st. george, good times

The home we rented was quite deluxe. There were 5 bedrooms, 2 of which were HUMONGOUS master suites. Josh, Kate, and I shared a (smaller) room, and things went pretty well. One night she did wake up and start calling for Mom about 3:30AM. In the stupor of sleep I went and got her out of the pack n play and carted her to bed with me, thinking she might fall back to sleep again on me. I put her back in the pnp, but she would have none of it. I was so tired, that even when Josh brought her back into the bed, fully awake & wanting to play, I managed to slip into blissful sleep anyway. He said that they didn't fall back asleep until 4:30. We all woke up at 7:30 in the (queen) bed together. I have to admit, it was pretty sweet to see her sleeping face right next to me in the bed.

First thing every morning, Kate asked to "find Lydia" or "find Lauren." The girls had so much fun just living with each other, and I'm still having to explain that Lydia & Lauren aren't "downtairs," they're at their home! Of course, they also enjoyed playing bumper cars with all of the aunties, mimas, gagies, mom, dad, and all of the loving arms that would "hold me." Fun activities from the indoor playtimes include playing with "tabow" (playdoh), "moofies" (movies), and most impressive of all -- threading "neckaces" with Mima. She even warmed up to her cousins Jofen & Andoo. The sweetest thing happened on one of the last nights. Several months ago, Gagi went to the hospital because she had a lot of chest pain. We prayed for Gagi a lot those two days, and this made a huge impression on Kate. Our ni-ni sing times are often concluded these days with Kate requesting, "pay Gagi." Well, that night, she asked me, all of a sudden, to "pay Jofen" & "pay Andoo." It was so cute! Of course, it's very likely that it is a stall tactic, but I indulge it! Well, until she starts asking for repeats. Then you just MIGHT hear me say, "We already prayed for Gagi." or "We already sang Jesus."

There was also a private pool at the house & we made pretty good use of it. The girls just weren't able to put in hours at the beach. So, several days we stayed at the beach for a few hours & then went back to the pool for lunch & swimming time. There was an outdoor shower that made the beach to pool transition pretty easy.

The girls escaped their parents after being washed in the outdoor shower & made their getaway to the pool. At least we stopped them from getting INTO the pool. :-)

As I already mentioned, Kate couldn't wait to see Lydia every morning. Same was true for Lydia. Jen, Ben, & Lydia's room was opposite ours, so they could hear each other. Here they are watching "Curious."

I love it when they hold hands!

Yawn! I'm still tired!

The girls got to bathe in the master bath -- quite munificent! I also gave the two older girls a shower in the walk-in shower. Man, I need one of those!

Kate was trying to "wash Lydia's body," even while Lydia was swimming. Earlier that day, we caught Lydia trying to ride Kate. I guess it was payback time!

Once again, why do I buy toys?

I just can't get enough of her smile!

Lydia blowing bubbles in the pool. This is a big achievement for her!

I'm coming to get you!

There was a small leak in the pool, so we had to add water every day, much to Lydia's delight! She loved watering the pool. . . & people, too. :-)

One, two, three, (and then she takes a big step she calls a "jump!")

Lydia kept trying to convince me that this was NOT a hammock, but a swing. :-)
These girls are best buds.

st. george, sand & surf

Our house was a little walk from the beach through some jungle & desert, so every day, by the time I got to the ocean, I was ready to dive in! Of course, this was usually because I was strapped down with umbrella, chair, cooler, bag of towels & assorted other goodies, and I might or might not be holding the child as well. Every day at the beach was different. We had super-duper windy day, calm & a smidge hot day, perfect day, huge shallow shelf perfect for wading children day, cool wonderful water quite refreshing day, and one of my favorites, dolphin day! Kate was definitely intimidated by the waves, but she liked to sit at the edge and let the water wash up over her (and mom!). She enjoyed playing with the sand toys, but above all, her favorite beach activity was eating snackies! No sooner would I get everything settled than she would come over and ask for a nakie! I took her out to the deeper ocean twice & she seemed to enjoy it. One day, I even wished that I had brought her floats. It was so calm past the wave breaking point that she could have done some actual swimming. The beach was practically deserted every morning. People didn't seem to come out of their shells until afternoon.

