4th of July

We had a fantastic day for the 4th. Maeve only woke up once last night and then I woke her up for the day at 6:45.  Noah and Paul were still asleep so she and I had some coffee and chatted.  It was so lovely!

When everyone was up we decided to head to the park as a family.  We packed up Noah's bicycle and our lunch and headed to play.  We don't get to do this every often and it was so nice to have no commitments and to be leisurely about life.  We played for a long while, until it got really windy and we headed home.  

After naps I asked Noah if he would help me water the flowers I had just planted.  He was thrilled with the idea and we grabbed our watering cans and headed to the spigot.  I filled both of them up and showed him the flowers I needed him to water.  He was so happy and I just let him water the flowers while I went out front to get the rest.  When I came back, I couldn't believe what I saw.  Noah had the hose in his hand and was trying to spray the dog, which wouldn't have been a big deal except Maeve was in  her bouncy chair on the picnic table.   He didn't realize it but he had been spraying her while trying to get the dog.  She was soaked and her blanket and chair were soaked.  She was wide awake just staring into space, blinking away the water dripping from her eyes! Paul was right there on the porch working but he didn't realize what was happening either!  She never really made a peep which might not bode well for the future when he means to torment her!  

After we got that all cleaned up it, we ate dinner and headed back outside for Noah's first sparklers.  He has seen them before but he has never been allowed to hold them.  He really liked it.  Paul also showed him poppers and the black snake as well as the confetti pull string ones.

It is amazing how we have really changed over the past week.  It feels totally different to have two kids, but in a really great way.  

Noah is madly in love with Maeve and kisses her and hugs her every chance he gets.  He has changed enormously since she has been home and seems to just understand that he needs to be a bit more of a big boy.  He always asks if she can play with him or sit at his table with him and he can't wait until she gets bigger.  We asked him yesterday who his friends were and he said Maeve was his best friend.   I can only hope and pray that at least for a little while (or maybe always!) that this is true.  I just feel so lucky and so happy to have this wonderful family that God has so richly blessed us with....  Happy 4th of July!!!