September in Nutshell

A few weeks ago, before illness swept the house, we were taking advantage of the sunshine on a daily basis. We are luckily still having nice weather and are dreading the rainy season. So here's a few fun backyard pics.  Lauren wanted mommy to take a picture of us (and not baby Adalynn)....so this time it was all about her!

 I love this one!

 Cheesy girl!

 Still has just one prominent dimple!

 This one cracked me up. Her best Papa Eddie face which matched her Perry shirt! 

 That's my girl!

 Love one....just being Lauren.

 Daddy enjoyed a little fort time with the girls. He finally finished the roof a few weeks back.  And poor daddy, all Lauren could say was "One board is cracked Dada." 

 Papa Jon came and visited one weekend. Meema was sick and was trying to not give us anything....if we only knew Lauren was going to bring us home something from school, it would have been different!  So here he is getting some granddaughter time in.

 We also had a surprise visit from mommy's Uncle David and Aunt Carol.  Aunt Carol had made Adalynn a quilt and picked out some super cute outfits for the girls.  But of course, before they left Lauren needed a picture on the motorcycle!  And asked many questions about all the buttons! I don't think I got one picture with all 3 of their eyes opened!

The last week has been a little laid back.  Lauren only missed one day of preschool due to illness, but the other days we are just trying to catch up from the illness!  But someone has a birthday around the corner with October starting tomorrow...so look for more posts including a pumpkin patch trip with the preschool and cute Halloween costumes we've been working on!

Adalynn's 4 month appt

Adalynn had her 4 month appointment about 2 weeks ago and everything the doctor said was positive!  She weighs 15lbs 13oz which is 90th percentile.  Her height is a whopping 2 inches taller than her sister at this age and places her in the 98th percentile.  And her little ol' head is 99th percentile!  Dr. Jiang asked if she was formula fed because this is not normal for nursing babies to rank so high!  She also said that if she's late in rolling over or other milestones to not be alarmed, that is sometimes the case with bigger babies.  But her sister never rolled and barely crawled, so I'm not concerned anyway!

We were told to make use of the exersaucer.  Dr. Jiang said it would be good for her rolly polly legs to help develop for standing.

 She sleeps with her mouth open and snores ocassionally.  Sister brought home a virus from school so she's slept with her mouth opened more often than not lately. She's a grunter too, not matter what the reason; reaching for something, concentrating. or other baby things!

 Tummy time is bareable with the boppy now!  But if you remove the boppy, she normally just lays there and smiles or nuzzles the carpet looking for groceries!  That is until she's had enough. 

 Sister making her "photo bomb" entrance!  Oh ya and she's drooling like crazy.  Dr. Jiang said yes, she's teething.  However this phase can last awhile until the first one breaks through, so it's a long and painful road right now.

 Fingers, teethers, toys and blankets all find there way to the mouth. She's reaching for things and will put in and pull out her pacifier. She even reached for Mommy the other day! Yay!

 I found the next photo a little sad....sister hung her binky in the toy spot.  It was as if she was reaching for it saying "I need you to help me fall asleep....awe screw it!" 

Sleep has been an issue with being sick, but I think we've turned that corner....that is until Lauren brings us another preschool bug from one of her 21 new friends!

First Day of Preschool!

Today was Lauren's first day of Preschool!  She was pretty excited.  Which was good because last night at 4:30 a.m. she woke up crying telling me she didn't want to go to preschool.  Which made mommy a nervous wreck trying to figure out how I could get her excited about going 4 hours later.  But luckily she woke up with a different attitude and we were ready to walk out the door before 8!

 I yawned yesterday and my eyes watered.  Lauren asked "Mommy are you sad I'm going to preschool."  I responded with "Absolutely!"  She said "Don't worry mama, I'll go to school and you and Adalynn can go to the store then pick me up later." 

 Ok, just one more picture from the deck....

 Showing off her pint sized back pack.  It's completely unnecessary but it makes it more "real" for Lauren.

 In front of her preschool.  It's held at Westwood Baptist Church in Olympia.  She has a class of no more than 25 and 3 wonderful teachers. 

 She got her name tag, hung up her coat and backpack and was ready to play!  Unfortunately you won't see any other students in her pictures, we've been asked to refrain from posting pics with other students on any social medias.  If you haven't noticed yet, Lauren has a black and blue spot on her bottom lip. The door know whacked her and of course it happened the day before her first day of preschool!

 This is Mrs. Forbes. She is the lead of the 3 teachers.  Super sweet, but I think they have to be to deal with 25 preschoolers!  We made them each a gift; a pint jar filled with cookies and a tag that reads "I'll be one smart cookie with you as my teacher!"  Daddy called it brown-nosing but it can't be because they don't get grades in preschool!!

I left after being there for about 5 minutes....I figured the sooner the better!  I turned to her and said "Mama and Baby Adalynn are gonna go but we'll be back when you're done to pick you up."  She kind of paused and said "Okayyyy."  Then Mrs. Nash came over to where she was playing and asked who wanted to paint and of course Lauren wasn't going to say no!  Great timing and distraction Mrs. Nash!

