Road Trip

Blair and his grandpa Edwin catching up in the shade.

Great Grandma Carol cuddling with Elias

The Lynch family took our first road trip, as a family of 4. We set out for a 8.5hr drive to St. Joseph, Missouri last week to see family. It ended up being an awesome trip. We got to visit with the great grandparents, aunt Jan and uncle John and see old friends.

Overall the kiddos did well on the car ride. Always a little tricky making a long road trip when you've got a toddler that could say she needs to go potty without a second of notice AND a baby that is still nursing every 3-4 hrs. Whew...happy to say we made it there in less than 10 hrs. Not bad with kiddos and a few stops here and there. Blair and I said we'd never own a car DVD player, but let me just say, "what what were we thinking?!" It was obviously a thought we had pre kids! ;0 ;0 We had a laid back time in Missouri. I know it was hot here last week, but whew good ole St. Jo felt smoldering hot. The heat index was in the 100s, so we spent our time indoors or out in the sprinkler, which Clara loved! The kids got spoiled by great grandma Carol and great grandpa Edwin. Great grandma just had to take the kids in to show them off at Dillard's to her co-workers. Oh and what would a visit to Dillards be without buying some new clothes. Clara had a great time shopping with grandma and walked away with some cutie patootie outfits! Eli also got spoiled!

While at the mall we ventured to the carousel for a few rides. Let me just say Clara LOVED it! At the end of our trip Clara had taken approximately 15 rides on the carousel. She was in heaven doing it too.

On Saturday, we met up with Blair's aunt and uncle from Iowa. It was great to see them and visit for a little. They got to meet Elias for the first time, which was special. John and Elias share the same middle name...Paul. Of course the kiddos got spoiled again and received some fun gifts from aunt Jan and uncle John. Mom and Dad got spoiled too! ;0 Thanks guys for all the goodies. We really really appreciate it all!

Saturday night, Blair and I got a bit of a date night. We ventured to Lawrence, Kansas for at wedding reception. Blair's friend got married in Italy about a month ago and then had a reception at home to celebrate. It was great to help them celebrate their new life together and for Blair to see some of his old friends. Congrats Brett and Ali!

We got back late from the reception and 4 hrs later got on the road back home. We thought leaving early in the morning (5AM) would be our best bet. Whew...it was rocky, but once again the drive home went overall very smooth! Thank the lord!

We're glad to be home and back in the swing of normality. We are now looking forward to the my brother's family coming into town and celebrating the 4th of July together! Summer has been treating us well so far!

Sitting, Rockin and Rolling...

I think I can...I think I can...

Elias is now rolling, rocking and sitting at 8 months. Amazing how they figure this stage out so quick! It's so cute to see him roll his way up to a sitting position. We know what's next...CRUISIN'! Until then, I'm going to enjoy every moment of this stationary stage where I can place a toy in front of him and he's content. Our life is about to change very soon with a cruiser/walker on our hands. Whew... ;)

Elias is still our laid back cat during the day. Only fusses when he is hungry or tired and lately when he bumps his head on his rolling adventures! :)

We've been trialing lots of different foods, but he is slow to taking on solids. I really thought with having a boy he'd be gobbling up all kinds of food by now, but he's not. He just likes his momma's milk! ha ha.

Eli has two bottom teeth and is working on the two top fronts. I think they have been bothering him quite a bit, which probably explains the lack of solids he's taking. Poor guy. I hate to see him in pain. Those teeth look sooooo cute though...just like little chicklets hanging there. My baby is not looking like a baby so more. sniff sniff...

Elias sitting like a champ at 8 months

Feels like summer...

You gotta love Indiana weather. It went from 40-50s at the start of May and only 3 wks later up close to 90! We are finally feeling the heat!

