These days I feel like my blog title "Life in the Slow Lane" is no longer appropriate. In fact, it feels just the opposite, it feels like everyday races by before I get a chance to actually breathe. Maybe it's having a second little one, maybe it's living on the East Coast in the US where everything is fast paced, maybe it's all the hats I'm trying to juggle, maybe it's just life...
Nevertheless, I'm going to persevere and stay committed to this blog, it almost feels ritualistic to me now and it makes me feel more connected to those family and friends we are far from that we don't see regularly, so thank you for all the wonderful feedback and encouragement from you all, I do appreciate it!
The past few weeks have been packed with a lot of travel and family time, we are so lucky! We spent Memorial Day weekend with Dana's family in Seattle. We survived the first flight with the two munchkins and actually had minimal suffering along the way. Sophiya seems to be well versed on airplane etiquette by now, watching "Finding Nemo" for the 156th time still keeps her attention and her sister is generally pretty happy as long as she's fed!
It was lovely to see Mason and Krystal's baby, Arabella, who is only a few weeks older than Siena. They were fully intrigued with one another and it was great to have Krystal to have "mom talk" about the roller coaster ride of motherhood and bounce ideas off one another. If only we lived closer so we could have more play dates together!
Sophiya thoroughly enjoyed being royally spoiled by Nana and Papa and loved all the visitors and attention that came along with the trip. Her sense of humor and wittiness continues to grow and crack everyone up around her. She's putting together longer sentences and her vocabulary continues to grow everyday. Her newest phrases are "phew, that was a close one" and "pushing buttons" (which can be viewed on examples #1, 2 and 3 below, ie. putting a foot on the table and looking at Daddy for a reaction...
#1
#2
#3
After our week in Seattle, Siena and I carried onto Minnesota for my "little" brother's high school graduation party! This was officially my last visit to the home I grew up in, a bittersweet feeling for me! I tried to soak in the memories as much as possible to take along with me, while that "SOLD" sign was glaring at me the entire time. As we speak, my family is packing up the house and it's contents are all headed to different destinations - Australia, storage, various other households. I keep telling my mom I know exactly what she's going through, as we just went through the lengthy process of moving overseas - not an easy task, but I know they are going to have the time of their lives in Australia in a few months time!
Siena is already nearly 5 months old. I sometimes wonder if having children is life's way of putting humans on a time table. Before having a baby, there's no purpose for counting months, but now as every month she grows older, it's a shocking revelation of how much time has passed and it feels like a blink of the eye! She continues to be the sweetest little baby, very easy going and mesmerized by her older sister. She rolled over for the first time in Minnesota, with her Uncle Jamie as a witness and now I can't keep her on one side for very long! She is incredibly strong, smiling and giggling and just recently starting to eat solid foods like baby cereal, apples and bananas. Every week I'm making something new for her taste buds, it's so fun to see the reaction!
My parents had a big surprise during our stay, my Grandma Crum and Aunt Renee drove ten hours from Michigan to surprise them and Jamie for his graduation party. It was such a special treat to have them there and so wonderful for them to get to meet Siena. It had been a long time since I'd seen my Aunt last, so it was wonderful to spend quality time together and catch up over the years.
I'm so proud of my little brother! I still can't believe he's graduated high school and off to college this fall to the University of Minnesota. It feels like just yesterday I remembered him like this....
And now here he is, a man with a plan, ready to embark on such a great time in life, the college years....
And lastly, I know that I made a tribute to him in my last post but again a very HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to my amazing husband, the best father ever, I adore you Dana Myers, thank you for all you do for our family, I couldn't do this without you!
AND, lastly, of course a very Happy Father's Day to MY DAD! Thank you for everything you've done for me over the years, I'm so blessed to have such a caring and patient man guiding me through each stage of my life.
(Remember when...?)
