my eloise turned ONE & we had the party to prove it- although, i'm waiting to go through all of the photos before doing her big birthday post. 

in the meantime- here's what the girls have been up to :)

the weather has been super rainy & chilly the past few days [& frankly i'm loving it & the indoor time & cuddles that come with it!], but prior to that the girls were interested in nothing but playing in the water table jon built for a couple of hours each day! [lucy especially loves that it's positioned next to our "taste garden" of herbs- every few minutes i'll see her snatch off a basil or mint leaf to chew:)]

lucy & daddy park date :)

meme watched eloise while mama got my hair did at the beauty shop :)

lucy has been super into building castles- it occupied two full days during the rain! i LOVE the imagination of a 32 month old!

eloise outgrew her first pair of ballet slippers! she has literally worn these just about every day since february, so i had to commemorate them in her room :) i think they eventually may turn into a christmas ornament- lucy's saddle shoes that she wore when she first started walking were hanging on the tree last year-

we went with gold slippers this time for a fun summer twist- & classic pink, too!

meme surprised the girls with this super fun pool for eloise's birthday- & of course, lucy is really excited about "her own" personal swimming pool..... :)

it is so fun- it has a water spout & the girls played for a good solid hour & would have kept going that first night if bedtime wasn't calling their names-

eloise turned ONE on thursday! we had planned to play in the water all day, but the rain kept us indoors. my mom came over & we spent the day baking shortcakes for the party & just enjoying this sweet girl & her BIG personality!

daddy took us all to dinner at texas roadhouse- we wanted somewhere the girls could have fun & make a mess, and the waiters & waitresses do a texas two-step every 15 minutes or so that the girls LOVE!

jon completely finished the bunks- ladder, address, guard-rails- & they were the biggest hit of the birthday party amongst the kids!

AND sweet e turned ONE & had a strawberry ice cream social to celebrate the occasion- post to follow :)

xoxo, 

-ivy

we have had such cold & rainy weather for the end of may. it looks like it might rain this afternoon & tomorrow is a one-hundred percent chance for rain. i was driving by our neighborhood pool this morning & someone was swimming- it's 65 & completely cloudy. i think everyone is itching for warmer weather & some sun! jon's been busy with several projects he's hoping to complete this holiday weekend, including building the girls a water table for the deck. i didn't know what to think when he told me he wanted to build one, but it is looking fabulous! he literally used 2x4's to build a table, which he's painting aqua & has sized to fit a large rectangular tub of water in the middle. it'll be an awesome way to buy me a good 30 minutes or so :) both the girls are such fish- they love anything having to do with water play! & for eloise's birthday, my mom's getting the girls a big blow-up pool that has a little slide & spout for the yard. i am so looking forward to summer mornings at our neighborhood pool & afternoons playing in the yard with water toys! lots of photos to follow :)

despite the chilly weather, we went to the farmstead with my friend kim & her [seriously awesome] kids, harrison & gretchen, last week-

kim, lucy & harrison digging for crystals :) we hadn't done this part before, but it's harrison's favorite ... & now, lucy's, too! she's been matching her treasures to the rock-key they gave her all week :)

big kids feeding the goats-

& another first- lucy got to ride a pony! her first question was "where's the cutie stamp?" [for any my little pony fans out there...:)] such a big, brave girl!

eloise & gretchen were total rockstars- they happily snacked & hung out in their strollers, taking in all of the sights & sounds!

another way to buy me some time- we brought the ball-pit up from the basement for few days, which worked like a charm until the novelty wore off :)

caterpillar crafting!

taking advantage of the little bit of sun we've gotten-

& yesterday was watch-week at dance class! lucy earned a medal & meme brought her a flower & balloon :) i was so proud of how well she did- without hesitation, she performed in front of a classroom of people. for the most part, she watched her daddy out of the corner of her eye to make sure his eyes were on her :) eloise danced to the music & desperately wanted to be one of the big girls!

she was precious! here are a couple of my favorite video clips :)

crossing our fingers for great cook-out weather this memorial day!

-ivy

soul sisters

we are in the final, final stretch to eloise turning ONE! next week! i remember when lucy turned one, i thought she was so big. now when i look at eloise, she is still such a baby in my eyes & my heart. 

having babies close in age, means lots of photoshoots in a quick range of time. we have literally had 7 family photo shoots from the time i was pregnant with lucy! this time around, jon thought he'd take a turn behind the camera. he's been interested in photography for years & has taken photography classes. we will, of course, have our favorite photographer take more family photos in the future, but for this event, i am SO impressed with jon's skills. & so weepy when looking through these images of our beautiful, sweet-spirited daughters. just joy. 

we took the girls to shawnee mission park, where jon & i met in july of 2002 when we were 15. it was a great evening. 

& for the road, what my fancy girls have been up to-

lunching

 

& dolls

library fun

& making homemade strawberry ice cream to freeze for eloise's birthday ice cream social!

cheezing for the camera

& feeding ourselves with a fork [this girl may not be walking like her big sister had been for a couple months at this point BUT she's blowing lucy out of the water with her language at eleven months- ten words & counting, which i actually feel a little silly typing because i can hardly believe it! (mama, dada, water, bottle, bubbles, balloon, uh-oh, apple, banana, please)- & her self-feeding/cup drinking skills!] amazing how different these gals can be, just 20 months apart & i'm definitely not doing anything differently. God makes us all so unique. 

dance day

sipping on spinach smoothies!

2 super cute ballerina birthday parties last weekend!

& today lucy had her 3rd dentist appointment! jon took her & said she did so well. so proud of this girl & her healthy, beautiful pearly whites that she's adamant about brushing & flossing twice per day- so my daughter :)

we rounded out this monday morning with a quick park trip :)

xoxo, 

-ivy