Learning to let her be her

Drea's into dressing herself lately and it is really stretching me but it's good for me. I tend to like things to be done the "right" way or maybe I should say the normal way. Well, I'm slowly learning that even though Drea's way seems wrong it may seem perfectly right to her.

So, funniest thing in the world, you have to see her put her shirts on over her feet. She does it like she's putting a skirt on and then pulls it the rest of the way up and puts her arms in it. This works okay with her summer tank tops but watching her put a long sleeve pajama shirt on this way is hilarious.

And it makes me crazy, I have told her a hundred times that this is the wrong way but tonight while she struggled to get her pajama top on I realized that it doesn't really matter.

She got it on. And all by herself. So why do I care? I decided I don't anymore. Just because it's not my "right" way doesn't mean it's the wrong way. When we were younger my brother always used to get in trouble from our stepdad for eating his pizza upside down. Who cares? He always ate it over a plate and he always held the cheese and pepperoni on - so who cares. Do we worry too much about doing things the right way?

So I'm learning. Learning to let her be her. Until she starts ripping the clothing while putting them on I will let her way be the right way. And you know what the more I ignore it the sooner she'll probably do it my way. : )

Read any good books lately?

I have fallen in love with author, Donald Miller.

I don't have much time to read apart from my devotions and Bible. Donald Miller's books have given me a thirst for reading and that has been so exciting to me. He says things in such a unique manner that it makes me think and that is what I have been missing in my extra-cirricular reading.

Blue Like Jazz was my first Donald Miller book and it was awesome! The complete title is Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts about Christian Spirituality. And that is exactly what it is. A real look at spirituality through his eyes. He takes you through personal experiences in his life and you feel like you are on the journey with him. I couldn't put the book down. Andy read it right after me and he rarely reads unless it's required for a class. And then we passed it on to a couple friends, too.

When we were getting ready for the beach I decided to order a second of his books. I thought it would be a great beach read. Searching for God Knows What has been completely a uplifting adventure. He takes a look at how we have always "figured out" the Bible and how we always try to read it as a self-help book with steps and formulas to apply to our life. He goes on to show that it is so much more than a formula to get to heaven. It is much more relational than it has ever been made to be. I have been strengthened in my Christianity by this read and renewed in the ideas that his rambling brain presents.

Anyway, just a suggestion for anyone who wants a great book to read. He is an incredible writer that I enjoy very much! I can't wait to get my hands on the next one. I think he has two more out there that I haven't read yet.

Drea and Barrett

Drea and Barrett had a play day swimming in our little blow up pool in the backyard the day after our trip to New Jersey. They had so much fun! Drea created a mud bath for us after she got in and out of the pool so many times! Anyway, here are a couple pictures of them. Barrett just turned 10 months old and is growing like crazy. He is a crawling fool and they said he eats more than Drea does.

P.S. I'm getting the chance to blog today because Drea spent the night with Uncle Chad, Aunt Jody and Barrett last night. Good luck to them - I'm sure we will hear lots of good stories!

July 4th Fun

The fourth is always fun for our family because we go to our friends, Paul and Christe's annual picnic every year in New Jersey. And this year Dave was able to join us! Drea had a blast swimming everyday. She actually got me int he pool at 9:30 am on July 4th even though it was chilly, the sun wasn't out and everyone in the house was sleeping (because we arrived the night before at 1am.) I had to do it for her though - she was so pumped and I couldn't hold her off any longer. And she didn't care what the weather was like. Oh, to be 2 years old and not care whether the sun is out or it's raining! She swam pretty much the entire weekend. And it was rarely sunny that weekend. But she loved it! Loved every minute of it! It didn't matter whether her lips were blue - she was going to swim until we forced her to stop.

She made a few friends and became enamored with her new friend, Lily, who she refers to as "Yily." And even pretended to be Yily the next day because Yily left her life jacket so Drea wore it and told everyone her name was Yily. He, he, he, he!

Andy and Paul played washers all day. And Drea enjoyed some serious watermelon! Look at her - could she have more floaties on?!

"Hava go beach!"

For about a month before our family vacation, this is what we heard everyday from our two year old. "Hava go beach!" ...in her very best outside voice! She was so excited to go to the beach. I'm sure she didn't really remember what it was like last year but she looks at the pictures all the time and wants to go back.

We arrived to the beach on Saturday checked into our house and almost went straight for boardwalk pizza. Every year we eat as much as we can while we're at the beach and then dream about the rest of the year until we go back. By Sunday evening, Andy and I were already saying this was the best family vacation we have had. And it was! We were a very short walk from the beach (we've never stayed that close before) so we would go twice a day to give the kids a nap and lunch in the middle! That was awesome! No stressing out driving to the boardwalk and trying to find parking that wasn't $20.

Anyway, the week ended with a visit from Andy's mom, sister and our nieces. Playing with the only girl cousins she has doesn't happen as often as she would like so we loved getting to spend time at the beach with them.

Official count:
Visits to the beach: 7
Day at the waterpark: 1
Pizza on the boardwalk: 3 nights (could have been more)
Pictures we took: 263
Pictures I'm in: 10 maybe :) (I'm always the photographer.)
Seashells we brought home: 6
Drea's smiling face: more than we could count! And worth every penny we spent!


Below are some pictures of our nice little vacation.




This was Drea's favorite spot because the waves didn't
bother her there. (Our friends Jordan and Sarah and
their baby, Isak, are walking in front of Andy and Drea.)




Drea and Isak - friends forever, hopefully. Maybe
once she stops hitting him in the head. But I think he
loves her anyway.


Going down the slide at the water park.


Posing in front of the tree at the park! Her silly face is
because she is saying cheese.




Fun in the sun with my cousins, Brynn and Lydia!


A blue licorice party at Noni's!