the next Top Chef

As I think I've mentioned before, Lydie has become interested in "cooking" recently.  I've been giving her misc. stuff to mix, measure & pour, like the last of the crackers or pasta in the box.  On Friday, she had a large mess on the floor of all her cooking goodness, but it kept her so busy!  As you see, she also likes trying her concoctions!  Her real cooking consists of adding the measuring cup full of milk to her pink oatmeal in the morning.  Funny how these little things give them so much happiness!  

the dress

At the beginning of October, my nephew Jon & his fiance Heather are getting married!  We're very excited for the wedding & we've been searching for a cute dress for the last few weeks.  I had a little bit of a tough time finding a dress to go along w/ the black & white color scheme, but finally found this one on Ebay that fit the bill.  It's very girly & very "bootifuwl" {as Lydie puts it}.  Black velvet on top & silk & tulle on the bottom with pretty flowers & beads {or butterflies, depending who you ask} sewn around the skirts layers.  LOVE IT.  At first I thought it might be too dressy, but figured, hey, it's not very often we get to dress up for such a special occasion.  It's not the best pic of it here, but had to capture her in the moment.  She had to run outside where Dan was working this night & show him how pretty she was. "Daddy, dad, dad... wook at wydia & her bootifuwl dwess!"  

Lydia's been very into her clothes lately {the boys too!}. She has been frequently going into her dresser & pulling out stuff to look at, sometimes putting various pieces on & off or just making a mess in general!  I took her to Target the other day to look at fall clothes & she kept grabbing things off the racks & saying "this is cute" & throwing it in the cart.  Then I'd say. "look at this Lyd, this is cute, do you think we should get it?"  to which her response was "yah, that's cute or ummmm, let's see... NO!"  Yep, that's my girl!  It is WAY too much fun buying girly clothes!

playtime

One of Lydie's favorite things to play with lately are her Little People houses.  It's quite interesting to watch & listen to her discussions with the people.  Lots of bossiness goin' on here!

"you go to bed"

"you go outside"

"you hear me?"

"go to sleep baby"

"you stay in bed, you hear me?"

Other favorite playtime fun: 

cooking: she drags many things from the kitchen & sits on the floor & "cooks" crackers, grapes, apples, etc.

putting her babies to bed or taking them for walks in the dolly stroller.

playing "baseball" {actually basketball} in the basement w/ the nerf basketball.

what a week!

I know it's only Wednesday, but I've already had quite a week!  All 3 kiddos are home w/ me this week... no babysitter & no grandma backup!  Unfortunately I'm in the midst of a big project w/ Reminisce, so I wasn't able to get the week off, so, as you can imagine, the stress is building quickly around here.  We have a lot to accomplish this week as well.  Every night brings something we have to go off to do & tomorrow Collin & Evan start school.  

Luckily, I have Lydia for a little comic relief & a few snuggles here & there.  It's pretty funny to listen to the things she says when she's just playing.  "yeah sure"  "that's crazy!"  "i'll tuck you in... okay?"  "you stay in there... you hear me?"  "i'm going to bed, i'm tired"  "cooollllinnnnn!"   She is definitely playing her role as a 2 year old well.  Bossiness, tantrums, testing her limits... but she can be just as sweet on the other side.  Oh & did I mention her big brothers that can't stop bickering about eVErYThInG?   "fank you mom"  "i wuv you"  It's those sweet parts that will get me through the week... patience... please patience!

bike ridin' babe

The other night after bath time Lydie & I went outside & she found this trike that the boys had left out earlier in the day {Collin got this trike for his first birthday!}.  She jumped right on & for the first time I've seen her, she put her feet on the pedals & pushed herself forward!  This little lady has grown some long legs this summer & I guess they finally are long enough to pedal!  It was funny to see the look on her face when she pedaled herself foward... I think she was just as surprised as I was.  She had to yell at Dan & show him as well {dad, dad WOOK!}  Thought the concentration on her face was so cute.  Then, of course, off came the shoes!  Last night she pedaled happily on the porch on her pink trike & was unhappy with Evan when he tried to help her {EYANNNNN!!!!}.  So what's next little girl?  Seems that every day this summer brings another new thing for you....