Austin Summer Baseball

One of the highlights of this summer was Austin getting to do baseball. We had some neighbors who were coaching the team and asked if Austin wanted to join. Jeff Young was the coach and did such an awesome job with the kids. We were especially impressed by Austin and how well he did. He has never really even swung a bat and went to just one practice before his first game. He picked things up quickly and was able to get a hit at least once in all his games. He fell in love with baseball right away. He was so excited to go out and practice hitting and had so much fun. 

Shantel did a great job working with him and he loved going to the practices and the games. 

He was so proud of getting his medal at the end and it was really well deserved!

Grandpa Dates

My dad has started doing a tradition of Grandpa dates for the kids each summer. He comes and lets them choose somewhere fun they want to go with Grandpa. It is such a kind thing to do and so much fun for the kids. My mom was able and come hang out at the house those day. Lydia chose to go to the Aquarium and had so much fun. I asked Lydia about the date and she said, "I had fun on the zipline and we ate super cool ice cream and had to go back to the tropical rain forest exhibit because it was so warm." My Dad really spoiled her and got her food and treats and even a otter stuffy from the gift shop. 

Austin and Caleb both chose to go to the Children's museum with Grandpa and had so much fun and were just as spoiled with treats and toys from the gift shop. Austin got a giant candy and a building set. The boys both loved it so much and came home just glowing after spending the day with Grandpa. 

Just a few days after the Grandpa date with Caleb my Dad got really sick with Appendicitis and ended up in the hospital. They had a hard time deciding if they needed to remove the appendix and then he had a really hard time recovering from the surgery after they did remove it and spent about 5-6 days in the hospital. I ended up getting sick over that time and could not really go visit much, but we tried to visit and take care of him and my mom. I'm grateful for the wonderful Dad I have and what a good Grandpa he is to our kids. It is sometimes hard to see your parents get older and know that some day, they might not get better and won't be around forever. I'm grateful my Dad is doing better and hope that he can keep doing Grandpa dates for a long time. 

Fathers Day

It's that time again, the time when we get to celebrate our favorite guy and gush about all the wonderful things that he does for us and how we love him so much. 

Happy Fathers Day to David (aka best dad EVER)

Of course, the morning started with breakfast in bed and messages about how much we love him. 

The rest of the day was focused on his favorite foods, special surprises for him, and spending as much time with him as we each possibly could. The kids were particularly attentive to him and it's sweet to see how much they wanted to show him their love. He means so much to all of us. 

Truly, David is such a wonderful dad. Some of my favorite things that he does right now that are particularly great are: 

-The Peaden Restaurant. David hosts this occasionally. He writes/types up a menu with loads of different food/side/dessert options (not anything fancy, just mac and cheese vs a hotdog or whatever leftovers we have in the fridge- but there are a lot of options), then he pretends to be a fancy waiter coming to take the order of each of the kids. They love it so much and it makes me smile every time. He's so fun. 

-Talking through the kids when I get stuck in a hard place with them. When I'm having a hard time reasoning with one of the kids, I can just say "Lets go talk to Dad about it". We pop in to the room he's using as a work-from-home office and he will stop what he's doing and talk to us about whatever is going on. 99.9% of the time he's able to work out a solution when I'm just not able to. He's patient and a good listener and helps the kids feel validated on the path to a solution. 

-He plays games with Austin all the time, even when I know he's exhausted. But Austin loves games and it makes him feel loved to have Daddy play with him. 

-He brushes Lydia's hair when it's particularly tangly, or even when she's just gotten out of the bath. Even though Lydia usually does it herself, you can just feel the love radiating from them when he sits cross-legged on the floor to spend that time brushing her hair. 

-He plays "Chase the Monster" with Caleb and Lucy and diligently swings Caleb into his bed whenever asked to during the bedtime routine. (Chase the Monster is a run around the house while Dad chases you game. Lydia called it that when she was little and it stuck.) The kids never get tired of playing this with him and beg for it often. 

-He teaches the Come Follow Me lesson most Sundays (I usually teach it during the week) and his lessons are always on-point and engaging. When the kids hear dad is doing the lesson, they cheer. I love David's testimony and his humble determination to teach his children of the things that are important.

-I have a pretty time-consuming calling and David takes a lot of the load while I'm in meetings on Sunday or at Saturday baptisms (plus other meetings during the week). We are such a great team together and knowing that he's there taking care of our children without complaint makes it so much easier for me to focus on fulfilling my calling. I often call him the Assistant to the President because I couldn't do what I do without him.

And I would be remiss if I didn't include a shout-out to our dads, too. The best dads we could have asked for and two of the greatest Grandpa's around. We are so grateful for their love and care throughout our childhoods and well into our adulthood. We depend on them for so much and are blessed to have them in our lives. 