Preschool is from 8:50 to 11:30 a.m.  There were a handful of us mommies that just couldn't stay away, so we got there a little early and anxiously stood in the hallway for our kiddos.  We were soooo bad, going over to the window trying to not get caught, but checking in our little ones.  One mom said about her daughter "Awe, she's found a friend!"  I said, "Which one's yours?"  She said the red-head and I said "Oh mine is the one in the denim she's talking too!"  We were told that circle time went sooooo well for a first day and had a picture sent out (that I obviously can't share on here...bummer).  But of course Lauren was front and center!

 

On the way out, looking for mom with Mrs. Nash. 

This is my picture Lauren painted for me today.  It's beautiful and she was soooo excited to show me!  I'm still not sure what it is, but we were told not to ask either!  So I have to say "Tell me about your picture."  We are in the building self-esteem phase....they obviously don't know Lauren yet!

 We met Daddy for a celebratory lunch and then fell asleep on the way home.....both of them!

It kind of stinks that we have to wait 5 days until next Tuesday for class again!  I'm not sure she's going to make it!

Lauren: You've Got Mail!

Lauren received a letter yesterday.  She's always excited to get mail!  I think normally most people are until you get to the age when you get more bills than fun stuff. 

 Mommy was informed this would be coming to Lauren; it's her letter inviting her to her first day of Preschool!  I think I've only read it about 10 times today to her!  So she is excited and I just hope everything goes smoothly next Thursday on her first day, Sept. 13th.  Stay tuned for that update!

Adalynn's voice...and she uses it!

Adalynn's new thing is to get our attention if we aren't in the room.  She kind of hollers and cries all in one.  So if you can't be seen that is what you'll hear.  But lately she's almost been talking to her rattle in her chair.  And she holds both her rattle and hand teether that hang from either side.  So she's discovered her voice and knows how to use it!

 

Adalynn laughing

Adalynn finds her big sister hilarious and has started laughing. These are a couple of videos of Lauren trying to sing a song to Adalynn, if she can stop laughing long enough to finish it!  It's a song from Phineas and Ferb. And Adalynn cracks up every time. It makes daddy and mommy laugh to hear the two of them together.



End of Summer?

We've been trying to take advantage of what's left of summer.  The mornings are very cool, foggy and dewy, so it's definitely transitioning to fall.  Here's some recent backyard pics.

 It must be the end of summer....the slip and slide busted!  So we "rednecked" it with the sprinkler.

 She still can't figure out how to do it on her own.  To slow of speed, plus not enough weight and momentum equals one frustrated Lauren!

 But with Daddy's help, the disappointment doesn't last long!

 We're still working on the sprinkler and no not the dance moves.  She backs up into it and then can't jump over it.

 So Daddy tried kinking the hose, but he let go to soon!

 Second time with trickery and it worked!  She kept jumping around saying "I did it! I did it!"  But then when we tried to get her to do it again, she said "Tomorrow."  That's her new word for EVERYTHING when asked to do something or eat something!

So hopefully these aren't my last sunny pictures, but we've been told rain is in the forecast.  They've been known to be wrong and we can only hope!

Same pic...different kiddo!

It's funny to put Adalynn in the same outfit that Lauren once wore and have flashbacks to specific things.  I couldn't resist this opportunity.

Lauren with Dougie the horse.

 Adalynn with Dougie the dog.

Yes, we know it's horrible to name both snuggle lovies the same thing, but it's so hard not to!  Like we said with Lauren's....it's made by the Douglas Toy Company and we are not original.  Lauren will tell you that hers in Dougie and Adalynn's is Douglas.  BIG difference!

Sand in the City

Each year the Hand on Children's Museum in Olympia has an event the last weekend in August called "Sand in the City".  They bring in loads of sand and local businesses put together teams to build competitive sand castles.  So I packed the girls and went this year on Friday and had a great time.  Unfortunately they were building the sand castles which was interesting to mommy, but not so much for the almost 4-year-old.  Not when there were other activities to keep her interest!

Here she is using a Bingo dobber to paint a paper visor for herself.  No she's never wore it and tells me it's a bib, not a visor.

 She got her face painted.  Out of all of the items to choose from....

 ....she chose a spider.  The little boy in the opposite chair chose a rainbow.  This is Olympia we're talking about.

 It's the "Hands On" museum...so everything was hands on.

 Racing her rubber ducky down the gutter chute.

 Water soaked sponges + Board with holes = One happy Lauren

 She got it in the hole twice out of probably 10 tries....so not to shabby!  Especially since it was always a 3 spot which was the smallest hole.

 They had a sand area for the kiddos to play in.  She could have spent a lot longer there, but mama was getting bored!

 We hit the bubble station on the way out.  First she thought you had to blow on them like the ones at home...

 ....the she figured out it was windy enough down by the bay....you could just hold it out!

 Lastly, we made a "race car".  A paper car that you place a golf ball under.  You'd think she was holding gold she thought it was so neat.

Lots of fun and one tired Lauren afterwards.  So we'll definitely have to hit this up next year!