Happy Anniversary

Wes and I celebrated our ten year anniversary during our vacation. We celebrated with an evening out to dinner (without kids). It was delicious (and peaceful)! In some ways it is hard to believe 10 years has passed by so quickly. It really has been a wonderful journey so far, and we look forward to many, many more years of wedded bliss! In reality, it isn't always blissful because life can be hard, but I feel so blessed to have someone as wonderful as Wes to go through each day with. We balance each other very well - he keeps me from taking life to seriously; I keep him grounded.

Beach Faves

The kids all took to the beach and the pool, and enjoyed playing in the sand and surf, as well as splashing in the pool. It took Elise the first day to get reaquainted with swimming, but after a few hours, she was paddling around everywhere. Added bonus of three hours of swimming every morning, Elise napped every day except for one. Sun and water definitely wears kids out! Despite great naps, sleeping was probably the hardest part of the trip. Lilah and Katherine both had a hard time staying asleep in the pack-n-plays. Elise slept pretty well in a twin bed, but all kids were up bright and early each morning. While it was hard to leave at the end of the week, the hope of better sleep at home was a decent incentive.

Beach Photo Shoot

We took over 480 photos on vacation, so I can't share all the memories, but I'll attempt to post some of my favorites. One evening we had a little beach photo shoot. Elise and pictures don't go too well these days, so we have to be very fast. She does not have the patience for sitting and smiling. It was also very windy that evening. Despite the challenges, we walked away with some good ones - not great, necessarily, but they'll work!

9 months

You know I am thinking it - another month has passed?! This month has felt a little longer than most. Lilah has been teething for most of it, so her sweet demeanor is sometimes interrupted with some fussiness, especially around dinner time. Wes and I were both commenting on how this is our least favorite time of day. It is so hectic trying to get dinner on the table, keep both kids happy, and not have complete chaos. Generally, Wes walks into chaos when he gets home. I am not doing a good job modeling all those marriage books, having a freshly lipsticked smile and a glass of ice tea waiting for my husband. Oh well - he knew he wasn't getting that kind of wife when he married me.
Anyway, back to Lilah. She has been busy pulling herself up on anything and everything. She is crawling fast, but she gets upset when she works hard to crawl to where we are only for us to get up and go to a different room. Her knees are a little red from all the crawling.
Lilah has three teeth coming down on the top, which you can see a little bit in the second two pictures. Her other big accomplishment is signing "more," which she does eagerly for Cheerios.
Sleep remains one of Lilah's weaknesses. She gets up twice a night - around 1 am and 5 am. She takes two naps during the day - around 9 am and 1:30 pm.
Lilah loves the bathtub. She wriggles and kicks in excitement as soon as she knows it is bath time. I'm looking forward to pool weather - I am hoping she enjoys the pool equally well.