Mud Party

It was a pool party-turned-mud party, yes. But it was also a cook-out with friends from church - 6 couples and 13 children under age 5. What else can you expect but dripping children, toys all over the house and yard, and good juicy brats? The weather has been very hot recently so by the end of the evening, we were all inside the house instead. Good times! This is what summer is all about!

Lilah, Gemma and Makenna (all born within 3 months)

Lilah happily (really) playing in the mud pit made by the older kids

Gemma helping Tenley get her pacifier back

"There we go!"

 

Andrew, man of the house, working the grill

Kevin and Wes (and Jul with belly in the center...)

Jordan and Holly

Sarah and Justin

How many children can you spot in this picture? And yes, there's only one boy...

 

Erin and Wes with Tommy (Andrew & Leah's son)

Sorry, no pics of Jim! He was behind the camera.

"Good job, Gemma!" 22 months old

Another new, frequent saying for Gemma (referring to herself): "Good job, Gemma!" 

And upon what occasions? Here are a few - 

• helping put the clothes in the laundry
• "make-a porridge" - stirring her bowl of porridge every day for breakfast  
• cleaning up toys (not always a given)
• "Good job _____, Gemma"; as in, "Good job licking" [ice cream cone on 4th of July] and "Good job waving" [flag at the parade]
• drinking successfully out of her tea cup without spilling
• watering the plants or shutting the door or throwing away trash...I mean, really, every small act of learning deserves congratulations!! That certainly is a good reminder for parents, to provide encouragement to their child.

This saying can be accompanied by one of her other favorite sentences: "Gemma take a turn now." Referring to doing any of those helpful actions, or when she wants to buckle her own seat belt or ride on a certain toy at the park.

Gemma and her best bud Emma (we tried to photograph them "high 5-ing" but it was tricky)

Look, Auntie Rachel, I like it! (her first experience with grenadilla/passion fruit)

cheering on Euro Cup (after asking to be half-swaddled up in a blanket)

doing a numbers puzzle from Nonna

learning to throw!

And naturally Gemma's most frequent site of helpfulness is in the kitchen - she asks for her apron and stool and wants to be involved with whatever cutting or stirring is going on. Usually that means she gets to have taster bites of whatever is being prepared. Thus she has ended up tasting and liking a lot of foods! And mom and dad are learning to be patient as we let her participate. Now to get her to wash the dishes...

the big kicker

Yep, this one is a KICKER for sure! At all times of day and quite a bit at night. This was taken a week ago at 22 weeks; now we're at 23 weeks and still all of July...August...September...October...to go. Wow, he's definitely gearing up to be as active as his big sister.

Oh, and name suggestions now being taken! Must work well with our last name...

Morning Tea

Tea-time at breakfast for Jul and Gemma! Today Gemma asked for and was given her own little mug of milky tea to drink with breakfast. With this pregnancy, I've gone off coffee again in the mornings (not liking the smell) and have been drinking tea. (Decaf, don't worry.) Since Jim is away two days in Detroit for a meeting, it was the two ladies home alone this morning - and of course Gemma was standing on a stool at the counter wanting to help fix breakfast and sip the tea. She liked it! As you can see!

Smile! Say "tea"!

And I couldn't resist including a photo of our matching mugs. Jim and I bought these at a local pottery fair in Cape Town (imagining a day when a child could drink out of the petite one) - and now, here's Gemma, drinking her first sips from this mug!

Following in HIS sister's footsteps

Looks like our baby BOY will soon be following in his sister's footsteps! 

Yes, folks, that's right! There's no mistaking those boy parts and there's no mistaking these two cute little feet (viewed from below) on the ultrasound pictures. He is now at 21 weeks and so far following his big sister step-by-step; that is, kick for kick and roll for roll.

...for reference, here is the post from Gemma's ultrasound at 21 weeks and that awesome pic of her leg and foot.

And how is Gemma handling the news, you ask? As a matter of fact, just this past week we finally brought it up with her that there is a baby in mommy's tummy. Now she  initiates by pointing at me, "Baby, tummy. Baby growing. Hi, baby!" 

Today she lifted up my shirt and said, "Baby tummy. Open it!"