Family Ties

I love my little girl.

And she loves me too.

There's just something sweet about a mother daughter bond. I love my mother with all my heart, so to have my daughter love me just as much makes me happy beyond belief.

These are the flowers we were looking up at in the previous picture.

And Kyle loves his little boy.

And Sawyer loves him right back.

And really, that father son bond is something amazingly special. Sawyer lights up for Kyle in ways that no one else gets to see. And I. love. it.

And this is what Kyle and Sawyer were looking at.

My family seriously is incredible. They are my life.

On the farm

Kyle left me for a week to present at a symposium down in Houston, Texas earlier this month.

 

Sure that sounds dramatic (He left me! My life is so hard! Blah, blah, blah) but honestly, it was kind of dramatic! Just a month ago we had never even spent a night apart, so this was L-O-N-G for us.

There were only two things that made this bearable.

First, I fled up to Michigan to spend the week with my family. Apparently, I am just not grown up enough to take care of my kids (or myself) on my own yet. Plus, if I can't spend time with Kyle, that time better be spent with my family.

 My heart melts everytime I see this picture!

And second, the new lambs at the Wilson's Farm just made life all the better!

I spent many a day on this farm growing up with one of my best friends, Erika Wilson (well, her name now is Erika Saxey...y'know...that whole change your name when you get married thing...)

Avery spent about 1.5 seconds looking at the lambs.

Then she was off! That girl had cousins to play with! I mean, really, who can pass up time with Andrew?

And you have to cherish every moment you get with Kimber.

And Scott? It should go without saying that a person would drop anything (and everything) to get some time with that kiddo.

You can see the Gilbert family resemblance in how they bite lips... :)

Add a swing to the equation and you might understand why the little lambies got slim attention from Avery.

But I enjoyed some quality sheep time nonetheless.

And you better believe I enjoyed some quality Kyle time when we finally saw each other again!

It's raining, It's pouring!

Last week we got DUMPED on with rain.

 

And the White River (next to IUPUI campus and the zoo) is extremely full from it.

I don't have anything clever to say about this. I just have photos to document the crazy Spring we have had thus far.

Merry-Go-Round

After many months of sickness, many months of sleepless nights, and many months of winter, we finally made it back to the zoo.

And in all truthfulness, I have never been so excited to go.

Maybe it's because I haven't stuck my head in a Flamingo mask for awhile.

Or maybe it had something to do with Avery finally being tall enough to try on to parrot head.

And give that parrot head a hug.

It could be that Sawyer can face forward in the baby carrier now,

and can actually observe and study the animals.

Possibly it's because Kyle has missed carrying Avery on his shoulders,

or on his hip,

or just holding her hand.

Seriously, I'm a sucker for hand holding pictures.

Regardless of the reason, it was great to be back!

We spent a long while watching that merry-go-round go round and round and round...

And truly must have looked something pathetic. Avery gazing at the carousel and me snapping pictures of her forlorn look with a baby strapped to my chest...

But our pathetic-ness payed off because some nice grandparents came up to us and offered us their tickets! They probably felt bad that Sawyer had been reduced down to entertaining himself by pinching his tongue.

And having no shame, we blessed their names and ran as fast as we could to get on the very next ride!

Kyle and Avery had to pet the gorilla to make sure he was a "nice" one.

Decided he wasn't, and swapped for the ostrich.

Then it was my turn with Avery and we braved the lion.

Overall, Kyle and I may have enjoyed the actual ride more than Avery.

But whether that is true or not is unimportant. This is the story of Avery's first time on a merry-go-round.

And how I love this zoo for that, and for the many other wonderful experiences we have had there! Hopefully we return sooner (next weekend, perhaps?) than last time!

Phases

Honestly, one of the best parts of being a parent is seeing your kiddo do new things.

I love Avery's "I can eat a banana without needing you to cut it up into bite size pieces" stage.

Which, of course, is promptly followed by the "I can't stop smiling because my cheeks are so full of banana that my lips won't shut" stage.

Sawyer is in full swing of the "I'll smile and coo at you picture perfectly. That is, until you grab the camera. Then I'm just confused as to where you went" phase.

And more often than not, Sawyer is doing knuckle push-ups when he's on his belly these days. It's a "beefing up" phase, if you will.

And this phase...well...can't claim that it's a favorite, but I have WAY too many "let me grab the camera" to not count it as a stage.

Oh children...always growing...always changing.

Friends at Last

It's starting to happen.

Avery and Sawyer are becoming buddies.

Well, I guess it's more accurate to say that Avery is starting to reciprocate Sawyer's attention. The little dude has been watching her intently for months with slim to no response from his sister.

But that's changing! Avery's favorite activity with Sawyer is to rock his swing with all her might.

And he LOVES it! You better believe the rocking of a 21 month old far surpasses the settings offered by the swing.

Moments like this is what I envisioned when we found out we were going to have two kids 15 months apart.

And it's nice that they are beginning to become our reality. Keep it up you two!