My two favorite pictures

Both of these are from Lydia's Birthday party, but I just LOVED them so much, I wanted to put them in their own special post. I feel so blessed to have such loving, beautiful, and smart kids! Love you both!

Easter!

Since we had Lydia's party the day before, we felt like we already celebrated Easter, so we weren't too disappointed that Michael had to work that day.

In the morning the kids had breakfast and then hunted for their baskets. They had a great time opening and looking through their gifts and candy. The first thing that Eli and Lydia both did was stick all the stickers all over themselves.

The rest of the day was just relaxation/recuperation from the party. Then in the afternoon we went over to Lydia's friends house Amelia and let the kids run in the back yard.

It was a good day, but Michael was definitely missed.

Happy Birthday LYDIA!

Wow, everyone always said they would grow up fast, but wow. I really didn't think it would happen this fast. It seems like just yesterday Michael and I were strolling down the streets of Paris, with Lydia in my tummy, and now she's 3 years old. She is such a blessing of a child. She is so intelligent, she has mastered every single child lock in the house, can count to 27, talks up a storm, and is a beautiful dancer/singer. She is a great big sister and loves to take care of Eli. To celebrate her Birthday we had a party that turned out way bigger than expected, but I am so glad it did.

I think I made the mistake of telling Lydia that she was getting a party because the night before, when I was trying to finish cleaning the house for the party, she was bouncing off the walls. I finally managed to get her to bed at 9:30 that night, only to be awoken by her at 6:30. She of politely asked if today was her party and I said yes, go back to bed, she squealed so loud, I think she woke all the neighbor hood dogs. Her enthusiasm was infectious and I couldn't help but drag myself out of bed to get her ready to get her breakfast so she could go get her Elmo cake. Granted the theme of her party was Mickey... the only thing she wanted on her cake was Elmo.

Either way Lydia has such a great time at the party and I think everyone else did too. Thanks everyone who came, and those who weren't able to, we missed you dearly!

Imagination runs wild

Lydia has really gotten into imaginative play. When I came downstairs, I saw this. I frantically ran to get my camera, it was so cute! She put her shoes on all of Eli's dinosaur's. Lydia is really becoming such a neat person and Michael and I both adore her personality. She is so loving, but at the same time very strong willed and an individual thinker. She's such a little sponge, sometime I don't know where she gets the things that come out of her mouth. Hopefully soon everyone will be able to understand her, as I am still mostly her interpreter still.

Aunt Tatey FINALLY comes for a visit

Not more need to say except, as you can tell, Eli was so excited to see her (along with Lydia). Lydia spoke to Courtney the night before and unveiled her plans which consisted of "making a mess and not listening to momma". Oh boy, I think I have my hands full with that one.

Michaels new truck

As many of you know, Michael has been working very hard on his Jeep CJ5. Michael is a lover of all things old... well, at least when it comes to vehicles. Once he got his jeep to where he liked it we made a gruesome discovery. He was too tall for the vehicle to drive it safely. If he had an accident, it would have been the end of him, since his head would end up wrapped around the roll bar. Wish we had made this realization prior to purchasing it, but, you live you learn.

So we sold the jeep and Michael had it narrowed down to two differnt vehicles that he was looking for. Now, try not to laugh when I tell you them. It was between a Dodge diesel pick-up (early 2000's model), or a Lincoln Continental (pffff, ok, even I laughed at that). OF course the Continental was the old one... I think 68? The one with the suicide doors. All I could think of a pimped out, lowered, getto car... Michael assured me no. (verdict still out)

So... Michael made his choice! Boy was I surprised when I woke up in the morning and looked out my window and saw what he bought. Keep in mind the criteria we had set for his vehicle. 1. Had to be dependable. 2. Had to have a back seat so he could start taking the kids places, or pick up Lydia from dance class or whatever... it had to be more family friendly. 3. LITTLE to no work needed. 4. He had to be happy with his choice, because I was tired of selling cars. (Seriously, I feel like a used car sales man, since! Since Michael isn't the most computer literate, it's me that has to post the ads, manage the email, take the pictures, you name it, when it comes to selling the vehicles.) Other than that, he has free reign to choose what he liked.

Now for the unveiling!
Yes, my eyes are rolling so far in the back of my head I may never see again! He got a 1968 Jeep Kaiser (M315?). Michael informed me its an old Military vehicle. Someone help me! Michael assures me that it will run like a dream... you all may have picked up on the future tense... that's right, it doesn't run! So we haven't met the "dependable" part yet, I also noted that there is no back seat, there goes criteria number 2, number 3 was little to no work... a non working vehicle does not fit in that category.


But Eli, Lydia, and Michael all love it, so I am going to try and get on board. Oh, and Michael says he can add a bench seat...

Dance Class

In an attempt to get Lydia more socialization, and myself. We have added dance class to our weekly commitments. Lydia LOVES it. Really, when we get home from dance class on Tuesday night, we have to start the count down to her next class. She has been going now for about a month and I have seen such change in her. Every morning we have to turn on music so she and Eli can dance. Eli is not always a willing participant, but tolerates Lydia grabbing his hands and making him dance with her. (So cute it hurts to watch!). With her class, parents aren't permitted to go back to the classroom so we all cram into a room to watch out dots dance around the room. Most of the time we try to see if we can figure out which one is ours. Since everyone has to wear the same leotard, shoes, and have their hair pulled back... the only way to distinguish which is Lydia is to add a HUGE bow (that can be distinguished on the TV), leggings, or a tutu.
This is Lydia's first dance class and she's the one right in the middle with black pants. (This was before she got her leotard)