Mother's Day, First Hair Cut, and More!

We (mostly Jason) have been working hard to clear out the massive amounts of plant growth in our backyard. We know there's a lot more work ahead of us! Our pool is warm and ready for swimming. Jason took the inaugural swim yesterday, but because he did it sans swimsuit there are no photos! Feel free to come over for a swim!

We can actually see the fence! You wouldn't believe the amount of stuff Jason cut down and pulled out. Ridiculous!
For Mother's Day Jason made me a wind chime! It's made completely out of bike parts we had in the garage. He used new tools from his dad (he's constantly talking about all his new tools- you probably already know all about it) to cut out Rya's hand and footprints. I love it! What a creative present!
I have been saying for months that Rya needs a haircut, but for some reason I have been hesitant. I finally had to cut it this morning because the poor child couldn't see when she was swinging at the park with her bangs in her face. On the recommendation of Uncle Justin's hair stylist (super cool guy I met at Justin and Adrianne's wedding), I am not touching the rest of her hair until she is much older. Rya hates to hold still, so I knew this would be a challenge. Jason did his best to hold her, but she screamed and squirmed the whole time. Here's the before picture:

After:

She got over the haircut pretty quickly and seemed happier at the park today when she could actually see while swinging.

Books!

The time has finally come when Rya will sit through an entire book! We've tried to read to her since she was born, but it usually didn't last for more than a few pages. She's always been interested in books- carrying them around and looking through them herself, but not actually sitting and listening to them. Recently she has allowed us to read to her sometimes during the day and always at night. Like a lot of kids, she chooses one toy/book and tends to fixate on it for awhile before moving on to another. This week her favorite book is:

This book was given to me by my mom in 1990 and is signed by the author. It's a cute story about a girl who wants to be a dancer just like her big sister, but she's too little for dance class. By the end of the book she is finally old enough to attend a class. Soon enough Rya will be able to attend a dance class... or soccer, gymnastics, piano lessons, etc. We can't believe she's growing up so fast!

Jason had this book and added it to Rya's collection:

I had never read this book, but fell instantly in love with it the first time I read it to Rya about a year ago. She couldn't sit through the whole thing then, but she does now. If you haven't read this book and you happen to see it in a bookstore, take five minutes and read it. Elizabeth is a princess and wants to marry a prince, but a dragon attacks her castle and takes the prince hostage. Because all of her clothes have been burned by the dragon, Elizabeth wears a paper bag on her quest to rescue her prince. She outsmarts the dragon and goes into the cave to rescue her future husband. He basically tells her she doesn't look like a princess anymore and she should come back when she does. In that moment, Elizabeth realizes her prince is really not someone she wants to be with. It's a cute story with a good message- one I hope Rya remembers. I'm sure I'll read this book to her before every date she has... FAR in the future of course.

Rya has a ton of books and we can't wait to read them all together! Today is Mother's Day and I was given a super cool, homemade gift. Pictures in a future post!