Bathing Beauty

Why am I posting naked baby booty? Because I can! She's mine, her booty is cute and my blog is private. I'm sure she'll hate me for it one day, but these pictures just make me giggle.

This girl loves her some splishin' and splashin'! Pretty sure she would stay in the tub all day if allowed.

It's Never Too Late

Way back when we were planning our move to Michigan (8 months ago!), we tried to make it a little more enticing to poor Dylan. Mike and I did what any good parent would and bribed the child with the prospect of getting a new bike when we moved. I was good...I went to Target and bought that Mike the first week we were here. Unfortunately with all the chaos surrounding our house, Dylan's new bike sat in a box in the garage...for 8 months.
Now that the weather is becoming more Spring-like (meaning we don't have 3 ft of snow covering every inch of our property), Dylan has started begging to ride his bike. Oopsy! On Thursday when Mike got home from work, Dylan pitched him ^this^ face and said "Daddy! Put together my bike...Please."

So under the light of this pretty awesome looking moon, Mike got to work. Performing the task the almost every Dad on this Earth despises, putting together kids' toys.

Pretty sure Dylan will out grow this teeny bike by the Fall, but it's a good size for him to learn on.

The tires are still flat because we don't have a pump, but Dylan is a happy kid just pushing this thing around our driveway and on our deck. Yay for Spring weather and Daddy's who can put stuff together!

And...just because she's so cute. Little Lena thinks that she can push back her bedtime now that it is light outside until 8:30. I say...No way Lena bear...well, until Dylan starts soccer next month.

The First One

I've had a few people make comments lately about how I have a favorite child because most of my recent pictures and stories are about Lena. This is so not true! First of all, if you went back to when Dylan was a baby you will find a gazillion pictures and stories about him. I am trying to make sure I document as much of Lena's first year as possible so she doesn't feel like I didn't have time for her. Second, Dylan does not like to have his picture taken lately. Third, Dylan is out of the house a lot more these days because of preschool and playing at friends houses.

That being said, Dylan is such a good kid. People tell me so all the time, so I'm not just bragging because he's mine. He is (most of the time) very polite and friendly and super super smart. I have to register him for Kindergarten this Friday. I cannot believe that he is ready for this step, but I know he will thrive when school starts in August.

He's learning all about the intricacies of friendship these days. He was of the mindset that he could only have one friend in each atmosphere he is exposed to (school, church, swim lessons). I ended up having to have a talk with him about it because one of his friends from preschool had told his Mom that Dylan wasn'this friend anymore because Dylan is now friends with another kid. To Dylan's credit, his 'new' friend Gavin is also in swim lessons with Dylan. I think that extra time together helped them to form a bond. I explained to Dylan that he can be friends with more than one person at preschool and that he needed to make sure that Caiden didn't feel left out. While dropping Dylan off one day last week, I watched him approach Caiden and say "Caiden, I'm sorry for being mean to you yesterday. Do you want to come play with me and Gavin?" Then all three boys ran off to play.

Dylan had no idea that I was watching him. My eyes welled up with tears and I had this overwhelming feeling of pride. It was one of those moments where you know you must be doing something right as a parent. I so often feel very inadequate, but this experience let me know that my kid is learning important values. Mike and I feel so incredibly blessed to have such an awesome son.

If you can't tell by the new background, I am in the mood for Spring. I don't think I have SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) because I do love me some snow and bitter cold. And no, that was not meant to be sarcastic. I truly do love Winter, but I'm over it this year. I'm ready to take my kids outside to play without having to spend 30 minutes getting everyone dressed for the freezing temps and snow. I'm ready for Dylan to quit playing Wii for hours on end every day. I'm ready for Lena to experience sounds, sights, and smells other than what lies on our floor. I'm ready for Mike to get over his SAD (and yes, I'm pretty sure he has it). I'm ready to go for a walk in the fresh air and sit on my deck reading a good book while listening to my kids laughing. Oh, and I want to get outside and practice with my camera. Winter is not inspiring me...I need some new sights.