Ready for the Day

Cute outfit? Check. Flip flops? Check. Pony tail? Check. Ski goggles? Check. We are ready for the day.

Also, a few days ago, Miranda drew this, and then said, "Look Mommy! A helicopter!"

The Zone 2011

Last week, Zane and I spent a week at summer camp with the middle school kids in our youth group. The camp is called The Zone, and it is a collaboration of eight churches in the St. Louis area. We had a great week! This spring has been difficult for us, but this week, God kindly reminded us why we do what we do. Zane and I were encouraged and excited to see how some of our kids matured throughout the week and how their relationships with each other grew.

While we were glad to go, we were also glad to be home, mostly because we missed this little cutie so much. Miranda stayed with two different families in our church while we were gone. Since middle school camp isn't the safest place for a 2-year-old, she had a great time doing fun, age-appropriate things instead. Also, we are exhausted. Being 5.5 months pregnant while at summer camp isn't easy. Plus, we got back from camp on Friday afternoon. Then, Zane worked Saturday and Sunday. So we spent most of Monday just relaxing and recovering. Hopefully we will be 100% soon.

Splash Park

St. Louis' weather turned very hot this week. We've had highs in the 90s with heat indexes in the 100s. With this hot weather, the splash parks in St. Louis opened for the summer. Miranda's first trip to a splash park was on Memorial Day. She loved the fountains, so we will be spending a lot of time there this summer!

This is obviously not a picture of Miranda at the water park. This week, Miranda has been enjoying the left over cupcakes from her birthday party. I think she really liked having a birthday. The day after her party, she woke up and said to me, "Mommy, more presents please." Sorry honey, but life doesn't work like that :)

Miranda's 2nd Birthday Party

Miranda turns two tomorrow. We can't believe our baby girl is not a baby anymore. We had a super fun Elmo party for her today with some of her friends. She is such a sweet little girl. Everyday she does things that melt our hearts or says things that make us laugh. We are so thankful for her. Happy birthday sweet girl!

Bed head and Babies

Miranda's hair is finally coming in. We are so proud that she has enough hair to get bed head. Honestly, there have been more than a few mornings recently when Zane and I would have rather stayed in bed than face the day. But waking up to a little girl whose hair looks like this brings a much needed chuckle to our lives.

With little Babykins on his or her way, Zane and I have been talking to Miranda a lot about babies. We point them out to her when we are in public and tell her that Babykins is going to live with us when he/she grows a little bit bigger. While she is still clueless about how her world will be rocked this fall, she is starting to pick up on some of this baby talk. A few days ago, I put raspberries in her oatmeal, and she talked all morning about eating "raspbabies" for breakfast. Miranda was recently given a new-to-us bathing suit to wear this summer. She immediately requested to wear her "baby suit" and proudly ran around the house the rest of the day in her "baby suit." And every bird we see outside is a "baby bird," every tree a "baby tree," every flower a "baby flower." You get the point.

Speaking Up

Today at the park, Zane was climbing up the jungle gym, and Miranda shouted at him, "careful Daddy!" Then at bedtime, she was jumping on her bed and I told her to "sit on her bottom." (We have this conversation on an hourly basis) She immediately turned to her stuffed monkey and said, "monkey, sit on bottom."

Update

The past few weeks have been pretty tough ones for us. I have been feeling very sick with this pregnancy. In the long term, I know nausea and sickness are signs of a healthy pregnancy. In the short-term, I've done my fair share of whining and complaining. Miranda has also been fighting an ear infection. We went back to the doctor this week and started our second round of antibiotics. Hopefully this stronger antibiotic will clear up the infection. Unlike her mother, Miranda is an ideal sick patient. She has still been her happy, cheerful self. Zane has been an all-star, caring for two sick girls the past six weeks!

Since I haven't updated the blog in such a long time, here are a few things we have been up to recently. First, a cultural revolution is on its way in our home. Many of you know that Miranda loves Elmo with all her heart. Elmo used to be a shoe-in for Miranda's afternoon video. But in the past few weeks, Clifford the Big Red Dog has contended for that #1 spot in Miranda's life. Right now, Clifford and Elmo are in hot competition.

Miranda also loves cameras. She notices every time we take her picture now and wants to see herself on the camera. She also wants to take pictures. But greasy hands and a camera lens don't mix very well so Miranda has learned to improvise. Here, she's taking pictures with her sock.

Miranda is really into building towers too. She had a lot of fun with Daddy this morning building this big tower. When she put the last block on top, she shouted, "it's so big!"