Summer...so far...

Baseball is over. We're sad about it, but I have to admit, it'll be nice to have our evenings free again (until next season).
We were so lucky to have Coach Wayne. Our boys learned so much about baseball from him. Noah will stay on the coach pitch/t-ball team again next year, but Clayton has to move up to machine pitch. I think he's ready!

Posing with their medals for completing the season. Josie had to sneak into a picture too. Since she made it through the season with us, I figured I'd include it!The other day, Justin decided to take the boys to see Cars 2. First, they needed to hit Wal Mart to get a new tire for Clayton's bike (it'd been flat for a few days, causing much sadness). Shortly after they left, they came home. I was confused because I knew the movie wasn't that short. Yeah, instead of the movie, Justin got a new tire for Clayton's bike AND a brand new bike for Noah! They celebrated by going for ice cream and then coming home to ride bikes. I think it ended up being a WAY better idea than going to a movie (the weather was so perfect)!Check out that grin! Justin said that when Noah saw this bike, his eyes became huge and Justin just knew that Noah needed that bike (what a good dad)!Clayton said, "Yay! I'm back on the road!"Justin has been teaching Clayton a few bike tricks. Here he is teaching Clayton to bunny hop. My favorite part is that he teaches Clayton using Clayton's bike.The best part of this picture is Clayton in the background. He's actually a really good bike-rider, but you'd never know it based on this picture!Justin explaining how to bunny hop. Clayton hasn't mastered it yet, but he learned the 'wheelies' so I think bunny hops are coming soon. Cute Pootie.After watching the boys ride for a while, Justin got jealous and got his bike out. The boys LOVED having him ride with them!Of course this little lady needed to ride her 'bike' too!
Shortly after seeing Justin get his bike out, I wanted to ride mine too! So we decided to hit the road for a family ride. Josie loved being in the bike trailer and it was a good time to be out on the road with the boys!Today was gorgeous! Sun was shining, weather was hot, perfect day for the beach! So we headed out with a few of our friends. It was a great time. The kids loved it! Josie was a little weary of getting in the water, but she was having the time of her life digging in the sand!Clayton and Noah were all about the water. After nearly four hours at the beach I had a difficult time pulling them away. (Side note: how handsome is Clayton?? Seriously, I'm loving this picture!)The boys decided to dig a huge hole. I fully support this. Especially because my boys LOVE to dig but digging in our backyard is not an option.They were being quite industrious and this took up a good chunk of their beach time!Clayton showing off their hole. I'm loving the pose!Another cutie Pootie shot!And Josie just kept on digging......and digging!She did take a break to play a little beach baseball with her friend. It was very cute and very short-lived.The beach was a great time. It was the first time we've been since we moved to Indiana, but I know that we have many more beach trips in our immediate future. Especially because the result is three VERY worn out kids (Josie didn't even make it out of the park before she crashed)!

As you can see, our summer is off to a great start! My kids wake up every morning asking what our plans are for the day. It's a little frustrating trying to keep them busy and entertained all day every day, but I think we're doing pretty well so far!

This Kid...

