Now I lay me down to sleep

When G doesn't want to say her prayers LM says them for her and it goes a little something like this:
"Now I lay G down to sleep, I pray the Lord her soul to keep
May angels watch her frough the night, and wake her wid the mornin light"
So very sweet. Personally I think she feels special when her brother does that and so she refuses on purpose so he will say them for her ;)

Some of my favorite things in G.'s room

There's just something about having a girl...the fun girly things we get to pick out, shopping for a girl is so fun and sharing all those special moments with a daughter is just so wonderful. I have never been one for themes in a bedroom. I like to kind of do the shabby chic eclectic mix of things important in my life. Actually, my whole house seems to be like that....a hodge podge of things that may not all match but have some significance to us and where we were at that point in our lives. And as you all know photographs are one of my favorite things to display because they make me happy. Taking them, framing them and hanging them is one of my delights. Anyway, putting G.'s room together was such fun for me..no , it's not fancy but just a mix of things I love that make me smile. I tried my hand at photographing some of them and did okay I suppose but here they are:

Pile of tutus

This belonged to my mom and aunt growing up and I always loved it

Jennifer found this for G.'s room and it matched perfectly

My bargain finds

Just love this...makes the colors all come together

Mom and Dad brought this on a plane from AL to WA for the kids--handmade by a friend

Another of my favorite things in G.'s room, her sweet watchdog

My clearance find at PB

Another of my mom and aunt's things-loved this growing up and it became G.'s recently

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Beach fun

Beach  and summer fun

It's been a while now.....

I am not sure why I just can't keep up with the blog...I used to enjoy doing it nearly every day or at least once a week but for some reason it seems so hard to me.  I feel so bad for not keeping up with baby girl the way I did LM but it's just overwhelming but just for the family I will hit the highlights.  We have had sucha  busy summer.  After G cut the tip of her finger off in a baby gate she had surgery , has been recuperating beautifully and has a nice little pink nub and even a nail growing on it.  She was such a trooper and still has been but sometimes reminds us to "be caful" with her finger. 
School ended for LM and I cried my eyes out like a baby because I have grown to love that place mostly because he loves it and the teachers are so nurturing and wonderful.  What a blessing to have found it!  But both my little munchkins will be there next year and that poor preschool won't know what hit it with G although it's so familiar to her now she will do just fine.  I will be a wreck on that first day they both get dropped off together.
Miss G changing so fast --in just  a few short months my sweet baby has turned into a full fledged tall toddler. She is talking so much...but her favorite thing to say is No of courseand to copy anything her brother says which are nice words like "butt" and such.  We're working on that and trying ot expand her vocabulary a little more ;)   Both are swimming like fish, diving off the diving board, underwater and the works .....mostly with swimmies on but sometimes not so I hope by the end of summer they will be ready to do it all on their own.
Miss G has a complete mind of her own.  She does what she wants and just is so pretty.  I am partial but when she's that stinking cute it's hard to stay mad at her for long.  The relationship between the two of them is coming along and having more sweet moments than before.  Mind you not more sweet moments than I want to claw your eyes out moments but it's getting there.  Starting to play together and enjoy each other a little more.   She tells me "don't talk a me"  which is don't talk to me when I am tryhing to correct her or she gets in trouble.  Copies everything he says and another favorite is "ummm, i don knowwwww". 
Daddy is in and out  a lot these days and it makes for long weeks but plenty to do for summer.  Fall will be hard as we gear up for yet another long deployment.  I am so grateful that this time it's not boots on ground somewhere in Afghanistan --that means less sleepless nights worrying.   The kids are adjusting ok but everytime he leaves the first few days LM wakes up w/ nightmares or just upset but then settles down. 
We've had quite the exciting summer already even with a couple surgeries to boot with G.'s finger and my appendix.....but so much fun in between all of that we didn't notice too much.  Now we begin new injections for Beau to help with his arthritis and give him a little relief to give hima little more quality of life these last few months or so.  Will post pictures soon.....

Beach and Jam session

Jennifer and G

Seriously, how many wrinkles do I have??

Before......

during......

and after........

updates and fun stuff

So I'm way far behind.

We've done so much I guess it's impossible to catch up but I'll just give a few highlights.
LM finished soccer, ended up loving it and being sad the season was over although I amsure his coach was awaiting the end of the season anxiously with all those 3-4 yr olds ;)
G. is just into everything. Do I say this every post? I think I do but maybe I am just trying to reemphasize how active she is. wow, she wears me out. But God doesn't give you more than you can handle right? She is full on talking in sentences and just has the cutest little voice, these beautiful blond locks and smile to melt your heart. ANd she is learning to pout quite effectively, bottom lip out, head tilt and all. It's fun watching the growing relationship with the two kids too. They are able to play together a little more and have fun with things together which is a day I often wondered if it would ever come.
Beau still doing okay, he's getting old, hobbling along and an occasional gallop and we see glimpses of our old boy. BT showing age as well, not able to run as far and as hard as he once could with me. Mattie just thinks the pool in the backyard is her personal lap pool, she does a few lazy laps around a couple times a day but it is helping her keep cool which helps a lot in the heat w/ her laryngeal paralysis.
We've been berry picking, jam making, swimming, easter egg hunting, bird watching, beach going and many other activities as long as it's outdoors we are doing it. After 4 yrs in WA with a lack of sunshine we are soaking up all the outdoor activities we can and making up for it. Now that spring is nearly over we are looking forward to summer, summer , summertime in my best Will Smith ....