Dear Lydda Grace

Dear Lydda Grace,

Today you are three years old. You are old enough now to anticipate your birthday and have been looking forward to turning three for quite a while now. Your anticipation and excitement makes it much more fun for me to look forward to as well. Though I feel a little twinge of sadness as I realize how quickly you're growing up, I am also realizing how much I enjoy seeing you learn new things, grasp new concepts, express your ideas, rejoice in your accomplishments and just in general the sweet ways your are changing as you grow up.

So, what are you like as a three year old? You are curious about everything and ask lots of questions which lead to more questions and then more questions! You are very active and love to jump and run and dance. Reading is still one of your favorite things to do, if I ever suggest for you to sit in bed and look at books you always happily agree. You also really get into art projects. I can give you scissors, a glue stick and some paper and you will sit for a very long time cutting and gluing, only stopping long enough to ask for a new sheet of paper! You love your sweet friends and getting together to play with them.

We've found that you are extremely observant! You are always listening to whatever conversation is going on around you and will pop in with questions. You also pay attention when we try to spell words so you don't know what we're talking about, but you usually ask, "What did you spell?" our, more often than not, you figure the secret out from context! Whenever we are driving in the car you say, "This is the way to....." and if we make a turn that is different than you expect you tell us it's not the right way!

Lydda Grace, I think your laughter is one of my most favorite things about you! Once you get going you really laugh and it always makes Wade laugh too. I love that you find things to be silly now or think of things on your own that are funny and then tell me.

I must confess, just so you know when you read this, that everything isn't all roses all the time. We are really starting to see you trying to assert your own will. For example, the other day I opened the door to the bathroom for you and you had a melt down because it was something you wanted to do on your own. You always seem to get upset about stuff like this that has already happened and can't be changed and no amount of convincing you that you can "open the door next time" seems to calm you down. I am realizing that you want to be more independent so I'm trying hard now to stand back and let you do the things I know you can do and to give you choices in some areas as well.

Oh baby girl, I am so sad to say that this desire for control and battle with your self-will is a battle you'll be fighting all of your life. My prayer for you is that you will grow to learn that God-will works infinitely better than self-will and that the control you long for leads only to ruin. Just lay down your weapons Lydda Grace, step back from the battle... Jesus has already won it for you!

As I think about this past year of your life I am so overwhelmed and blessed that I get to be your Miss Mama, that I get to spend each day with you (melt downs and all!), that I get to snuggle with you as we read together, hear the workings of you little mind as you sort through all that you are taking in and learning. that I have the privilege of seeing you interact with Wade as you laugh and play with (and sometimes aggravate) each other, that I get to rejoice with you when Daddy-doo comes home each evening, that I get to tuck you into bed, pray and sing with you each night..... how am I so blessed?

I love you to bunches and pieces Miss Lydda Grace.

Love,

Miss Mama

A night with LG and Wade

So today Emily had sent an email a little over whelmed and stressed. So I told her to take some time away and I would stay at home with LG and Wade.

The first part of our night consisted of Wade trying to eat on his own. I thought I would give it a shot since Emily typically is the brave one and lets them try new things. I thought tonight I would give it a shot.





Here we are playing ball outside and learning to share. A true man Wade is. Look at him walk across the rocks barefoot!

sprinkler time

Atlanta trip

Jon was away in KY for a conference the week after we got back from the beach and the kids and I got to take a trip to Atlanta with BeBe to visit Aunt Bethy and Uncle Mark!! We filled 3 days very quickly and had lots of fun!

Aunt Bethy played some fun music games with Lydda Grace!

We visited Great Aunt Frances and got to play with some baby kitties.

Reading

At Zoo Atlanta

Lydda Grace and Aunt Bethy as meerkats.

Lydda Grace as a lion club and Wade thinks it's funny.

We got to see pandas!

We ended our time at the Marietta Diner, very yummy and fun!

We also got to visit with Mollie, Grayson, and Mrs. Trammell and got to meet Baby Caroline for the first time!

And we made a stop at a local quilt store and had lots of fun there.

Lydda Grace-isms

Upon waking from her nap, the first words out of her mouth....

(very excitedly) "When I grow up I want to be a Chocolate Chin!! And Wade is going to be a Tin-Pan Banger!!"

If you're curious try reading, The Wedding Procession of the RagDoll and the Broomhandle and Who Was In It by Carl Sandburg.

Wylie family beach time

We're at the beach right now with Granna Wylie, Mr. Richard, Uncle Nick, and Aunt Mandy. Here are some pictures from the trip so far.

(they're really out of order, having some blogger issues!)

Wade was crazy about the sand! His favorite was eating it... and drinking seawater... very exciting!

Tried some more pics in their matching suits!

I love these babies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is Wade in the car on the way there. (like I said, really out of order!)

more beach pictures

More pictures from the Wylie beach trip.

With Granna Wylie at the pool.

The place we're staying has a really nice pool with a lazy river and a great kiddie pool with lots of water squirting splashing pieces.

Uncle Nick and Aunt Mandy!

Snuggling with my boy. Look at those eyes!!

Granna Wylie bought Chutes and Ladders for LG to play with, she's enjoying it.

There's a little bit of iPad fever going on down here on Pawley's Island.... LG loves to color on Granna Wylie's and Mr. Richard's iPads.

And here are Daddy and Uncle Nick racing each other.

stopover in Chapin

On our way to the beached we stopped in Chapin to divide the trip. We packed a lot into a short visit. We went swimming in the lake and took Lydda Grace to see the purple martins on Lake Murray.