...makes me smile every day. In exactly one month, he's going to be seven. Weird. I know I'll do a special post about him around his birthday (perhaps even more than one), but I've been thinking about him a lot and all the growing up he's done lately and thought I'd share:
1. His clothes. He definitely has a sense of style all his own (as evidence by his sweet attire in these pictures). We've been talking about matching, but in his mind, if he likes a pair of shorts and a shirt, that should mean they go together. End of discussion. Good thing he goes to a school that requires uniforms. He's also taken to sleeping in nothing but his underwear. I don't know why, but for some reason this seems like such a teenage thing to do. I feel like he's too young to want to sleep in just underwear, but that's what he does almost every night.
2. He's a chef. Or, he thinks he is (and I'm not going to argue). Lately, he's learned how to 'make breakfast'. When he and Noah get up in the morning (and now that school's out, they wake up together almost every morning), they sneak downstairs and Clayton 'makes' them both a bowl of cereal. Oh, he's so proud of this. He tries to act all modest, but I can tell that he thinks he's pretty awesome for figuring this out. You know what? I think he's awesome for figuring it out too!
3. He's so kind to everyone. He's one of those special kids who accepts everyone for who they are and will play with anyone regardless of their gender, race, disability, age, etc. I never have to ask him to include a new kid or befriend someone who might be a little different, because he does that on his own. I get a little sad sometimes because he's getting to an age where a lot of his peers are starting to be clicky and exclusive. Not Clayton. Sometimes other kids exclude him from things that they are doing and he genuinely doesn't understand why one person would exclude another. It breaks my heart to see my tenderhearted little boy feel so sad and confused by this. However, I hope he stays this way, it's one of my very favorite traits of his.
4. Best. Big Brother. Ever! He wrestles with Noah, reads to Josie, and keeps asking me to tell him what he can do to help with Samphiezzie when she comes. I know it's hard on him sometimes because he's the oldest. He can do things Noah and Josie can't do for themselves so I expect him to help out a lot, but for the most part, he does it without complaining. I know he loves his siblings and also genuinely likes being around them (most of the time).
5. Geography. Man alive, he's one smart cookie. Clayton goes through phases where he'll find something that interests him and learn all he can learn about it. It's almost a little obsessive because it seems to consume him, but that's just who he is. When he was really little, it was letters and sounds. Then numbers and counting. Then it was makes and models of cars. Then it was planets. Now it's U.S. Geography. This is a kid who knows his states. He can tell you what state is located where, most of the capitols, which states border each other, etc. He even has Noah learning it too (which Noah can't help but do because it's all Clayton talks about). They play games where they assign each other a state to 'be' and then run around the house. Not sure what the point of that game is, but they love it! (Although they made the babysitter play it with them a few nights ago and it may have confused her a bit.) I need to get that kid a big map for his bedroom wall. It'd make his day!
6. He's trying. This is one of the biggest changes I've noticed in Clayton this year. He has always been a perfectionist. Sometimes it's a good thing, but when he doesn't get something right the first time, he gets really down on himself and wants to quit. The past few months though, he's been trying things over and over again. He learned how to ride a two wheeler (which was very hard for him to attempt because he is also a kid who is constantly assessing the risks), he's learning to swim (slowly but surely), and he's making great strides as a baseball player. Last year, he wouldn't do any of those things (we know because we tried them all). He's trying to take the word 'can't' out of his vocabulary. It's so rewarding to watch him work hard and accomplish his goals!
7. His tastes are maturing. From the books he reads to the shows he watches to the games he plays, he's starting to distance himself from the 'preschool' world and integrate himself more in the 'man' world. He asks me almost every day to check the Cubs scores online and likes to watch them play on TV. He started reading 'The Magic Treehouse' series and loves it, he's also started asking to play games like scrabble, Blokus, etc. It's so fun for me because these (mostly) are things I enjoy as well, so we can genuinely enjoy them together (not that I don't absolutely LOVE Dora and all things Dora-related...). So fun!
I adore this kid. I have a friend who describes him as the "happiest kid ever" and I think that's a pretty good description. We have our challenging times, he and I, but when I look at him I can't believe I get to be his mom. I am so blessed that he's my firstborn, my son, my buddy. I love the little person he's becoming.

It's time for...

A big girl bed! I've procrastinated as long as I dare. Justin and I had been talking about moving Josie into a big girl bed for some time now (especially because we will be needing the crib here in a few months), but I hemmed and hawed because I just wasn't ready. I love having Josie trapped in the crib. She's safe, she's comfortable, she can't escape, and (let's face it) it keeps her a baby that much longer. I did want to give her ample time to adjust to her new bed situation though, before baby arrived - let's only give the girl one major life change at a time. I hope two months is enough time for her to adjust. Although, let's face it, how cute is this little bed:
Neither of the boys used toddler beds. Clayton's first 'big boy' bed was a twin mattress on the floor and Noah was just thrown into the deep end of the pool - the bottom bunk of the bunk bed. When Justin and I were talking about a bed for Josie though, we thought a toddler bed would be the way to go. 1) they're cheaper. 2) They're closer to the ground and have the built in railing - a.k.a. - safer. 3) We would be able to use it again for Samphiezzie (it's what we're calling Quatro now). I think it's adorable and I found some bedding that I absolutely love, so (even though I had all sorts of reservations about doing this) I was ready!
Josie saw me setting it up today but I didn't let her see the finished product until after her bath tonight. Can you tell what she thought about it?
Oh how she loved it. She loved everything about it. She loved sitting on it, looking under it, touching the different fabrics, reclining on the pillows, etc. She was so happy to be in that bed...until I left and turned off the light. Then came the tears. Apparently my baby likes change about as much as I do. She cried for some time. Neither Justin nor I could console her. So, we did what we always do with our babies when we're sleep training - we let her cry it out. When we went to check on her a few hours later she was sound asleep in the corner with her face pressed against the rails. I wanted to take a picture because it was pretty cute and a little pathetic, but I was afraid the flash would wake her.
All told it only took her about an hour or so to calm down and fall asleep, but for a girl who usually puts up no fuss or fight at bedtime, this was quite a struggle. I'm hoping that she'll adjust quickly once she figures out what's going on. I'm also nervous about what's going to happen at naptime. Fingers crossed she'll still take a nap now that she's not trapped by bars. It actually wasn't as bad as I'd been anticipating, getting her to bed tonight, but my little girl just took one more step away from baby-hood and I'm a little sad about that.

