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Happy birthday, Lydia! Our baby girl is one year old! She turned 1 on May 8, and we celebrated with a party at our new house last Saturday, May 10. We had a much bigger party than I think we will normally have for the kids' birthdays, but we also wanted an excuse to have a housewarming party. We had family from all sides, and the weather cooperated with a beautiful day! Not too hot, not too cold, no wind or humidity. It was perfect. We learned that our patio can hold a lot more people than we thought--which means we need to buy some more chairs! Thank you everyone for making our first party in our home such a success!
Lydia was the star of the day. She was happy and smiley the whole day, which was a nice treat. She has had her good and bad days lately because of ear and teeth pain. She's had an ear infection for several months straight now, and we have her scheduled to get tubes next week. We thought she might also be working on some teeth, and her first check-up at the dentist yesterday confirmed it. She's working on six teeth at once right now--her four molars and one each on the top and bottom in front. Poor baby! It makes her fussiness easier to understand.
But anyway, back to the party. It was perfect and both kids were rock stars. Lydia got a new swing to hang from the pergola over the patio, and she loved it. It even has a tray so she can eat while she swings.
By the time we put Lydia in her high chair for a cupcake, she was about out. Her eyes were closing as she drank her bottle right before we gave her the cupcake. When we first put it in front of her, she had this look on her face like, "Now what are you making me do?" She just put a finger in the frosting for her first few bites, and then you could almost see it click in her head that this was really good and she better wake up. Then the bites of frosting got bigger and bigger, and finally she picked up the cupcake and took a big bite! It was pretty fun to watch the gears turn inside her head.
By the time she was done with her cupcake, we figured she didn't have enough energy to open her presents, and Jack was more than happy to do the honors for her! He was a little bored with the cute clothes she got, but he was very polite and thanked everyone on her behalf.
All in all, it was a fantastic evening, and we are so happy to be back home to enjoy more celebrations like this in the coming years.
Also, here are a few bathtub pics I took a few weeks ago. We gave the kids baths in the afternoon that day, and the skylight in the bathroom makes for some great natural light.
We had a wonderful Easter a couple of weeks ago, with beautiful spring-like weather and lots of family. We started the holiday earlier in the week by dyeing hard-boiled eggs.
On Sunday we got all dolled up for church and then took the first family pictures at our new house.
We have a tree in the backyard that is perfect for Jack to sit in for pictures. We see many more pictures of the kids in that tree as they grow older and bigger. For now, though, we need an extra pair of hands to hold Lydia up next to Jack.
After pictures, we changed into comfy clothes and went to Grandma Sophie and Grandpa John's for brunch. Lydia and Grandma Janet had fun pretending to be the Easter bunny.
We have a 4-year-old! (Well, we've had a 4-year-old for six weeks now, but who's counting?) Our big guy celebrated his 4th birthday on March 1. Unfortunately we were not at Disneyland or on the beach for this birthday, but Jack did get to celebrate with all four grandparents at the same time--which is something he had never done. We went to an indoor pool in the morning, played with Teagan all day, and had pizza and cake for dinner. Jack got his first set of real golf clubs, complete with bag and shoulder straps. He hasn't had a chance to practice outside much yet, but we are hoping to get him some lessons this summer so he starts to learn how to swing a club.
Jack at 4 is a delight. Now that we're in our new house (yay!), he has settled down and seems to be more like himself. He is re-discovering all of his toys that have been in storage for the last few months, and he can play by himself most of the time. Sometimes he likes to share with Lydia and let her push buttons on his fire truck or play with the ball he's using, and other times he wants his own space. He still dotes on her--his first question when he comes out of his room in the morning is almost always, "Where's Lydia?" He is becoming more and more independent with dressing himself, bathing himself, and eating. As Lydia moves around and is no longer much of an infant, it is helpful when Jack can get himself dressed. He has been very into books lately, and I hope we can keep that going. When we sit down to read books before bedtime, he wants to "read" them to us first. At school, they have apparently been reading some Shel Silverstein because tonight when he "read" me a book, this is the story he told:
(Shel Silverstein fans might recognize this as "Sick." Here's a link to the full poem: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16480).
Jack told me last night that he loves his new school, and he told me this morning that our new house feels like our house in Colorado. When I asked him if that meant he thought that our new house was cozy and comfortable, he agreed. After all that he's been through in the last year (new baby sister, moving, two new schools, living with Grandma and Grandpa), he is thriving. We are so proud of him!
In February we had our sweet Lydia baptized by Father Ed Fitzpatrick at the Newman Center. He is the same priest that married us and baptized Jack, and we are so happy that he could do the same for Lydia. We asked Nile Eckermann, Nike's cousin, and Heidi Fincham, one of Jeff's longtime friends, to be the godparents. It was such a great experience. We cannot put into words what it meant to stand in front of so many family and friends while Father Ed asked them all to pray for us as we raise our children. We were looking at the "village" we have to support our family, and it was incredibly moving.
We knew when we moved back to Iowa from Denver that we would be wimps about the winter weather, but these last few months have been brutal! Even people who have lived in Iowa for years admitted that this was an especially bad winter. We are very, very glad the cold seems to be behind us. We spent January, February, and March trying to find things to do inside. We attended several Hawkeye basketball games and even got to take Jack to a few. He loved watching both the basketball players and Herky. And Lydia usually stayed home with Grandma Jane or Grandma Janet, who didn't seem to mind missing the basketball game to spend more time with this precious face.
In January we got a visit from Uncle Jimmy for a late Christmas celebration. He brought matching "California" shoes for Teagan, Jack, and himself. Now if we could only get back out to California to wear them on the beach together.
In February we spent a weekend away at Honey Creek Resort near Lake Rathbun. The main attraction in the winter is the indoor water park, and it was a perfect place to spend a couple nights. Jack had a blast, and Lydia loved the water too. She is already warming to it better than Jack did, so it will be fun to get her in the pool this summer as much as possible.
Thankfully the winter weather has almost left us, but here are a few pictures to bring back some holiday memories. We got to see all of our family and spend lots of time with each other too since neither of us was working!
