Week Thirty-Seven

Last night, Brad and I went out to dinner all alone at a fancy restaurant to celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary, which was last week. We went to The Melting Pot, which is one of our favorites, while Hannah baby sat Nora. Nora wasn't thrilled to see us leave, but Hannah said she settled in quickly, and they watched Tangled before Nora passed out (early!) for the night. I'm disappointed that I forgot to get a picture of us because we were actually pretty put together for once. We do clean up nicely, and I have almost no proof of it. It was nice to have a few hours in a cozy booth at one of our favorite spots. It may be months before we have that opportunity again.

Being mid-September, we're starting to have a day here and there when it isn't too hot and humid to play outside, and today was one of those days. We decided yesterday after dance class that we would meet Allison and Amelia today at Victor Ashe Park for some play time, but when we got to Victor Ashe, there wasn't a single parking spot to be found. Between the perfect outdoor weather and a large soccer tournament, it was packed. So, we headed over to a jungle gym/playground at North West Middle School where the girls had a great time playing for a solid hour and a half!

The girls ran and climbed and slid and fussed and whined and needed boo-boos kissed. Then they did it all again and again. We eventually had to pack it in when there was more fussing than playing and when too many people, who I assume also couldn't find a place to park at Victor Ashe, showed up and it got too crowded for comfort.

Weeks Thirty-Five and Thirty-Six

We were excited last week to learn that Nora's Wroblewski cousins were in town from Toledo, and that they would be hanging out at Dede and Grandpa's pool, so we packed up our stuff and headed that way so they could spend some time playing together. They are like little fish in the water while Nora is still hesitant, but once pool time was over they had fun playing together, and they even were kind enough to pose for the camera for us.

Threenagers.

Naomi's first picture with the gang!

Here is "Uncle Brad" getting in a few quality minutes with Naomi. Silly girl got very serious when I turned the camera on them.

So, once again, it is football time in Tennessee!! We train 'em up young down here in the SEC. We've been brainwashing teaching Nora that on Saturdays in the fall, we wear orange. She is reluctant but is going along with us for now. She did randomly yell out "Touchdown!" in the car a few days ago, so I think she is starting to catch on.

GBO! VFL. 

Weeks Thirty-One through Thirty-Four?!

I have never let the blog get away from me like this before. FOUR weeks? I guess between "pregnancy brain" and "back to school brain", time has just flown by. So, here is an update on what the Lyle family has been up to since my last entry.

Around the time that I took an unintended hiatus, Grandpa took a fall in the back yard and hurt his leg pretty badly. He's slowly making his way around, having more good days than bad. Lea recommended that he do some therapy in the pool, so here is a rare shot of Sam and Patsy in the pool together. This may be my first time witnessing this in the 11 years I have been a Lyle!

I don't think Grandpa has been faithful with his pool therapy, but it was fun seeing him in the water, begrudingly as it may have been.

Another big Lyle family event of the past few weeks happened when Brad finally had to accept that his faithful friend, the '98 Honda CRV, needed to be put to rest.

This car had over 223,000 miles on it. She'd made a handful of trips to Canada back when she was just a baby, and she was our trusted family vehicle ever since. Lots of great memories were made in this car on countless road trips around the south east. Not to mention, this is the car that brought Nora very carefully home (and maybe more slowly than she had ever traveled in her life.)

Here is Nora enjoying some final moments with her first car.

Brad had the tough decision of choosing a new car for our growing family. He went back and forth between a newer model CRV (what I thought was going to be the obvious choice) and a 2005 Toyota Sienna. I was honestly shocked when he chose the mini van over the SUV!  I definitely poked some fun at him over the Dad-mobile, but I have to admit it was a really good choice.

Somewhere in-between Sam's injury and the new car, I started a new school year! This is my 3rd year at Austin-East, and right now, there is nowhere else I'd rather be. I've moved on up from 9th to 10th grade, which means I have a lot of the same students I had last year. I have to admit (and hope I don't jinx myself) that it's one of the best starts to a school year that I've ever had. I love my students, I love my class room, I love my job!

Behold, 1st day classroom. It will never look this good again-- until August of next year.

This classroom runs on love, laughter, and Diet Coke. Yes, yes it does.

This week, we celebrated Naomi's first birthday. I can not believe that she is a year old!  It is truly amazing how much she has grown in the past year from a 3 lb 32 weeker to the beautiful, thriving, healthy little girl that she is today. Nora adores her, and we love every minute that we get to spend with her. She has the sweetest little disposition, and I'm excited to see what the next year has in store for her.

