Barbecue? Okay, Let's Live Dangerously.

Leah, mom and I will be heading to the Twins Days Festival next weekend! We are so excited about the festival! Especially this year: Leah and I are actually dressing up with the theme! We have never worn a costume to the festival before, but this year we decided we might as well try something new. The theme this year is "Fairy Tales/Characters from Books" and everything that encompasses. I'm sure we'll see lots of princesses and princes, villains, heroes, and other creative costumes. But, instead of Disney princesses, Leah and I are dressing up as Daenerys Targaryen from the book/TV show Game of Thrones!

Daenerys is a major female character in the books and show. She's strong and brave. She overcomes every obstacle that is thrown at her. And she is determined to win the Iron Throne and claim her birthright. She's pretty awesome. In the book she is very, very young - like 14 or so. She has a pretty rough beginning - her brother is super mean and she's married off to some king or "Kahl" of a "barbaric" race. But, she ends up falling in love with her husband and getting pregnant. Just when you think things are working out for her, her Kahl dies and so does her baby. She's left alone in the desert with only a few loyal servants - and with her dragons! After this, she takes control and gets whatever she wants. Her dragons grow bigger and she is determined she will get the Iron Throne.

Daenerys is on the right.

Now, I have to admit, I have only read the first book all the way through. I started the second and got stuck half-way. These books are hard to read. They're very descriptive and there are a ton of characters to keep track of. The show, on the other hand, is super is easy to watch. You quickly fall in love with the good characters and hate the evil ones. Unfortunately, nothing happens the way you expect it. The good guys don't always win and sometimes they even die! The author, George R.R. Martin, likes to keep you surprised and interested. There are seven books in the series, I believe - crazy! Season 3 just ended on HBO.

In Season 3, Daenerys wears the same outfit through most of the season - a blue tunic/dress with black or gray tights and high boots. Her super blonde hair is down and wavy with a few braids in the back. This is the outfit we are trying to recreate. This whole summer I have been working on getting my hair from dark brown to light blonde. I have not been completely successful. It's very hard to go from dark to light on your own! But, I have managed to get my hair light enough where people can notice the difference, and it is finally pretty much the same color (other than very light roots). My co-worker was willing to help us make the outfit. We found a pattern and bought the fabric and she recreated the dress all on her own! And it looks awesome! We bought some black leggings and boots. My dad made a claw necklace out of wood and we bought some (super cute) dragons to carry around. Leah is the expert hair and makeup artist. And we finally have our costume!

Last night, Leah and I dyed our hair and then Leah braided it all over our heads. We slept in the braids and didn't take them out until around eleven this morning. Super cute curls! Then Leah put our hair in braids to look like Daenerys'. We then dressed up in our whole costume and took some pictures.

With a little bit of editing, the pictures turned out great! We are so excited to dress up as our favorite character next weekend.

We did buy another (super cute) outfit to wear when our costume gets too hot. We are going to walk the parade and enter a costume contest (hopefully a morning one) and then change into our other outfit. Next weekend can't get here quick enough!

Dogs Obey So Much Better Than Children. Don't They?

A list of things I am loving about Lydia right now! (Lydia is 3 years and almost 2 months)

1. Lydia has a set of conversations that she loves to talk about. Here are a few examples:

-Lydia: I am three.

-Me: Yes, you are a big girl.

-Lydia: I am three and I can ride the roller coaster.

-Me: Yes, you can.

-Lydia: But not the big roller coaster. Just the little one.

-Lydia: I like my new bed.

-Me: I'm glad you like your new bed!

-Lydia: I am three and have a new bed. I was this (she holds up 1 finger) and I was in that room (she points to her old room).

-Me: That's right. You were in a crib in your old room.

-Lydia: Yes, but I am three and I have a new bed.

-Lydia: I am Marina. I play the drums.

-Me: Okay.

-Lydia: I like Marina. You like Marina?

-Me: Yes.

-Lydia: I like Kiki, too. Kiki plays the guitar. You like Kiki?

-Me: Yes.

-Lydia: Who does Daddy like?

-Me: Daddy likes Twist.

-Lydia: Oh, yes.

Those are her three favorite things to talk about: being three and riding roller coasters, being three and having a new bed, and anything about the Fresh Beat Band.

