My life

I love my life! I'm sitting in bed watching our beautiful daughter sleep next to me and it's killing me not to squeeze her and hold her. She is so beautiful and I am so incredibly proud of her. My grandma used to sign every single card to each of her 7 children, all of their spouses, and her 3 grandchildren with, "I'm so proud of you." I totally get it now. Our Bear is the sweetest, most loving, smartest, funniest, kindest little girl I could have ever hoped to have for a daughter. She is getting so tall (big shocker) and brave. Just the other night she was in the big pool at our complex and was "even getting her hair wet" as she said. I can't imagine my life without her and A in it. She brings us countless hours of entertainment and hilarious stories to remember for a lifetime. This past week while we were on vacation she yells out to me, "J, I have our bag." and "J, can you do me a favor?" I was laughing so hard. When we were at the pool the other night, after dipping her toes in the water she says to us, "It seems I'm wet." It's amazing to think how far she has come from saying, "Ning!" when she really didn't like something to now saying, "Absee oopey" to mean "absolutely". And my newest favorite is her telling us what her new cuckoo clock says and always ending the description with, "It's so funny!" Everyday I'm amazed at what new thing she has learned, what new words she is saying, what new activity she can do now that she couldn't before. I also love that in some ways though, she doesn't change all that fast. She's still a huge Toy Story fan and Lily is still her favorite stuffed pal. Just today while we were at the play gym she told me, "I love being here with you." and on numerous occasions she has told me, "You're my best friend, Mommy." Life doesn't get any better than this, folks!

Beach Bums

We recently got back from our yearly trip to The Beach. The Bear did AWESOME! The past few trips have not gone so well for her; she has been afraid of the sand and wind ever since we were all heavily sand-blasted and it was basically right at her face level. However this trip, she did so great! We even had some wind and blowing sand and The Hubs and I were very nervous that this would bring back the fear but she just turned her head and waited for it to pass and then went right back to playing. We were incredibly proud, to say the least.

There was lots of stomping in the ocean.

And digging fingers and piggies in the wet sand.

Bear tracks!

She loves to have Daddy take her out in the waves.

The Aquarium was a fun part of our trip. She really loved
putting her hands in the fountain out front.

It happened to be World Ocean Day on June 8th when we were at the Aquarium
and it was sponsored by Dr. Seuss. The Bear decorated her crown all by herself
and was very proud of it. She wore it the entire time.

The Manta Ray tank was a HUGE highlight of the trip. Bear loves Finding Nemo
and one of her favorite characters is Mr. Ray, the science teacher. She was full
out sprinting around this tank, following the rays and screaming, "DADDY,
LOOK!!! MR. RAY, THE SCIENCE TEACHER!!!"

This activity table was definitely another big hit. It was in a nice quiet room
right near the huge shark tank. So while we "ooh'ed and aah'ed" over the
sharks, she happily played with this activity table until I finally had to set the
alarm on my phone for "five more minutes" so we could go to the next exhibit.

This cool guy sits outside the aquarium near a turtle maze.

Bear decided he looked hungry and needed something to eat before moving on.

We stopped at a fort on the way back to our rental home
where The Bear got some nice snuggles with Nana.

Back at the house, there was a lot of time spent
playing with the hose.

And bubbles being blown.

But mostly lots of smiles :)

To cap it all off, there was lots of jumping on the
bed (only allowed because we were on vacation).

And serious "flopping" as she likes to call it.

All in all, it was a really great trip. The Hubs and I even got the chance to go on a romantic date at sunset over the Sound. It was one of the highlights of the trip for me (along with watching the two loves of my life playing together on the beach). I think next year we might vacation somewhere else but I know we'll be back to make more fond memories on the beach.