Mother's Day and Father's Day

Father's Day ~ 2010
Mother's Day ~ 2010

Not sure how I missed out on posting a photo from Mother's Day and Father's Day this year ... but better late than never! :) Parenthood is such a blessing and privilege, as well as a huge responsibility! We endeavor to never take our time as parents for granted, because it passes so quickly! We thank the Lord daily for choosing us to be Lydia's parents and for the wonderful blessing He has given us in her!

Lydia ~ 33 Months

Heather's Family at my Dad's Birthday
Anthony Grandchildren ~ July, 2010

Lydia ready to go to the "pool"!

Enjoying watercolors!

Sitting with Grandma Winstead "watching" the fireworks!

Mel's Family at Blowing Rock, NC

Lydia with Uncle Paul

Lydia with Daddy on July 4th

Waterfall at South Mountain State Park

July was another busy month! We celebrated the Fourth of July by taking a trip to Morganton, NC, to visit with Mel's family. While we were there, we got to attend two fireworks displays. Lydia was not a big fan of the first one and basically would only "peep" at them through her fingers while her hands were covering her eyes. By the second round, however, she was thouroughly excited and wanted to "catch" them! We also visited the town of Blowing Rock and South Mountain State Park, while we were there, and Lydia was thrilled to be able to hang out with her cousins!

We also celebrated my dad's birthday in July, and both of my sisters and their children were able to join us. We are not all able to get together very often, so we were thankful for the time. In addition to her "learning time," Lydia LOVES to do "crafty" projects like painting (with watercolors), playing with Play Doh, etc., so I have included one of those pictures, as well as one where Lydia is very ready to go to her "pool," which is a small one in the yard, but makes for a nice break on hot days!

Lydia ~ 32 Months

Loving Playing in the Sand!

Looking at the Otters!

Sitting on a Big Turtle! :)

Lydia and Daddy

Lydia and Mommy!

Lydia and Brittany!

The girls: Brittany and Denise and Lydia and Heather

What a busy month June was! I was able to wrap up another year of teaching part time, and we were able to enjoy a few days away at Emerald Isle, NC, with my sister and her daughter. Lydia loved to play in the sand, but still wasn't a big fan of the ocean! Nevertheless, she had tons of fun at the beach, and also enjoyed going to the aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores. We also had a few impromtu beach pics taken while we were there ... some of them are posted below.

Lydia continues to love to learn and we are thankful for that! She has most definitely mastered the upper case alphabet and is on her way with the lower case letters. She is also able to recognize numbers 1 - 12, and we are working on numbers through 20. She also enjoys puzzles and games, and doing just about anything outside! Each day is a blessing!

Lydia ~ 31 Months

Lydia's thirty-first month was busy, as are most of ours, it seems! We traveled to see her cousins, Savannah, Karolina and Marshall and her Uncle Paul and Aunt BJ in Rocky Mount. Aunt BJ had a beautiful surprise for Lydia - a new, handpainted learning table! Lydia loves to do "learning time," and now we have an official table! She loves to sit here and work on her letters, numbers, matching games, lacing cards, and coloring! Lydia continues to do really well with her memorization and recognition of letters and has begun to point them out to us! We are continually amazed to watch her learn. While visiting our family, we also attended a minor league baseball game and Lydia had a lot of fun with that (except for trying to be coaxed to sit with the mascot - a large catfish!)

Lydia is a happy, healthy and energetic little girl and we are so blessed by her! She is almost always a "sweet girl" as she calls herself and we try to remember to encourage her when she usu her manners (which we have been working on for a while) and obeys Daddy and Mommy quickly because obey (as she will tell you) means "right now." We are seeking to raise her in a way that pleases the Lord, because we know that not only is that what God desires, but it is also what is best for her!

Carolina Mudcats Minor League Baseball Game

Playing with Daddy...

Her new favorite thing to do - silly faces!

Coloring!

Lydia ~ 30 Months

Lydia ~ 30 Months

First Haircut!!

Washing the car with Daddy!

Loving the swing!

Beautiful Little Girl....

Thirty Months sounds like a strange way to explain the age of a child, but when doing a monthly update, it's the only way! Since one of the most special times for us was the celebration of Easter, and there is a separate post for that, I will just touch on some of the other things Lydia has enjoyed this month.

We have had a few days of unusually warm (for this time of year) weather, and Lydia was able to help Daddy wash the car. Since she LOVES to play in any kind of water, this was a special treat, rather than the chore it will most likely one day be! We were also able to make an early trip to the park, which is not usual in April! Since the "firsts" are getting much more scarce, the older Lydia gets, we did have one this month - FIRST HAIRCUT! I do realize that she is 2 1/2, but we have never cut her hair ... Mrs. Leah at our church cut Lydia's hair and sitting in Mommy's lap and a lollipop made her first haircut a total success! In addition, our little girl has mastered recognition of all of the upper case alphabet letters and numbers 1 - 10! We are so proud of her! As always, we are thankful that the Lord has allowed us the privilege of being Lydia's parents!

Celebrating Our Risen Lord ~ 2010

We trust that you had a Happy Easter! What a beautiful day and another opportunity to thank the Lord for His Sacrifice and for the promise of Life!
Lydia filling her Easter basket with eggs...

Coloring Eggs...

Enjoying the beautiful flowers with Daddy!

Blowing bubbles on the porch with Mommy!

Running to share a flower she had just picked!

Lydia ~ 29 Months

Wow! What a busy month! Lydia's 27th month began with a much needed get-away trip to Myrtle Beach for a few days. We were joined by PawPaw and Nana Anthony. We had a relaxing few days, although it was still pretty cool at the beach.
Daddy and Mommy also attended a marriage conference in Greensboro, NC, which meant a visit to PawPaw and Nana's for Lydia! She seemed to have a great time - especially with their new "train" table! Lydia is enthralled with "Thomas the Tank", so she has a blast with that!
Lydia's 29th month ended with her cousin Brittany's seventh birthday party. It was at an indoor fun house and Lydia had a blast on the slide and with the bowling game. The three story obstacle course ... well, not so much ... Mommy had to go to the rescue! :)
Lydia continues to learn and grow and has almost completely mastered her alphabet letter recognition. We are also working on memorizing Colossians 3:20, as we are trying to implement biblical obedience with our discipline. Lydia can spell her name (most of the time), and continues to enjoy coloring, books and a new activity (to us) - watercolors!! She has had a blast with that, and wants to carry her clean paint brush all over our home! We are thankful for our family and that God has allowed us to be parents to this amazing little girl!

Blowing bubbles on the beach with PawPaw

Catching bubbles with Daddy

Just couldn't resist!

The train table!

Loving the slide!

Bowling with cousins, Brittany and Jackon!