I was able to get out and plant some flowers with the kids, which Clara LOVED this year! She picked out the flower colors and well...you could probably guess, she picked PINK! We did somehow get one random red flower in the bunch of petunias we bought. Clara keeps saying, 'mommy, we need to get rid of that red one!' I agree, it doesn't quite match in the pot of pink/purple, but oh well we'll flow with it! :)

Today we got out to the spray park for the first time this season. No pictures to show. I get points for bringing my camera, but only to find out that the battery was dead when I went to take a shot! Booo!!!!!!!!! Our housing edition pool opens this weekend too and Clara is pumped! I think she is going to love swimming this year. We hope to get swim lessons lined up soon.

Blair's work is starting to pick up with these summer temps. Come July, I'll have my husband back. Until then I have to practice patience, patience and more patience, as he comes home exhausted from the day. Poor guy.

We are looking forward to all the fun summer brings; swimming, grilling with friends, bike rides, concerts (maybe if Blair and I can sneak away!), being with family and oh one of my big time favorites....GARAGE SALES! Summer... summer... summer...time!

Mini Marathon

The 34th running of the Indianapolis Mini Marathon was today. Blair successfully trained and ran the 13.1 miles and we are SOOOO proud of him. The weather was a little less than desired with temps in the 40-50's and 30mph winds. Eeek. On a positive note, no rain! :) Blair finished in 2hr15min. Pretty great for his first 1/2 marathon experience!!!!

Blair was joined in participation with brother-n-law, James.

Clara loved being down in the 'action' to cheer on daddy!

Also joining in on the fun were, Blair's sister and mom. Way to go guys! You all did great.

In asking Blair if he's ready for his next 1/2 marathon or possibly a full marathon, Blair stated, I'll have to think about that one!

I am getting a glimpse of what my husband will look like as an old man...as he is waddling around and moving very slow. Ha ha ha ha! I can't say I blame him when I reminisce on how I felt after I ran a 1/2 marathon 5 years ago. Give him time and he'll be ready to start training again. Here's to marking an accomplishment/goal off the good ole bucket list and to HEALTH! Cheers!

Clara's a girly girl!

Clara's now 3.5 and is our little girly girl. This girl LOVES wearing necklaces, bracelets, painting her nails and wearing pink. Oh AND dressing up like a princess. I'm not sure it can get anymore girly than that! In the picture to the left she is playing with her new bracelets that are Silly Bandz. What a fun new product on the market. www.sillybandz.com

She also has a love for dancing and ballerinas. Clara received a music jewelry box for Christmas from g&g Bent and she loves to wind up the ballerina and dance along with her. It's just precious to watch. I think we need to get this girl in some dance classes soon.

She also loves her horsey all of a sudden. She got horsey from Santa last year. It went unnoticed for about a year and now she plays with it daily. She walks it, feeds it and rides it. She has even coaxed cousin Isaac into riding it while she pulls him along. Oh it's cuteness! You'll notice in these photos all her animals also get adorned with pretty bracelets and hair ties! They're girly too!

It's hard to believe, but her preschool year is coming to and end. We are going to enjoy the summer break together and next year, she'll be entering two days of preschool...big girl!

Elias is 7 months!

Elias is a big boy.

We've got another month under our belt and how Elias has changed. He's grabbing anything and everything he can get a hold of, is sitting like a champ and is starting to like solid foods a little more! He's ALSO sleeping a little bit better, which has been a huge blessing to this momma! At his 6.5 mo check up he was 16#8oz, which put him in the 20% percentile. The MD said he's doing great. mmmm, I secretly already knew that! ;0

Elias likes to squeal at his sister Clara and also gives big belly laughs at her. It's absolutely adorable to hear them both laughing together! It makes me realize how lucky I am, when I see both of them together enjoying each other! Here are a few pics from Eli's last month.

Five Years!

Here's to 5 years of marriage today! Blair and I are truly blessed to be married to each other! Five years later we continue to be best friends, enjoying each day together and now blessed with two wonderful kids. Here's to 50++ more years together! :)