Linus

Yesterday morning the three of us went for a bike ride and we realized that we were not going to make it through the summer with Lydia's first bike. Here she is on her first bike and here are some pics of her with her knees above her handle bars.

So we took Lydia downtown Chicago and surprised her. During the drive she told us that she knew what her surprise was...burgers.

Here she is looking at the side of a bike store still thinking we were going downtown to get hamburgers.

And here is when she figured it out.

The bike shop was super cool. (Click on the gallery images to view larger sized versions.)

And here is the proud owner of a new pink Linus bicycle.

Which apparently goes well with purple gloves.

And a purple basket.

And a pig.

After our first ride we took a break and had ice cream sandwiches. Which are best eaten after a family ice cream cheers.

Which is a leading cause of silly faces.

Here are some other photos from the day, including a stop at Small Cheval on the way home - one of our favorite burger places.

31 Months

No, that is not how many months it has been since we have updated the blog.

31 months ago (Lydia was one!!), Lydia began wearing a patch on her stronger eye to strengthen her weaker eye in the hopes of preventing her from having a lazy eye. The doc’s original orders were for the patch to be on for an hour a day and for us to return and check up on things in a few months. A few months passed and there wasn’t much progress so we were told to go to two hours a day. A few months later we were at three hours a day. And then four. And then, finally, progress. Four hours a day turned to three and then to two and then to one.

This morning, Lydia wore her last patch.

We are thankful that we have a little girl that never complained about her eye patch and doesn’t complain about her glasses. I’m also thankful that Lydia has a Momma that takes good care of her and made sure that she wore her patch every single day.

She got a lot of weird looks. Most people thought there was something wrong with her eye that was patched, which is what I would have thought as well if I didn’t know what was going on. One time a guy in the grocery store looked at Lydia and asked her if she was a pirate. Lydia looked at him and said, “No, I’m a little girl.” And that was that.

So today we went to see the eye doc and he is optimistic (get it?!) that Lydia is finished with the patch. We will know more when we return in three months. But for now, tomorrow will be the first day Lydia hasn’t worn an eye patch in 31 months.

Here she is wearing her (hopefully) last patch. Thumbs up.

PRO27259.JPG

And here are some patch photos from over the last couple of years.

Our Girl is 4!

It’s been a very full and exciting day around here. Lydia woke up to balloons, decorations, and some presents. We picked up two of her friends and went out to breakfast and bowling, per Lydia’s birthday request. It was fun watching them push the ball down the lane. Haha! Grandma surprised Lydia with a short visit as well. In the evening on Mondays we host a college group bible study. All of the kids sang to Lydia and then we had cupcakes together. Her eyes lit up during her “Happy Birthday” song. She is a very joyful, loving little girl. It is not lost on us that God answered our prayer and desire to become parents four years ago. With a thankful heart we praise Him.