**Side note: the crib is still in her room. We're going to move it out tomorrow and keep it out while we let her adjust to just her bed, but we're actually not 100% sure yet where Samphiezzie is going to sleep so the crib may just end up back there in a few months. Who knows??**

Lucky

"Clayton, will you please read to Josie while I make dinner?"
I love moments like this. I'm a lucky momma!

The Dolphin Video!

I know you've all been waiting. Here it is!

Viva Mexico (numero dos)!

I know I keep saying it, but I loved Mexico! It was so relaxing and fun. The second half of our vacation was just as wonderful as the first. I didn't take as many pictures toward the end of the trip, but there are still a few gems.
The whole reason we went to Mexico in the first place was for Justin to attend a medical conference (well, that was our excuse anyway). He had to attend the conference (almost) every morning from 8ish until noon-ish (can you tell that it was super strict??). Poor me, what was I supposed to do in Mexico without my husband!?! Oh yeah, this:
While we did our best to stay off the hotel strip most of the time, we decided that spending one night exploring it would be fun. We were right, it was.
We ate dinner at a place that was apparently known for its chocolate (although right now its name escapes me). As with every place we ate while we were there, it was super yummy. This was our dessert. Hello chocolate fountain!
Don't we look authentic?

On Saturday (our last full day in Mexico) we went to visit Chichen Itza. Chichen Itza are the ancient ruins. The trip began with a trip to a sinkhole. We went swimming in the sinkhole. It was beautiful and very, very cold (which worked out well since it was brutally hot outside).
After the sinkhole, we ate lunch at a local restraunt. Then on to the ruins. I don't know how the ancient people lived there. It was extremely hot and our tour guide said that it was far from water and that things didn't grow well there. I'm not sure how a whole civilization could have lived there!
I took so many pictures because it looked so surreal to me. Seriously, doesn't this sky look fake!?!
This is a sports arena where the warriors played a basketball-like game where they had to get the ball through incredibly high hoops using anything but their hands, feet, or heads. The lucky winner was beheaded (you'd kinda want to loose, right?). Apparently being sacrificed was an honor.
This is kind of hard to see but it's stone carvings of the winner getting beheaded (or an eagle, I can't quite see, but I think it's the beheading).
It was so unbelievably hot. I felt so bad for Justin carrying that backpack around (it was pretty heavy with all the water we'd packed, extra clothes, shoes, towels, etc.) I am not too much of a history buff, so I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about Chichen Itza, but it was pretty awesome. I found myself wishing we could go inside the pyramids (which apparently you could do until about four years ago when some disobedient tourists descended the stairs the wrong way and died).
They uncovered what appeared to be the start of another pyramid. **Side note: If you ever go to Mexico and decide to visit Chichen Itza, wait until you get there to buy souveniers. The market at Chichen Itza was soooooo much cheaper than the markets in town!**
This is one of my favorite pictures because it doesn't look real. It looks more like a painting or a drawing or something. I love it!
They had these underground tunnels that lead to sinkholes like the ones we swam in earlier that day. This particular tunnel had been closed off, but we liked it in there because it was so much cooler than it was outside. (Right after this picture was taken we treated ourselves to some overpriced Mango popsicles. Worth. Every. Penny.)
That was the last picture I took of our Mexico trip. When we returned from Chichen Itza, it was late, we were tired, and we had to wake up at 4a.m. to catch our flight home. Our flight home was a little bit of a fiasco, but thanks to some genius moves by Ricky we were able to make it home on time. I need to say thanks one more time to my parents. My kids had a great week. They were happy to see us, but it was tainted by the fact that Grammy and Grandpa were gone.

It was the best vacation I've ever taken. It was just long enough that I never felt rushed, I didn't feel like I needed a vacation to recover from my vacation, and I came home with a tan (a weird tan - I have a white handprint on one of my legs - but a tan nonetheless). It was just enough time to miss my kids without wishing that I was back with them - no pining or crying! It was the perfect getaway for me and Justin. While we know it's unreasonable for us to vacation like this every year, we are already looking forward to our next kid-free vacation (one where I WON'T be pregnant)! I'm so glad I got to spend that time with Justin. This year has been so hectic that it was wonderful to get away just the two of us. Especially over our anniversary!

**If you're sad that this concludes posts of our vacation pictures, take heart, the dolphin video is right around the corner!**