My Sunshine

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.

You make me happy when skies are grey.

You'll never know, dear, how much I love you.

Please don't take my sunshine away.

May this day be filled with happiness for my little love.

A gift from God

Lily, Julie, Andrew and Laurel at Laurel's Baptism on August 25, 2013


This summer, God blessed our family with my beautiful niece Laurel Grace, and this past weekend, we celebrated that gift and God's love for our sweet Laurel Grace by having her baptized at St. Paul Catholic Church.  It was a wonderful excuse for our family to get together and smile.

The picture above is my best friend and sister Julie (also known as Mom to my nieces Lily and Laurel).  Can you believe how beautiful she and Laurel are?!?  Julie is also loving, kind and a wonderful mother to her sweet baby girls.  (Felicity is so wild that I could not imagine also taking care of a newborn right now, but Julie is handling it with grace, love and laughter.)

 

Sam, Paul and Michael

My brother Michael and sister-in-law Sam served as Godparents and they brought their handsome little man Paul, who was so good during the ceremony.   It was such a blessing to have them there with us for Laurel's big day.

 

 My grandmother and Aunt Sherree drove down from Mississippi on Saturday morning so that they could be there for the Baptism.  We had so much fun sitting around with them on Saturday afternoon, catching up and showing off Felicity's new tricks.  Felicity loves her G'Mom.

Here are some photos of our family at the Church:


 Felicity and Daddy

 

Felicity and Mommy

My Dad (Papa) and Paul



Sam, Paul, Julie, Laurel and Natasha

My aunt May May and my cousin Virginia with Kenzie and Annabelle

Lily and her Daddy

My Mom (Mimi), the back of Lily's head, me, Felicity and Felicity's pacifier

Austin and Felicity - How cute are they?!?

After the Baptism, Andrew's family hosted a reception at their house.  The set-up was adorable and the kids had a great time getting to explore their playroom and fun backyard.  Here are some photos from the party:



Felicity exploring the playroom

Laurel with her grandmother

The adorable Richardson family

 

 

I thank God every day for my wonderful family and for the time we get to spend together.  I look at these photos and I realize that I am truly, truly blessed.

Have a happy Labor Day weekend!

  

 

 

Keeping our Eyes on the Prize

 

Labor Day Weekend is on the horizon and we in the Ward family are keeping ourselves afloat admidst a very busy work week with the acronym "VOALT!"  (a.k.a. Vacation of a LifeTime).  We are desperately in need of a few days off to relax, spend time with family and just enjoy life. :)  Despite the ambitious title for the weekend, we are really just hoping to unplug and soak up some sun before summer is officially over.

 

Therefore, as we face the daily grind, we are keeping our eye on the prize by periodically texting each other "VOALT!"  Let me show you how it works....

• Stressed because you are behind on a deadline....VOALT! 
 
• Tired because your toddler was awake for 3 hours in the middle of the night causing you to spend most of the night on the floor of her room or in a chair...VOALT! 
 
• Hungry because you are too lazy to pack yourself a lunch or cook a real dinner....VOALT!
 
• In pain because you have had a splitting headache for the past two days....VOALT! (Of course, this complaint is also accompanied by a note to put down the coffee and drink some water ASAP.)

Since Felicity does not yet (i) have a cell phone, or (ii) know how to text, she has not been participating in this motivational exchange.  Of course, as it turns out, she doesn't need to chant "VOALT" to get her through the day.  Instead, she has obviously chosen this week to have the BEST WEEK EVER at school!



Felicity with Mommy (Dec. 2012) - Not relevant to this post at all but a cute photo of our matching outfits

This is the second day in a row where Felicity has not cried when we were dropping her off at school.  That is essentially unheard of in our household.  Instead, when I dropped her off this morning, she ran straight into the classroom to find her bucket and put it back on her head where it belongs.  Remember this picture from last week?  Well, it turns out that it is her new "thing."  She is now known around the school for wearing that bucket on her head all day - although in an effort to teach manners, they do make her remove her "hat" for snacktime.

Felicity moves up to the next classroom next week so it is only natural that she has become fully adjusted and happy in the one that she is in now just days before her big move.  Luckily, I know now that it is only a matter of time before she adjusts again and we have our happy, enthusiastic little buddy back!

In the meantime, I am resolved not to worry about the stresses and trials that next week will bring and just focus on.... VOALT.  If the weekend can bring just a few smiles like the one below, it will certainly live up to its name! :)

 



There is always enough time to be SILLY!

One of the unspoken rules at our house (especially after work in the evening) is that it is important to make time to enjoy each other and be silly.  Until FJ goes to bed at night, we really try our best to be engaged and in the moment, which usually requires us to hide our phones and avoid e-mails. 

 

I really want Felicity to know that she is my number one priority.  I also want to show her by example how to live life with joy.  Our time is spent together reading books, dancing around the kitchen with daddy, playing chase in the yard, blowing bubbles, and playing hide & seek. 

