Sunny & Moon

Here is one of our catapillar's, Sunny, that turned into a cocoon on Monday night (6/21).

This is Moon....he is growing so fast.

We will have a couple of butterflies in the next few weeks to let go.

Photo Shoot!

No offense to our fabulous photographer, Liz (who I will still use when I want pictures of the 3 of us)...but in the spirit of saving money (not saying Liz isn't worth the money...), but I saw an opportunity this past Saturday, so I jumped up and grabbed my camera. I know that I take great pictures of her (I know...shameless :)), others have also told me that I tend to capture her the best too. These are some of the shots from the photo shoot...I have my favorites (of course). But what are your favorites? Please share!

Side funny story...to convince Sydney to let me take these pictures I told her these were for Auntie's birthday. I had to remind her of this a few times...she was all for it when I reminded her. And just this morning as I was walking out the door Sydney asks me "Mommy, do you remember the pictures we took at Grandma M's for Auntie Christy?", "Yes, I remember", "well, don't forget those are just for auntie", "would it be okay for me to put some up in our house too?", "no, they are just for auntie". She loves her Auntie! But I will still put some up in the house....this should be interesting! :)

Okay...what is / are your favorites pictures?

Funny things Sydney has said recently...

Sydney has needed some new underwear for a while now, but I kept forgetting to get her some. One evening she was "picking her seat", although I knew what she was doing, I asked her anyway...she told me, then asked "mommy, did you buy me some new underwear today?", "no, sorry Syd I didn't", "mommy...will you PLEASE buy me some tomorrow?". I did!

As it turns out this underwear (Hanes), although a size that should fit and seems to fit her, still rides up her bootie. She told Jim the other morning, "daddy, do you know why they keep going up my butt?", "why is that, Sydney?"....."because my butt just keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger and BIGGER!" Ha.....that just cracks me up every time I think about this story. Just you wait honey....just you wait! :)

The other morning Jim overheard Sydney talking to herself in her room..."Dear God, thank you for making me a girl!". I couldn't agree more! She may challenge me daily, she may be just like me....stubborn and independent (that can be good too), I wouldn't have it any other way. Along with the challenging times, she brings me more joy than I could have ever dreamed about. I just hope she has her own daughter someday....and that her daughter challenges her as much as she challenges me. LOL! :)

"When I grow up...."

As I was getting Sydney ready this morning, we were brushing her teeth and had to floss (she is the one that insists on the flossing part...."the dentist will be very mad if I don't floss"...so we floss, which is very good of her and us). While doing this I asked her if she was going to be a dentist when she grows up. She didn't say anything (because I was flossing...ha), so I asked "not a dentist, but a princess?". Nope, she is going to be a teacher. "Teachers are bigger than everyone..." so, she says. She is right, teachers are amazing individuals!

First time she has ever said that before. I love that she wants to be a teacher. Let's see if she still wants to do that in 13-14 years. :)

Bath Time

I have come to love Sydney's bath time. Sometimes it is such a struggle because she hates having her hair washed....but now we have a system down, I tell her that we need to count to 20 or 25 while I'm washing her hair and once we reach the decided number then I'm done and she can finish up. Without the counting the drama comes out...ugh! So thankful for the counting system.

As of lately, when Sydney gets out of the tub and is all wrapped up and dried off....we snuggle in the bathroom. I sit on the toilet and she snuggles in my lap with her towel wrapped around her. And if we are in a hurry and I mention we need to hurry up....she quickly tells me we need to snuggle. And you know what....I never say no to those snuggles!! She has never been a super snuggly girl and I know this phase will pass all too soon....so I take advantage of it now and cherish EVERY moment! Often times we say a word and she tells me what letter it starts with. Or yesterday we whispered, because she was a butterfly and if we talked loud she would flutter away. Whatever we talk about is fine with me....as long as I get those few minutes of snuggles with my girl!! :)

"rugs and noses"

Part of Sydney's bedtime routine consists of hugs and kisses, along with "rugs and noses". Usually it is a kiss on each cheek, a kiss on the lips, a hug and we rub our noses. When you say "rub our noses"....and you say it kind of fast, it kind of sounds like "rugs and noses". We've never corrected Sydney and it has just become and will forever be (if I have anything to say about it :)), "rugs and noses".

Try it sometime.... :)

Subway Bedraces for Bridging

The teams: Hale, Krista, Christina, Me, Jeff, Christy, Katherine and Jeff

This past Saturday I was lucky enough to join Christy's team from FedEx Office and participate in the Bedraces for Bridging at Buck Hill! It was so much fun! They came up with a great costume. We went as Scrabble tiles...so clever! We had two teams of four and we spelled out BRIDGING. It was fun explaining to everyone what we spelled out, since we weren't always together. Good costume!

But part of the deal for me to participate is we had to make it a family event for us, since I was busy on Thursday and Friday night too...I didn't want to be busy on Sat. night too without the fam. Thankfully the weather was nice enough that they (Jim and Sydney) were able to come out to watch us race. And Sydney had so much fun! She loved cheering us on and definitely loved all the costumes (there were a lot of teams this year...with a lot of clever costumes). She was SO good! At the age of 4, she can sometimes be a wild card when we take her out. But she was SO good...I'm sure it helped that there was enough going on that it kept her stimulated and entertained.

Proud mom moment here: A lady came around and was handing out glo stick necklaces...there were 5 all tangled together, so Sydney got all 5. Oh awesome! When Sydney went to the bathroom with auntie Lorla, Jim was busy untangling the necklaces and a group of kids (3) came up and asked where we got the necklaces. Well, later on we saw those three kids again....but before that we had asked Sydney if she would want to give one of her necklaces to another little girl...sure. She didn't even hesitate. She is pretty good at sharing with others. Wouldn't you know it....the little girl she gave one of her necklaces to was that little girl who originally asked where we got them. But Sydney would only part with one....so the little boys didn't get a necklace. It made sense that the girl did. :) A little later the girl (who was about 8-9) came up again and asked Sydney if she would want to give her 2 more for her friends and she would give her a CD (Cities 97 was one of the sponsors and was giving out CD's). We asked Sydney if she wanted to part with 2 more, but she didn't have to if she didn't want to.....her look said it all...."uh, no" (very quiet). We had to tell the little girl no....she understood. A little later as we were leaving and after Sydney had had some time to think about that offer, she said she wanted to give that girl 2 more of her necklaces because she wanted that CD. Needless to say, we didn't see the girl again....but it was cute of Sydney to part with one and was willing with to part with 2 more.

When the races were over we were all deciding what to do next. As we were standing around deciding what to do, Jim and I wished we had found a sitter for Sydney so we could have stayed out later....but really, it worked out perfect. The three of us decided to go to TGIFriday's for something to eat....the rest would may or may not join us, we just knew we were going as a family. It was close to 8ish, so we knew we are on borrowed time with Sydney, but again, she was great! We were smart and only ordered appetizers though. She colored, ate a little (the rest of the group showed up too), she visited with her aunties for a little and then we left. We were home and she was in bed by 9ish. It was a great night for the races....but it was an even better night for us! :)

Christy, Lora and Michelle

The newly engaged couple - Christy & Jeff

The Jagow's - us :)

Auntie Lorla and Sydney Hope with her glow sticks