Good morning from Jenna and Olivia

Meeting the Master Lego Model Builder (and IKEA)

This past weekend we got to go and meet the one and only official Master Lego Model Builder. They have Master Lego Designers, too. This guy does designs also, but primarily he is sent out by the Lego company to these events to build intricate lego sculptures. The project he was working on that day was building an 8ft tall R2-D2 with the help of all the children who came.

Each child was given instructions to build one or more giant lego bricks.

As seen above...

Then they gave the "big brick" to the builder and he added it to the R2-D2.

You can see the small model of the R2-D2 that he is copying in picture to his right (to our left as you look at the picture).

This guy was totally cool and talked to the people as he built and even posed for a picture for us. You would think that being a Model Builder would be a kid's dream, and for many it is, but this guy did mention that most people don't stick with it because Lego doesn't pay that well. That's too bad because I know one little boy who would see it as his dream job. I guess it's one of those jobs where you do it because you love it!

Swim Lesson Time

This last week Jenna had a great time going to swim lessons (while Li'l Robby, Olivia, and I had the not so fun time of baking in the scorching hot of Arizona waiting for her). At least, one of us had fun! On Wednesday, Robby couldn't resist the pleadings of his little girl to "come and watch my swim lessons, daddy!" So he relieved all of us and went to watch Jenna at her swim lessons and scorch in the heat. While there he followed orders to take pictures and here is what he got...

Blue-eyed Baby!

That same afternoon that Jenna and Robby played in the sprinklers we had a good time capturing Olivia's baby-blue eyes in pictures. Here's our cutie-pie #3...

And lastly, we have a picture of what Olivia does everyday. She is a big roly-poly and rolls all over the place, and when she gets near blankets she will grab a hold of them and then roll over and over till she is all wrapped up. Then she will continue to roll in frustration because she can't see where she is going, all the time whining that she is in the dark.

Rain, rain come today!

Well, we couldn't get the rain to come to the Valley of the Sun, so we decided to make our own with the sprinkler! Once it was turned on and going, Jenna decided she wanted the umbrella. We thought it was so that she could stand underneath it in the sprinkler and not get wet, but at first she refused to go in the water! Now, when it is 110 outside, you'd think that she would gladly get in the water without the umbrella, but no. Dad had to show her how she could use the umbrella and stand under the water.

Once she saw daddy do it she was all for standing in the sprinkler...

Chap chose to play in the water without the protection of an umbrella. (By the way, this message is for David... take note of how green our grass is. Aren't you proud of us?! It has NEVER looked this good, especially not in June - at least not since we have been here! Of course, I won't tell you what our water bill looked like last month.)

Singing in the rain!

Now I just need to teach her to twirl it.

Jenna started her first dance classes!

Ever since she was born, I have been waiting for Jenna to get old enough to take dance classes. I was so excited to sign her up for a creative dance camp for 3-6 year olds this month. For her birthday, she got some dance clothes for her class, and on her first day she was so happy to put them on and admire herself in the mirror.

Here she is at the end of class. She finished her first week this week and has had a blast!

Jenna is practicing for that big day

With the preparations we are making to move to Indiana, I have already started packing things. In the process, we have been sorting through old stuff and trying to decide what to take, what to trash, and what to donate. Jenna was really excited when I was looking through my closet and she saw my petticoat from my wedding dress. Immediately she wanted me to wear it, so I modeled it for her (the petticoat, not the dress... I don't think I would still fit my dress). After I took it off, she insisted that she get a chance to try it on so we slipped it over her head and grabbed her dress-up wedding dress to help out with the fun.

Here's our future bride!

Of course, don't let those boys get any ideas about her yet, she has to be 26 before she can get married.

Okay, I will make an exception on the age, but only if the guy is extremely special, and I like him a lot!

Indiana here we come!

I mentioned this in my last blog entry, but I think that some of you may not have caught it... We are moving to Indiana this summer. Robby is taking a position as a visiting assistant professor at an university next year! We are excited for the upcoming changes. (Or at least some of the changes... I'm not sure I'm ready for the snow. Li'l Robby, on the other hand, is thrilled! Of course he is also going to learn to love shoveling the snow ;) About two weeks ago we (Robby, Olivia, and I - Li'l Robby and Jenna stayed in AZ with friends and family) took a trip out to Indian to sign a lease on a house and check out the area. We traveled out there right at the end of May and were surprised to be met with temps in the 50s and 60s. Unfortunately, I had already packed away all of our coats back in AZ so we couldn't bring them. I really wished I had had mine!

One of the things that we, or rather Li'l Robby, is most excited about is the pond that is kitty corner to our rental house. It is quite picturesque if you ask me. This is view from our backyard. Li'l Robby has developed a love of fishing, and I think that we are going to find him at the pond quite a bit. One of our new neighbors caught two 21" large mouth bass in this pond not long ago.

And here is Olivia with Daddy at the airport. She was a great little traveler.

" Mmmm... Yummy finger, Daddy!"

Olivia was happy on the flight as long as we made sure the bottle was always handy.

An Olivia Update!

Olivia got a new dress from her Uncle Forrest and Aunt Abbie not long ago, and today I wanted to take pictures of her in it because she was SO cute! (Thank you again, Forrest and Abbie!)

Looking at her baby chubbiness now, it's hard to believe that she was such a tiny little thing when she was born. I just love her little baby rolls! In the last week or so, we have heard more and more of her giggles. We have discovered that she is ticklish (especially on her neck and her sides). She also finds Li'l Robby and Jenna funny, too, and will laugh at their amusing antics. We are still waiting for a time when she breaks out in hysterical laughter though.

When we took her earlier this week to Indiana she was a great traveler again. After both the flight there and the flight back we had several people comment that they didn't even realize we had a baby in our row until the end of the flight when we were deboarding. While we were in Indiana the weather was considerably cooler than the 90s that we were getting in Arizona; it was in the 50s and 60s. I'm not sure Olivia knew what to think about the cooler temperatures. Fortunately for her, she had a cozy car seat to ride around in.

We are excited about the move, but things in the meantime will be crazy as we try to sell our house. (If you didn't catch it before, we are moving this summer to Indiana for Robby to take a job as a visiting assistant professor at an university!) This will be a big change for us, but I know one thing... the kids are looking forward to the snow! I can't wait to see how Olivia reacts to a blanket of cold white snow outside our door. She will be getting close to walking by then.

For now though, she is working on strengthing her arms and legs so that she can crawl. I told Robby that I won't be surprised if she is crawling when she is 6 months old. She definitely has a strong desire to move! She is already doing a pretty good job of scooting by propelling herself with her legs a few inches at a time. We have noticed that she is trying to push up with her arms now. Li'l Robby and Jenna better watch out because it won't be long till Olivia figures out how to get into everything!

Oh and one last thing, I want to share with you Olivia's four month picture with her teddy bear...

"Look at us, we are sitting together!"

"Of course, the only way we can both sit is to be propped up against the couch."