Letter to Leah - Happy 18 months!

My dearest Leah,

Today you turn 18 months old. I'm not sure why, but this somewhat random anniversary has been hard for me. I was thinking last night about writing you this letter and ended up crying myself to sleep. I have missed you so much over these past 18 months. I've missed every milestone you would have hit by now--nursing, smiling, eating homemade baby food, sitting up, crawling, walking, talking and everything in between. As much as I love of all our pictures of Taylor during her first 18 months, each one of them reminds of a picture we didn't get to take of you. I wonder what you would look like today, I wonder what your personality would be like, I wonder so many things.

We've had a fun weekend over this 4th of July holiday, and I've missed you every minute, just like I always do. We've been to Splash Adventure Waterpark twice, and Taylor has realized she likes riding the big slides. She gets so excited about it. I can't ride with her because I'm pregnant with your little brother, so I sit down at the bottom of the slide waiting on her and your daddy. I have a lot of time to think during that waiting, and I'm usually thinking about you. I think about how I wouldn't be waiting on them to get down the slide, but you and I would be playing over in the baby area. You and me would be sliding down the little slides together and you'd be laughing and loving it, just like Taylor did when she was your age.

Taylor would be such a good big sister to you. She loves you so much and misses you so much. She tells me all the time how much she misses you. She even gets to dream about you, and I'm a little jealous about that.

It's so funny to watch her and Andi together, but I can't help but think about how you should be right there with them. Andi loves Taylor so much and just screams and laughs whenever she sees her. I know you would be the same way, you would love your sister so much. You and Andi would be thick as thieves too! You three girls would have so much fun together.

My sweet girl, I miss you more than I can ever put into words. I know you've missed a lot of pain in this world, and I know you are loving your time in heaven with Jesus. As I told you when you died, there are a lot of people jealous of  you. But, it doesn't take away my pain of not getting to love you and experience you here on Earth. I can't wait for the day when Jesus comes back so we can all be together again. Until that day baby girl, I love you and miss you!

4th of July Weekend Fun!

We started our holiday weekend off on Thursday afternoon by taking Taylor to Splash Adventure. It was her third time to go this year, but her first time to go with Daddy! The new owners have opened up the dry rides again, and Taylor enjoys those just as much as the water park! 

Taylor's favorite ride is the Caterpillar ride. She could ride this over and over, Daddy could only go twice!

I rode this kiddie slide a couple of times and couldn't do it anymore. It goes fast enough to push you back, and I just don't have the ab muscles!

After riding the black slides with Aunt Hilary one time and not liking them, Daddy had a lot of convincing to do to get her to ride them. She decided to try it one time with him and ended up riding 5 times! She now loves the big, black slides! It's too hard to get a picture of that though!

On Friday we went to Aunt Karen's and had fun with family! Taylor swam for nearly 5 hours straight! This girl has become such a fish! She was swimming under water and jumping off the diving board. We've been meaning to sign her up for swim lessons this summer, and we finally did on Saturday after watching her on Friday.

Saturday was a fun and relaxing day! Adam had gotten Taylor a Slip N Slide, and we set it up in the backyard. Adam even got in on the fun!

Taylor got a little frustrated that she couldn't make it all the way to the end of the slide, so we set the water up on the slide and she had a blast. Before long, she asked for the slip n slide to be put below her slide and she went crazy! 

After church on Sunday, we took her back to Splash Adventure (we've had season passes for 3 years!). On our way home from the waterpark, Taylor asked if we could set up the slide again, and she spent almost another hour in our backyard. I can't believe how much this girl loves to play in the water! She spent 4 days in the water and would go back for more if Adam and I had her energy level! 

Diamond Doll Softball

We signed Taylor up for teeball this Spring. She seemed to LOVE it! We are debating on letting her play Fall Ball, but with a new baby (hopefully!), I'm not sure we'll have the time. 

She learned a lot and by the end of the "season", she was doing really well going after the ball and trying to get the other team out. She hit and ran well from the beginning. She could throw pretty well but never during the game. 

First practice

 1, 2, 3 Diamond Dolls

Second practice

 

The team!

Andi loved coming to watch Taylor play!

I love this picture!

Since I work with the coach, I got asked to be Team Mom, and of course I couldn't say no. The first week wasn't the best. I didn't know what I was doing and neither did the girls. All of the moms got to together during the first week and a couple of crafty moms came up with some buckets for each girl to keep their stuff in and a poster to help us remember the lineup. Everything ran very smoothly after that! 

As team mom, I was in charge of getting the crazy socks. The crazier, the better!! I found 5 (of 7) pairs at Academy and thought for sure another Academy would have 2 other pairs. No such luck! Then, I was on a mission to find socks for the first game. I ended up running across some at Target, but only 3 pair. I asked them to check other Targets and found 3 more pairs at the one beside our house and 1 more pair at the Target close to Adam's work. Finally, I (somewhat) succeeded at Team Mom! 

All of the dads ended up being like assistant coaches, helping the girls during practice and making sure they stayed in place during their outfield time. Like I mentioned, the first week was very chaotic, but it seemed to calm down a little after that. 

Overall, Taylor had a blast and can't wait to play again!