please vote!!

I have submitted photos online for a Cutest Daddy Contest with Parents magazine :o)

Please go here to vote!!

I think you can vote for any of the 6 pictures in the album. Just scroll down a choose which one you want to vote for. At least I think that's how it works!

P.S. Jon doesn't know I submitted these... unless he happens to look at the blog sometime soon :o)

four things

1. Lydda Grace is getting her first tooth! It's hard to see anything yet but you can definitely feel it breaking through! We are going to miss her gummy smile but know the toothy one will be sweet too :o)

2. Lydda Grace is talking! Okay... not really. But she has got the "da" sound down pat so she'll often sit and just say, "da da da dada dadadada daaaa." It sounds like she is saying DaDa which is really cute! Jon always talks back to her like she's really trying to ask him something, lots of fun!

3. We've got a squealer on our hands. She'll start for no reason at all... it's a happy squeal... but it's sharp and loud!

4. I just finished making my first outfit for Lydda Grace! It's a little popover (the little dress/shirt crosses in the back and buttons in the front) with bloomers. She's wearing it today even though it's supposed to be a summer outfit. I couldn't wait :o)

Puerto Rico Part 5.... I think this is all... for now

Friday rocked! We had another day of pool and beach... mostly pool and it was perfect weather. Javier had off of work so we got to spend some time with him too.

This is Jon blowing up Lydda Grace's float. You really don't have to watch it... this has been posted because we were laughing about how this is a rite of passage for a Dad... so Lydda Grace needs to see this someday :o)

Here she goes!

This is the life!

I can't believe I am actually posting this next video on the internet.... maybe it's because it's 10:30... past my bedtime, and my judgement is impaired. Jon and I "fought" Bekah and Javier in the pool. We lost the first round and our secret plan was for me to "bloop" Bekah (this is a standard family joke/annoyance which consists of poking someone and saying "bloop") until she laughed so hard she fell off. It didn't work.... but it was funny.

We took family pictures on the beach.

Do they look alike or what??!

Friday night Mom, Dad, Jon, Bethany and I went to the Bio Bay (actually a lagoon). Bekah and Javi babysat since they had already been before. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen! We kayaked down a mangrove lined creek in the dark... literally... completely dark... it was crazy... to the lagoon. The ecosystem there is such that the plankton glow when the water is disturbed... so when you paddle, or when you stick your hand in the water it sparkles with glowing white dots. Even cooler is that you can see the fish as they are swimming and jumping in the water! This is one of only five places in the world where this ecosystem exists so it truly was a once in a lifetime opportunity. We didn't take cameras on the kayaks so we don't have pictures but the experience was incredible!!

Saturday morning we went for one last walk.

The walk turned into looking for iguanas in the trees. We saw several... Jon took the picture below.

The flight home was blessedly uneventful.

Puerto Rico Part 4

Thursday we headed to Old San Juan to see the historic part of the city. It reminded me a lot of Charleston with the forts and colorful houses and pretty streets. Lydda Grace got pretty fussy after a while, we think she just got hot and tired, poor baby, but she hung in there and once we took her out of the stroller and started carrying her around she got a lot happier! I didn't get a ton of pictures with people in them in OSJ... hopefully I can get some from the rest of the family! This is Lydda Grace ready to go! My mom smocked this little dress/blouse and bloomer outfit for her. It was so cool and comfortable... and cute!

Dad was the only one who really got into "Pigeon Park"...personally... all those pigeons creeped me out!

I have to say too that Thursday night was super fun. We just hung out and played Phase 10 and talked and laughed. I love times like that with family... such a blessing!!

Puerto Rico Part 3

Wednesday was just a rest and relax day at the pool and beach which was perfect because the weather was fantastic! (we had a little rain Mon. and Tues.) Lydda Grace really got IN the ocean and and IN the pool on this day which was so much fun! I also got to snorkel a little off the beach and saw some neat fish!

On our way...

Sand was something new... and yes it did make it to her mouth at one point!

Lydda Grace loves the beach!

I LOVE this picture! Jon said swimming in the pool with Lydda Grace is his new favorite thing :o)

Later that afternoon Jon and I strolled Lydda Grace over to a children's park nearby to swing!

