Time FLIES when you are having fun!

Well, it is official, as though there were ever a doubt, that AJ loves airplanes. Adam, AJ, and my sister were able to go up in the air last weekend on a small plane at the Alexandria airport. AJ was so excited, and I am so happy for him that he was able to experience such an exciting event. Adam enjoyed himself as well, and as a former pilot himself, I am sure he would have enjoyed the flight that much more if he were able to be behind the controls. Maybe one day :)

AJ and Abby have continued to get to know one another and are starting to truly enjoy each other. AJ does whatever he can to make her smile and "Make her happy" or "Make her smile" and he informs me. I have been so blessed that he is such a loving and affectionate child, and I definitely take advantage of it!

I haven't been able to get too many pictures of Abby showing her really big smiles because I feel guilty putting a flash in her face when she is bonding and making such good eye contact, and usually it ends up that I can't get the picture to come out good anyway, but I am sure I will have these memories of a lifetime. I just love seeing her smile and gaze into my eyes. I still think in some ways she looks like her brother did at that age, but I also think she continues to take on her own look more every day. Abby is doing very well developmentally. She is able to lift her chest off the floor some during tummy time, is socially smiling often, and continues to be a very happy/ content baby. She does hate her carseat and being out of my arms, but otherwise never cries. I can't seem to get her to take a bottle at all, which is a little concerning, but I am sure that with enough time and practice we will get it. She is really starting to coo, and can make several vowel sounds.

Here is big brother leaning in to give a kiss. I love how gentle he is with her!

We continue to have fun on playdates and outings, making sure to do something fun every day. Here are a few pictures from recent playdates.

This last week I ventured out to the zoo with both children without another adult. It went exceptionally well, and I am sure we will be doing it again regularly!

AJ had fun here "playing" with the prarie dog.

AJ LOVES water in any shape and form (literally, he does like ice cubes and to point out when he sees steam :)). Here was a waterfall that we stopped to look at for several minutes.

The most exciting thing about our trip to the zoo this time was watching the farmer milk the cows. We talk about this MANY times within a day!

AJ remembers some of the names of the cows from the zoo, and will bring up specific "friends" when we talk about the zoo.

AJ LOVES the sea otters!

Abby was carried in my carrier most of the time. I think she enjoyed being held for so long!

AJ loves to play in his little car on the driveway and the sidewalk. We are so fortunate because there is a nice big bike path right in front of our house, so he has a nice level surface to play on. He gets so excited when I spray water with the hose down the driveway. We watch the "waterfall" then he plays in the puddles.

My dad and sister are in New York right now visiting my family. They dropped off their dog, Jellybean, while there since she has diabetes and needs shots daily. While stopping in for a few minutes, my dad made sure to snuggle with both of his grandkids.

I loved this!

Have a wonderful day!

Big Smiles!

The past few days we have all been blessed to see Abby start to do the big, open-mouth, gummy smiles. Her eyes get all lit up and sometimes she makes a chuckling sound. It is so much fun, and AJ and I play it as a game to see if we can make her smile. He gets so excited and repeatedly will say "AJ make her happy!" She only does this if she is wide awake, full, and dry, but she almost always smiles under those circumstances :) She is also starting to coo, and makes happy sounds when she nurses. I tried the bottle today with some of my milk, but no luck :( I remember it taking a few weeks with AJ, so I wasn't too upset, but if anybody has a suggestion on how to help this process along, I would love your advice!

At Abby's one month appointment she weighed in at 10 lb 1.5 oz, and the nurse measured her at 23 1/2 inches (but I think she is not quite that long, she was just a little wiggly). She is really starting to fill out and is looking like such a beautiful baby. AJ sometimes greats her as "Hey beautiful," or "Hi pretty Abby". It is so cute! (This doesn't affect his self-esteem as he refers to himself as handsome :))...

Not enough time or energy to post more, but we are heading to my parent's house tomorrow for the weekend, so I am sure we will have more pictures by Monday :) Adam and I are hoping to go on our first date in a few months if I can just figure out how to help Abby take a bottle so we can be gone longer than 45 minutes.

Let the playdates begin!

I think life is officially going full swing and we are in what will be our "routine" through the next four months (I was approved to take off the first quarter of the school year next year, so my first day back is in November). We had such a fun and exciting week, it was just wonderful. I cannot express enough how blessed I feel to have such wonderful friends and family. It was nice getting out of the house this week, and although sometimes the car rides got a little long with one (or two) crying children, both kids seemed to have a nice time wherever we went (Abby didn't necessarily express how happy she was, but she was held lots and I had fun getting her all prettied up).

Abby is now nursing every 1-2 hours, so a little bit longer of a stretch than before. She is holding her head up so well, smiles more consistently, and is starting to coo :) When laying on her tummy, Abby is able to lift her head up and then flip it to the other direction, and she is tracking an object from side to side when laying on her bed. She is still such a happy and content little baby, we are so blessed! She will cry if she wants to be held, but the second she is picked up she stops crying (unless she wants to nurse, then as soon as she nurses she stops).

AJ had so much fun playing with friends this week. During his bedtime routine every night we "talk" about his day and the next day's schedule. He enjoyed every one of his friends, and was very happy to be out and about more. We saw lots of smiles, and get this, not even one time out was needed the whole week!!!

I tried to get a sweet and cuddly picture of Abby after bath time, so I put on this cute little hooded robe, but this pretty much summed up how bathtime goes :)

Last night Adam and I took the kids to the local elementary school and he flew his airplane and helicopter. AJ loves to watch Adam fly, but last night was extra special because he also got to see two hot air balloons, a helicopter, and an airplane. He loved playing on the playground equipment, until he fell pretty far. He is such a tough kid though, because after about a minute he was ready to go on the swings.

I need your votes! I took these pictures before church yesterday and think I want to use one for our birth announcements. Email me or write a note if you have an opinion on which of the two pictures to use :) AJ LOVES to hold his little sister, and she truly smiles the most for him.

Choice A:

Choice B:

AJ had so much fun playing with his friends Marisa and Mallory. The next few pictures are from a barbeque Mike, Jodi, and Marisa hosted. We were lucky to have our friend Joanna and her
daughter Mallory there too!

AJ loved throwing water balloons! He kept asking Adam to blow up "one more" :)

Here is Joanna and Mallory with Abby. Mal loved holding Abby, and did a very nice job being gentle and careful with her :)

I was a little worried Jodi wasn't going to give me back Abby, but she did when we left, so all was good :)

The kids LOVED playing in the pool and sand box. My little stinker jumped into the pool right after I changed him into his dry clothes. Good thing I had a second set of clean clothes for him!

Adam and I took the kids to the zoo on Saturday. AJ had a BLAST!
Here is AJ and Adam at the water park at the zoo. This is AJ's favorite exhibit at the zoo.

AJ LOVED to watch the geyser at the bear exhibit. He kept calling it a waterfall, and was screaming in glee whenever it went off. He kept shouting "OH, SO PRETTY!!!"

I caught this sweet gaze as AJ and I walked over to Adam and Abby after playing at the playground.

Abby spent most of her time sleeping in the stroller while at the zoo. She loved the breeze!

Thought this was a pretty picture Adam took.
We went and visited our friend Kim and her sons Simon and Levi. Both of our sets of kids are within a few weeks of one another. Kim and I worked together at PIE and taught together for a year at Sweeney, but we haven't seen each other in about a year. It was so nice to see them!

Abby loves to get all snuggled in the blankets!

AJ used to hate lotion, but whenever I put it on Abby he wants to "do it myself". The cutey lathered it all over his face! My friends Loretta and Tammi came to visit us this week. AJ loved playing with Loretta! She taught him how to play peek-a-boo. He kept asking for her all night and the next day too! It was so nice to visit with these ladies, I have missed them this past month (We work together so I am used to seeing them daily).

Tammi has a way with babies :) She makes a mean chicken dinner too! (Thanks Tammi!)

The kids and I went to meet Adam at the park by his work one day for lunch. AJ found the cookies, and ended up eating the cookie before he ate anything else (which, surprisingly enough, wasn't a whole lot :)).

I didn't get a chance to take pictures at our "sweeney playdate", so if anybody has a picture to share, I would love one! It is so nice getting together with co-workers who have all become such good friends with their little ones. All of our kids are two and under. The poor principal at our school is wonderful about it, but he has needed to hire many long-term subs to help us all out :)

Celebrating the 4th

This had to be the best fourth of July I have ever had. We spent the weekend at my parents house in Alexandria, which for those of you who have never been to, is just beautiful. We brought the boat with us, and Adam was able to find a few opportunities to go fishing while I enjoyed having some helping hands from my parents and sister with some pretty happy children. The weekend as a whole was wonderful, but the fourth of July was similar to the fireworks show AJ saw with my family - it just kept getting more and more wonderful and exciting.

We spent the morning at a festival in Starbuck. AJ had fun doing many of the games and activities they had set up for children to do. We did miss the parade, but with the heat and sun, that was probably a good thing. I didn't get pictures of one activity, but one of AJ's most favorite events was the big blow-up slide that you climb up and go down. He was afraid of going up alone, so I ended up doing it with him a few times. I was beat, but it was actually fun!

Abby spent most of the time at the festival in her stroller. She was nice and cool in the shade of the stroller - I think I see a little smile on her!
After AJ's nap we went to the airport. My parents had bought a half hour flight at a fundraising event. I didn't tell AJ that he could go up in the airplane until after he woke up from his nap, and he was soooo excited when we got there. It was a complete bummer when we found out that there was an error with the person who scheduled us, and the pilot didn't know about our time, and we weren't able to go flying. I asked if the guy at the desk could let AJ touch the airplane, and he did let him go sit in the airplane and touch some of the controller buttons. AJ was a wonderful sport, and he kept saying "No fly airplane - airplane stay on ground". He was visibly disappointed, but handled it really well, and i know he did enjoy seeing all the airplanes. We were told that when we do go flying in a few weeks, they will actually let us go up for closer to an hour. I can't wait to see AJ go in the air! He LOVES airplanes - just like his daddy!

At the festival AJ got not one, not two, but three ice creams! The first one did fall on the ground, so he only ate two. He enjoyed every lick!

Both of these ladies are smiling! The black cord around my mom's neck is for the camera. Betweenthe two of us we looked like the paparazzi around AJ and Abby!

AJ got his first "tattoo". He was a little upset when he realized it wouldn't come off and kept trying to pull at his arm on the truck ride home. He enjoyed it once he realized it wasn't coming off, and today when Abby was crying, and he was trying to cheer her up by saying "It's okay Abby" - I told him to say something funny, and AJ kept saying "see, Elmo Abby. Tattoo". It was really sweet and cute.

I think this is considered cheating :)

The duck pond was, as always, a hit!

Here is AJ riding on the train :) He was so excited, until he realized that no adults were going with him. My hip was still hurting me, so my mom ran a few blocks with the train to help him stay smiling the whole time!

That is one satisfied customer!

Abby enjoyed being held almost the whole weekend. Here is my dad admiring her :)

Here are my two handsome men sharing a piece of chocolate over my daughter :) We had fun making smores that night with a bonfire pit on my parents deck, and this was one of the pieces of chocolate for the smores. AJ didn't like to eat the marshmallows, but we all laughed so hard for about twenty minutes when my dad and I started throwing marshmallows at one another. When I ripped one in half and gave it to AJ to throw at my dad, it kept sticking to his finger. I think it is one of those situations where "you had to be there" to see how funny it was, but trust me, it was a good laugh!

I didn't get any pictures of the fireworks, but my parents and sister took AJ out to a look-out point to see the fireworks. AJ LOVED the fireworks, and he talked about them for about two hours of our two and a half hour drive home. He kept asking for more fireworks, and didn't really understand that there are not fireworks shows every night of the week. On our drive he kept saying "Fireworks...Asheyy...Gandpa....Gandma....pretty....truck...." etc. He was just listing everything that he did and who he did it with.

Twice this weekend we spent time at a small beach by my parents home. AJ had SO much fun here and kept asking to come back once we left. He had fun playing in the sand, getting wet in the water, and most importantly "fishing" with his little fishing pole that has a toy fish tied to the end of it (this happened the time Adam and my mom took him fishing because he kept throwing the fish in the water. My mom put two and two together that he thought that the fish was like the lure Adam was using, so they tied it to the pole). If you go "fishing" with AJ, stay at least ten feet away, because I can almost gaurentee you that he will wack you either with the pole or the fish tied to the end of it :)).

It just melted my heart to see how happy AJ was this past week. I really feel like in general things are back to normal as far as him feeling secure in our family and his place in our hearts, and now we have the wonderful bonus of a beautiful and healthy little girl who already is deeply loved. AJ has had no timeouts since my last posting, and today was a flawless day. We played outside for two hours, and he was back to playing more independently and wasn't trying to climb up on my lap when I nursed Abby in the backyard.

Abby is making great progress developmentally this past week. When laying on her tummy yesterday and today she has been able to lift her head and look to the other direction. She is tracking objects all the way from one side to the other, and is able to hold her head up for a while (as in a few seconds). She is making great eye contact and is smiling more and more. She is nursing less often this week, which has been nice. She nurses about every two hours, so I am feeling much better rested and am able to better balance my time with AJ.