2. Lydia likes to stay up late and read. I kind of get frustrated with this since she's going to bed later (and still wakes up early), but how can I tell her to stop reading?! Of course, she doesn't ever read when she's allowed to be awake...only when she's supposed to be sleeping. But, I like to read when I should be sleeping, too.

3. Lydia has really started playing with her doll house and I often overhear her telling her dolls things that I tell her. For example, she was playing with her dolls and I hear "Do you need to go potty?" or "Sleep all night, don't wake Mommy up."

4. Lydia is very sympathetic to people. When someone has a "boo-boo" Lydia gets very concerned and will talk about their boo-boo for a long time. When Uncle Thomas lost his glasses on a roller coaster, Lydia was extremely concerned about it. She kept asking him where his glasses went and how he was going to get them back. She is also concerned about making sure everything is "okay". She asked me if I wanted to go swimming and I said, "Probably not. I may just put my feet in." And she says, "Oh, that's okay, Mommy, you don't have to." When she sees Leah she says, "Leah, you don't have to swim if you don't want to." Leah tells her she does, in fact, want to swim and Lydia says, "Oh, that's okay if you want to."

I wish I could remember all of her conversations because she is hilarious! I love talking with her and hearing what concerns her and what she is thinking about. Despite being a "Trying Three", Lydia is such a joy and wonder, and I thank God for her every day. After having a couple of relaxing weeks, Lydia's behavior has improved and there are fewer melt downs and tantrums. My main struggle right now is trying to get her to drink less juice and more milk!

We're Goldfish People, We're Ant Farm People. We're Not Dog People.

The above quote is there because of Lydia's recent comment she made (not while watching Beethoven, but watching High School Musical 2): "I want to get marry and I want a dog." She cracks me up!

Before I post Lydia's super cute July 4th photos, I have to talk about the "Trying Threes"...just so I don't forget about it later on.

The thing about three-year olds...they KNOW what you are saying, they KNOW the rules, and they KNOW how to push you to your limit. I don't know if Lydia has just been exhausted from this busy week or is finally become a "trying three-year old". Whatever it is, Lydia is definitely trying my patience. 

The past few days she has thrown a tantrum about everything, from the fact that I don't have three blankets on my bed to her ice melting in her cup. Nothing is safe from Lydia's tantrums. When she misbehaves after a warning, she goes straight to time out (now that Daddy's home, I am teaching him to be more consistent with these time outs), but if she starts screaming and crying uncontrollably with now clear reason, she goes straight to her bedroom. Sometimes she stops crying in her room, sometimes me coming back after a minute or two calms her down. Time out has always worked well for Lydia. She needs her alone time and I need mine - both of us need time to cool off.

Today, she was very well-behaved while at the music store (went a little hyper, but no tantrums and listened pretty well to Daddy), but on the way to Michael's she started throwing a fit because I couldn't reach her juice cup, and neither could she. There was screaming and whining and it was driving me mad. Finally, I came up with the great idea of bribing. Michael's is right next to the Dollar Store, which is always a great place for a kid - everything is only $1! So, I tell her that if she stops fussing and is a good girl while we're at Michael's, she will get a special treat from the Dollar Store. This immediately quiets her and she sits calmly in her car seat until we get to Michael's. And at Michael's, she is well behaved and there are no tantrums! Yeah!

We get to the Dollar Store and she immediately starts looking for something. First she picks out a water sprayer (she has seen these before and wanted them, haha). Then she picks out Dora the Explorer stickers. And then, while I was walking down an aisle, she picked out a Dora the Explorer coloring book. And she wanted ALL THREE things. Daddy tells her that she has been so good, that she can have two things - the Dora stickers and coloring book. This maker her happy, until she remembers the word "treat". To her, a coloring book and stickers are not "treats" - M&M's are treats. I decide that we can get the M&M's (I like to have chocolate in the house to bribe her, haha) and save them for home. This makes her happy. Until we get to the car. Then she wants the M&M's. But, when we tell her that the Dora book and stickers will go bye-bye if she keeps fussing, she immediately stops! And she was very good at Sam's Club where we had lunch.

For Lydia and me, bribing works. I know not everyone likes the idea of bribing your children, but when it works, it works. As long as we are consistent with it - as in, we only give her something when she does what we asked, and then that we give her it once she does what we want - it will work.

