June was just a wonderful summer month spent playing outdoors with family and friends.  We spent lots of time down at Lake Monroe with Dt and Opa and our friends the Enders.  Emma turned 4 this month.  We had a party at our house and had Alligator Aaron come and bring some exotic animals.  He was fabulous.  What an entertainer!  Emma was able to hold the animals.  You’ll see from the pictures that it was a great time for all! 

Emma is growing up so much.  She participates fully in Mass and teaches Ruthie the responses and songs.  When anyone is having difficulty trying to understand Ruthie, she interprets for her.  She turned the big number 4 on June 14^th and is so proud.  She decided to be fully potty trained (she told us she would when she was 4 and by golly, she did)!  She earned a fish and named him Skip.

Emma is improving in her swimming every time she enters the water.  She becomes more  and more comfortable as long as she is able to get acclimated at her own pace.  In June Emma went to a terrific art camp for a week and brought home the most amazing artwork.  Mom and Dad were expecting finger painting and she came home with sculptures, oil on canvas and lots of other beautiful things!

For the longest time Emma was not comfortable getting her face wet which made hair washing a little bit of a challenge.  Realizing that she would one day feel comfortable with the sensation, Steve and I just let her work her way through it.  Well, all of the sudden, she one day dumped a big bucket of water on her head in the bath and declared that from that day forward she was going to wash her own hair!  Big moment.

Emma is very thoughtful and sweet.  She is very particular and likes things a certain way.  She is very organized and neat.  She enjoys going to her dressing table and putting on a little lip-gloss and fixing her hair.  Mom and Dad are very proud of Emma and the big sister she is.  She protects her little sisters and always alerts us if someone needs us.

The sweetest sound is hearing Emma sing Ruthie to sleep each night.

One morning while I was in my closet looking for something VERY casual to wear for the day, Emma came in and declared she was going to be holding a concert in the front hall and went through my clothes and picked out a formal beaded gown and asked that I wear it.  Typically I would have told her that I was too busy to get dressed up, but I decided to loosen up a bit and take the time to make her feel special.  I got all dressed up with fancy make-up and heels.  The greatest thing is that Steve put on his suit.  When we came down the stairs she gasped and declared that this was the happiest day of her life.  We sat in the front hall as she sang and danced and applauded this most adorable girl who beamed from ear to ear for the rest of the week.

Ruthie is our little spitfire.  She is active and adorable.  Her favorite phrase is, “Oooooohhhhhh, dang it!”   She speaks in 4-5 word sentences and has even begun praying the prayers in church.  Her favorite is the alleluia.  Ruthie doesn’t like to sit still so she often leaves the pew and travels up a few aisles to wave at other parishioners or to dance in the aisle.  She even does this cute little genuflect (really a squat) before she enters the pew.  When she wants something she says, “May I?”  and “Have some?” She adores Vivian and will sometimes get a little too close.  I will say, “Ruthie, be gentle with the baby.”  She will say, “Love baby.”  When I have the baby on the floor Ruthie will push her on to her stomach and shout, “Mommy, baby roll over!!!!!!!!”  Whenever Emma gets excited about doing something, Ruthie shouts, “Me too!!”  She is becoming very independent and when she wants to do something on her own she declares, “SELF!”

Ruthie is a climber and a jumper.  One day she slipped off of our high kitchen stool and hit her head pretty badly.  Steve and I were very worried because she didn’t cry the way she typically would have if she had hurt herself that badly.  She then vomited and we knew we needed to take her in to be checked over.  She did get a mild concussion and tries to be much more careful, but still has to be reminded!

Ruthie has the most adorable gallop.  She puts her little hands up in the air out in front of her and gallops all over with her little curls bouncing.

While Emma has been struggling to fully potty train, Ruthie decided to show Emma how easy it is.  She just decided to start using the potty on her own. 

Ruthie will climb up in to our bed and say, “Nuggle Mommy.”  Mommy loves that!

Ruthie has no fear.  When we got in to the pool at Dt and Opa’s, Ruthie just jumped in, went down about 3 feet, came back to the surface and started kicking and paddling!  She can’t pull her head out of the water to take a breath, but she swims until she is lifted up for air!  She even goes off of the diving board!!

A familiar summer sound is the ice cream truck.  If we are outside, Ruthie will stop, put her hand to her ear and say, “Oh, hear it!  I peem truck!”

Ruthie loves to sing Ha birday and when she is really happy she says, “Rutie cited!”

Little Vivian is a constant joy.  She has a wonderful, calm temperament.  She is often smiling.  She self-entertains quite well and has begun turning circles on her belly.  She is going through the put everything in your mouth phase.  She has begun to roll over on to her back and is almost able to roll from her back to her tummy.  Vivian adores her sisters and doesn’t laugh at anything has hard as she laughs at Emma and Ruthie.  Thankfully she is a very good sleeper.  When we go in to get her in the morning, we are always greeted with the biggest smile.  Vivian is a great eater.  She started eating solid foods in June and really enjoys it!  She is really rounding out nicely!!  Vivian doesn’t like to feel left out, so if she is in one room and she hears commotion in another room, she will cry until she is picked up and carried to the action! 

We feel blessed beyond description to have these three beautiful, sweet girls.  Every day we thank God for them and for the ways in which we are called to grow and love because of them.  Life makes complete sense when you experience the love of your own children and you share that love with your spouse.