Here's my attempt at a "quick" update on the last two months!
Andrew finished his eighth semester and did better than he thought as far as grades go. I don't actually remember what they were, so I'll let him share if he so desires. He's busy with summer youth events at church, but we are both thankful for the summer break after a LONG school year. We're anticipating his last semester, Lord-willing, being Fall 2013. SO CLOSE.
Alice is a full-blown two year old. She talks constantly (a few English words now), swims with her "muscles" (arm floaties) all by herself, helps mommy water the garden with her watering can (thank you Grandma!), hugs and kisses EVERYthing and asks for it to sit on her lap, and SO MUCH MORE. She keeps me going all. day. long. She's also mastered the tantrum. I thought she had it down long ago, but no. I was sorely mistaken. It's a fine art and she's got the gift.
Emma is six months old as of yesterday. I found some clay to make her hand print (like the one we have when Alice was six months old) and it came out great. Her hand is smaller than Alice's was at six months. You can tell that Alice had more meat on her bones. I don't have new stats for Emma yet (her next dr appt is on Monday), but at four months she was in the 30th percentile for weight, 75th for length, and 57th for head circumference. I think she was just under 13 lbs and something like 25 inches. She also started eating solids (meaning rice cereal mixed with mommy's milk) a few days ago. So far she's crazy messy and sucks her thumb or hand or fist or all of the above after EVERY single bite. I'm pretty sure some of it actually gets down her throat, but it's sort of hard to tell when you see the aftermath. She's rolling from tummy to back like a pro and getting really close to rolling back to tummy. Seems to be baffled by sitting up. Either she just folds right in half and sucks on her toes or will not be bent in the middle. She'll let you hold her standing. Emma is also quite the talker and I frequently wonder how I ended up with TWO loud girls?! Recently her "singing" has come out a few times as "ma ma ma" and that's pretty excellent.
Amy (that's me) likes being a stay-at-home mom. It seems like I always have a to-do list that's a mile long, but I'd rather play with my girls and let the dishes pile up. That said, I did just spend almost an hour cleaning up the dishes and kitchen. Oi. Worth waiting though. Alice & I had a great day playing together and reading LOTS of books. Her current favorite is a book about farms. She's also loving a recent addition "Little Blue Truck" with lots of animal noises and another book with songs we sing together. She LOVES Itsy Bitsy Spider and Row, Row, Row Your Boat. Oh, and of course the Wheels on the Bus. Reading books with Alice helped me rediscover joy in reading (not aloud to her), finally finishing the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Then The Princess Bride. Now reading Wuthering Heights. Can't forget... I have a garden too! We've got two different tomato plants, cucumbers, green beans, basil and cilantro (re-planted after the first batch I killed). Check out pictures here.
We celebrated our sixth anniversary on July 8th and were able to spend a night away without children, thanks to Grandma and Grandpa. It was weird at first, but so incredibly wonderful. Even though it was less than 24 hours, it was so refreshing and reminded me how blessed I am to have a hard-working husband who sees the benefit of having his wife home raising their children. I kind of can't believe we've been married six years already! Praying the Lord allows us many decades more!
So, now we're caught up. Here are pictures of May and June!
Verdict on my "quick"ness? Fail. Good night!
