pizza

Sweet baby Nay likes pizza. We weren't sure after the fourth "first" piece that she put in her mouth and spit right back out. As you can see, Kona was hanging around for the goods to drop. We've actually started having to chain the dog up during the baby's meals because they've got their little alliance formed. Naomi loooves to feed Kona.Nay figured out that she liked the pizza eventually, and she's had leftovers at one other meal. That time, the tray was wiped clean... and not by the dog. :) Sweet, beautiful face.And today she discovered the kitchen curtains. Not such a great pic, but the activity was so cute. She kept wrapping herself up in them and playing peek-a-boo. She is seeming so much more interactive in a purposeful way these days. We are so grateful to watch her grow and learn - what a gift. "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows..." -James 1:17Oh and side note. In addition to the curtains, we discovered that our daughter is a fan of the Lawrence Welk Show. Lol. It randomly came on after some Saturday television movie and she sat there for the longest time, watching all of those fabulous people in bright polyester, singing and dancing their hearts out. We got that moment on home video for sure. And I DVR'd the program. Gotta start mixing something new in with Elmo!

AWESOME Belated Birthday Present!

Don't you love getting delayed presents? I remember getting a wedding present almost a year late, and although the giver apologized, I loved it! Spreads out the joy and is even more of a surprise! Well, Naomi had one of those great days - G-ma and Gpa Y sent one of the greatest birthday presents ever!!! Excuse the LOAD of photos. It was just too cute to watch her discover what was in that big box... She stared at the paper forever - pictures of characters she knows well!In fact, they could have stopped with the wrapping! She was quite into it!But then we wouldn't have gotten to enjoy this..."Is that what I think it could be?!No way!Dad, is this for real?"Yep, her first Elmo doll!And books to go with it!If these pictures don't say it all, I don't know what would!Here's some live footage taken after that initial excitement had waned... I'm so bad about having the video camera out on time. Still sweet though. Thank you for the great gift, B&J!!!

One-Year Photos!!!

If you don't have a friend who's a photographer, you should try and find one! Ha... My great friend Sarah took some pics of Naomi at a peach orchard and grape vineyard today that we're calling her one-year photo shoot. :) These are unedited (I'll post a few finished ones when I get them!) and some are informal shots, obviously, of the three of us. Thank you, Sarah - what a blessing you are to us!