IMAGINATION

I just love witnessing JP's imagination evolve. He's quite the social little boy yet he plays really well by himself. He would play all day at his Lego table if I let him. He lines up his little hot wheels in perfect fashion and gets really upset if I try to move them out of order. I hear him "build gawage" for the cars so each one can "park wright there." His cars go through pretend car washes and fill up on gas countless times each day. Lately I've listened to him have conversations between the cars; it's adorable.

Without toys around, JP's imagination still rolls along. He's really into pretend "cookies" and hot "coffee" ... JP bakes and serves me these cookies all day! Good thing these pretend cookies are calorie free or I'd be a blimp! He loves when I pretend to take a nap. Sometimes we play the air guitar. I can't wait for AA to get to this stage ... I hope the two will play well together! My imagination is getting, well, old.

RING BEARER

My baby brother was married this weekend, and my baby boy was the ring bearer.
(I'm hoping that others captured this beautiful day with photos better than I did ... between my bridesmaid and mother duties, I only snapped a few!)

JP finally wore his new suit ... he's been asking (no, crying) for it since I had him try it on a month ago! He knew he looked cute!

And so did AA!

Grandma S and Grandpa J were a tremendous help with the kids all day and night!

Little AA was all smiles ... until a stranger tried to hold her!

I definitely stressed way too much about this day for the last year! I was so happy for JP to be part of the wedding party ... but I was quite anxious about his behavior. Having a two year old without a nap in a church full of quiet people ... this just seemed like the perfect ingredients for a full fledged disaster.

Just before it was my turn to step into the church and walk down the aisle, I heard JP wail "NO DADDY!" My heart sank; there was nothing I could do. As I reached the altar with my partner, I turned around and saw JP walking hand in hand with one of the flower girls. He was smiling so big ... he pointed up at the big cross and then pointed to the handsome groom and shouted "Uncle Jake!" He gave Uncle J a high five and then went to sit with A for the rest of the service. Quietly. Praise be to God!

I later asked A how he changed JP's attitude in ten seconds flat. Apparently it involved a stern look and a bribe with candy. (Hopefully this same tactic will work for Uncle M's wedding in a few months!)

JP, once again, brought his awesome moves to the dance floor.

The live band was very entertaining.

Well, maybe not as much as the little kids!

I asked JP who we should God Bless tonight. His answer: "Uncle Jake and Uncle Katie!"

I smiled, and blessed them too.

ON THE GO

For the last few weeks, my baby is on the go. At just six months of age, she was a full fledged crawler. Now that she's a whopping seven months, she's more into working on her fitness!

She starts the mornings with stretches: planks:
and sprints!

It's absolutely amazing how much she advances in just a few days! I've seen her standing in her crib countless times. AA definitely is putting all of her energy into her physical advances; she hasn't uttered anything but babbles yet! I guess keeping up with her big brother is more important (and necessary!) than actually talking with him!

TRACTORS AND LAKESHORES

Summer is here! We enjoyed our quick weekend up north visiting grandparents. JP rode "Grandpa Jerry's twack-tor" while AA soaked in the attention.
The kids had their first summer lake experience with Grandpa T.

JP even kayaked close to shore.

(We left the lake for our 3+ hour drive home around 7 pm thinking the kids would fall quickly asleep from the busy weekend activities. WRONG. JP blabbed the ENTIRE way home, eventually waking his sister. Let's just say it wasn't pretty! I really wish we lived closer to our family after long car rides like that!)

ZOO

We began our ten day stay-cation with a trip to the local zoo. JP was thrilled to wear his (two-sizes-too-small) sunglasses and AA was just happy to get in on the action. JP howled with the wolves
while AA watched intently.

JP made new friends

(and I disinfected his hands about ten times afterwards!)

We're looking forward to more family time in the coming days!

HAPPY 4TH!

We carried on my childhood tradition
by attending the 4th of July pool party at my aunt's.

JP quickly fell in love with swimming

(I'm certain it was all of the practice in our ghetto pool!)

When he wasn't swimming, JP was sneaking watermelon off of the food table!

And lil' AA had some fun in the sun too!

(although I tried to keep her in the shade for most of the day).

No fireworks yet!

BLASTOFF!

Yesterday was the annual Rockets Competition hosted by one of my coworkers. I must admit, I used to think this big day was a little hokey ... but it's growing on me! Last year was the first time we (ahem, A) built a rocket and entered the competition. Most of the entries are adults (30+); we didn't win. JP was excited to hold his rocket last year, but that was about all. What a difference one year makes! JP was beyond thrilled to watch the rockets launch.

He actually cried the first few times he saw the rocket fall back to the ground ... "Mamma, rockets crash!" ... until we explained this was meant to be.

He didn't get the idea to run and try to catch the rockets ... but I'm guessing that will be next year!