Whitewater

On Friday, we spent the day at Whitewater Park with some of our neighbors.  I am a huge fan of water parks.  I was like a kid at Christmas excited!  I jusst knew Elizabeth would love every second of it.  And she did.

Elizabeth, Nick, Sophie

 We got chairs near the kids area.  Caroline loved the sprinkle pad with slides and gadgets for her to pull and swing.  Elizabeth enjoyed the kid pool/playground because she could be completely independent.  She really loved the Treehouse.  It is huge, and she could climb all around and the only way down are big, swurvy slides.  Nick and Gabriella stuck like glue to her which made me feel good.  And I was not surprised that Elizabeth had no problem keeping up with the big kids.  They held her hand pretty much everywhere we went.  So sweet.

We didn't get any pictures, but fearless Elizabeth loved riding on the real rides too.  We went on two rides that you all sit in a big tube.  The first one went fast, splashed us a lot, and twirled us around.  E loved it.  We also did the one (I don't remember their names) that was basically the same as the first except that you go through pitch black tunnels and there are drops inside.  I thought she would be scared (because I sorta was), but she laughed and "whoo hooed" all the way down!  She also went on the race slide.  It's a really long and fast slide that you each ride on a mat and race each other.  She loved this one so much, she went twice.  My little thrill seeker!

Caroline stuck with daddy most of the time.

Nick, Elizabeth, Sophie, Brayden, Gabriella



having our picnic lunch

Making it through the Children's Message

Elizabeth has decided that she is too big for the nursery at church.  So we've been letting her go to children's church instead.  They're supposed to be 4, but we thought we'd give it a try anyway.  She loves children's church.  That's not the problem.  It's sitting in big church long enough to make it to children's church that proves to be challenging for her.

She loves to "sing to Jesus" and I love hearing her sweet voice sing along.  Then they call the kids up for their special message.  I love this part of our service.  I love seeing all the children run to the front of the santuary and sit around whoever is giving the message.  The kids always say and do the funniest things.  Let me just say, it's definitely much funnier when it's someone elses kid doing those things. 

Last week, in the middle of the children's message Elizabeth stood up and began loudly repeating over and over, "I have to go pee-pee!  I have to go pee-pee!"  I jumped up, grabbed her, and practically ran out of the santuary.  Thankfully, our friend Tim, who is a natural comedian, was giving the children's message.  He helped make light of the situation by making a joke and got the whole congregation laughing. 

This morning, she got a late start walking to the front.  As she made her way up the center isle, she looked around and decided she didn't want to sit in the back.  So she turned around (the message already starting) and ran back down the middle isle, around the back, and up the side isle.  And she's not what you would consider a quiet runner.  Then, she zig zagged her way through the crowd of kids until she plopped herself right down in the very front.  Right under Matt's (speaker giving the message) feet.  Again, the whole congregation was laughing because of my child!  I wanted to melt into my pew!

Now I know why 4 is the magic number for children's church!  We'll try again in 6 months.

Flashback Friday

Don Cesar  Resort at St. Pete's Beach  2010

More of the Same

Today was very much like what has become our typical summer day.  The only difference was we went to the pool in the morning, and the gym in the afternoon.  We gotta mix it up a little bit from time to time!



Elizabeth, Laney, Luke, Will



The girls really liked going to the gym in the afternoon better because they get to stay in the same area of the nursery.  If they get split up, both girls begin to melt down.   

I have to document this because it's the first time I have had my acrylic nails off since I don't even remeber when.  I decided it was time to give my real nails a chance.  It feels so weird.  I hope I can get use to it!

Catch Air

We took the girls to Catch Air today for them to play and burn off some energy before nap time.  When we got there Elizabeth said, "Is it my birthday?"  We had not told her where we were going and we usually only go for birthday parties.  But it sounded like we never take the poor girl out at all.  She had fun even though all of her friends weren't there (as she kept reminding me)!

15 Months Old

Happy 15 month birthday Caroline Lawson!  Your sweet, fun, and playful personality shows itself more and more everyday.  Watching you grow into the little person that you are is such a privilege.  Here's what you're up to at 15 months:

• You are 31.5 inches long- 85th percentile
• You weigh 23 lbs 3oz- 60th percentile

You wear mostly 24 month clothes and size 4 shoe.

You have 8 teeth plus your molars are coming in meaning you are one drooling machine.

• You are still a great eater, and not very picky.  But you will simply shake your head if you don't like something.  And when you finally do get full, you start dropping your food on the floor a little at a time.  It's hard to get mad at your sweet little face when you do it.

