Lilla turns 2!

We spent the weekend at the lake celebrating Lilla's 2nd birthday! I can't believe she is already 2 years old and about to be a big sister to Emiline!

She had a precious party. My two were super excited Saturday morning

Simms with the birthday girl

Cute party stuff

Two excited little girls when baby Crawford arrived

Cope was pretty happy too {oh and I just loved holding him myself. What a sweetie}

Cope was also thrilled little Max was there, as Cope is quickly getting out-numbered by the girls in the family

Simms enjoying lunch with Adeline at the party

Lilla enjoying her very own cake

We swam all day, watched Lilla open presents, rested some, then headed to the Allgoods for a delicious fish fry Saturday night. We went by boat, and my camera fell victim to humidity so the pics are pretty fuzzy

{smile Dru smile}

Sunday morning fun in the sprinkler. Pajamas and a diaper required

Dru found some clothes from the late 80s or early 90s to wear while he worked in the yard Sunday

And Cope celebrated 19 months by enjoying his first cupcake

18 Month Checkup

"So we have an ox on our hands, huh?" I introduce you to the Ox.

That is what Cope's doctor asked me today as she tried to do his exam. Now people are starting to see what I am up against. The boy is strong. And with a little attitude thrown in the mix as well, it makes for quite a combo. Then add in his beauty..Oh my. Oh how we love him though. All 28 lbs 14 ozs. I couldn't believe it when she didn't say he weighed 30+ pounds. He is in the 81 percentile for weight, and he is 33 1/4 inches long, which is the 70th percentile for height. Simms was barely 23lbs at 18 months.

Speech or lack thereof...
Cope says very, very little that we understand. He does, however, talk constantly. Just in his own language. He has close to 5 words we recognize. His doctor isn't the least bit concerned. Especially since he tries so hard to be verbal all day long. He will catch up, she says. She also said his 2 surgeries for ear related issues have contributed greatly to this. And that he is perfectly normal. Thank Goodness. Ya'll know I have worried and worried over his speech. I like to know what my children are saying or asking for. I like understanding them. It has been hard. But it is kinda funny too listening to him chatter away in his own language.



Food or lack thereof...
He doesn't like to eat. He loves to drink. And he prefers his milk over anything else. In a bottle. Yeah, I know. He will drink out of a cup, but really wants that bottle. And I am still giving it to him. And probably will for a few more weeks. Every child has something they can't do without. A bottle happens to be his. He seems to be growing fine so we are supposed to keep offering foods till he starts eating them. He will eat some things. He is just very, very selective.

Childproofing...
I didn't even know what this entailed when Simms was Cope's age. She never tried to climb, jump, pull lamps, hit the TV with things, you get the idea. We have a lot we have to do at the Goodwin house unless we feel like seeing Cope constantly in a cast or with stitches. I may have a nervous breakdown before he turns 2. Every step he takes I wait to hear some sort of crash, bang, break. I love having my boy though. We just rarely sit down around here!


Discipline...
Our main issues come up due to Simms and Cope not getting along. Yeah..that's fun. She isn't always sweet to him and he isn't always sweet to her. He fights back now too. And I did mention he was ox-like, right? And she is pretty fragile? Yeah. It's a constant job. That requires lots of "quite time" and praying on my part. They do love each other. And I pray will one day realize how lucky they are to have each other.

She looks pretty innocent doesn't she? Right.


Favorite Things...
milk in a bottle as mentioned above and his Daddy. And then, after his daddy, probably his uncle Miles, then any other male. He loves being around men. He does a Riverdance number when he sees Dru coming towards him. Cars. Anything with wheels really.

And as I told them today to play quietly and nicely in the den while I folded laundry..this is where I found them..waiting for me at the dryer. I have had so many mundane moments this summer where I have realized the gift that getting to stay home with them is. Nothing special happened. Nothing profound was said. It was just like WOW...this is a gift I am truly grateful for. I don't want to take it for granted. This was one of those moments.

So that sums up our life these days and my sweet boy. He is loads of energy, and full of love. And he still has beautiful hair that I am not ready to cut. But Dru is. I don't know how long we will disagree about the hair, but I tell ya, I am NOT backing down anytime soon. HeeHee. And one day soon, I am going to be brave and post a picture on here of what my house looks like at 4:50 p.m. Scary.

