relaxing labor day weekend!

The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family. ~Thomas Jefferson


smiths!


b and lily enjoying the water table!


stefanie and colin


dinner downtown


cute matchers!


the boys!


a walk up to monticello

museum fun...

kathy arrived into town yesterday and brandon, colin and stefanie all got her today to hang for the weekend. it is so good to see family and be together.
yesterday, kathy and lily and i went to the c'ville children's museum and met up with our amazing friend katy and her two kids. they all loved it...


lily getting love from katy


david has just started walking!


our little bee inspector, ainsley!


kathy and david


lily in the construction zone!

lily sends you well wishes, sammy...

for the last three weeks, lily has been obsessed with the book "alice the fairy" that my sister ashley sent her for her half birthday. we have religiously read it a minimum of three times a day and she has actually memorized lines to it. i have tried to slip in a different book at bedtime, but alas, she is too quick for me. i can be no more than a page into the said book and she is reaching for her basket saying "a-ice, a-ice" over and over.
now, we talk about our siblings all the time with lily and she brings them all up daily. but, she would have had no way of knowing that today whit, duke, and sam were all moving to IU.
however, it was as if she knew...
before her afternoon nap today, alice took a backseat to the book "let's go hoosiers" that brandon gave her before she was born. we've read this book many a time, but it has never been dubbed "the" book of the day or week or month... until today. suddenly, she couldn't get enough of aimee aryal's tribute to IU. it's a story of two "little hoosiers" that find themselves walking all over campus and everyone cheers them along by saying, "let's go hoosiers!" as they make their way to every landmark on campus.
well, we've already read it a handful of times this afternoon and it has found its place in lily's heart. and tonight as i put lily in her crib and told her i loved her, she replied "let's go hoosiers!"
that ones for you, sammy!
best wishes to you, brandon, whit, duke and sam as you head down to bloomington!!
love,
lily

child that i adore...

most parents would rejoice. a toddler who doesn't like to be dirty? what could be better? but, i guess i am not most parents and lily is not most toddlers.

now, i will be the first to admit that i am a tidy person (ryan would probably say that is putting it lightly). more than anything, i am not a woman of clutter. things don't necessarily have to be spic n' span, but they do need to be in their place. so, i will take full responsibility for lily's desire to keep things clean.

but, really, she is taking it to a new extreme. she has been known to freak out recently when her hands get dirty while eating (what parent tries to make their kids lick their hands??) and she will quickly say "shoes off" when we enter the house. (i know, i know... what have i done???) so, in a quest to make her more comfortable with all things messy, we've embarked upon a few activies today:

1) we have a new sand and water table - huge hit!
2) we fingerpainted. ok, i will rephrase that, i fingerpainted. - she loved watching. wasn't thrilled with actually doing it.
3) we made playdough (or at least the homemade equivalent that only kind of resembled it. it ended up looking too much like real dough i guess as lily tried on multiple occasions to eat it even though it must have been disgustingly salty!) and played with it. - again, huge hit!
so, 2 for 3 today. i'll keep trying.
i'll tell you what, parenting sure is the most beautiful, challenging, and overwhelming job.







on a very positive note, there are two fawns and a doe that have loved spending their afternoons in our yard and lily LOVES them!!

5 wonderful years...

happy anniversary, ryan! i adore you and you have made my life so beautiful. thank you for all the ways you love me!

changes...

we have been amazingly blessed with the childcare we have had for lily over the last year and a half. we have had two awesome women who have cared for her and we have been abundantly thankful for each of them. due to various circumstances, we have found ourselves yet again having to change our childcare.
when lily was born, we put her name on a waiting list at the UVA medical childcare facility. it took 17 months for her to be accepted. so, at this crossroad of us needing childcare and lily being accepted there, we have decided to try sending her there. it has been an agonizing decision for us and one that has brought on a lot of anxiety and heartache for both ryan and i. we have spoken with several of ryan's collegues who send their children there and they have had only good things to say about the facility. yet, somehow my heart still aches as we get ready to send lily to "school" (yes, we are calling it "school," not "daycare"... it makes my heart less sick this way!) we are so thankful that i am able to work part time and we know so many people have to make the heartbreaking drop off each and every day of the week. yet, in our little family, this is still a big transition.
so, as lily starts school tomorrow, we'd love for you to join us in praying for her big day. we are especially praying that she would know our unconditional love for her every second that we are apart. and we pray that ryan and i would feel confident in our decision... whether that is to keep her there or that we would be clear if it is not the right decision for our family. i have been so thankful to have had this last year and a half to shelter her and provide her with my attention and we pray that she would not be overwhelmed by the kids tomorrow and that it could be a smooth transition for her.
thank you to all of you who support us and we are so thankful for your prayers. thank you!