Since I've Been Gone...

First of all, thank you to everyone who piped in regarding my posts in the future! It really did help me organize my thoughts a little bit more. :) And it only took me over a month to formulate my thoughts enough for a post. Hehe...oops!

So...since I haven't posted since JANUARY (I can't even believe that myself!), I have quite a bit of catching up to do! So here's the basics of our year in one big whirlwind post...cuz I know y'all LOVE those kind of posts...haha.

After celebrating Liddy's first birthday, the remaining few months were spent chasing after her! She started walking shortly after she turned one, and since then I don't think she's stopped!! :) We had our first "Red Dinner" for Valentine's Day, following the tradition my family put in place. Everything we ate was red....and I made the Jello jigglers just for Liddy. And of course, she didn't like them. Go figure. :) But it was fun anyway! Until she had a little run-in with the coffee table. A run-in that "helped" one of her teeth pop through the gums. That was a sad day, but she recovered quickly!!

Showing off the pink popcorn we made! 

As we got into springtime and summer, we spent lots of time outdoors (when the weather allowed!) Lydia LOVES to be outside...here's a few snapshots of our spring/summer...

Walkin' up the sidewalk...

Fun with Mommy!

For Easter, and as a gift for my MIL, we gathered all the grandkids together to take their picture. Let's just say that was a real "labor of love" as we had 7 kiddos age 8 and under to get to look at the camera and smile! And 3 of them were 2 yrs old or  younger! Eep! But we got some very cute ones, and my sister-in-law (who is amazing at photography!!) took a few singles of  Liddy as well. :)

Photography by MEL
She's just so darn cute! :)

 

As the weather got hotter (and boy was it HOT this summer!!) We spent lots of time outside in our little kiddie pool that my mom (also known as "Gobby" around here) gave us. Sometimes I wonder if Liddy is part fish because she loves the water SO much - and has absolutely NO fear of it!! Which is both good and bad... :)

Dipping her toes in...and LOVIN' it!

Cousin Jack-Jack came over to play - he was much more apprehensive about the water!
Liddy tried to warm him up to the idea of being splashed... ;)

Rockin' the shades!

Our 4th of July plans weren't too exciting - we decided that since Lydia was usually in bed by 7/7:30, and a fairly light sleeper, it wasn't worth it to drag her out to see the fireworks - especially since she probably would have screamed the whole time. :) Next year!! But we were very patriotic that day!! I only got a pic of Joe and Liddy, so that will have to suffice. ;)

Red, White and Blue! :)

 The rest of July and August was spent prepping for our annual Youth Carnival that we put on at our church! Joe is the mastermind behind it, and this year it was set up a bit differently - the youth group was supposed to help run the games, and all funds raised would go towards our youth group account (to help kids go to camp and other activities). Joe does such a great job of creating games and putting it all together!! He spent many, many, many hours working on his projects. So Liddy had a chance to help him out some as you can see here:

"Mark riiiight here, Dad..." :)

The Fishing game was especially popular this year!

PLINKO!

Concession Stand helpers :)
(L-R Ella Russell, Jessica Russell (her mom), and Marta Bo Barta ;)

 Liddy joined the rest of the "babies" as we call them (though they're really toddlers!!) at a nearby friend's house, but they did get to join in on some of the fun for a little bit!! They loved the mini-golf hole-in-one game due to all of the obstacles! haha...

Jack & Ethan check out the deer they can ride on...

Then Liddy joins in the fun!

Bodie choose a gentler ride on a rabbit :)

 And that brings us to September!! I don't even have those pics uploaded to my computer yet...sheesh!! 

Stay tuned for a post about the fun projects/crafts I've done with Liddy over the summer (some have worked to hold her interest and some not so much... ;)!