Favorite moment of the week so far

#1 Emersyn woke up at 6:30 am Tuesday- too early, I heard her in there yelling "Special Bunny!" She couldn't find it in her bed. I went in and handed her Special Bunny, "Hi Mommy!" she says. Afraid she wouldn't go back to sleep and wake up Ashtyn, I brought her in bed with me, where she promptly fell right asleep. Fast forward 45 minutes. Ashtyn comes in. Too early for me. She climbs in we all rest/sleep/doze until 8. It was sweet, having Emersyn snuggling up on one side of me and Ashtyn on the other. Just trying to soak up those moments.

#2 On my final night check, I come in and find Ashtyn sleeping with The Cat in the Hat open across her chest. She had napped yesterday and couldn't fall asleep so I gave her 4 books to look at until she was sleepy. She made it through 2. Tried to get a picture of her sleeping like that, but couldn't get it very well with the low light. Will have to just be one of those pictures in my head.

Birthday Cheer

My baby turned 2 today. Everyone says this, BUT IT IS SO TRUE...Life goes by fast, months are like days sometimes. The only thing I can do to try to slow it down is to try really hard to me in the moment. At Emersyn's birthday party yesterday I tried hard to soak up the details and really enjoy the little things. These are things that struck me:

• Four generations in a room
• Emersyn subconsciously "guarding" her unopened presents
• Ashtyn telling me that "Some very special people are here."
• Colby's wet nose on the screen door
• "Where Emer's Money Go?"
• Grandma B's smile
• Emersyn's birthday dress
• Emer's cheek dimple...it is truly one of my favorite things in the world to look at!
• Oma's infectious energy
• Sarah's peaceful confidence (and growing belly)
• The joy brought by a "best big sister present"
• Ground venison that everyone thinks is beef
• The way GrandMary interacts with the girls
• The way Ashtyn looks at my Dad
• "Where's Gammy?"
• "Feed da fish!"
• Ashy climbing on Great Grandpa's lap
• Ashy video taping her sister
• Two sisters on Aunt Julie's lap

I could go on forever. It was so nice. Finally after 29 years I am learning the power of a moment.

Driving Skills

Ashtyn has finally learned how to steer her Dora Jeep power wheel. It is so cool to watch her cruise around our driveway skillfully. As early as last month all she could do was drive in a circle or get stuck in the grass.

She realizes something has changed. She knows that she has developed a new skill. When she jerks the wheel and the Jeep goes in the direction she was hoping, her face registers a look somewhere between shock and pride.

Giant Beach Ball Suit?

Emersyn is climbing up the slide in our backyard as of today. This is really cool, but very scary too. This is an old school slide with wood steps that can easily be fallen through. There's no problem when I'm close and can catch her, but I freaked when I was 50 yards away and noticed she was four rungs up the ladder. Me sprinting towards her and yelling is probably what made her lose her balance. (Hindsight is always 20/20). But I got there in time to stop a complete fall. "Emer...no climbing when Daddy isn't around!" I can tell by the twinkle in her eyes that she comprehends what I'm saying, yet has no intention of listening. Any chance she gets from now on, probably for the next 5 years, weather or not anyone is around, she is going to be climbing up this slide.

As parents you really do want to protect them from any type of pain or scary stuff. But we can't put them in a giant beach ball suit now can we? I'll just keep praying; I guess.

Underground Play Palace

We FINALLY got the carpet laid in our basement while I was out of town this week. After 8 months of working on that project it is so good to be playing with the girls down there. We basically have 1500 sq. feet of soft carpet to run around on. They have dubbed it their own castle...complete with Dora inflatable fortress. It is a blast, but the girls are running me ragged down there. We had the girls best little friends over today. They ran, laughed, and played until their daddies were basically in a coma. By 7:00 PM I was laying on the ground reading TIME magazine while Emersyn and the rest of the girls looked at books. I looked at each little face, and their all read tired. My girls and their friends will never lack for physical activity (and all the benefits it brings) as long as we don't furnish our new basement.

Beware of Stairs

Little Emersyn fell half way down our stairs yesterday. She is perfectly fine, but it scared the crap out of me. My wife was calm and took control of the situation from what I hear. Had I been around I would have freaked. It is stomach turning to think of one of my girls getting hurt, but I guess it's just a part of growing up. I guess my job is just to protect them as best I can and choose to not live in worry and fear about things that are just going to happen. That being said I'm headed to Target today to investigate baby gates!

Grandparents Rule

Grandparents have got to be one of God's truly greatest ideas in the mind of little girls. After being gone for 3 days, I get home to a bombardment of stories about all the awesome stuff the girls did with Grammy, PaPa, Grandma, and Pops. Not to mention Great Grandpa, GG, Great Grandma, and GrandMary. I'm surprised I can ever get these girls to leave Monroe to head to our home.