The swing was a little big for her.... she kind of just hung there in it and didn't crack a smile the whole time. So we tried the slides.

Here we are playing "this little piggy went to market" with her toes... she liked that better than swing or slides!!

Puerto Rico Part 2

Tuesday we went to El Yunque Rainforest. It's a National Park and it was absolutely amazing! Having never been to a rainforest before I didn't really know what to expect. It was beautifully green and you could hear birds everywhere. The only animal we saw though was a mongoose.

Jon and Lydda Grace walking to the waterfall.

Aunt Bekah and Aunt Bethy climbed up the rocks.

They had an observation tower in the park to climb. It was so incredible to be in a rainforest and look out and see the ocean and mountains all at the same time! The Lord's creation is truly spectacular!

On our way home we stopped in Luquillo, it is one of the best beaches in Puerto Rico. We didn't swim there but it was beautiful just the same.

Lydda Grace kept trying to watch the waves which made it hard to get a picture of anything but the back of her head! We finally got one...
When we got back home we headed to the pool. It was a little chilly so Lydda Grace just sat on the edge, but she really liked it!

Puerto Rico Part 1

I'm going to have to do this trip's posts in installments because I have close to 400 pictures... not counting the ones from my parents or Rebekah's cameras.

We left last Sunday morning for Puerto Rico. Javier is working there for a while so it was a perfect chance to visit him and spend some time as a family. This is the first time I can remember that Spring Break has lined up for all three of us Moore girls so the timing was perfect.

We had a condo in the complex right next to Javier and Bek's that was beautiful and worked out perfectly with Lydda Grace. It was so nice to be able to come and go to the beach so easily.
Lydda Grace was an amazing little traveller!!! We could not have asked her to do any better.

We left Columbia on a delayed flight for ATL. When we arrived we had to go from concourse A to C in under 10 minutes. If you have flown through ATL then you know this is a major feat. Mom and Dad waited on LG's stroller that had been gate checked and Bethany, Jon, Lydda Grace and I started to run to catch the plane. Lydda Grace thought running was a game and laughed the whole time. I wish I had time to get the camera out but we were really running. We all ended up making the flight, even though our luggage did not (but it arrived Monday evening).

This is Lydda Grace's first time at the beach! She loved it and was mesmerized by the waves. Take a look at the picture from the previous post to see her big smile when we put her in the sand and water!
Hanging out with Grandpa. It was so nice to have lots of family with us as there was always someone to cuddle and play with with Lydda Grace. (You can see the beach in the background, the view was amazingly beautiful!)

we're back

We're home safe and sound and had an amazing trip! The new banner is on the beach right in front of the condo where we stayed.

MANY more pictures will be coming soon :o) And I'll go ahead an apologize now because it will probably be an overload... but I've really come to realize that while this blog is a great way to keep in touch with family and friends... I'm even more excited to know that one day Lydda Grace can look back and have such a detailed photo journal of her life and experiences.

Here's a few teasers....

check this out

We haven't left yet... Waiting on Jon to get home from work before we hit the road.

If you get a chance check out this website, Lindsay Lane. A friend from college has her own line of stationary, invitations, announcements, etc. They are adorable!

Have fun browsing.

leaving on a jet plane

We're heading out on vacation tomorrow and while we'll have internet there I'm not promising blog posts. Just don't want any of y'all to worry if we seem to disappear for a while! This will be Lydda Grace's first plane ride... hopefully we will not have any exciting stories about that when we get back!

3/13/2009

Your smile melts my heart and brings tears of joy to my eyes! You are such a happy girl. You have really gotten into peekaboo and love "playing" with yourself in the mirror. We leave tomorrow for Puerto Rico- your first plane ride!

trip to the park

Yesterday as soon as Jon got home we walked to the park downtown. We were hoping they had one of those baby swings there, but they didn't. Jon took Lydda Grace down the slide... she didn't seem to care one way or the other about it :)

spring is here!

splish splash

Lydda Grace has learned to splash in the tub! This video was from yesterday, today her splashing was even more energetic = wetter mama. She has so much fun in the tub!

3/3/2009

You LOVE Finn. Yesterday you sat and watched him across the room and every now and then you would laugh and wiggle all over! Finn was just sitting still, but you were completely entertained!

baby blues