On our way to see the martins!

Family swim time!

we have shirts... we must really be a team now

Since Jon and I have been married he has talked about us getting matching shirts with our name on the back... a "teamwylie jersey" if you will.....Needless to say this dream has never reached fruition, until now...

For Jon's 30th birthday the Caldwell's planned a surprise lunch for our families to get together on campus before we all headed out of town. Jon was really surprised and we had a lot of fun with black balloons and streamers, chocolate cake and THE shirts!

I had jokingly told Amanda about Jon's dream shirts and she took the idea and ran with it :)

Thanks Caldwells!!

Lydda Grace-isms

This afternoon (we're at the beach right now) we were heading out to the pool and Jon walked in and heard Lydda Grace talking to dog dog as she put him in her peapod (the little tent she sleeps in when we're on the road)....

She rubbed dog dog's face and wrapped him up in her snugli and said, "It's going to be alright dog dog, I'm going to go away for a little while, Mama's going to miss you and I love you very much, Mama will be back in a little while...."

Jon said she just kept rubbing dog dog's face and repeating this for a while.

Then she zipped dog dog up in her peapod and sang Holy, Holy, Holy to him. (I got to hear this part as Jon came out of our room with tears in his eyes and told me I had to go watch)

singing

Cow Appreciation Day!

As most of you know my favorite day of the year is cow appreciation day at Chickfila. This year we made it to two meals.

Here is Lydda Grace showing off her new dress that Miss Mama made her.

She is so happy she is wearing the cow nose her hands went up in the air. (Note: She did not like the nose or the ears once we got to the stores)

The Wylie Family as we entered the Chickfila in Clemson.

The Wylie's & The Arrowood's

The first meal was at the Chickfila in Clemson, SC. Emily and I met the Arrowoods for lunch. We had a great time.

No time at chickfila would be complete with out playing on the play ground. Here are Wade and Karis!


Later that night we went to the Chickfila in Anderson. Emily went and ran some errands after dinner and the kids and I stayed back and had ice cream. Enjoy the video.

the fruits (and vegetables) of our labor

First off, the bad news. We had (have?) a vine borer :( One zucchini plant and one squash plant are gone. We felt like our pets died! I did surgery on the other zucchini plant last night and tried to save it, only time will tell. We're very tempted to forego the organic attempt and just douse everything with bug killer!!

However, last night we had bruschetta (with fresh tomatoes and basil from the garden on a baguette made from freshly milled flour).... AMAZING! I should have just made a full batch and eaten only that for dinner!

And then Lydda Grace got to pick a whole bunch of carrots! Carrots are the most fun vegetables there are... It's a big surprise when you pull them out of the ground!
And I just realized she is shirtless in this post and the last one.... the last one was b/c she was painting and this one was b/c she just picked some strawberries and wanted to eat them and it's way easier to clean her belly than her shirt!

the cows are coming!

Today is Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-a! It is one of Jon's favorite days of the year (other than our anniversary! Seriously, that's how he said it earlier today :))

I mean, Chick-fil-a, free food and dressing up and looking ridiculous in front of a whole restaurant full of people.... that's three of his favorites all rolled into one day.

I'll have pictures later but here is LG yesterday painting her "hooves"

4th of July weekend

As Jon mentioned before he "kicked us out" for the 4th of July weekend so he could work in peace and quiet on his dissertation. It worked out really well as the kids and I had a fun time at the lake.

At first LG was a little hesitant in the water and didn't want to let go of Pop Pop or Mama, but as she got used to it she turned into a little fish! At one point she figured out that if she kept her mouth closed she wouldn't swallow water and the realization in her eyes was priceless!

Wade was never very keen on the lake, he enjoyed the boat though and playing on the screened porch.

Our 4th was very restful. The only downside of the weekend was when I dove into the lake still wearing my glasses! They are somewhere at the bottom of the lake and I'm even more thankful that Lord willing I'll be getting LASIK in about a month!

Here are some pics of our trip... I find that I get much fewer when I don't have Jon with me on trips!

Lydda Grace never tires of reading. We "rediscovered" some old books this weekend that she loved!

Watching the birds out the window, "bir" was a new word for the Wadester!

This had to be a highlight for LG! We played Candyland and she LOVED it! Her favorite part, other than winning (which she did EVERY game we played and we seriously did nothing give her an advantage at all!!).... anyway, her other favorite part was getting "stuck" on the squares with black dots. She would see one coming and get so excited that she might get "stuck"... I love her innocence!

We played another card game from when I was little, aptly named "My First Card Game" She needed extra help with that one but still really enjoyed it.

Look at that tongue! She is her daddy's girl!

Birthdays and Copying

So last night was the first time I had seen my children for like 5 days. Emily and the kids went to chapin over the 4th of July (note: emily will post the pictures later). I had the opportunity to stay back at our house and work on the dissertation. Good news: I have written 183 pages. Bad news: The dissertation is not finished.

So last night at dinner, I took a video of our conversation. If this does not make you appreciate innocence, I do not know what will. The topic of conversation for LG was Birthday's. The topic of conversation of Wade, copying whatever I did.

Water Time

So the other day Emily and I had the idea to wash the cars and play in the water with the kids. Here are two video's from our time with the pool and water hose. It is amazing how quickly our children grow.


Wade enjoyed being sprayed. But then we got out the video camera.


Wade playing ball inside and outside the pool & LG playing in the pool.


Wade and the ball. If you can't tell, Wade loves to play ball. This basically entails throwing the ball, chasing the ball, picking the ball up, and throwing the ball again.