• You are finally starting to drop your morning nap.  I think taking just one nap a day will help you better transition back to school because that's what your schedule will be like there

• You have really found your voice this month.  You jabber all day long.  It's so cute because Elizabeth pretends that she can understand what you're saying.

• You don't say many words that we understand, but you do point, grunt, and babble A LOT!

• You are in desperate need of your first haircut, but I am putting it off because I know it will cut all of your adorable curls out.

• You love to play peek-a-boo and to give us huge, open-mouth, slobbery kisses.

• You are still the hugest mama's girl and I love it!

Here are your 5 month, 10 month, and 15 month pictures.  Wow, you are getting big so fast!

Here is a comparison of my two girls both at 15 months.

I love you sweet baby girl!

Our Weekend

Friday was Elizabeth's last day of Princess Camp.  While she was there having fun, I took that opportunity to soak up as much of my one-on-one time with Caroline as possible.  She spent a lot of that time eating!  This girl can put away some serious food!!

On Saturday it stopped raining just long enough for us to walk to the park.  It was hot and muggy, but the girls didn't seem to mind.

On Saturday night we had our end of the season softball cookout.  I didn't take any pictures, but the girls had a lot of fun playing with Noah and Luke (there are only 3 players with kids). 

After church, we ate lunch at a new Latin/Asian restaurant on the square called Taqueria Tsunami.  It was so yummy.  Then we let the girls play on the train playground.  We ran into some other church friends there too.  It makes Marietta feel so much more like home now that we run into friends whenever we're out.  It's something we definitely took for granted until we moved and started over.  Now I treasure that feeling.

Flashback Friday

Elizabeth Joy on July 22, 2009

Braves Game

The Braves had a day game today and we were there to cheer them on!  Our neighbors, the Begerows, joined us.  It made it so much more fun for the kids and adults!

Elizabeth and Luke ran the bases about a dozen times.  Watching their excitement throughout the game, made it even better for us.

Both girls did well the entire game.  Caroline started getting restless in the top of the 9th, and Elizabeth was acting pretty silly by then too.  We took it easy the rest of the afternoon, ate dinner at 4:30, and put the girls to bed at 7:00.  What a day!

So much to do, So little time

It's hit me.  That feeling that summer is almost over and I haven't done half of what I thought I would do.  From sewing projects to school work, I am starting to feel the anxiety build up in my veins!  Mostly, there are still things I want to do with my girls before we start back to school.  Our window of opportunity is getting smaller, but I'm determined to at least do all of things that mean quality time with my babies!

After Elizabeth's princess camp and ballet class yesterday, I put the girls in their swim suits and headed to the Splash Park in Roswell.  Unfortunately, it started raining as soon as we got there.  Our change of plans included stopping for TCBY yogurt.  The girls made a complete mess of it when we got home.  But they had so much fun making it!

Elizabeth has started "performing" for us.  She puts on one of her play costumes and just starts dancing.  I'm pretty sure this is not what Ms. Irene is teaching her in ballet class:)

Our Wednesday walking group climbed Kennesaw Mountain again.  It's actually getting a little easier!  We even carried on a converstation on the way up today!!  It was smack in the middle of Caroline's morning nap time so she was cranky until I put her in the stroller.  Then she was out! 

Reese, Tate, and Caroline are great work out buddies!

Sweet Sisters

 Caroline and Elizabeth are really starting to play together a lot.  Elizabeth loves to hug on Caroline, pick her up (against my directions not to), and tickle her.  It makes me so happy to watch them together.  I know they will not always get a long, but I pray they are truly best friends one day.  

Fun Times with Friends

We started our weekend on Thursday night with dinner at Seed with some friends.  We were having so much fun that we carried the party over to Marlow's Tavern!

On Saturday morning, we met one of Elizabeth's school friends at the park.  She hasn't seen Camille since May.  I just love how excited they were to see each other again!

We ended our weekend with some of our favorite friends, the Hills!  Elizabeth just wanted to love and kiss all over baby Reese who is probably the sweetest, easiest baby I've ever met.  Caroline didn't know what to think about all of the attention her big sis was giving to Reese.  But she did like all of her toys!

Maybe getting a little jealous?

The girls were in heaven in Melissa's sunroom.  It is a kid's paradise with toys and a big screen playing Nick Jr.  And we loved it too since the glass doors allowed us to see (but not hear) the girls during dinner.