Home again!

We recently returned from our family summer vacation, and I'm finally feeling recovered enough to document the trip! We left on Saturday, spent the day/night at Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City then drove to Boulder, CO to visit Carl's dad, brother, Susan and her daughter. We stopped again in Kansas City on the way home, this time to visit Tori and her adorable children and returned home happy and exhausted on Friday night. The pictures below are from after the trip, each child getting back into their element.

Lily in another one of her creative outfits: dance leotard, jacket and summer hat

Mr. Mischief

10 months

William is now officially 10 months old! He continues to be a very sweet boy who gets compliments everywhere we go. His current loves include:

Taking a bath. William gets so excited when we turn the water on for the bathtub. He jumps up and down and makes all kinds of noise.

William also loves to play peek-a-boo.

Peek-a-boo

I see you!

William continues to be fascinated with Terra's food and water dishes which is oh-so-fun. He also loves to go up and down the stairs. Who needs a stairmaster when you have a 10-month-old? William is now cruising all over the place and going from couch to table to whatever, as long as it is within arm's reach. He also took his first unassisted step this past weekend. He needs some more work with balance though to get the whole walking thing down. Lily could go from the floor to a standing position (without holding onto anything) proficiently by now, but William has yet to master that skill yet. By far my favorite development is that he is now calling me "mama". He has been saying "ma ma" for a while now, but there was no meaning behind it. Now he clearly uses it to get my attention. I'm pretty sure that he understands who "dada" is as well, and he certainly knows "Lily" and "Terra". It won't be long until he really starts understanding this language thing which is so exciting!

And what has our sweet Lily been up to?

As you could probably tell from the pictures above, Lily has been having fun dressing up her baby brother!

The pop star

America's next Top Chef?

And zebra. :)

Mary's Golden Birthday

We had three birthday celebrations this past weekend. The first was for my niece Mary. Mary turned 6 on the 6th this month - wow! We had a very fun "girls only" tea party. The Tea Room that we went to was adorable. The upstairs "attic" was filled to the brim with every imaginable dress-up item for girls (and even adults). The girls got to choose their tea party attire from their endless selection of dresses, gloves, bracelets, necklaces, wands, tiaras/hats, sashes, wings...and the list goes on and on. The girls were in princess fairy heaven!

The girls in one of many combinations of outfits that they had on that afternoon

Mom gets diva-licious

This Yankee-turned-Southerner is right at home at the tea party

Mary opens her presents

Mary beams behind the glow of her teapot birthday cake

Making an extra-special wish

Blowing out the candles

Happy birthday, Mary. May all your dreams and wishes come true.

At the homestead

After returning home from Jeff City on Friday, we celebrated Mary's golden birthday - 6 years old! My parents decided that such a festivity called for some festive gear. Their zest for life is what I love about them most.

Family fun

Mee-maw came into town last weekend. The kids got some quality time with their Mee-maw while Carl and I got some quality time together - win-win!

Mee-maw with Baby William

Donning Aunt Ingrid's shades

Lily and Aunt Ingrid made brownies together for dessert, and Aunt Ingrid is showing off one of Lily's homegrown peppers (which Lily will eat raw).

Mee maw's visit

Carl's mom came to the Lou for a visit this weekend. We are very fortunate that the kids get to see their grandparents so often. Thanks for visit, mee maw!

Lily listening to a tall tale from mee maw

This is the life.

William's flying high with new jammies from mee maw.

On Saturday, Carl and I enjoyed a lunch date. Yay! Then we all enjoyed pizza for dinner and Maggie Moo's ice cream for dessert. Double yum!

A family snapshot - Carl with his mom, sister, and William

Adventures of Lily and William

We had a princess birthday party at our next door neighbor's house yesterday that started at 4:30 pm. Lily decided that she needed to start getting ready for the party around 1:30 pm. After playing for a couple hours, she completely passed out and took a little snooze prior to the party.

William has graduated from eating in the Bumbo seat to eating in the high chair!


Lily passed out again, this time after a birthday party last weekend. At this party, Lily got to meet Uniqua and Tyrone from the Backyardigans. It was very exciting.

Lily playing "teacher" after school one day. Her teachers must dress a little differently than mine did. ;)

Lily teaching William the fine art of bubble-blowing.