Jack's Day

Yesterday was a special day for Jack, as he was baptized! It was made even more special because his godfather, Bill, performed the ceremony. (And Jack was Bill's first baptism since graduating from seminary and being ordained last fall!) Chad's mom had bought him a beautiful gown that he wore, and then we had a little celebration lunch with family afterward. It was a great day for our sweet boy!

Our Family with Reverend Bill!

With Big D and Poppy

The Ceremony

Jack and Bill

Snapshots of our Week

I guess that now that school is out, I seem to find the camera in my hand a lot more often; maybe it also has to do with finally settling into a normal routine with 3 kids! Here are just a few shots from our events over the past few days:

A visit from the cousins. Aly and Caroline totally look up to Warner and William and stood at the door all morning on Sunday waiting on them. Caroline took out her binoculars and, looking through them, yelled repeatedly, "Warner, William!!" They arrived about an hour later!

This is how I find Jack every time that he naps. He LOVES this blanket, but surely this can't be good, right?!

Our sweet, hilarious Caroline. Truly a non-stop source of entertainment. This morning, she and Aly were playing in their room when all of a sudden I heard her wailing. I ran back there and tried to translate between her hysterical sobs but all I could get was "glass slipper" and "booger". With the help of some tweezers, this is what I found crammed up her nose. Yes, babe... quite the booger you've got there.

Aly has really been working on giving up her thumb-sucking, and has gone almost a week without it. Caroline said she was ready for the Paci-fairy to come tonight, so we kissed it good-bye and left it in a treasure box.

She is quite addicted to her paci. The poor thing was awake until at least 9:15 just struggling (her bedtime is 7). I felt like we were in an episode of "Celebrity Rehab"! But, the Paci-fairy didn't disappoint and brought the girls sleeping bags for breaking their "addictions"!

I realize that the majority of this post is about Caroline...here's a video to end on:

Caroline, the Fairy Godmother. (singing "Bibbidy-Bobbidy-Boo")

Third Time's a Charmer

The three kids, each around 31/2 months:

Aly

Caroline

Jack

Dog Days

We are so lucky to have the job that we do here at Shorter. It's in a town we love, doing what Chad loves to do, and working for some great people. Perhaps the single biggest reason that we decided to take the job here was the athletic director whom Chad would be working under. This man is an incredibly gifted business man who also has an enormous vision for not only the athletic department but also the entire school. He's also enormously generous: for the second summer, he has offered up his beach house on beautiful Dog Island to our family to use. We just got back and had an amazing time! There is nothing on the island but a few houses, so you do all of your grocery shopping beforehand, load a water taxi, and head out for a week of seeing no one but the people you love the most: family! We had a great time relaxing, swimming, sand-castle-making, playing games, and more swimming. The weather was great, the kids were great, and we will be talking about our trip for a long time!

On the boat to the Dog

Jack's bed

Morning swim

Dock-jumping in the bay

Mama's Boy

Bathed, full, and ready for bed!

Jack "enjoying" the beach

Getting brave in the waves

Little Mermaids

Some guy time

Strawberry Fields Forever

Mmm...nothing better than fresh strawberries. After about 5 minutes, Caroline said, "I finished." She was covered with strawberry juice from the mouth down, and had about 3 berries in the bucket. She knew that at the end of the visit was strawberry ice cream. That's my girl! On the other hand, the always-obsessive Aly kept comparing buckets to see who was "winning".
We had a great time and came back with plenty of strawberries to enjoy over the weekend!

Fresh-picked sweetness

Little worker

Finally...Strawberry ice cream!

Always can find a stage

Creepin' In

It's coming...the signs are everywhere: we went for a walk a few mornings back and were greeted by the sweet scent of honeysuckle; we're making a list of what to look forward to at the beach next week; the swimsuits and sunscreen are easily-accessible; the crickets and cicadas are getting louder and louder; and a big star marks it on our kitchen calendar... SUMMER IS ALMOST HERE!! And we can't wait! 3 more days of schedules and hurried mornings, 3 more days of tennis shoes, backpacks, and lunch boxes. I feel like the onset of summer is just as exciting and magical as a 32-year-old as it was as a kid. I think that the thing that gets me is the way summer break marks an ending to things: this is the last year of Aly in a mother's-morning-out type program just a few mornings a week...next year is 4-mornings a week pre-K! Caroline started the year just a week from turning 2 and know she communicates in full sentences and thoughts! And the baby who started the year just barely the size of a lime in my belly is 3 months old today! So to celebrate these milestones, we're going to spend the next 3 months in sandals and flip-flops, eating popsicles and ice cream, and trying to get into some kind of water everyday. We will enjoy a trip to the beach, 2 full weeks in New York, strawberry-picking, sprinkler-running, and firefly catching. Happy summer to all!

The new (and easier!) summer-do

My sweet 3-month-old

A Summer Treat

Baby Mine