starting my game of catch up

My blog has been quite neglected of late. I have a running list of things I need to record. Tonight I start. Hopefully making a blog a day will catch me up until Mike gets home. Plus, over the next month there will most likely be more details than usual in the posts since Mike will pour over it when he gets home.



Before we dropped daddy off we took some pictures. It was not at all dramatic or significant to the kids but since they will live this experience in their life numerous times I thought it necessary to record their last moments before they missed a whole month with their dad. The goodbye weighed heavily on Mike. I felt for him because I can't imagine being away from my kids for a month. I also felt for him as he hugged them and tears welled up in his eyes and they wiggled out of the hug as fast as they could so they could get on with whatever else they were going to do. I hope someday they'll get how much it killed him to miss out on weeks of their lives.

Here's what we're loving around here these days:

The pool! Every moment of the kids lives is either waiting to go to the pool or talking about what we did at the pool. If we could go every morning at 7, I'm sure we would. I can't take any pictures at the pool since I am one grown up with two not-so-efficent swimmers who are a little too big for their britches in the pool. So, this bath picture will have to metaphorically stand in for a pool picture. And, hopefully in the month of August we'll come up with a pool picture or two.


Emma picking out her own clothes and finally showing some desire to dress herself. Unfortunately we end up with combinations like plaid and hearts, but we'll work on matching outfits later.



Andrew is all about building- I mean ALL about it. Puzzles or blocks. Puzzles of blocks. He is building with blocks in this picture (probably can't tell) but he has also perfected the super-cute-mischievous smile if you can't tell. I wasn't sure about the bald head for a while and thought he looked a little like a refugee but now I love it! His head is a perfectly round shape and no bed head! I'm so glad I got a picture of this smile. I see it about 300 times a day.

A princess nightgown and a magic wand! This is hilarious to me since Emma has never seen one Princess movie. We have watched Cinderella but it was Rogers and Hammerstein's, not Disney. Yet, when we saw the nightgowns were $6.99 at BJ's we decided it was a reasonable price for a night gown. Then, in an extra stroke of luck the nightgown game with a magic wand and a pair of ballet slippers (or princess shoes if you're Emma). She would wear her nightgown every moment she's not wearing her swimsuit if she could. She is asleep in her bed with her wand right now.