Sun, Sand and So Much Fun...

Our first day at the beach was breezy, beautiful and bursting with memories...

Who knew Daddy's at the beach were so silly? :)

Jet and Jane tried out the sand.

Jet, like his first beach experience last summer, wasn't so sure at first.

And seemed to prefer his toes in the air rather than the sand.

But he warmed up to it.

And once he did he was off!

A familiar expression...

Is Jet is showing his approval of the beach...or demanding a snack....just in case it's the latter...

...a snack of juicy watermelon was perfectly sweet.

Like mother like daughter. :)

Jet again was a skeptic...

Is that a face of approval? lol.

It was a beautiful day.

Filled with sweet littles playing in the sand...

And crazy mommies...

with their own imitations of "kissing cousins"

Mommy pics...

And Daddy pics...

And Family pics...

And Baby pics...

Don't you wish you were in our shoes? :)

Sweet Hearts and Sweet Treats

We arrived in The Golden State and were greeted with hugs, kisses and a double stroller containing a red-headed beauty holding a Mickey Mouse balloon! And not just any Mickey Mouse balloon...this balloon lit up with a blinking color changing light! Jet was in heaven. And he and Jane took that balloon everywhere. They were two peas in a pod and got along so well!

Okay...so maybe Jet played a little shy at first.

But Jane soon won him over...and let him know who was in charge.

She loved him. And he loved her.

Prince and Princess Precious.

That night after dinner we enjoyed frozen sweetness in a cup!

I love anything you can individualize to your particular taste buds...and I love frozen yogurt.

The kiddos loved it too.

What a perfect evening after a day of traveling.

That Saturday we went on our first trip to the beach...

California Dreamin

Wow! I just looked back to see my last post was July 4th! Have you missed us? :) We have just returned from our 11 day summer vacation in sunny California. As with all good vacations it ended too quickly yet left us exhausted. And now I'm looking through pictures and remembering all the times we laughed, sang (if you've spent any time with a baby in the car you KNOW there was singing), cried, and yelled at the GPS. :)

We returned Tuesday, disheveled and jet-lagged (okay...pun intended...but really the poor baby handled it all really well until the flight home).

We loved our visit and felt sorry to leave, yet at the same time happy to be home. We had SO much going on the last 2 weeks and Jet had so many new experiences that I'm predicting quite a few "back-up blogs" before I can catch up to the present - so that being said I'd better get started!

It will be fun - like telling a story.

I only hope I can organize it all in my head! I'm telling you after going through over 1,000 (yes we took that many) pictures and deleting all the closed eyes, blurry babies, "yikes I look scary in that one" and "what was I trying to take a picture of?" pictures...I'm a little blurry headed - but we'll see if over the next few days I can't manage to make sense of our marvelous, magical experiences. :)

While I organize my thoughts (and keep a close eye on my daredevil of a 13 month old) here are a few pics from Jet's first flight to get this story started.

So...how do you keep a baby busy for 4 hours?

Read him a book.

And when that 5 minutes of contentment is up.

Give him a pair of sunglasses.

Yeah...that's more like it.

To be continued...

I hope the wait for the next post doesn't feel as long as the plane ride home...lol.

American Cutie-Pie

Okay - now I'm just getting annoying...bragging on how cute my kid is all the time. lol.

But it's kinda hard when he's so sweet to look at.

To be honest, I'm pretty much as generous with my baby compliments all around. I love kids and I'm always saying "oh how cute" only to get a funny look from David. (lol) But there is nothing cuter than the little star spangled tutu's and cowboy boots I saw running around this holiday weekend. Very Americana. And I loved seeing all the flags, coolers and picnic blankets and towels lined up along the streets for the firework shoes - the "small-town" feel was everywhere. The 4th of July is always fun around here especially because my sister's birthday falls on the 3rd so it's always an extra special weekend. She is off camp-counseling this summer so we didn't spend it with her this year - but it made me think of her a lot. (We love you Aunt Kay!)

