So many pictures

I have literally thousands of pictures to go through of our last few weeks. Leland was in a musical/pageant with my mom called The Promised Land, we spent some time at Smith Mountain Lake with my family, Charly turned 1, and July 4th.

But here is a little taste of the fun at the lake. Trying to get a family picture is always a treat. (Did anyone watch Modern Family season finale? Kind of like that.)I love Leland's look she's giving Noah, Sarah and Emily still stuck in the "make a funny face" mode, and Nick kissing the air.
Suz and I hanging on to dear life. We did, until Todd sunk our raft.But Chuck paid Todd back.
Chuck with the tongue ever so slightly hanging out. His body paying for how much time he spent on the raft...just a reminder that he's not 16 anymore.

Girly girls

While at mom's house to watch the pageant, Suz and her girls came too. It was fun swimming at the pool, playing dress ups, and just having fun.
Before the pageant, outside the amphitheater there were pony rides, games, and crafts. I love this picture of Lucy on the pony. We really were out in the middle of farm land. During the pageant, there is a scene representing the Revolutionary War and they shot off guns. The first night, we had no idea it was coming and Emily and Lucy started crying hysterically. When the shots go off, guys on the stage fall to the ground. Lucy kept yelling "They're dead!" I reassured her that they were not really dead and once the lights dimmed they would walk off the stage. Once she saw them all get up and walk off, she calmed down. The second night we watched the show, we had about 10 people come up to us before the show warning us of the loud shots that were going to be fired and may scare little children. I'm sure the screams from the first night let them know they should have given some warning.

The Promised Land

Leland went to my mom's house for a week to prepare and participate in The Promised Land pageant in Bath, NC. The story follows a few generations of a family and their experiences through the Revolutionary War, joining the Mormon church, traveling West, and what one can learn from the Book of Mormon. For any of you that have been to Hill Cumorah Pageant, it is a micro mini pageant of that type, but a wonderful experience for everyone that participated and watched.

Leland had a fabulous time and was a trooper through the heat and long nights. Because of the extreme heat, many of the practices didn't not start until the evening and would go past midnight. Apparently is wasn't too bad because she's already talking about doing it again next year and maybe our whole family can be a part of it. Many of the families that were a part of the cast and crew were from Raleigh and camped all week while preparing. They come on Monday, practice all week, then perform Friday and Saturday. I think my mom's dream is to one year be in the Hill Cumorah Pageant.
One exhausted little girl. Her pink pioneer "costume" is a dress that my sisters and I all had matching ones of for a family picture.Top - The entire cast. Bottom - All the kids. After searching for Leland, she informed me that she is hiding behind a girl in a blue shirt because she didn't want her picture taken.It was amazing watching Leland up on stage. Even though she was just one in the crowd, she took her part very seriously, especially learning the words to the songs. It was an amazing pageant to watch.

Thanks again mom for giving Leland this wonderful opportunity.
Group and rehearsal pictures courtesy of Ed.

Girls weekend

Every year I try to get together with my 2 best friends from college around our birthday month. Last year, I was having a baby and moving, so it didn't happen. Well we are making up for it this year. Kristen is getting married!! So Liz (who lives in Ohio) came to Baltimore to throw her a bridal shower. I'm so glad I was able to go up for the weekend. I can not wait till Seattle in August. It's going to be fabulous!An added bonus was that we got to also spend some time at Christine's house and play with cousins and Nana.

Dress ups are always a favorite activity.Playing in the sprinklers.Kissing cousins! These two are a riot!Leland decided to make water (snow) angels on the glass doors and got Nick in on the action too. Sorry Tine for teaching them a new trick. Payback for the silly bandz!

Random things

A few random happenings, before our crazy summer travels start. When we don't have the structure of school and other weekly activities I rarely know what day of the week it is.

• Lucy playing dress up.
• Leland is into extreme coloring. She will cut out her pictures and tape them all over the wall. This little shrine has doubled in size since I took the picture.
• Enjoying popsicles from the ice cream truck that drives around our neighborhood.
• We had a turtle in our front yard! It had this mysterious brown goo behind him, that looked like poop, but after he left we noticed that it was dirt and he was sitting on top of a hole he dug. Maybe he, or really she, was going to lay eggs, but didn't like the paparazzi snapping pictures and took off.
  

Dancing it up on stage at the Children's Museum. I love Lucy's shoulders when she dances (top right)
Our "pool" - the fountains at an open air mall. The big girls love running through the water and Charly and I hang out in whatever shade we can find.