Dolphin-Day -- the very tiny black speck in the middle of the photo . . is a dolphin fin. This is the best picture I got. They were so unpredictable as far as where you would see them next, that this is as good as it got! We must have seen 10 or so on one day, and more like 5 on the second day. On the second day, one was cruising quite close to shore! (like 15 ft) I couldn't figure out if I had been out there, would I have screamed or had some magical swimming with dolphin experience? I did a little research, and I think we were seeing bottlenose dolphins.

Laurie's walking has really taken off. She LOVED walking at the beach!

Grandma made it to the beach three times! I consider this a major feat. It was quite a trek for her, and it was pure determination that got her there and back that many times!

See what I mean by deserted? Next time we do a big beach trip like this -- I want to buy one of those awnings & just leave it up the whole week. (Awning is in left center of pic)

Smooch doing a little bit of mystery reading!

Kate loved scooping & toting sand & water in her toys. I love her little sprig in this picture!

Laurie just wanted to jump into the water, per usual. Lydia came a long way. The first day (pictured below), she wanted her floaties on just in case she fell in the water. The last day (in picture), she was happy to cavort by herself & wanted to feel the waves.

The First Day. Hmm, what do you think? Could I fall in?

Kate hijacked Lydia's little chair & sat up in the shade eating her snacks. What a beach bum!

things I hear

Kate's verbal ability has just exploded over this summer. At the beginning of the summer she was saying a few phrases & words & many of them were quite babyish (tank-a-da, etc). These days you can carry a conversation with her that (for the most part) makes a lot of sense. She also comes up with her own combinations. She talks a lot & practices words a lot. For instance, she typically calls a computer, "puter", but this afternoon, I heard her whisper "com" and then say "puter" loud. She was trying it out!

One of the phrases that isn't that particularly endearing is "no like." She certainly didn't learn THAT from me, but she uses it all of the time. It has a variety of applications beyond its most basic meaning. It can mean she doesn't want something, doesn't want any more of that thing, doesn't like what a certain person is doing, etc. This can make for some frustrating (and amusing) conversations.

Kate: "no like Lydia."
Mommy: "say sorry Lydia."
Kate: "Sorry Lydia."

even funnier.
Kate: "no like nakies." Thinks mom will get after her so quickly follows up with: "sorry nakies"

singing at bedtime.
Kate (requests): Jesus
Mommy: Jesus loves me, this I know.
Kate (interrupts): no like Jesus
Mommy (thinks to herself): Not good!

counting
Mommy: Let's count, Kate.
Kate: one, two three, four, nine, six, eight-nine-ten (she says the last three all together)
Mommy: Kate, can you say FIVE?
Kate: I can't!

She loves patterns in speech. She loves that I say You're welcome when she says Thank you. She loves that I say, I forgive you, when she says sorry. She loves it so much, she can carry on the entire conversation by herself!

Kate: Sorry, momma.
Kate: 'Give you.

Kate: Tank you.
Kate: Welcome!

Kate: Read to me?
Kate: Sure!

And, last but certainly most endearing. . . she says, "Hold you" instead of "Hold me." And, boy, she says that a lot!

some film

I recently developed an older role of film, and neglected to post any of the pics! So, the earlier ones are from Spring Break '08, then we have May '08 (with my dad), and finally July '08! There's just some quality about film that can't be replicated, even with the fanciest digital camera! There's almost a grit, or a three dimensional quality that you can't get from digital negatives.

facebook videos

I'm not sure, Jennifer, but you may be the only blog reader that is also NOT on facebook. I posted some videos of Kate. Try these links. Hopefully they'll work even for non-fbers. :-) I just love making up new facebook words. Like F-mail. I guess it should really be FBmail.

Kate Speaks A Few Words in Spanish

Kate's Library

little purple flowers

This morning we squished five girls (three car seats in the back!) into my car and made a morning trip to our favorite renovated home & grounds in Winder. No, this isn't Lisa's house, but a good friend's home. She's an avid gardener & her home and garden provide so many quaint spots. It's great not to have to worry about awkward pipes or brown patches or unsightly bucket, bushes, etc. The girls accommodated the photo shoot for about 30 minutes. The soon to be one year old was by far the star of the show. I think that 1 year old is best for uninhibited joy. Kate is just old enough to have moods (I don't want to smile if someone is telling me to). Lydia has already started to have a smile that's just for cameras -- different than a purely joyful smile. But Lauren knows no such thing. If she's smiling, it's a ray of sunshine that lights up the room or the photograph! These are the girls' special dresses bought by Mima around Easter time.