Wedding Cuties!

These are pictures from my friend Lana's wedding from back in June. We just got the order today so that is why I am just now posting it. Paxton and I were in Lana's wedding in June. Lana is a really good friend of mine from childhood, high school and even now! We have been blessed to be apart of each others lives for a long time. Lana asked Paxton to be the ring bearer and one of our other best friends, Robin' s little girl to be the flower girl. They were so precious and did a great job. Josh and Brent (Robin's husband) sat on the front row with a plethora of activities and snacks to keep Paxton and Emilie busy during the ceremony since both of their mommies were in the ceremony. Anyway, of course I forgot my camera so I ordered these. The photographers took a bunch of Lorelei too so we had to order some of her as well. My parents took care of her during the whole wedding weekend so that we all could "focus" on our wedding jobs!

What a handsome boy!
Dancing with ladies!

Who is that peeking around the aisle?

Is mommy coming yet?So, this is what gets the girl, huh?

What a beautiful bride!!

15 month Update

Lorelei is now 15 months old. She had her check up yesterday and she was 29 1/4 inches tall and weighed in at 21.5 lbs. She is in the less than 25% for both height and weight. Her pediatrician is very pleased with her developmental growth. Lorelei says about 35 words and is doing everything else age appropriate, except for eating. Her iron levels were a little low but thankfully better than they probably were a few weeks ago before we but her on vitamins and Carnation Instant Breakfast. We are still working on getting her to take more calories but it is difficult. Her doctor would like to see more growth in the next 3 months. No one minds her being small it is just the pattern of growth that they would like to see improve.
Lorelei is a laugh a minute and constantly amusing us! The pictures below were taken this morning during play time in her room. The picture of the rocking chair with her name on it is something a sweet older man made for her last year during all her medical struggles. I also forgot to mention that her beautiful dress from the professional pictures was one also made for Lorelei during that time as well. People have been so loving and generous over the past 15 months. We appreciate all the love and support from family and friends. Lorelei is truly a blessing from the Lord!

I love my rocking chair!

My cute rocking chair that was made especially for me!

Is it naptime yet?

Ahhh, me and my nine pacis, now I can sleep!

Dinner Delays

Recently we have been going through food struggles with Paxton. I am sure that almost every 2-3 year old does the same kind of thing. Paxton eats a good breakfast, good lunch, but when it comes to dinner, no matter what we have, he just does not want to eat. Part of the problem too, is that he is so busy talking, singing, asking questions, that he forgets to eat. Dinners have lasted up to an hour lately, with us begging, threatening, bribing him to take some bites. It gets old. I know you must think, well then don't make him eat if he isn't hungry. The problem with that is he is starving by 7:30 or in the morning wakes up very grumpy. Ok, then make him be quiet until he finishes. Somehow that doesn't work well either. He also wants a special treat or dessert, which our rule is he can't have one until he has eaten at least a portion of his dinner. Anyway, we feel like we have tried everything. We have let him not eat, we have saved his food for him and warmed it up for breakfast, we have given him time limits, all the tricks we know.
I know it is a stage, but hey, we already have one really picky eater who struggles with caloric intake, I don't need another! Paxton is healthy and can always manage to put away any dessert in no time at all! I am thankful that he does eat a wide variety of foods: fruits, veggies, meat, bread, dairy,etc. It is just that dinner time has become a chore with him. I would love any suggestions that you might have tried or that you think would work with our dinner delay problem. Thanks!! (Ok, I know the food looks kind of gross in the first picture, but it looked a lot better before it was smushed and played with!)

Hey, where is everybody? Dinner ended 30 mintues ago, buddy!

Oh, the agony of it all!

Dinner Delay Tatic #3: I would now like to sing the 400 songs I know!

Stone Mountain

We got to go to Stone Mountain this weekend with a bunch of families from our married class at church. We met for a picnic and the kids played on the big playground then we headed over to the laser show. We were not sure how the kids would do because the laser show starts at 9:30 and of course Lorelei likes to be in bed by at least 7:30. They both did really good until about 8:45 but then the whinning began and Lorelei really started having a hard time the later it got. Finally, the laser show started and Lorelei fell asleep. Paxton loved it and was dancing around singing and clapping. However, halfway through he started laying down on our blanket and was ready to sleep too. We made it home around 11:00 and the kids were really happy to be at church the next day, ok not really. The good news is they slept about 3 1/2 hours yesterday afternoon for naptime. We really did have a great time hanging out with our friends. The kids were all so cute playing together too. I just got a few random shots, so here they are!

