Water day!

There's a great little water park where the old pool used to be in Owasso, and we took Ziva there one day while Vince's mom was here. She wasn't too sure about the water, but she really liked watching the bigger kids playing.

Vince took her underneath the big buckets that dump out once they fill up. It was COLD!

After the bucket :)

Two GREAT years!

Today is our 2nd anniversary! These last two years have been so great, and they have flown! I've been reflecting today on our life together, and we have certainly had some major adventures. I don't think either one of us could have imagined two years ago that we would be where we are today (mainly: in Oklahoma, with a 14 month old daughter!), but it has been an amazing journey so far. I can only dream of what else God has in store for us after all that He's done in, through, and for us in just two years!

Happy anniversary, Vince....I love you more every day!

Dance party, Ziva style

I grabbed the camera too late, so we missed most of the dancing, but you can still get the idea. :)

ah, summer!

Lovin' summer! Today's highlights:

• discovering that the inside of the dryer makes a great drum, and echoes if you yell into it
• whisking lots of imaginary food in a big bowl
• putting puzzle pieces into the big bowl, then taking them out....over and over (which is very exciting becase until very recently, putting things back was not a skill Ziva had mastered...she only took them out, creating fun, but large, messes)

As a side note, our daughter is a giant! We went to the doctor this week for an ear infection, and they went ahead and did Ziva's 15 month check up, even though she's just 14 months. She weighs 23 pounds, which is pretty average, but she's 33 inches long, which is above the 95th percentile for 15 month-old kids! I did the math and realized she's already taller than half my height, and she's getting close to half of Vince's height! If the old wive's tale I heard from an old wife (really!) at Walmart holds true, that a person's full height will be double their height at age 2, then Ziva will definitely be one tall lady!

School's out!

Yesterday I officially finished my sixth year of teaching! I've passed the burn-out stage by a year already, and I still love it....but I'm so glad we're done! :) Hopefully the slower pace of summer will find me doing much better about blogging.

Lots of new things are happening in Ziva's life. She's growing so fast! The latest addition to her vocabulary is "shoe", and she constantly takes her shoes and puts them on top of her feet if she's not wearing any. She also puts shorts on her waist and shirts on her head...she just can't put them on herself yet. And, we think she has the makings of a true girly-girl. Stephanie makes jewelry and gave Ziva a tiny little necklace for Easter, and whenever Ziva sees it in easy reach, she takes it and holds it up to her neck for us to put it on. If she can't find that one, she likes to wear mine!

Another new found interest is the trash can. She loves to put things in and take them back out (yuck!) Every once in a while she actually puts paper in the trash can, but the rest of the time it's her cup or the magnet letters from the fridge....who knows how many of those we've thrown out without realizing it! In this picture I think she's pulling out a dryer sheet she just deposited. I usually end up moving the trash can to the top of the bar until she goes to bed.

Here she's playing with the box from my Mother's Day flowers. You can see that instead of a security blanket, Ziva has opted for the security belly button. Lately she has to have a hand on her belly button at all times. It's a good thing she's almost outgrown most of the onesies we have left, because if I put one on her, she pulls at it until she gets the snaps undone....she just has to have that belly button!

Here's the bathing suit Tia Daneli got for her. They had two water days this week to celebrate the end of school (which I didn't get any pictures of :( ) We hear it was a lot of fun. Isn't she cute?

Ziva is really into dancing lately, too....she twirls and stomps and waves her arms. It is too cute. And she likes to take us by the hand and lead us around the house. Her ultimate goal is almost always to get us to take her outside....by far her favorite place to be. Maybe I'll actually get a little color this summer!

We are excited about the summer...Mary is coming in a couple more weeks (yea Grandma!), and then we'll head to Chicago in July for some Ramirez family fun! In the meantime, we have a couple of pretty major summer goals for Ziva: transition from two naps to one, learn to use silverware proficiently, and practice sleeping somewhere other than her own crib, in preparation for naps on a mat in the fall, and sleeping who knows where in Chicago! Should be fun. We'll keep you posted!

I've got friends in low places...

Okay, high places! Yes, that is our daughter in the arms of Garth Brooks! Last week Rejoice school had a big fundraiser and Garth went to the elementary campus to help support, sign autographs, etc. And since everyone there just loves they babies, I guess they got special treatment and got to have their own special time to meet him and Trisha Yearwood and have their pictures taken with him. I wasn't there for any of this, but Stephanie got some good pictures! Thanks Steph!!

Looks like she's about to kiss him, huh? :)

Telling Garth a story. We hear she did NOT want him to put her down!

Garth and Trisha signing autographs

Ziva's class picture with Garth and Trisha

Sick day

Ziva had to come home today because she had a rash, so we went to the doctor, got some antibiotics, and spent the day at home. When we got back from the doctor, she wanted to play with the keys, and then she kept trying to unlock the door....pretty smart cookie!

After that, she continued playing with the keys, this time putting them in and out of the laundry basket over and over. I'm glad she has so much fun with funny little things like that!

Tomorrow we're home again...looking forward to more fun playtime!