And on to cuteness - looking at these pictures, you will never guess the tantrums this girl can throw!

Yes, I Like That One. I Could Really Get Jiggy With That.

God has given me a girly-girl...which I am very, very thankful for! I don't know if I could handle a little girl who likes to play in the mud, likes bugs, and runs around crazy all the time, getting dirty and sweaty. God gave me a little girl who is a lot like me. She loves to dress up, watch "princess movies", sing songs, dance to music, play with her kitchen and dollhouse, likes to help Mommy around the house, and leaves the bugs and dirt for Daddy.

Here is a photo collage of Lydia playing dress-up. My parents gave her several dresses, shoes, and jewelry for her birthday for Lydia to pretend play in. I'm waiting for the day when Lydia will just go play dress-up by herself, but right now I don't mind watching and helping. And since Daddy's home during the week now, he enjoys playing dress-up, too. Lydia has started playing quietly with her doll house (moving the dolls from room to room and putting them in the car, etc.), which is fun to watch and fun to listen to. Leah and I had huge imaginations when it came to playing "house" and dressing up. Too bad Lydia doesn't have a twin sister to play with all the time! Soon Adah will be old enough to join in on the pretend play.

Of course, once Lydia starts playing by herself and not needing me to encourage her, I won't get all these super cute pictures!

Pictures

Waiting for candles on her birthday.

Brownies!

Lydia's pool party!

Just a Moment. I Hear People Wanting Something.... Me!

I have realized I haven't posted about Lydia's birthday - the first time in three years! Oops! But first, let me tell about yesterday.

Lydia woke up in a great mood (she's been waking up earlier since we've switched her to her "big girl room" and her "big girl bed") and was really good at her dentist appointment (her second one, where she didn't get her teeth cleaned but did let Dr. Shultz look in her mouth). And, when I didn't allow any TV or iPad until 20 minutes before naptime, she was up for anything I had planned. We read books for 15 minutes, made an alligator with her hands, painted, and played. She was in a great mood. 

Then she woke up from nap... She woke up feeling really warm and was fussy. She at first told us she felt fine, but then we quickly realized that she wasn't feel 100%. We gave her some Tylenol and she rested on the couch. After awhile she said, "I no go to Buddy's birthday, I sick". She was very upset that she wouldn't be able to go to Best Buddy's birthday party, but after about 30 minutes after Tylenol, we were dancing and playing again. She is obsessed with birthday parties and pretended that her drum was a cake and would walk in and set the "cake" down in front of me while singing "Happy Birthday". Super cute.

She was in a great mood when we got to the restaurant and was excited to see Buddy and Dearest and her cousins. She was playing and was having fun. Then we sat outside in the heat and suddenly she didn't want to eat, she was wandering around and then would come and put her head down on the table. When I asked her if she felt OK, she said, "Yes, I feel good, I go to Dearest's house". She knew she was going to spend the night at Dearest and Buddy's house and wouldn't admit that she didn't feel well! It was really sweet that she wanted to go to her grandparent's house so bad that she wouldn't tell me she wasn't feel well. Her face was bright red and her eyes glazed over, but she still kept saying she was OK. 

When it was time to go, she just started crying and crying because I was taking her home and she didn't get to go with her cousins. I felt horrible taking her away, but knew she wasn't feeling well. When we got home, she had more Tylenol and we gave her some cool water and put her in PJs. We watched a movie together on the couch. At first she just laid with us, but then she started feeling better and was moving around. By bedtime, she seemed better. 

This morning, she woke up at 5:15 saying she was ready to go to Dearest's house! Luckily, we managed to get her back to sleep and to stay in bed until 8:00. She was so excited to get ready to go to Dearest's house and play with her cousins this morning! Daddy took her (as he is helping my dad at the house) this morning and she will have a blast. I'm just thankful she is feeling better. When she gets sick I can barely manage not to cry along with her!

On to Lydia's BIRTHDAY BASH!

Wednesday, May 29th was Lydia's 3rd birthday. We picked up Abram and headed off to Six Flags right when it opened. Leah and Adah joined us, as did my mom and her friend with another little 1-year old. Lydia had a blast, as usual, at Six Flags. It was such a fun thing to do with her on her birthday. She cried when we left Six Flags! Later on, she told me she needed to blow out candles, so we made some brownies and sang happy birthday and she got to blow out candles on her birthday.