 

For some reason, Felicity's favorite spot to play hide & seek is in the downstairs half-bathroom.  She will make either Austin or me huddle up in that tiny bathroom with her and our dogs, Maggie and Jackson.  Poor Maggie, a big black lab, can barely fit in that tiny half-bath, but she will squeeze in and sit there patiently while Felicity giggles in anticipation of being found.  If you are looking for a reason to smile, then I recommend that you watch this video and experience first-hand how fun it is to play hide and seek with my little buddy. 

 

 

Another game that Felicity likes to play is "dress up."  However, rather than dress up like a princess or her standard favorite (Minnie Mouse), lately her version of dress-up has involved getting out her old baby accessories and wearing them in new, creative ways, such as turning her newborn socks into mittens! Once the "mittens" are on her hands, she will smile and clap in front of the mirror.  When she does so, I am quickly reminded how every game and activity at this age is teaching her something new - like the sound differences between clapping with and without "mittens."  Occassionally, she will insist that she continue to wear those mittens when she goes to school.  We tend to get a lot of sympathetic looks and questions about what happened to her hands, so maybe next time I should put a sticker on her that says, "I am just being silly!" :)  

Felicity is starting to open up and be more silly at school, too.  Yesterday afternoon, Austin arrived to pick her up and found her in circle time, sitting next to her friends, reading books and wearing a bucket as a hat on her head!  It turns out that she had been wearing that bucket for hours, and had been disappointed when her friends didn't want to wear their "hats," as she called them. 

 

 

From the moment she was born, she has just had such a delightful, expressive, and (let's be honest) dramatic personality that we like to joke that her personality matches her hair.

 

Oh, by the way, it is FRIDAY!  That is definitely something to clap about....



 



All About FJ

The theme this week in FJ's classroom is "All About Me."  In order to teach the one year olds all about themselves, the teachers have asked the parents to bring in a family photo, fill out a short survey about their child's current interests, and bring in one "Show and Tell" item that the child will recognize.

Earlier this week, Austin and I spent some time filling out FJ's survey and we enjoyed discussing her favorite things at this stage of her life.  Included below is a sample of the questions we were asked and how we answered them:

My best friends: My cousins Lily and Christian

(Although Felicity loves all of her cousins, she gets to play with Lily and Christian on a weekly basis.  When you see the joy in her eyes when she first catches sight of either Lily or Christian, it is clear that they hold a special place in her heart as her "besties.")

Felicity with Lily (Chik-Fil-A Play Date)

Felicity with Christian (Halloween 2012)

My favorite foods:  Hummus and Ice Cream

Austin and I like to joke that Felicity is going through a stage right now where her main sources of protein are hummus, greek yogurt and boogers.  Oh, the life of a toddler!

In all seriousness, though, she eats through an entire container of hummus every week, and LOVES doing so!

My favorite color: Pink

My favorite song:  Row, Row, Row Your Boat (*The Crocodile Version)

I wanted to find a picture of her doing the "Ahhh!" face at the end of the song.  It is truly precious, but alas, I have not yet photographed the moment!  I better add that to my to-do list!

My favorite sport:  Climbing

Austin and I really struggled to choose her favorite sport because she is so active.  Her hobbies include:

Collecting Grass....

Running....

And running really, really fast!

 

My favorite subject:  Physical Education (*See Comments to Sports Question Above)

Each night after dinner, we go outside as a family, eat our ice cream cones or popsicles and then enjoy some fun play time!  One of Felicity's favorite words right now is 'Side (which is short for "Outside" if you don't speak Toddler).  Tonight, our play time consisted of a condensed P.E. class - toddler-style.  The class involved a dance lesson from Mommy:

A golf lesson from Daddy:

 

And finished up with a tennis lesson:

 

Side Note:  The survey failed to ask about Felicity's favorite character (A: Minnie Mouse) or her favorite toy (A: Cell Phones - fake or real), but I wanted to note them here so we do not forget.

Felicity is growing up so quickly and has become such a unique, fun, outgoing little person.  I am glad that her school has provided us with this opportunity to think about who she is and what she enjoys at this moment in time because I know that as soon as I blink my eyes, she is going to have moved on to an entirely different stage and I do not want to forget one moment of her precious childhood.

Prioritizing Time and Creating Memories

I have decided to take a hiatus from Facebook.  I love to see everyone's adorable family photos and read about my friends' exciting vacations, but I realized that there is only so much time in the day and that I should be prioritizing my time so that I am able to create more memories with this little cutie:

My goal is to give up Facebook for the remainder of 2013.  I am not sure if I will be able to do it because I am currently so addicted, but it will be worth it to have more time to spend with my favorite people in the world.

 

For those of you who will miss seeing Felicity photos in your newsfeed on a daily/weekly basis, check this blog every once and a while. I will do my best to post photos and updates from time to time.

Wish me luck with this social experiment! :)  

Carolyn