Simms meets Molly

the American Girl Molly. My Molly. We got the American Girl magazine in the mail Monday, and Simms looked through it the way she usually does toy magazines, and she became fixated on 2 dolls. One doll with a cast on her leg, and Molly, because of her glasses. Well, I could barely contain myself. I immediately told her that I HAD Molly at my parent's house (I received her and Sissy got Samantha from Santa..Margaret and Molly=M's, Sissy and Samantha=S's..to be honest I was always jealous she got Samantha..she seemed more "glamorous"..haha). Anyway..I told her if we had a "good week" {yes we are to that point some days} that we would go and get Molly and her suitcase full of clothes and Molly's books on Friday. So we did that today. In the middle of a storm. Seriously..she was so excited. Picked out a dress to wear. Wouldn't talk the whole way to my parent's house. Like she was going to meet a real person. I did a lot of digging for the suitcase. In the process found these..most of them handmade by grandmother Evans..misplaced by my mother until today..and now too little for Simms and Mae Mae. Grrrr...

Grandmother Evans made lots of things for Molly, Samantha and my cousin Lauren's doll, Kirstin, every Christmas. They each had a Christmas stocking, and got a new outfit that she sewed every Christmas. I don't remember if Hillary, Ansley and Jennifer had American Girl dolls or not {and I know Miles didn't..ha}..but that was a lot of sewing for her. She loved it. Sadly, she isn't able to do that today, nor would she probably remember the outfits she made us or our dolls. I have tons of memories of her showing up after school to pin things on us before she sewed us a dress, or take measurements of things before she made them.

Simms brought Molly home in this {due to the rain and all}:

Then set her up on her bed with her suitcase:


Then decided it was time to go through the suitcase and do an outfit change:



These were made by Grandmother Evans for Molly. She even made her a glasses case:

And she also made Molly this nurses uniform:

And she's already put her in her nightgown for the night {and fallen asleep with her daddy}:

It was so much fun to watch her today. Molly was a big part of my "pretend" world as a little girl. And every Christmas I knew there would be a new book or new outfit to add to her collection. She is very special. And I am glad Simms is enjoying her now {although I layed down the law on taking care of her! Ha!}

And We Are Back!

..from 10 wonderfully, perfect days at the lake. Was I sad to come home? Oh yes. Am I sad Dru has to go back to work tomorrow? Definitely. It has been WONDERFUL having 10 days with him with no work to take him away! But back to reality! We had a wonderful week at the lake celebrating the 4th and spending time with family and friends!

Let me introduce you to THE BODYSUIT..we thought Cope would be able to wear this. It took 3 of us to get him out of it..as he was screaming..it really was funny

Dru and his dad really look more like brothers. Evidence:


Our precious boat captain before the boat parade on the 4th:


These 3 enjoyed LOTS of time together over the last 10 days! And next year baby Emiline will be sitting with them!

These sweet babies are growing up so fast:
2011

Squeaky clean and festive for the neighbor's annual party:


We love visiting the ice cream truck each year:

Uncle Gee introduced Simms to sparklers. She loved them:


Little girls looking at the sweets at Catherine's:

Love these 2 so much:

Cope pushing Dru's old Andy doll in the baby stroller {yep..the bottle has got to go}

We played some dress up too:


We had friends/more family join us our last few days at the lake.
Uncle Miles and Katy:


And our good friends Amber, Toby and their beautiful 1 month old daughter, McKinley

And my sweet baby turned 18 months old right before we headed to the lake. I can't believe it. My goodness I don't think I could ever put into words how much I love him.


His speech is improving. His eating is improving. His behavior...well let's just say he likes pushing the limits and testing the waters a little too much right now {or maybe pushing my buttons} but I will take ALL that comes with that little boy. He is so loved by so many.

So that was our time away in pictures. It was great to get away and spend time with family! Now that we've made it home though I'm happy to be back with my little family of four under our little roof. All of our bags are unpacked and put away and now it is back to our ole' routine!