Cattail, Birthday Fun, and "Bio-lins"

We spent Memorial Day weekend with Scott's family at Cattail. Incredibly, almost the entire family was able to come! It was so fun to be together!

Jacob had the best time throwing rocks in the creek, taking Jeep rides, and sleeping on a bunk bed! He was so sad to leave and has asked to go back almost every day since!

All seven of Grandma Baden's great-grandchildren were present! Rachel had the genius idea of giving the kids ice cream in order to keep them still and semi-cooperative for a picture!

Olivia and Lydia, the only girl cousins, hit it off! ♡

We also celebrated Daddy's 33rd birthday last week! We had a special dinner, carrot cake cupcakes, and of course, party hats! Jacob and Lydia got Daddy a bird house that they are going to paint together!

The other excitement for the week was our visit with Aunt Sarah and Holly! They stopped to spend the night at Meme's on their way to the Outer Banks. Jacob and Lydia warmed to them immediately! Aunt Sarah brought Jacob's birthday present - a little red "bio-lin," which was a huge hit! He's been playing it nonstop!

We also finally made it to Hands On! I haven't taken Jacob since before Lydia was born, and we have missed it!

We were also really excited to get our garden planted a couple of weekends ago! Jacob loved digging in the dirt and loves to help me water the "bet-cha-ta-bles"!

Lydia is 6 Months Old!

It's hard to believe our sweet Lydia is already halfway through her first year! She is such a joy in our lives!

At 6 Months Old, Lydia...

• Weighs 14 pounds and 10.5 ounces
• Measures between 26.5 and 27 inches long
• Wears size 2 diapers and 6 - 9 month clothing
• Continues to get steadier sitting up unassisted and wants to be upright all the time!
• Loves playing in her exersaucer and highchair
• Cries like the world is ending if Mommy goes out of sight or leaves the room
• Started eating solid foods! So far she's had bananas and a portion of my grocery list! She likes eating and loves her spoon.
• Makes the ma-ma-ma, puh-puh, and buh-buh sounds. She continues to be super verbal. She's constantly "talking" and does it very loudly!
• Wants to chew on everything and everything goes in her mouth! 
• Doesn't consistently sleep well. There are nights she sleeps until 5 or 6 am, and then other nights where she's up every two hours. The past couple of weeks have been rough. She's also still not a great napper, most of which is still because of her very loud brother! 
• Watches every move Jacob makes. She laughs at him and wants so badly to play with him!
• Smiles ALL the time! Well, almost all the time!

We took the kids to their well-checks (Jacob 3 year and Lydia 6 months) - together. It seemed like a good idea in my head, but didn't play out so well in reality. Lydia did great until her shots, but Jacob was a disaster. Knowing his past record with doctor and dentist visits, I had a feeling he wouldn't cooperate, but I still had high hopes. Even though we left the office sweaty and with two screaming kids, both had good reports! We're so grateful for healthy, most of the time happy, children! 

Jacob found a hiding spot!

Welcome to the World, Baby Wade!

On Monday, May 16th, our sweet nephew, Wade Thomas Guier, was born! He is absolutely precious, and we're so happy for Thomas and Ryan! On Saturday we went to Charlotte to meet him.

We bribed Jacob with cheese doodles to take these pictures! Success!!!

I'm so excited to watch Jacob, Lydia, and Wade grow up together! My cousins were such a huge part of my growing up years, and remain some of my best friends today. It makes me so happy to think about all the fun they'll have and trouble they'll get into together!