Lucy's Birthday Celebration

It's birthday time for our Lucy-girl! We had a great day celebrating her two-year old self.

We started the day by letting her pick whatever clothes she wanted (because, let's be honest - she insists on picking her clothes every day anyway). She ended up in a t-shirt and pink pajama pants, but I found a matching bow that I convinced her to wear so it ended up looking cute and almost intentional. I picked up some boxes of sugar cereal for breakfast with some balloons and toy sunglasses set out on the table and it was a hit with all of the kids.  

Her cake was pink with flowers and even though it wasn't specific to any of the things she likes right now it seems perfect for her. 

Cal and Sue came for a little birthday party and we watched her birthday video and opened some presents. 

We also had a little combined birthday party for Lucy and Sadie (their birthdays are only 5 days apart). We celebrated in Morgan at my parents house. 

We have such great family members who make birthdays even more special. 

Happy Birthday Lucy! 

Lucy Holland: 2 years old!

Lucy Holland, you big two year old, you. You're a bright spot in our family and I'm not sure that there is another two year old more loved or cared for than you. You are a miracle to me and remind me every single day of answered prayers and hope for the future. We are so lucky to have you in our family. 

Stats: 

(I lost the stats from her well-check, and I'm going to apologize for my negligence as a 4-kid parent. I NEVER would have lost something so crucial with Lydia or Austin. Even Caleb got his official stats into his 2 year post. Maybe I'll try to call the doctors office and get them.) 

Petite and so sweet. Size 4 diapers. 18 or 24 month clothes. SO many teeth. (She has 17 teeth! The full 8 on top with 8 + a "second molar" on the back right side. She absolutely has the most teeth of any of our kids at this age.) 

There are so many things that I want to remember about this month but how can I ever write them all down? Here's my best effort. Things to remember about Lucy at age 2:

-She gets Grumpy if you eat her food. It's kind of my favorite thing to do to steal a piece of food off of her plate and see her incredibly offended face. (She does this whether she is eating her food or is currently refusing to eat.) 

-She climbed out of her crib for the first time to our great distress. Luckily, after moving a small bin of drawers away, she has stopped doing that. Unluckily, her naptime/bedtime antics involve taking off her diaper about 1,000 times. She doesn't like to wear a diaper that has the tiniest bit of pee in it, so if there is any at all she takes off all of her clothes and takes off her diaper. I have to go back in several times to put it back on (often giving up on the fight of getting it back on and just putting a fresh one on, even though the other one is almost completely dry). The trickiest time is when she takes off her pants, takes off her diaper, then puts her pants back on! She then will often fall asleep and I have to go in and check to make sure that she has a diaper on before I go to bed. Occasionally she will wake up in the nighttime, take off her diaper, and put her pants back on. Then when I go in to get her in the morning she's not wearing a diaper. I finally have started putting her in a jumper with a onsie on top to try to prevent her from taking her clothes off! 

-She loves dogs, especially Grandma and Grandpa Walker's dog, Rugby. She says his name almost perfectly and talks about him often, even when he's not here. He's such a good puppy and allows her to man-handle him quite a bit. 

-Austin=Nanee, Caleb=K-buh, Lydia=

-We haven't had her wear hats inside as much, but she's really good about wearing her hat and sunglasses outside (even reminding me when I forget). Her eyes really are sensitive to the sun and you can tell that it's painful for her to be outside without sunglasses on. We do our best to sunscreen her and she hasn't had a sunburn all summer long ( I rarely manage to sunscreen the rest of the kids by the time I am done with Lucy and they have been burned a few times.) 

-She hasn't loved books as much in the past but she's recently started really enjoying them. She loves lift-the-flap books and these poke-a-dot books that have little dots that make a snapping sound when you push them. Her favorite book is "Where's Spot" but also likes all the other lift-the-flap baby books we have. It's made me so happy because I've wondered if her vision has been stopping her from enjoying reading the books with me but she seems to be enjoying and appreciating them more.

-She's friendly and funny and everyone loves her. 

-Austin is particularly enamored of her. He takes such good care of her and is the best big brother. Lydia and Lucy share a room right now and although I don't have any pictures of that - it's fun to have them in there together. 

-She loves her toy baby- the ugly fabric one with the plastic face that Austin gave to her for Christmas. She wont even touch the lovely cloth doll that Amy gave to her. 

-She picks out her clothes 99% of the time and that last 1% is only if I can manage to convince her my choice is best. 

Some more pictures from our month: 

-She loves her hair in pigtails and asks for "piggies" frequently. She has the biggest cheese girn and often squints her eyes when she smiles.

Oh Lucy, darling. We love you!