Chasing Rainbows

I love a good summer thunderstorm. They are quick. They can be fierce. And usually, within minutes the sun is shining again as you feel the steam coming off the pavement. And sometimes, if you are lucky, you will catch the glimpse of a beautiful rainbow.Just after bath time one evening, Chuck called from work saying he could see a rainbow from his window at work. So I threw the girls in the car in search of the rainbow. (I didn't initially tell them where we were going, only that we had to be quick. Last time we went in search of rainbows, it had disappeared quickly and I slammed Leland's fingers in the car door - not my best mothering moment.) Luckily this time, we found the rainbow. When we first arrived, it was only a quarter rainbow, but within a few minutes we gazed upon a full arch.Needless to say, I had two giddy little girls on my hands. Rainbows are so magical to them and it's the simple things like seeing a rainbow for 5 minutes that just makes them so happy.

It's been almost 2 weeks since these pictures were taken and Lucy still asks, "Can we see the pretty rainbow?" every time we drive past this spot.

My world is finally changing

I need to finally write down an update on Charly. My baby, who is now 11 months old but because of her lack of growth, I feel like I have had a 5 month old for the past 6 months. Which is great in many ways, as I have mentioned before - lots of use in those 3-6m and 6-9m clothes, totally not thinking about another baby as we approach her 1st birthday in a few weeks, staying in the same place I put her down, etc. But I do have to confess that it is hard to see babies her age and younger cruising around, standing up, growing teeth, growing up.
Well, my world is changing, our prayers have been answered.

She is finally gaining weight and at her last weight check was 16lbs 8oz (after being 15 lbs or less for 6 months). She finally touched the growth curve again! Below 5th percentile, but still - touching the curve. We are starting the process of physical therapy for her gross motor skills to help her little body get stronger.

Last Friday, she crawled! (and I got the first moves on video!)

We are still unsure of the reason she did not grow for 6 months, but for now we are checking in regularly with a pediatric GI doctor to make sure she continues the growth she has made in the last month. There is no reason to put her through tests if she is now growing.

She waves. She claps. She gives kisses. She eats like crazy and definitely is starting to figure out how to tell you what she wants to eat. She also does this funny "Where is it?" pose.

We love this little girl so much and we are so grateful for the answer to our prayers that she will grow healthy and strong. I know that my Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. Sometimes things are in His time line, not ours. We just have to have patience and faith.

Zebra Time

We've been lucky enough to spend lots of time with Aunt Zebra lately. She came to stay with us when Chuck was in CA and she stopped again in Richmond on her way home from FL.

When she came for a few days, we were able to do some Richmond tourism. By accident, we ended up at Hollywood Cemetery. I got turned around driving towards Carytown, totally going the wrong way and when I stopped to check out my map, we were at the entrance to the cemetery. It was a beautiful day and so much fun to drive around. I love the views of the city and the James River from up on that hill. There is some amazing history and beauty.

Barbara and Lucy walked around for a bit while I was nursing Charly. Lucy walked right up to a little headstone that had some shells and jump rope on it and says "A little kid is buried here." She knew right away and kind of hugged the headstone, it was really sweet.We also happened to walk up to the grave site of the parents (or grandparents) of some of Barbara's old neighbors. She just recognized the name and it was really cool for her to randomly find.

After getting Leland from school we went to the Japanese Gardens at Maymont. There were very few people there and it was so pleasant walking around. We were able to get some great pictures.Barbara also watched the girls one night so Chuck and I could go out on a date. It was fabulous and a bonus date since we were also able to sleep until almost 9am the next morning. The girls went into Barbara's room when they woke up in the morning, instead of coming into ours.

The girls love taking pictures and Zebra lets them take endless pictures of each other and helps them come up with different poses.

Happy 3rd Birthday LuLu!

For Lucy's birthday, we did our 2 family traditions. Big breakfast with a few presents and out to eat at Red Robin. For her breakfast she requested blueberry cake with Diego on top. I was going to make blueberry muffins and just put them in a circle like we did for Leland's birthday. When she saw me get out the muffin tin that morning, she protested. "No! I want a cake!" So I poured the muffin mix in a circle cake pan and she was satisfied with that.
Lucy's personality has been shining through lately. She is hilarious and loves to laugh and smile. She is a gorgeous little girl. She knows all her letters and can spell her name. She wants to read so bad just like her sister.

Lucy has been going to speech therapy for a few weeks. I feel like it has helped her enunciate somewhat better, but it really has helped her just talk more overall. I feel like she is more comfortable talking to others outside our home now.

At night, almost every night as we leave her room, she says"I fine. I go to sleep now." She always wants to sleep with a princess sheet, her baby coco, and a toy tractor.

The girl LOVES yogurt. She would eat it all day long if we let her.

Both girls right now are really into the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. Chuck introduced it to them when we were reading the Old Testament story about Jacob and his 12 sons. We listen to the CD in the car and they watch an old Donny Osmond version online. Lucy loves to sing the songs. It's hilarious. Her favorite song is Jacob and Sons.

Growth
height - 40 inches
weight - 38 lbs
95th percentile for both

For comparison, Leland is 42 inches and 40 lbs. Lucy is quickly creeping up on her big sister. I often have strangers comment on my twins.