Special Every Days

It's been a while since you've heard from us. Maybe that's because life has been seeming so... everyday. Every day. Many of these ordinary days I forget to document with a camera. And it doesn't help that it feels like summer may never arrive. Granted, we've been getting a few teaser days of sunshine and warmth interspersed amongst the rest. But if you want to feel good about the future, don't check the extended forecast.

So here's what we've been up to lately. Michaela is a big 22-month-old now, and words are pouring out of her left and right. She learns and says new words every day. She also gets increasingly frustrated when we don't understand what she's saying (how do 'cracker', 'towel', 'Tyler' and 'tired' all sound the same???). For some reason I also don't understand, she is insisting on calling the dog 'Tigra' which is the cat's name. She calls the cat by the correct name, as well, so things can get a little confusing. Michaela also loves to play outside. These photos were taken on a Sunday afternoon adventure at a neighborhood park. It's funny how checking out and evaluating new playgrounds has become a family hobby.

She loves to swing high!

Cresting the top of a (small) play structure

Michaela also loves to color and play with her dolls (diapering, feeding, rocking, and putting them to sleep). The picture below is from Easter when she got to sit down and color with Papi. The trouble with coloring with Michaela is that she likes to draw on your picture, which can be devastating for a perfect colorer like myself.

The week preceding Easter was spent working on building a deck in our backyard. After backbreaking labor by many people - two of Michaela's grandpas, her Daddy, her Uncle Dave, with supervision by Aunt Abbey and myself - the deck is done! We're very pleased with our results and have already had a couple of BBQ's outside on the deck. Ahhh...

Lastly, my wonderful husband put a lot of work into what was supposedly "my" project - our raised beds for our vegetable garden. They are beautiful and now they are growing little green produces, which I don't know yet when I am supposed to harvest because this is my first attempt at a garden. But I'm very excited, nonetheless.