Saturday, June 1st was Lydia's birthday party. Her grandparents and Aunt Tamara from Austin came down in the morning, which was such a treat for Lydia. After nap time, we headed to my parent's house to set up for her pool party. Her friend Tate and his family came, as did her cousins and aunts and uncles. She had a blast swimming in the pool and playing with her friends. We had hot dogs, chips and watermelon for dinner. We opened presents (she was so excited to open presents and loved everything she received) and then had cake. I made a cake with a pool design on top - pretty creative. 

Lydia is now 3-years old and I can't believe it! We've come a long way since her birth. I still remember everything about that Friday, May 28th and then Saturday May 29th in 2010. But, the pain is getting duller when I think about it...and I try to just focus on Lydia and how amazing she is. And how merciful and protective and loving God is. Brian and I are constantly thankful for God's protection and love. And we are especially thankful for our dear, sweet Lydia.

Pictures to be added later...

You Know, You Are One Dynamite Gal

A few days ago, Leah explained Lifestyle Photography to me and that it is a big hit on a community board at babycenter.com. So, I looked into it and decided to give it a try.

Here is a definition (from wikipedia.com) of Lifestyle Photography: a style of portrait/people photography which aims to capture and document real-life events, situations, or milestones in an artistic manner.

So, today I set out to capture a real-life event "artistically". Lydia and I headed to HEB to buy one of their large, plastic pools so we could go swimming today. Luckily for us, there was only one left and it was a cute purple one! I managed to get the pool into the car with the help of a random stranger and we brought it home and immediately set it up in our backyard. Lydia had fun filling the pool up with water from the hose and she was excited to wear her new princess swimsuit. We put her slide into the pool to add some extra fun, got all the buckets and bowls we could find and Lydia was ready to have some fun in the pool!

Even though it is almost the middle of May, it was barely 80 degrees out today and quite cool in the shade. I put the pool mostly in sun with a tiny bit of it in the shade. I didn't realize that as the afternoon wore on, the shade was going to cover the pool. Lydia had fun in the water at first, not caring that the water was cold as long as she was in the sun. But once the shade covered most of the pool, Lydia was shivering and unwilling to get into the cold water. Hopefully the water will warm up for later this afternoon and we can go in the pool again!

So, back to my attempt at Lifestyle Photography. On the babycenter.com board, all the Lifestyle Photos are in black and white, which is why all of my pictures are black and white. I very rarely edit any of my pictures in black and white, as I like colors, and I really like pictures of Lydia's super blue eyes. But, I wanted to stick to what the ladies on babycenter are doing. Now, I don't know how "artistic" my photos are, but they do capture Lydia and her personality (I think). 

Here is a collage of her in the water:

And here is a collage of her playing with the slide:

Here are some single photos of my favorites:

Here is a collage of Lydia eating her sandwich for lunch:

And here is a collage of Lydia eating her cookie after lunch:

And here are single photos of my favorites:

So, there is my first "artistic" attempt at Lifestyle Photography with Lydia in the pool and having lunch!

There's No One I'd Rather Be Than Me

It's been awhile, but there are a few Lydia Stories that I have to write down so that I don't forget.

1. Lydia is getting to be a very good pretender. She's not yet at the point where she will pretend-play independently for a long time - we're still working on independent play. But, she's great at pretending with other people (especially Mommy and Aunt Leah). Lydia LOVES Praise & Worship time on Sundays and Tuesday mornings (when I worked at Bibleland). The teacher sings a few songs with hand motions, tells a short Bible story, and then they sing one more time. Lydia loves to sing and Lydia loves to dance/move to music. Hence, Lydia loves Praise & Worship time. She has memorized a few songs and their hand motions and will sing them to herself often.

