Sunday Pool Time

Hurry up, mom and dad. I'm ready to go swimming.
Finally...lunch is done, it's time for swimming fun.
My cover up is off. Sunscreen is on. I am ready to go.
Floating with dad...
...and floating on my own.
O.K. Enough lounging in the sun, I am ready to go swimming now. (Camera down, photographer is now Amaya's swimming buddy.)
Mommy's tired after keeping up with Amaya all around the pool for the past hour. This float chair is the best when mommy needs to stay in one spot for a little while. Smile, smile. Amaya loves to sit on it and play with her pool toys. She doesn't like her own floats any more. She wants to be on the big people floats. To funny. Amaya also loves being pushed around the pool on this chair. With barriers on 3 sides, she stays put well, so we can give her quite a ride.

Pool Time

We spent a lot of time in the pool this weekend. The weather was perfect for it. Temps in the 100's and bright and sunny. Here are a few pics from Sat. I had just gotten Amaya out of the pool. I was preparing to take her in for a bath, then put her down for a nap, so Scott got on a pool float to do some relaxing. Well, Amaya decided that pool float looked too darn inviting. She insisted on getting back into the pool to take over the float. I had already taken her swimming suit off, but she still had on her swim diaper. Scott put her up on the float and she just layed there chilling. He moved the float around the pool and still, she just chilled. So cute and funny!

Sorry I stole your float dad!
Ah, this is the life!
Brrr, that breeze is cool. It must be only 100 out.
A breeze makes for wild hair!
Can't I just nap here, mom?

Amaya's Latest

Little Miss Amaya continues to bring us endless joy...and laughter. She's just soooo darn funny, as are many kids. Her facial expressions are priceless. She has started imitating much of what we do, which is so fun. And the dancing...my goodness the dancing. If there's a beat, she's a jammin'. Whether it's a commercial, the radio, or us singing, she's rocking out. If she's sitting in her high chair, she'll still tap her feet and sway side to side with at least her head, sometimes swaying so much she moves the entire high chair side to side.. She'll even snap her fingers. She likes to show her appreciation when it's music she likes. She definitely has preferences. We'll be listening to Music Choice, as you can see in the picture below, and sometimes when a new song comes on she'll light up and get more into her dancing as if to say "this is my kind of music." She has done the same thing in restaurants. And with Alltell commercials. She loves Alltell commercials. That started before Christmas and continues to be the case. Funny! She continues to eat fruit like fruit will soon cease to exist. Makes for fun diaper changes for mommy. And her fruit obsession is starting to burn a huge hole in our wallet! I thought feeding her would be cheaper now that she's off formula. Not so. I am going to have to start buying fruit in bulk for this child. We seriously have to cut her off at around 14 strawberries, or 50 blueberries, or about 30-35 grapes. No kidding. That's one sitting. We feed her fruit at the end of meals so she'll eat some other foods first. She graduates from swimming tomorrow. Yeah! Will be nice to have our mornings free again. But we'll miss Becki, Amaya's instructor, and seeing the other kids and parents. But now we can do some other things, so that will be nice. I will post pics and perhaps a video clip or two from Amaya's last swimming lesson the next time I blog.

Another Playdate in the Park

Here are some pics from our last playdate in the park. The older kids had a blast running around and the little ones enjoyed playing with their toys on blankets in the shade. That is until the older ones trampled all over their play area. Soon enough the little ones will be running around, too. Then it will really get interesting!

The TFL

(toddler football league)

Will warming up for the big game.
Will and Amaya heading out onto the field.
Quarterback Amaya just made a beautiful pass to Receiver Will, and he made a beautiful catch. Run Will Run. He's going to score a touchdown.
Muted excitement from both the Quarterback and Receiver after the touchdown. They don't appreciate the paparazzi taking pictures.
Will resting between plays.
Emma gets ready on defense. Will gets set to hike the ball to Quarterback Amaya. They're only 14 months. Aren't they talented?!?! Look out NFL.

Amaya and Emma
Girls Will Be Girls

Amaya admiring Will's truck...
...as Emma plays with it.
Notice Emma no longer has the truck. Where did it go?
There it is. Somehow Amaya now has it. Hmmm.

And she has the football, too. No fair. Emma's out of here.

Amaya runs after Emma. "Wait. Come back. I'll share. I promise."
Amaya and Emma, friends again. Will's staying out of it. Smart boy. The toys are his, too, but he's content to just let the girls have them. Again, smart boy.

The "Big Kids" Running Around

Will, Amaya, and Emma had a ball running all over the place. Eventually Will and Emma rejoined the group in the shade, but Amaya continued running all over the place. Thus, I continued running all over the place. Who needs to exercise when you have a toddler named Amaya?! Every so often I'd lead Amaya back to the group so we could socialize, but it wouldn't be long and she was off and running, often crashing other "parties", ie other playgroups. Too funny. So, moral of the story, if Amaya doesn't spend the whole playdate eating, she spends it running. Literally.


