Spring has Sprung!

Spring is definitely here, and we are loving it! The girls are growing like weeds, loving each other more every day and surprising us constantly with their new developments. June is crawling like a speed demon and just started pulling up on things and inching across and around the edges of the couch at an alarmingly fast pace.  Yesterday out of nowhere she said "uh-oh" and then continued to say it all day long, with spurts of giggles in between choruses of "uh-oh...hi...uh-oh..hi".  Vera is very into her sister, her guinea pigs, her dog and her toys.  She has recently become really interested in the idea of weddings and insists she's going to marry Grandpa Tom.  There's no point trying to talk her out of it.  She is extremely passionate these days.  She's also very into tea parties, and ballet and hula dancing. 

Mike and I are running around like crazy, busy with school and work and tax season, and still managing to make time for ample amounts of silly play with these two little hooligans.  Hard to believe its almost been a year since Junie joined us- her birthday is coming up on April 30th.  This morning on the way to school I heard giggling in the backseat and looked back to see them holding hands across their carseats and laughing hysterically at their own ridiculousness. 

We are so grateful for each day.  Happy Spring!

Vera Brushing Her Teeth With Her Wedding Veil and Bouquet

June playing on the backporch while we unload groceries-

Vera gave her the toys

 "so she be happy while we work" 

Yum- yogurt!

Tea party with Dinner

Yes??

Busy Little Bees

Family of Four

We are settling in more and more everyday. I'm relieved to report that we are beginning to feel much more like a family of four and less like a bunch of crazies with a sweet new baby.  It has been such a once in a lifetime kind of summer, with visits and help from an array of awesome family members-we've had plenty of excitement and celebration and ruckus and are having to remind ourselves to balance it out with some peace and quiet too.  Vera was sad to say goodbye to "Aunt Yoey" (Zoe) yesterday, but is excited to ride in the big airplane to Mexico next week and then see Grandma Mary when we come home.  I guess we'll put peace and quiet on the to do list for September.  :)  

These are my favorite pictures from the last little while.  

 I walked into the other room after Vera's bath the other night and came back to find her naked in our front yard.

 Mike walked in on Vera reading the paper while eating the other morning. Not saying a word...just perusing the ads for shoes.

Typical Early..I mean way early... Morning

Vera taking care of both her babies

The Junester

Love to all-
Jesse 

It has been eight weeks since Baby June Eliza arrived on the Figuera scene on April 30th.  She is such a sweet, and patient baby, a joy and a dear and we love her so.  Vera is already a stellar big sister and I am really, truly impressed with her. It has been amazing to watch her process this change and to see her show real affection to her new little sister, even as she clearly understands that June's arrival has changed our little family forever.  It's hard to believe its only been eight short weeks.  It seems like Junie's been with us forever. 
Feeling unbelievably lucky and grateful and hoping everyone is enjoying their summer as much as we are. 
Love to all,
Jesse

That's How She Rolls

   Vera this AM on the way to school.

Yum!

There has been a whole lot of cooking going on lately. Vera always has an eye on the kitchen, and whenever either Mike or I start to whip something up, she is front and center wanting to help. She asks for her stool, and her apron and pretty soon she's in it up to her elbows...literally. (Don't worry future dinner guests, we always wash hands first!!:)) Yesterday Mike helped her learn to crack eggs gently, and she was pretty impressed- turns out she didn't know her own strength. And of course, the best part of cooking is...eating! Yum. Love to all, Jesse

Growing UP!

Somehow- Vera seems to have grown a year or two in the past month. She is talking nonstop, and so completely interested in the world around her. She has pretty much stopped walking, and now runs almost 100 percent of the time. Her energy is incredible, and at night, she literally collapses into bed (a big girl bed!) needing every second of sleep to recharge for the next day. She is really enjoying her classroom at school right now. At night we talk about our plans for the next day and she wakes up raring to go- chatting excitedly about the fun she's hoping to have. This week is the Week of the Young Child, and her school is celebrating with fun themed activities every day. Here are a couple of recent photos of her, including last night when she came home after "Wacky Weird Day" with purple and blue hair. She was thrilled! Monday was Upside Down Day and she went to school with Diaper on her head, two pigtails sticking out of the leg holes. She walked into her classroom and declared, "Look! I have a diaper on my head! I'm so silly!" She finds most everything hilarious right now, and its been wonderful to hear her opinions on stuff. She definitely has some strong opinions! We are loving our big girl so much and eagerly awaiting the arrival of our baby June (Could be any day now!). Hoping everyone is having as much fun this Spring as we are. Best wishes, Jesse

Florida, sweet Florida!

We had the most wonderful family vacation up and down the coast of Florida last week. It was both completely relaxing and surprisingly full. We drove down to Miami, via the Columbia Zoo, the Historic River District of Savannah, the manatees of Blue Springs Park, and Lori and Bob's house in Englewood, Florida. Vera saw the ocean for the first time ever and she was in awe. She tried her best to gather all the seashells on the shore and throw them back in, one by one. It was all we could do to keep her from running off into the surf. She loved it! We had two and a half days in Miami, where we hit the Miami zoo, caught the Superbowl with friends, and watched Vera delight in the sure joy of playing with her cousins for hours on end. Mike and I could not believe how hard she played, and how truly happy she was the entire trip. She is such a joyful child, but to see her run and jump and climb and laugh, laugh, laugh so hard- and just love her family (our family :)) so much- it was just plain awesome. We had planned to spend several days driving back up, but Vera was so completely exhausted that we ended up driving the whole way from Miami in one long day, stopping just twice to stretch our legs. Vera slept on and off, waking only to laugh and quiz us about where Grandma Mary, Uncle Bob, Aunt Lori, the ocean, or Mia and Isa were at that particular moment. Her world has grown, and so has she. I swear, she seemed like an older kid when we returned. It was tough to return to 20 degree temperatures, nasty wind and the whole daycare/work routine on Wednesday. When I dropped Vera off at daycare for the first time in a week, we washed hands, and went to settle in to play at the table, when she looked all around the room and then looked up at me and asked, "Mama, where's Grandma?" It was a truly incredible trip. Love and gratitude to all.