Beach Baby.

From the girl who looked like this her first summer at the beach:

To the girl who would run straight into the water no matter what the temperature!

I'm happy to report that my daughter is a total beach baby.

"Mom, mom, mom, Mom, MOm, MOMMMM - can I go in?"

"Please mom, please mom, please mom, can I go in?"

"Now mom?  Now can I go in?  Now mom?  Now?!"

"Yes?!!!!!"

My little nudey-mcgoudy, SO happy after her swim tonight!

The entire ride home she would spontaneously exclaim, "That was fun!"  I am so happy she is my beach baby.

You Are My Sunshine.

Stella and I just returned from a visit to mimi's house.  It was the only trip I can remember in the past three summers where we did not visit the beach once!  The thunderstorms and rain kept us from our normal evening trips to the ocean, but we managed to have a lot of fun anyway.  Stella and I slept in my mom's bed and I want to always remember how we smiled and stared at each other before my baby would fall asleep (oops, sorry, if Stella was reading this she would say, "I'm not a baby, I'm a BIG girl" - direct quote).  It was the first time she asked me to rub her back and I watched as her eyelids got heavy each night.  It took thirty minutes for her to fall asleep but I think I could have stayed with her for a few hours like that.  She is growing up so fast!  Just ask the notches on mimi's wall where we record her height...

Stella and mimi singing "You are my sunshine..."

Me and my little piglet.

Tickles.



Stella with her own "sips."

Ketchup.

Stella loves ketchup and I'm 99% certain she thinks it's a food, not a condiment.  We went to her eye doctor's appointment on Wednesday and it lasted nearly THREE hours...which was way longer than I had originally anticipated.  She is getting new (purple!) glasses (pictures coming soon) and she is back to patching two hours a day while her eyes adjust to her new, weaker prescription!  The adventures in amblyopia (lazy eye) continue for this family.  When we got done with her appointment it was at 12:30pm. past lunchtime, and I had fully expected we would be home long before then to have lunch in Newmarket; so, we had a surprise lunch at Burger King and Stella primarily ate the ketchup as if it was her main meal.  Who can resist those crazy, dilated eyes just longing for more of her favorite food group?  Not me...

Hot Coffee.

Today is sweltering.  Stella wanted to play pretend by serving me pretend hot coffee.  I'm hot just thinking about pretending to drink hot coffee.  Blech.

The Test of Time.

Too tired to write much tonight, but we recently shared a lovely adventure with my dear friend, Laurel.  Laurel traveled from California to see us for just shy of a week; in that span of time we covered Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine...and many nooks and crannies in between!  In a past life, Laurel and I traveled around the world together (literally) on Semester At Sea (Fall 2002).  I'm so thankful for our lasting friendship, mostly a modern-day letter writing friendship via e-mail, through which we can share our joys and challenges and by which we're better equipped to lift each other up in prayer.  I will fall asleep soon thanking God for great friendships that stand the test of time - my friendship with Laurel tops that list!

Wolfeboro Bay.

CHEESE!!

What's a visit to Wolfe-city without a trip to the old haunt - Bailey's Bubble!

The best lemon cookie EVER in Concord, MA.

Friends Forever.

Beautiful - the lighthouse isn't too bad either!

Nubble Light - York, ME.

Rockport, MA

Seacoast Science Center.

Another reason I love our neighbor, Danielle, is because she's so thoughtful.  She got us a membership at the Seacoast Science Center and Stella and I made a trip over there today for a visit to the center and a picnic.  We had a lot of fun exploring the touch tank and Stella spent much of the rest of the day listing off all the sea animals she learned about during her time at the science center: blue lobster, hermit crab, starfish, flounder, whale, dolphin...and the list goes on.  Needless to say, we will be going back!

Can you tell we had fun at our picnic!?

Helmet Head.

When Tim is working on something in our basement Stella often wants to go down there and play amidst stored toys and other things.  Lately, she has taken an interest in wearing my motorcycle helmet while hanging out with dad.  It weighs enough to literally knock her over if she loses her balance - here are some pictures of her recent adventures in the basement:

Look out world - she'll be out on the road soon!

A Little Help From Our Friends...

The past month has been packed full of out of town guests and activities.  I've missed blogging because it really serves as a journal of Stella's childhood, and lately I've been feeling very thankful for this record of her upbringing.

One of the things for which I'm most grateful these days is having wonderful friends and neighbors.  Stella's favorite playmate is our next door neighbor, Emery.  It only adds to my joy that his mom is also a great friend.  We help each other out with childcare swaps now and then - on a recent trip to the playground I got these cute shots of Stella and her buddy:

So sweet.

A boost...

A hand...

Buddies.