Not too worn out, yet!

Katie and Lorelei

Kurt, Kara and Katie

Emilie, Kiley, Annabell, and Paxton

Picture Day!

Yesterday we took the kiddos to get their picture professionally taken since we haven't done that since before Christmas. I have all these cute pictures of Lorelei and Paxton but they all have Christmas backgrounds so I wanted some with some more neutral scenery. Lorelei did great but Paxton was a little difficult. I think he was just kind of "showing" us that he didn't really feel the need to smile and so he didn't. Anyway, not the best ones I have ever gotten but we still managed a few cute ones. Some of these we got changed to sepia and black and white but I can only post what is on our CD from the studio.

New shoes and a suit

My mom and I took Lorelei to get some new shoes yesterday. I knew that her old ones were getting a little small but when they measured her foot to be a size and a half bigger than the shoes she had, I felt really bad. I guess that explains why her toes were hanging off the end and why she kept trying to take them off! We had quite an adventure at the mall but eventually found some adorable shoes at Strausburg and then some others at Carters. Lorelei loves to eat, I mean wear her shoes as you can see below.

Hey Mama, like my shoes?

Yum!!!

You want me to hold it like this?

Hello camera!

Well in addition to small shoes, I noticed that Lorelei's swimsuit was a little small. What tipped me off? Well, when her arms were turning blue and I could barely pull the straps over her arms, I thought it must be time to get another swimsuit. So this is Lorelei's 4th, yes, 4th swimsuit of the summer. Here's a tip for all you moms out there, don't buy those cute little swimsuits for your daughter in February, wait and see what they will actually be wearing and not your guess size! Anyway, the good news is that all the swimsuits were like 70% off so we got a good deal on a cute one. Lorelei likes her new one and is showing off below. She of course danced when she got it on tonight to go swimming. We know she likes something when she dances for it, whether it be food, toys, clothes, etc. My little Lorelei, such a character!

Do you like my new swimsuit everybody?

Hi there!

Kisses for everyone!

Wake Up!!

I caught these cute pictures this afternoon. Paxton and Lorelei love to wake each other up from naps. Paxton usually wakes Lorelei up from her morning nap and Lorelei usually wakes up first in the afternoon, so she loves to wake up Paxton. They both wait until I tell them that they can go in. Paxton will run into Lorelei's room (he insists on opening her door) and he goes up to her crib and takes her paci out of her mouth. He says to her "Miss Priss, you don't need that old thing!" Then she usually smiles for him and wakes up happy.
When Lorelei wakes up Paxton, he is not so happy. He usually doesn't want to wake up in the afternoons, but he has to or he will never go to bed at night. So she climbs on his bed and as you can tell from the pictures below, she tries just about anything to get him up. Eventually he rolls out of bed, (sleeping long is something I wish he would do in the early morning hours) but he isn't so happy for a while! These are just some cute little things that may seem ordinary but I want to write them down or I will never remember all the little things!

Hmmm. . . How should I wake him up today?

I know, I will stick my barrett in his ear!!

Maybe if I just lay down on him, that will do it!

Nope, not going to wake up!

My Gym

I am adjusting to life back at home since my Savannah trip. That would be the reason for no recent posts. I am trying to get some good video of the kids but so far they are not "performing" well for the video camera. I will keep trying! Anyway, I thought I would share some pictures of Paxton at My Gym. As I think I have mentioned he goes to this place once a week and he loves it! In fact, we are going to have his birthday party there this year (which he is very excited about and thinks that every time we go, it is time for his party). Paxton adores his teachers Ms. Bindu and Ms. Jill, especially Ms. Jill!! It is a great time for Paxton to listen to directions and try out some new skills in addition to getting out some of that extra energy he has! The pictures below were taken today in class, enjoy!
Oh I wanted to add a cute thing he said at home today. I was helping him pick up his toys during clean up time and he turned to me and said "Thanks Mama, I really appreciate that!" I thought is was too cute!

Floor and Music time

Climbing up the moutain mat

Headstands on the pummel horse

The "L" Hang on the swinging monkey bars

Ball Pit Fun

Coming Through!

Ms. Jill and Paxton after class