Traveling School

Over the weekend, we traveled around the state to attend a family reunion and then visit my sister and her family at their rental cottage. For the most part, Josie is a horrible traveler. She fusses in her carseat if the ride is any longer than fifteen minutes and she refuses to nap. Emma decided to take this opportunity to work with Josie on her animal sounds and body parts while we traveled to one of our many adventures.

I knew that the age difference (8 years) would have it's advantages and disadvantages. Right now, we're enjoying how much Emma is exploring her role as teacher.

Enjoy the short video that Emma shot:

Fun Photo & Video Clip Friday

Josie and Emma have totally been enjoying this hot muggy weather. We have a little above-ground pool that has seen lots of action lately. We have learned that Josie has no fear of the water. She's also obsessed with climbing the ladder and jumping into one of our arms. I've included a very short video clip below:





My parents visited the other night and the girls enjoyed some quality time.






In further updates, Josie's language acquisition is growing by leaps and bounds. She’s now putting two word sentences together!! Our favorite word in her vocabulary is more. More food. More hugs. More throws in the pool. The word "more" can cover a lot of territory. Thanks for being such a good teacher, Emma.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Happy 4 Months & Other Highlights

Over the past few days, we have lots of company and Josie has been in heaven playing with all her new friends and cousins. (Thank you Walch family for our lovely dinner the other night and I wish I would have brought my camera to dinner).

On a work note, we finally have a solution to our daycare dilemma. I’ll be returning to my full time schedule the first week of August and Chris will be returning to his work schedule the last week of August. Josie’s daycare center is near Chris’s school and he will be doing the drop-off and pick-up so that I can continue to take Emma to school in the morning. I’m feeling a HUGE sense of relief with August looming in just a few weeks.

July 16 marks our 4 month Josie Day anniversary. I’m still in awe at everything we have been through and how well she has recovered from open-heart surgery. She certainly has blossomed into a loving happy little girl.


Happy Anniversary, Josie!!

Lesson Learned

We've learned an important lesson regarding Josie. NEVER EVER reposition her on her bed after she's been sleeping. We should have known better based on our history together after we first came home from China and the three months since then. Let me set the stage. Chris and I stayed up late watching SNL (which we never do anymore) and then right before we went to bed, checked on the girls. Emma was peacefully asleep on her bed, and Josie was sideways and without covers. We thought Josie needed to be repositioned on her mattress and covered back up. BIG MISTAKE. Between 1am and 3:30am she was wide awake. I took the first shift (1am - 2:15am) and then Chris took over, where she finally gave in and slept again. Lesson learned.

Today's pictures were taken before mass. The girls got their matching ladybug dresses in China. Emma will be retiring this dress after today. She's grown quite a bit since March and informed me several times how "tight" the dress felt. The mom appreciates the effort of wearing the dress. Thanks, Emma.

Fun Photo Friday

My husband is so good at taking the girls on excursions while I’m working. He especially loves taking them to Frederick Meijer Gardens because it gives him an opportunity to explore landscaping ideas while the girls play. I’ve included a few pictures from their outing, as well as a great video of Josie laughing during our dinner of spinach ravioli.