Pretty Toes

Elizabeth is turning Lydia Mei into a beauty queen! She painted Lydia Mei's toenails pink to match Mommy's!

Belly Dancer or Gymnast or Chinese Fan Dancer???

Life with Lydia Mei is, at best, lots of fun (except for sleepless nights, of course!). In this video clip, she is at her finest. Not sure what the future holds for her: belly dancer, gymnast, Chinese fan dancer. Needless to say, she has some of the moves for each. Note the "link" on her left wrist. These links often serve as bracelets. They can also often be found on her feet. We find ourselves laughing at her moves often. She has proven to be a "ham" and often stops to see what the commotion is about when we are watching, filming, laughing, or taking pictures.

p.s. the quality of this film isn't the best, taken on my little digital camera, the only recording device readily available for this moment in time!

Happy Father's Day???

Well, it was supposed to be a great Father's Day dinner. We waited until late afternoon to head to the Big T in Lawton, MI. We (Doug, the kids, and me) were all sitting there, happily munching on popcorn, trying to watch the end of the Nascar race on TV, sipping on our drinks, and watching Lydia Mei eat animal crackers and Cheerios. I was trying to feed Lydia Mei some green beans (baby food style) when all of a sudden, she started choking. She was choking on an animal cracker while I had just shoved some green beans in her mouth. (Great pediatric nurse!!) She started to cry at first, then turned purple. I was ready to do the Heimlic manuever when she seemed to recover and I could see the cracker in her mouth. I decided to take her out of the eating area of the restaurant....bad move. She proceeded to throw up down my entire front!!!! We were both covered. Doug came to the rescue. The restaurant help came to the rescue. Fortunately, I had layers on so I could remove my t shirt (in the bathroom, of course!) and still have my tank and sweater on. Needless to say...Lydia Mei was quite soiled, I had spots on my pants and sweater, and Doug had a large spot on his shirt. Yummy!!!! Time for the food!

Poor Doug! This was supposed to be his Father's Day dinner! Once home and all cleaned up, we "cleaned up" on the strawberry pie I made for dessert! And Lydia Mei.....much sweeter after a bath and good wash up!

Summer Time!

Lydia Mei loves to be outside! She went swimming in our pool for the first time yesterday and loved it. She had lots of company as she floated about in her floaty. She also loves to swing. She squeals with delight everytime! The neighbors can hear her while they are in their houses!!

A few pictures from the last week

Lydia Mei is 15 1/2 months old. Aaron is 9 years old, Benjamin is 11 years old, Elizabeth just turned 14 years old and graduated from 8th grade, and Jacob is 15 years old. We will NOT say how old the mommy and daddy are.

We are blessed beyond measure, that is for sure!

Elizabeth's 14th Birthday Celebration

From upper left corner, going clockwise: the Fort on Mackinac Island with lilacs in bloom; a freighter heading toward the Soo Locks; the Mackinaw Bridge at dusk; Elizabeth, Chloe and me with the bridge as a backdrop.

This past weekend (June6-7-8), I took Elizabeth and one of her friends to Mackinac Island for the weekend. (Actually, we stayed in St. Ignace just over the bridge in the U.P. because it was a lot cheaper!) Elizabeth wanted to run in the Lilac Festival 10K race for her birthday. So....instead of presents, she got to run in a very tiring race on a gorgeous day and got to spend the weekend with her mom and her good friend. We enjoyed the sites of the area....the Mackinaw Bridge, the Island, Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.

The race had a very steep incline after the first 1/4 mile through the shopping area of Mackiac Island to the center of the island. The run went through the center of the Island, down to the road that surrounds the island, and then ended at the public school. We biked the first part of the race in the afternoon.....had to walk our bikes up the steep hills....the ones Elizabeth had to run! We ended up biking around part of the island facing the U.P. and enjoyed spectacular views!

Lydia Mei is moving by scooting......

Enjoy this video of Lydia Mei scooting in our kitchen. We laughed as we watched it because a phone call (maybe from Grandma) interrupted the video shoot. The gate is up for the steps, childproofing needs to happen in full force! You may even catch Lydia Mei and her squealing. And, yes, I know that bouncy balls are NOT the greatest toy for a 15 month old......

And Elizabeth insists that Lydia Mei says "buh buh" for bouncy ball. She is very attached to this bouncy ball.....hopefully it never bounces away!

New Accomplishments this Week

...putting hands out and saying "da" (done) when all done eating

...trying to put socks on her feet

...saying "ga" for Gracie (Lydia Mei has two Chinese friends named Gracie!)

...leaning over so far her nose hits the floor in efforts to crawl (just can't get her legs to cooperate!)

...going to nursery for the entire church service on Sunday

...blowing kisses

...continually emerging sweet personality (I can't claim responsibility for this!)

God has blessed our family immensely. Lydia Mei is a joy and a delight.