This photo is titled:

"Sally Shake, The Dolphin Gets a Bath"

Sweet Girl

Warning: the following contains mention of POOP and bathtime, so if you find discussion of poop and bathtime offensive, do not read on. :)

Here's a story about Lily that I don't want to forget. I've had a really intense school week, with a conference this weekend and other papers due besides. So, it's just been one of those chapters where you are trying to be conscious of taking care of yourself (which often falls to the wayside as a mother) as well as your family, because a meltdown is imminent. These just are part of life, from time to time. You know what I mean?

So, anyways, with a stress meltdown on the way, I was looking for ways to rest and exercise and not get sick. On Wed. morning I had a particularly intense yoga session and was SO sore by the end of the day. My instructor advised an Epsom salt bath, which I immediately shrugged off, because....well, who has time for a bath? However, after class on Wed night, it was clear that a bath was in order.

Jeremy was extremely supportive and provided me the time and space to take this bath. Lily, however, was extremely interested in this self-care project and since she it takes her forever to wind down at night, she was very aware that mama was in the bathroom beside her, doing something that she felt was awesome ("You're gonna SIT DOWN?!").

I told her I needed space and quiet and she said she would stay in her room. However during the course of the bath, I heard her come out of her room and open the bathroom door; several times she called to me softly through the "burnace" (which connects the bathroom to her room). I was annoyed that I couldn't even have a quiet bath, so I pretended I didn't hear her and she left me alone after a few minutes.

When I got out, she heard me walking to my room and this is the conversation that ensued:

Lily: (quietly) Mom?
Me: Yes? You should be asleep sweetie...
Lily: Are you done?
Me: Yes, I'm done.
Lily: Can I use the bathroom and go poop now?
Me: (horrified!) Lily!! You should have told me you needed to use the bathroom!!
Lily: I just wanted you to have your bath.

Enough said.

More IL Moments

I wish I had a way to record how funny this interaction was between Grandma and Lily - let's just you could hear them throughout the entire house and everyone was laughing :)



Lily LOVES playing in Grandma's bathtub!




SO fun!

this one is about a different kind of bath...

Old Friends, New Friends

This past weekend, we had an alumni soccer game at Milligan. Seven girls from my era came back to play together. We had the BEST time! One of the sweetest parts of the weekend was the bonding between our children. My great friend Salem, who (whom?) I played with all four years (AND whom (who?) I haven't seen in NINE years), brought her three daughters to stay at our house. It was absolutely incredible how my daughter and her daughters hit it off immediately - almost as if something from Salem and I's friendship from those formative years had been passed on to them. We agreed to get together more often, for their sake...and ours :)

Lisa entertaining the girls
Tim, Salem's husband (and our friend too) - holding all four girls!

eating dinner on the porch

Adalyn (6), Lily, Miriam (4), and Lydia (2)

they LOVED the camera, unlike Lily... probably because it's pointed at her ALL the time!

Adalyn, Miriam, and Lydia gave Lily a bath! Lily asked them to and the parents agreed... and it ended up being the cutest thing ever.

We are so glad to have reunited with old friends and that Lily got to make some extra special new friends!

Don't Drink the Water (Highlights from last week)

This little girl is TIRED, a lot of the time. Gone are the days of reading quietly for 20-30 minutes at a time and playing peacefully. She is ON THE GO, BUSY, and HIGH SPEED. Since her morning nap has been phasing out, its been a struggle to make it to her afternoon nap... She's been going and getting her "bankie" and "paci" out of her crib and pretending to go to sleep all over the house...

Eating yogurt with her fingers....mmmmm.

playing in her baby's cradle...

happy face after drinking "Green Goodness"

Cooking with dada - one of Lilys favorite games

Snoozing on the couch with dada.

Lily loves dada's ties. She always points them out in public, on other people, and in pictures...

I think this picture (above) looks just like Jeremy's baby pictures! What do you think?

Drinking our delicious Elizabethton city water. mmmmmm!!!

....and here are some random videos...

Week in Pictures and Videos (a.k.a. The Week of RAIN)

(In case you're wondering, she's smiling because we put on one of her favorite songs, "Red Squirrel" by the Fleet Foxes.)

(Dad likes to do fun things with Lily's hair)

(Hanging out with her BF, Elijah.)

(Hanging out in our gloriously green backyard, with "Guy" - seen at base of tree)

(Stopping to smell the flowers. I always have lots of petunias around because they remind me of Epworth.)

(Riding the bus)

Listen for these words: couch, camera, light, dada-look!Longest game of peek-a-boo EVER!