Random Pics of the Gang

All six kids: (clockwise from Amaya's hair, smile, smile) Amaya's hair, Kate (with mommy Ashley), Jaxon (with mommy Erin), Will looking at Jaxon, Ellie (with mommy Joo), and Emma (will Will's mommy Anjee). Missing from the picture, Christine (Emma's mommy), and of course Mae and little Brooklyn, our newest playgroup baby. Congrats Mae. We can't wait for you to bring Brooklyn to her first playdate outside the womb.
Amaya and Emma with their loot (they stole the toy turtle from the "little" kids).
Kate and Ellie (ha, ha...like "Kate and Allie"...get it...you know, the ol' '80's tv show...I loved that show!)
Ellie, Kate, and Jaxon with Amaya and "her truck" looking on. Will was nice enough to let Amaya keep the truck until the next playdate because she didn't want to part with it. Don't worry Will, I bought Amaya her own. You'll get it back at the next playdate. Smile, smile.

Welcome to the World, Brooklyn Joy!

Mae with her little bundle of "joy"...Brooklyn Joy that is. She'll always be Alessandra Lyn to me. Smile, smile. Congrats to both her and Brett, and of course big brother Deuce. She's precious!
And I have to add that I predicted her birth date on Brett and Mae's online baby pool. I even said on my prediction that it wasn't a guess, that "you'll be meeting your little princess on May 23rd." Crazy. So, Brett and Mae, what do I win? Smile, smile. How about bonus cuddle time with little Brooklyn?

Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Brian Come For a Visit

Amaya and Grandpa John
Amaya and Grandma Kim
Amaya with Uncle Brian

Is it June already?

Wow, where does the time go?!?! Since it's been almost a month since I've blogged (bad blogger, bad blogger), I figured it's about time I get back at it. First I'll start with an update on what we've, and most importantly what Amaya's, been up to. Then I'll follow with the fun part. Pictures. I haven't been the best at snapping photographs lately...I've been focusing on the last 15oo I've taken (editing/uploading/printing them and putting them in albums)...but I have a few shots from when Scott's family visited, some of Amaya's newest playmate, and some from our last playdate.

O.K. So what's been keeping us soooo darn busy?

The Monday after Scott and I got back from Mexico, Amaya started phase 2 of her swimming classes, which are everyday, Mon.-Fri. So that keeps me on my toes. She's doing great. She's on pace to graduate by June 18th at the latest, but maybe even earlier. She's pretty much mastered all of the skills as of today, but they just need some fine tuning and then she masters them fully clothed. She's just in her swimming suit now. They have them work on their skills fully clothed and then even with heavy shoes and coats on because kids aren't necessarily in their swimming suits when they fall into a body of water. So, anyway, it's so fun to see all of her hard work paying off now! It's soooo fun to see her swim across the pool to the stairs at 14 months. I will bring my camera to one of her upcoming lessons and post the pics.

The weekend after we returned from vacation, Scott's dad and brother came to do some serious golfing. Scott's mom came along, too, and hung out with Amaya and I. Ironically, they arrived on our first triple digit day of the year and were here during the 3 record setting hot days we had in May. Then, the day after they left our highs dipped back down into the 90's and even 80's and we didn't see triple digit heat again until this past weekend. Crazy. But, the boys managed to golf 36 holes each day, despite the record setting heat, proving that we don't lie when we say it really isn't that bad. The dry heat does make a difference. We still feel that a dry 110 feels better than the humid 90's we had in Chicago in July and Aug. I can't remember the exact temps we hit, but they were 110+. So, anyway, while the boys golfed, the ladies hung out and enjoyed the pool. Grandma Kim got to see Amaya the pool lover in action. She even showed grandma how she has nooo fear, playing her "jump into the pool and climb back out over and over again" game (again, the jumping into the pool part is to mom's waiting arms, so no worries out there). Another irony of the weekend was that Amaya got sick for the first time. Of course it's when family is visiting. Isn't that how it always goes? The poor little sweetheart had a case of the uppie chuckies, but bounced back quickly.

O.K. What else? Scott and I have each been enjoying our fave summer spectator sports. Scott's of course are golf and baseball. He's pumped that the Cubbies are on a 8-game winning streak and that it's the first time that has happened since they won the Championship in 1908. According to Scott, it's their year. But, being the ever loyal Cubbie fan and eternal optimist when it comes to the Cubs, he says that every year. But hopefully this is the year the statement comes true. Of course mine is tennis, tennis, tennis. Go Djokovic!!! For those of you who aren't tennis fans, my fave player Novak Djokovic won today in the quarter finals of the French Open. Yeah!

Now we are just gearing up for a trip to South Dakota in a couple weeks to see family and friends (and for Scott, of course golf). Amaya is growing, changing and learning new things and words every day. She's so darn fun and funny we can hardly stand it. Aren't kids the best?