Now here's the cool part: Lydia loves to "play" Praise & Worship time at home with whoever she can gather together to play with her. She usually likes to start off as the Teacher. She tells everyone to sit down and says, "Where are my monkeys?" (Each class has an animal name and the teacher will point out each class and the class will raise their hands or cheer.) If she doesn't think we're listening, she will say, "If you can hear me, touch your nose." (Just like the teacher at church does when the kids are getting rowdy.) Then she tells us to stand up and we will sing a song or two (the parts Lydia knows over and over again...I am trying to learn the songs so I can sing them along with her - I know two pretty well) with the hand motions. Then she tells us to sit down and will tell a story. When she wants to talk fast (and really isn't sure what to say), Lydia will babble a lot, adding in a mixture of actual words. In the last story she told, we could only pick out, "Jesus had a boo-boo." After the story, she wants us to stand up again to sing another song. Then, it is usually someone else's turn to be the Teacher. Oh, and she will turn the "music" on and off - she'll go to the tree outside or the wall and "push" a button to turn the music on.

This is her favorite pretend-play. It has everything she loves - music (even though it's pretend music), dancing/moving, and being a leader. I think she'll make a good teacher!

2. We went to the beach last Saturday and had a blast. I told Lydia on Thursday that we would be going to the beach on Saturday (she had asked where Adah was and I had to tell her that Adah was at the beach...and of course, Lydia wanted to go, too). I don't know if Lydia really knew what the beach was, but she did know that it had water. Whenever we talked about the beach, Lydia said she was going to swim in the water and would mimic swimming. I really didn't think she would want to get in the water (and was secretly worried she wouldn't like the sand, either) - it would be cold and there was a lot of it! As soon as we got the beach on Saturday (after a long car ride with Lydia constantly asking if we were there yet) Lydia wanted to get in her swimsuit and was ready to get in the water! She went right in all by herself and loved it when Brian took her out farther. She didn't care that it was barely 70 degrees outside and windy - she could have played in the sand and water all day long! We will definitely be going again!

3. Lydia tries really, really hard to communicate clearly when she really, really wants to tell us something. The other day, she was trying to tell me something but I could only work out bits and pieces of it. This did not make her happy. She wanted me to understand everything she was saying. She got so frustrated that she said, "You no listening to me, Mommy!" I told her I was listening, but that I didn't understand, could she just say it one more time? But, Lydia was already frustrated and upset. She crossed her arms and said, "Mommy....you...you...you are short! You no go on rollercoaster!" And then she stormed off. I realized that she had just told me the meanest thing she could think of - that I was too short to ride on rollercoasters (her favorite ride at Six Flags). Man, did I feel bad!

Speaking of rollercoasters, Lydia is finally tall enough (over 36 inches) to ride the kiddie coaster at Six Flags (which is actually a fun ride). There is hardly a day that passes without Lydia talking about Six Flags, a rollercoaster, or being big enough to ride on the rollercoaster. Whenever I tell her she is "little", she says, "No, I big. I big so I go on rollercoaster. Do you like rollercoaster? Are you big?" This is one of her favorite subjects to talk about.

4. Another favorite subject of Lydia's is The Fresh Beat Band. This show (that she watches on Netflix) is actually really cute and I enjoy watching them. The Fresh Beats are very energetic and always nice and have a good outlook on life. They never argue with each other and always work together to solve their problems. They sing two or three of the same songs every episode with one or two special songs. So their songs get stuck in my head and I constantly catch myself singing them. Lydia knows their songs by heart and even knows the dances. We watched her dance almost exactly the way the Fresh Beats were during one song - super cute! Anyway, the characters are Shout (the pianist), Twist (he does the DJing and rapping), Marina (drums), and Kiki (guitar/strings). Lydia loves Kiki - I don't know if it's because she's wearing a pink skirt ("like a princess"), has bangs (just like Lydia), or what, but she is Lydia's favorite. And Lydia loves to talk about Kiki and the other Fresh Beats.

Here is a typical (almost daily) conversation about the Fresh Beat Band with Lydia:

L: I like Kiki. You like Marina?

Me: Yes, I like Marina, she's my favorite.

L: Daddy like Shout. I like Kiki. Does Kiki have bangs?

Me: Yes, Kiki has bangs.

L: Does Kiki have boobies?

Me: Yes, she does.

L: Marina play the drums. What Kiki do?

Me: Kiki plays the guitar.

L: Yes, Kiki play guitar. Shout play piano.

And it goes on from there. And yes, Lydia does talk about Kiki's boobies (and mine, and Marina's, and the girl alien fighter in Wreck-it Ralph's).

And here is a super cute 3-year old Birthday Picture: