Happy Birthday Lucy!

My big girl turned two yesterday. We celebrated with Domino's deep dish (Lucy's favorite) and finished it off with a double decker chocolate fudge cake!
Counting the candles. Yep, there are two!

What I assumed was she was getting ready to lick the icing off the candle. Boy, was I wrong. In a nanosecond, Lucy managed to eat half of it before I could take it out of her hand. Lesson for the day: If it's inedible, but covered in chocolate, a child will still eat it. So, take it away before they get the chance.

We love you Lucy, and we have loved every moment we've gotten to spend being your parents. Thank you for blessing us and enriching our lives.

The Fort

We finally got to see Amy, Adam, and the babies. They were so sweet and cute and cuddly! They spent the first half of our visit like this, just sleeping. Don't you love the newborn stage?

I know Amy posted this already, but it is too funny to not mention again. After lunch down at the Fort, the boys headed over the Rusty's (I think), to have a drink and shoot some pool. Amy, the kids (all four), and I explored downtown the best we could with two double strollers and many closed walkways due to construction. At one point we headed over the Rusty's to hang out. The first thing the flash through my mind was the line from Sweet Home Alabama, "You have a baby... in a bar?" Actually, we had four babies in that bar, but in our defense, it is a restaurant as well, and as we walked in the back entrance (the stroller wouldn't fit through the front) a child Lucy's age greeted us. And upon further inspection, there were other children seated up front eating with their families. See, we aren't the only crazy ones. So, in order to commemorate the girls' first bar experience (with their father, no less), I thought a photo op beneath the Coors Light sign would do the trick! Perfection!

Me and my bestest buddy.

Zoe LOVED hanging with her new bestest buddies.

Lucy, not so much.

Thanks for the hospitality you two, err four. We had such a great time and can't wait to do it again. Love you all!

Downtown

The girls and I celebrated Emily's birthday downtown on the square. After lunch we went and played by the fountains.

Lucy is getting so big.

Uh, girls, what are you looking at?

Birthday

Papa's birthday was earlier this month. He turned 21... again. Although it appears the cake says he's five.

The cousins eating cake and ice cream. Notice that my child is the only one who didn't take the time to smile for the camera. She's really into her dessert. The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.

Airplane! Weeeeeee!

Only 11 1/2 months, 3 inches, and a 1/2 pound separate these two.

Papa and Kalani S. Dad and Zoe. Zoe looks like she could snack on her much smaller cousin. He is catching up on her though. Zoe's growth is really slowing down and Kalani is getting so big. They'll be the same size before too long.

Side story: My two sisters and I were goofing off, taking silly self portraits. The pictures were not the best (which is why they aren't here), so we kept taking more and more. We were laughing, having a grand old time, and our husbands were not amused (because they were trying to watch ESPN). At one point during the "photo shoot", Charles said, "Hey, Lucy wrote you guys a note." Ha Ha, very funny.

Playdate!

Many, many weeks ago Beth and Addie hosted a playgroup in their dance club/basement. Zoe had a grand time laying next to Gael on the floor, staring at him. Seriously, who wouldn't love staring at the boy. He's gorgeous!

Lucy loved playing dress up and especially loved the dance party that followed the runway fashion show. Those high end fashion models really do live the life, don't they?

Strike a pose girls!

Rowan was my bestest buddy that day. We had a great time taking self-portraits with Beth's camera. I wonder if she found the pictures yet...

Speaking of pictures, Tatum was my photographer that afternoon and took great pictures, hence the lack of Tatum in the pictures. Thanks Tatum!

Disco queen Tessa. I promised her I would post this picture. She is so funny.

Hugs All Around!

Our little girl is four months old! She laughs all the time, loves her sister, and is still sleeping through the night. She's recently discovered her toes, sucks her thumb, and she can take her binky out and put it back in her mouth all by herself. She hates tummy time and has shown no interest in rolling... until Wednesday evening. She managed to give me a mild heart attack by rolling off the ottoman onto the floor... face first. She's fine now, but she taught me that from here on out, she can't be trusted. And for the sake of my heart and the new white hairs on my head, we're done mastering milestones for a while.

Her four month stats put her in the 99% for weight and height at 19 # and 26.5 inches. Even still, I think she's looking quite slim these days.



We've had a couple playdates with college friends and their children and this time I brought my camera! We spent Thursday with Sue and Kalani, MiJean and Gael, Amy and Eli, Beth and Addie, AND Carrie and Kayden. We had so much fun and it was so good to see Carrie again and meet her little one. The highlight of the day (and week) for me was ordering takeout from the Pita Pit. It was my first time and it was so good. So good. I could not stop talking about it or thinking about it. Just ask Sue. It was ridiculous.

Beth and Kalani.

Zoe with her new friends Kayden and Carrie.


What is wrong in this picture?

Lucy found this toy car. You know, the kind that you put Barbie dolls in. I didn't have the heart to tell her that one: she's not a Barbie, and therefore wouldn't fit into the car, and two: she's facing the wrong way to be driving.

Eli loving up Lucy. Even though there is a 363 day difference between the two of them, they play really well together.

Me and my little girl. Sue snapped these pictures for me. Zoe looks a bit like a deer caught in the headlights. Poor girl was blinded by the bazillion flashes my camera needs to take one picture.


Our long lost friends Lacy and Ethan visited us this week. We haven't seen them in months. It was pretty apparent the kids missed each other. And even though there is no photographic proof, I also showered Lacy in hugs and kisses. It was good to see them again.

The moms spent the afternoon doing what we do best, eating and drinking coffee, and the kids spent the afternoon doing what they do best, running from room to room, getting into everything they should stay out of. In all the chaos they did manage to give me a couple photo ops.

Ethan, as usual, had a lot of love to give. This is the first time that Lucy did not spurn his attempts at cuddling. Her MO is normally to push him away. I suppose absence does make the heart grow fonder, or at the very least allows you not to get violent when that particular someone tries to smother you in hugs and kisses.

This was Lucy just minutes after the visit ended. All that running wore her out. I was grateful that she did take a nap, albeit a twenty minute one.

It is a good thing that the love between siblings in reciprocated in this house. Otherwise, we'd have very sad children. Zoe loves Lucy. She loves talking to her and listening to her and watching her. Lucy on the other hand LOVES her sister. Any time she can, anywhere they both happen to be Lucy will hug and kiss on Zoe. It's gotten to the point that you can't leave them alone in a room together because you'll walk in to find Lucy laying over Zoe, loving her with all her might. I liken her hugs and kisses for Zoe to sugar for a diabetic: incredibly sweet, yet potentially deadly, and at the very least could knock you unconscious.

And lastly, Dad and his little one before bed. It's amazing how much smaller she looks next to her father. I have a feeling that Zoe will be the taller of my two kids, and Lucy will be a shrimp like me. You never know though...

Ketchup

The last couple of weeks have been pretty uneventful, unless you count the summer cold that both children were lucky enough to catch as well as the recent development of serious tantrums (from Lucy, not Charles). Man, if I thought your ears wouldn't bleed, I would post video of Lucy's last half hour scream-fest complete with self-induced vomiting and leg kicking. In case you were wondering, she was not too thrilled when I whipped out the camera. I figure that thirty second clip will come in handy the day she decides to bring her first boyfriend home.

Late last week Sue and I planned a Mom's and Grandma/Great Grandma's Day Out. Our Grandma has lived here for over twenty years and had not been to either the Temple or the Truman House. We started off at the Temple and took a tour. We had a delightfully entertaining septuagenarian tour guide named Elenor that repeatedly called Lucy "lover". Hysterical.

We had quite a parking and timing fiasco before our tour of the Truman house (hence the lack of pictures). I was a bit stressed and TO'ed but Sue handled the situation very authoritatively. She managed to finagle us a tour in between two other scheduled tours with an off-duty guide. Impressive.

I didn't realize that Zoe would be such a huge fan of the Temple.

A random bathtub picture to show everyone that Zoe has slimmed down. I think it's because she's gotten quite tall. No matter though. She's still meaty; just how we like em'.

Last Saturday Zoe and I went to Sarah and Scott's for their baby shower. Addie and Zoe got a chance to hang out. Checking each other out...

A kiss...

And a hug!

Lucy modeling her new dress. Thank you April and Alisha! Charles and I decided that instead of taking away Lucy's binky, we're going to wean her. That means only during bedtime, nap time, and (for my sanity) tantrum time. She does well enough, but we've come to the realization that if she doesn't have her pacifier she's going to use her thumb. Both drive me absolutely crazy. For now I think the pacifier might just be the lesser of the two evils. I don't know. Talk to me when that orthodontic bill comes.

Zoe enjoys watching Playhouse Disney from the comfort of her exersaucer. She gets really into it. I don't know whether I should rejoice or be concerned. For the time being, I'm just grateful for the distraction. It can be difficult to get much done with two under two.

Every night we try to get our fitness on. While a leisurely walk may not seem like the best workout, it sure kicks my butt, and hams, and calves. It may be the temps in the triple digits, the crazy hills in our neighborhood, or the weight of both kids and stroller. Just maybe.

When Lucy isn't in the midst of a tantrum, she is lovely. I adore her, and I love hanging out with her. She is entertaining. She is funny. She is sweet. She can be absolutely captivating. Hey, I'm supposed to feel this way, I'm her Mom.

Lucy likes to live on the wild side. She must be high from the fumes those things emit.

They look sweet, don't they? Don't let them fool you. They're so over taking their afternoon nap at the same time. In fact, Lucy is over naps entirely. This happened Monday, and she hasn't given Mommy any "Sanity-Gathering Time" since.

Chatty Baby

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Giggly Baby

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