And speaking of love....David is in love with fireworks.

On our honeymoon we had to see every firework show Disneyworld had to offer and video tape them! lol. However that all changed when once again we're putting Jet to bed amidst the screeching and whistling of the neighbors own fireworks show that last long past the show the city put on. It literally sounded like gun fire and the lights flashing through the window were reminiscent of most emergency vehicles. It felt less and less small town and more and more inner city. lol. Needless to say we couldn't say anything to them....it's America's birthday and we don't want to be scrooges (excuse the cross-holiday reference) but it's sure stressful for parents trying to put their babies to bed.

However we didn't need to worry because Jet did fantastic. Along with his "extras" he has an extra "angel gene" that allows him to behave in a way that makes my mother look at me and say "that's not a normal baby." lol. He woke up a few times (and I held my breath) but then would just babbled himself back to sleep in a way that made me marvel.

Definitely thankful this morning. :)

I hope everyone else's babies slept well and maybe even enjoyed some family time, food and fireworks.

Happy 4th of July!

Summer Magic

Every season has it's own kind of magic.

Fall has long been my favorite with it's cool breezes blowing colored leaves across the yard. Winter's remarkable way of contrasting the icy cold with hot cocoa, soft mittens and cozy fires in the living room. The bursts of color and budding life in Spring that fill my mind with renewal and simplicity.

And the Summer magic?

Summer magic can be found in warm evenings, orange-tinged skies

and rosy lips kissed by vanilla ice cream.

Or maybe it's chocolate...

Whatever the flavor you can always taste the sweetness of summer.

Last summer seemed a frenzy of late night feedings, family visits and frantic outings sprinkled with "did you pack the bottle?" and "seriously this is our last diaper?!".

This summer has had a slower start.

And we have been able to savor simple pleasures of the season like

limitless ice cream flavors,

whimsical nail polish,

sleeveless onesies,

baby curls in humidity,

scuffed up white shoes,

squinty-eyes,

squinty-eyed smiles,

and sticky ice cream mustaches.

Something about summer just makes you slow down,

share your favorite treats,

take candid pictures,

(and not give back the camera).

These simple pleasures and silly moments are so characteristic of summertime.

A time where we can be thankful for the extra time together.

Build new memories and favorite traditions.

Plan vacations and trips to the pool.

and of course....

Scream for ice cream!

Stand and Deliver

Jet certainly "delivered" us a big surprise this morning when we went into his room...

STANDING!

HE JUST STOOD UP RIGHT IN FRONT OF US!

Now Jet has pulled up to stand before with a encouraging and a little foot rearranging or stabilizing from Mommy or Daddy. But never so confidently, and never in his crib (on that bouncy mattress) and never first thing in the morning! And not just once - but he went up and down like 7 times before we finally got the video camera out!

I can't explain how it feels to see your baby standing in his crib - not just because he's getting so big, or growing so strong - but because one day...a day that feels so long ago... you were told he might never do it, because you had to accept that you may never see it, and because until that moment you never knew for sure that he would do it.

You prayed. You waited. You hoped. You worked. And he did.

It's beautiful.

It's not something we had to have to be happy.

We were so happy anyway.

And it's nothing we felt we were owed or deserved.

We were already so blessed.

It's simply one of those blessings that sweetly surprises you...and you're thankful.

In this world of so many uncertainties - where we are told to wait

- there's not a clear answer

- there's not a clear future

- there's not a clear fix to your problems.

The one thing that's clear is Love.

Loving every little moment. Loving each other when times are scary. Loving and laughing and letting go so that you can enjoy happy moments like this without worrying about the next milestone or rain cloud or road block.

I don't know what the future holds...but I know it's moments like these - little gifts from God -that will build us up, make us stronger, and keep us going through the rain to the next patch of sunshine.

So here he is...our little stander...our little sunshine...our little miracle.