Classic Naomi face.

Someone passed out after partying a little too hard!

It was the perfect day for a pool party.

Oh, and our house is still for sale. 6 months and counting. Sigh...

Some updated pictures for our online profile. Someone PLEASE buy our house!

... and I'm now 18 weeks pregnant. Almost half-way there!

Nora has been talking a lot about baby sister and seems excited, though I can sense some hesitation, too. A sweet moment yesterday was when she was rubbing my belly and she said, "Hi baby sister. It's me, Nora. I'm going to rescue you!" Then she kissed my belly. I'm not sure how she plans to execute this "rescue" or what she thinks she is rescuing the baby from, but it cute.

Ok, all caught up! I need to not repeat this 4 week break again.

Weeks Twenty-Nine and Thirty

During week 29, I was in Indianapolis for a work conference. We had to drive, and I traveled with 3 other teachers from my school. It was a good, worthwhile conference, so while the driving was a pain and I hated to be away from Brad and Nora, I was glad that it wasn't a waste of time.

While I was away, I got to Facetime with my 2 favorite people a couple of times. Brad was also good to send me some cute photo updates.

Here is Nora hanging out near Dede and Grandpa's pool, her new favorite summer hang out spot.

And here she is one early  morning when Brad said she was being a "little stinker", not wanting to get ready for Ms. Tracy's house.

I think he sent me that last one the day before I was going to be home. I was so ready at that point to see this sweet face.

This past week was our last week of summer vacation. Brad took the entire week of, and it was my last before being back on contract. We had a nice staycation that involved lots of quality family time, including, of course, some pool time...

... and banana flavored popsicles.

Weeks Twenty-Seven and Twenty-Eight

I am getting behind on some of these posts because it's so easy to lose track of time now that I'm on summer vacation!

During week 27, we celebrated the 4th of July with friends. We had an old-fashioned cook out in our own back yard complete with kids, dogs, fireworks, and an all-American meal of hot dogs and baked beans.

Showing off her red, white, and blue.

Sweet ride.

Too cool!

Kaitlyn says "cheese" while holding up a piece of cheese. Hardy har har!

This is Nora's reaction to the bottle rockets.

Brandy sporting her patriotic bandana.

Bailey basking in the sun.

Copper wasn't cooperative, so I have no holiday pictures of our beagle boy.

Outside of our 4th celebration, Nora and I had a "girls' day". We went to a movie, had lunch, and played at an in-door play area. The movie was Despicable Me 2, and I think the plot was a little too complex for a 3 year old, so we ended up leaving shortly before it ended. Regardless, we enjoyed our special day together. I got this picture on our way out the door. Girl knows how to do fashion. :)

Striking a pose

Bad selfie

Something else I've been enjoying on vacation are Nora's afternoon naps. There have been several days when she has fallen asleep on me in the recliner.

Sometimes I transfer her to her bed, but sometimes I just enjoy the snuggles.

Weeks Twenty-Five and Twenty-Six

Nora is now in a 10 week summer session at The Little Gym, and instead of doing strictly gymnastics, she is now taking a dance/gymnastics combo class. That means the first 30 minutes is a combination of tap and ballet and the second half is in the gym. The first week was kind of tough for Nora because it was the first time she was in an independent class as opposed to a parent/child class. She didn't want to leave me, so she pretty much just watched the dance portion of the class and then reluctantly participated in the gymnastics.

Weeks 2 and 3 were much better, though.

Here are some pictures from week 2, which is the first week Nora willfully participated.

I think there were 2 things that contributed to a better week. First is that her BFF Amelia joined the class. The second is that we talked all week not only about the class, but about what she was going to wear. I know this sounds silly, but she was so fixated on wearing this little green dress that every day she would point to it in her closet and tell me that she was going to wear it to ballet class. I jumped right on that train and played it up for all it was worth.

Here is week 3. I love that more than half of the girls are wearing the same sweet little dance outfit from Target. It was so cute seeing them all come in one after the other in the same dress.

I am hoping Nora loves it enough that we can continue with the dance/gymnastics combo for the regular season, too.

I also have to share this picture of Nora "jumping in muddy puddles". It rained a lot this week, and thanks to her "friend" Peppa Pig, puddle jumping, especially bare-footed, is one of her favorite activities.