Hello, Summer!

Summer is here, which means so is the countdown to Baby Mae's arrival! On Saturday, Sandy and I made a day trip to Gainesville, GA for a baby shower hosted by Lori's church. We loved another chance to celebrate Lori and Mae, as well as getting to spend some time at Lori and Craig's house beforehand. It was so great to finally see their beautiful home! We also really enjoyed visiting with some of her family, who were also in town for the shower. Its fun to think the next time we see them, they'll have a baby!!!

While Grandma and I were in Gainesville, Daddy and Grandaddy stayed in Fletcher with Jacob and Lydia. They filled their day with a walk to the park, a ride in the Taurus, and a visit to GG. Jacob even helped Grandaddy do a few projects around the house, including installing a towel bar in our bathroom and a curtain rod in Jacob's room!

It was a weekend full of family, as we also got to see Uncle Thomas, Aunt Ryan, and Baby Wade! They were in town for Ryan's family reunion, and it worked out for us to all hang out at Meme's house on Friday evening.

Summer also means our garden is well underway. We already have a teeny-tiny zucchini and two itty-bitty tomatoes! We also have some blooms on our zinnias from Lori's baby shower in April. Its so fun to watch our veggies and flowers grow!

The peas from our spring garden are almost done. We're going to miss them!

Jacob loves being a part of the garden this year. He's been such a helper with the planting, weeding, watering, and picking. Going out to the garden by himself to pick "betchables" is currently one of his favorite things to do.

The garden experience is definitely enhanced when wearing a giraffe costume. A couple of weeks ago, Jacob was on a giraffe kick and insisted on wearing his costume, which he refused to wear on Halloween two years ago, all day every day! Not only is the costume two sizes too small for him, its also incredibly thick...probably not intended to be worn in 80 degree weather. Jacob insisted it fit perfectly and wasn't hot at all. And of course Lydia wanted in on the costume fun, so she wore Jacob's old puppy outfit. She mostly loved asking me to take the jacket "waff" (off) and on over and over and over and over and over and over...

Along with working in our garden and dressing like animals, we've been enjoying story time at the Fletcher Library on Wednesdays. I had to take this picture of Jacob on his little cushion, because its the first time he's ever chosen to sit with the other kids instead of me! He's never been big on crowds, but he's slowly overcoming some of his shyness.

Jacob loves Mr. Zach! He's super silly and doesn't mind the chaos that is a room filled with babies and kids.

Shortly after Jacob's birthday, GG fell and broke her hip. We were so sad for her and hate that she's had to go through the grueling recovery process a second time in less than a year. GG's positive attitude, determination, and strength continue to amaze and inspire us! The kids visited her yesterday with Daddy and Grandaddy, but we also made a little visit a couple of weeks ago. Jacob entertained us all with a dramatic retelling of  The Three Little Pigs and we had a nice communion with GG's pastor. She looked so good, and we're so proud of how hard she's working to recover. She is the strongest lady we know!

Summer also means trips to the pool! It looks like Jacob is going to be a water-bug this year! He's all about jumping in, splashing around, and has requested goggles, so he can go under water. We need to get this boy in some swim lessons!

Lydia, on the other-hand, was not impressed by the pool. She preferred to eat snacks in the shade.

I captured a few rare moment of these two getting along. They have been driving me CRAZY! I feel like they spend all day wanting what the other has and crying/screaming when they can't have it or have to give it back after snatching it. But every now and then they manage to be play together and its really cute.

 

And a few other random pictures from the past couple of weeks...