Ghent girls updates

We have had quite the end of summer this month! I knew after the busyness of July I wanted to sit, stay, rest, and have fun (if that was at all possible!). So we've done a mirage of events to enjoy the last bit of summer.  The girls continue to grow so fast too!! Enjoy a little recap of our August fun!

We went to the Velodrome to watch the women's bike racing one weekend.  Miriam had a blast, mainly because she got to ride on a "schooo bus" to get from the parking lot to the event. 

We've had many a pj days this month just enjoying the house and our yard.  Miriam is LOVING her little sister and trying to get her attention any time she can. She loves reading to her and playing with her (and her toys!).  One of the best feelings I have is seeing the reaction on Lydia's face with Miriam addresses her, smiles, and talks to her. 

Yet again, I still can't take a picture with Miriam looking at the camera and smiling.  But anyway, she's still adorable!

We were in Georgia for our nephew, Will's birthday.  Apparently we've been holding Miriam back as this was her first attempt at watermelon on the rine.  Obviously, she enjoyed it.

We took a trip to Trader Joes (the day before we started potty training) and they gave Miriam some stickers at the check out counter.  She was so polite and said "Thank you" without prompting, so the cashier gave her this plant.  She is obsessed with it even still!

With so much success on the potty training end (we are now out of diapers except for during "sleepy times"), she deserved a little reward.  This was the night we bought her some more undies. I don't know what she was more excited about: the panties, or her yogurt!

What would the end of summer fun be without Weeze? 

We've done lots of art work.  This day we painted with our finger tips and our feet so we could make our cousin Jack a card for his birthday.

Breanna (Jeremy's cousin) came to visit with us a few days before she moved into to her college dorm.  Miriam loves playing with her (and everything that belongs to her).

Then we went to the Children's Museum with some friends and actually enjoyed it this time.  Miriam was really impressed with the dress up closet and wanted to be a pirate (until I went "Argh") and then doned the princess dress.  Bad hair day, eh?

We met up with Miriam's preschool teacher from last year and her three kids and headed to Golden Corral to eat our weight in the salad bar, chicken fingers, and the chocolate wonderfall!! I don't know what it is, but I crave the buffet style meal every once in six months or so, and this one didn't disappoint.  We even got cotton candy and Becka used her talents to score all four kids a stuffed animal from the crane machine!!

We visited the county museum one Sunday afternoon before nap (because it's free to the public then).  I knew she'd be entranced by the mammoth of an elephant at the end of the exhibit hall. Jeremy and I both grew up visiting these same exhibits, and even had a teacher in high school who basically killed all of them for the display.  Miriam loves animals, but is somewhat terrified of them, so these almost-look-real-but-don't-move beings are perfect for her liking!

On our last week of summer, we headed to Baxters Bunch for a little playtime.  Since it's hard for me to join in on the fun with little Lydia, we asked a church friend (Miriam's favorite future babysitter) to come along and play.  They had a BLAST and were both thoroughly exhausted by the time we got home (mission accomplished!)

Lydia, well, hasn't been doing much, other than being cute.

More proof.

Another piece of evidence...

And just in case you didn't believe me...

I rest my case.  You may notice that in some of the photos she's wearing bibs. The teething demon has struck us (since about mid-July) and has totally reeked havoc on our sleep and lifestyle.  Lydia's clothes don't stay dry, her hands are always laden with slobber, and she seems to be in a somewhat state of pain 85% of the nights.  But soon, and very soon, hopefully, we'll see a tooth pop out. She is 2 weeks shy of 7 months and we still haven't started solids yet (woohoo) but I have a feeling that it will be time soon. So, in between my baking frenzies, I'll be peeling and dicing the sweet potatoes, steaming all of the veggies, and breaking out the cube freezer trays again for operation homemade baby food.  Now that I know how it works, it shouldn't take any time to get done.