This is Why I'm Always Behind on Blogging...

I intended to sit down and blog about our morning. It was really fun. Last night Isaac mentioned that he wanted a donut -- I'd been craving one since Monday -- so we decided to raid our change jar and treat ourselves.  Krispy Kreme for him, Top Pot for me, a park for Lucy: perfection!

Driving

"Liiiii!  Weeeee" 

"Dooo? (shoe)?"  Clearly we need to spend more time barefoot out of doors.  The problem is, we mostly go to rocky beaches or it's just too hot to go shoeless at the pool (the decking will burn her feet).  We remedied this as best we could today! 

Watching the ducks

My loves! I can't imagine loving anyone more than I love these two! 

This expression is classic Lucy: she heard a loud noise and must assess. 

I love our shadows in this shot!
Photo credit: Isaac

Waving to the geese as they bathed

Wading out to see the birds

 I came home to blog about this morning...  Sadly I got distracted by all the unsorted pictures on my desktop.  By the time I had taken care of them and gotten photos off of our phones, Lucy's nap was over.  Okay, let's set up the "kiddie pool" on the back deck and I'll blog and watch her...except watch her is all I could do between the mischief she kept attempting (bringing water in the house, going back to the pool clothed, dunking dry clothes into the pool).

Between it all I did a bit of semi-coherent blogging.  I try to remember that when I look back on this later, I'll laugh remembering the stage of life we're in right now, where focus and undivided time are precious commodities generally better spent on my child and husband than on writing... Still, I want to remember these moments, and share them with family near and far, so here's my attempt.

My brown baby! Her hair is almost as blonde as mine was. Almost. 

After sitting (naked) on the potty for several minutes, she decided carrying it around the house was a better idea... 

In the pool in the second fresh diaper in a row (before I could get the lid back on the pool), this time with a hat.

After the third diaper in the pool incident, I managed to cover the bin and THEN get her dressed.  She was undeterred.  As far as she's concerned, the pool should remain open. 

Oh...hey mom! 

 And when she's not getting into mischief, she's being utterly adorable as evidenced below.  She walks around the house these days crying "Nee-a-ha! nee-a-haaaa!", which translates "I need a hat!"

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into our day.  There were so many more moments that were equally mischievous and/or adorable, but alas I cannot capture them all (or she was naked and showing more than I post online)...  I surely do love this crazy life.  

Mother's Day Weekend

Mother's Day weekend came and Isaac's parents were in town.  Isaac asked me if spending the day with his extended family was how I wanted to spend my Mother's Day; he offered to do anything I wanted for the day.  My reaction was instantly, "of course!"  I got to thinking about it later, and realized that what makes my Mother's Day special is to spend the day with Isaac and Lucy as a family unit.  Since he had the whole month of May off, it's been an entire month of Mother's Days. I was happy to share my Loves with the family (and find joy in their presence).  

It's truly been a gift having such time to spend together, just the three (and sometimes just the two) of us, but that's a topic for another post.  

Gramps and Grams came into town, so we came over on Saturday to spend some time relaxing and catching up with them.  The weather was just beautiful and we passed the afternoon in GG Nancy's courtyard. 

Food: the key to Lucy's heart! 

Sunday we combined all the May birthdays with Mother's Day into one big celebration.  Bob and Patty, Luke, Bob and Barb, descended on the McPhees staying at GG Nancy's and ate and drank, laughed, and chatted to our hearts' contents.

Lucy particularly loves her Great Uncle Bob!  He's always willing to walk around (and around and around) with her as she examines each flower and stone around GG's house.

First skinned knees

Bandaids don't make this girl feel better, but a snuggle with mama does! 

Luke is a great uncle! 

"You're Only Old Once!" Sharing the wisdom of Dr. Seuss with Gramps

Birthday hugs for Great Aunt Patty

My dearest Lucy!  She is the reason I am celebrated on Mother's Day. I couldn't ask for a better introduction to motherhood than being blessed to have her in my life to love, teach, play with, and pray over.  She's a spitfire and a social butterfly. She's so like me, yet 

She's a hot mess, but she's MY hot mess! :)

Lucy moments - 14 months

This is mainly a photo-dump of all the cuteness from the past month or so, but I also have a couple of Lucy-isms I want to remember.

The first is that she can say "nurse" and now has added "night night" to the mix -- both in sign language.  A few mornings ago she came to me with a paci in her mouth and started patting her chest.  I asked her if she wanted to nurse, nurse -- she grinned and patted her chest.  I then asked her if she wanted to go night night and signed "sleep".  She put her hand on the side of her face and tilted her head.  This girl knows what she needs!  It was a total melt my heart moment! 

Another morning I went in to get Lucy up from her nap. I could hear her chatting in her room.  I walked in and she was standing in her crib, grinning at me and chatting.  As I got close, instead of putting her arms up to be lifted out, she dove back into her crib.  What?  I looked for her paci, which sometimes falls out during her nap: nope, no paci. She sat up and I realized she had both giraffes in her hands already.  Weird.  Then she turns and dives again into another part of the crib.  This time I see it -- a purple paci tucked into the corner by the bookshelf.  Girl wanted all THREE pacifiers before she'd get up!

My little mischief maker!

So tired! 

Ava's play kitchen is her favorite place at Auntie's house!  This girl gets seriously busy in here! 

She's halfway there with the fork:
still can't spear food herself,
but she can self-feed once it's there. 

Black beans: plate-licking good! 

This is how we roll in Washington in winter: Shades, a blanket, and paci. 

Hot husband alert! 

Showing off her walking
AND her new hand-knit sweater from mama

My most favorite: she puts her hands up whenever she wants to be held now. If I don't immediately respond, she signs "come here" with her fingers, like she's drawing me in -- works. every. time. 

So much cousin love!
"She loves when I give her kisses on the nose!" - Caleb

My little mama

"In the dirt dad, the DIRT!" 

She's discovered peek-a-boo toes in the bubble bath! Pretty entertaining for both of us!