Happy 4th of July!

We are decked out in our Red, White and Blue ready for the 4th!  No plans, just BBQ pulled pork sandwiches with corn on the cob for dinner.  And a few sparklers and fireworks tonight!  Happy Fourth to you and yours!

New (to Lauren) bike!

Mommy scored a used Strider balance bike for Lauren this week.  The price was right and who could pass up an Oregon State colored bike!?  And yes, it doesn't have pedals.  They are all the rage.  Everyone swears by them.  Lauren fell in love with a playgroup friend's bike last summer so I've been looking for one ever since.  Supposidely they go straight from one of these to a big girl bike with NO training wheels!

 The driveway has just enough slope too.  And our little scaredy cat is actually not so scared of the idea of this bike!  (She's plays the scaredy cat role more to get attention than anything else!) She's catching on rather quick.

 The second time down we put on our serious face!

 Feet up even!!

We'll see how long this lasts until she claims to need a bike girl bike.  And note the helmet.  I was looking for one that didn't have characters on it....but she immediately found a Lalaloopsy helmet to my dismay.  However it was the only one that TRUELY fit properly, so we went with it!

What the???

Why is it that whenever you find a name you like for your child, that you think it totally uncommon....you see or hear it everywhere??  Seriously!  I saw it on a boat in the Port of Olympia today.  I had to double back and check again.  Spelled differently but still!!

Lauren was the same way, the year she was born the name shot up the Top 100 list.  Jake and I were watching a baseball game right before Adalynn was born and one of the announcers was talking about his daughter Adalynn.  We looked at each other like "What the H E _ _?"!  Go figure.  Let's just hope there aren't 2 or more in each of their classes when they get to school!

Mommy's Doctor

Mommy was a little irritated she forgot to do this in the hospital....so when Adalynn accompanied mommy to her appointment, I figured better late than never!  This is the wonderful Dr. Kym Walker in Olympia.  Loved her.  We took Lauren's picture the day after she was born with her delivering doctor, Dr. James.  So I was bummed we didn't get this shot in the hospital.  But it's still a keepsake and I love it!

June in a nutshell

During June we found some decent days to play outside.....deck bowling!

 Our friends from Browntucky stopped by for a night!  Carley was Lauren's babysitter when we lived there when Lauren was known as Baby Lauren!  They came baring gifts....princess stuff for the princess!

 Adalynn started smiling, grabbing fingers and making cute baby noises.  Mostly for mommy, but that's what happens when she's the one doing the feeding!  She does love staring at her sister though as well.  Daddy's been gone quite a bit in June, but hopefully that will change! 

 Lauren loves her sister, but sometimes too much!

 Kisses for sissy...she always has to tell her goodnight and give her a kiss.  Even if it means leaning into the bassinette and waking up sister to do so!

 Meema and Papa came up again so Papa could help Daddy construct the playset they bought.  It took an entire day, but Lauren LOVES it!

  She was scared to swing at the parks last summer but she's getting the hang of it at home. We had a couple of spills early, but luckily it didn't scare her off.

 The rock wall is a success too!

Papa did finally get some baby time before they left that Sunday.

 Day 2 and the slide.  Notice the drawbridge....she digs the drawbridge.

 She can "pump" her feet on her own already!  Quick learner.

 Taking time for a cheesy moment.

 This kid can fall asleep any where.  She played too hard and was trying to not take a nap....this is what happens at 4 p.m.  Naps are needing to be phased. Her favorite words at 9 p.m. are "But I'm not tired!"

Yesterday we planted some flowers...finally!  She was a great helper.  So now the house has a little color!  And hopefully they are close enough that the deer won't eat them!  We only have about 8 that frequent the yard...babies included.

It doesn't help that we feed them apples!

Hopefully your summer is off to your a great start.  Our weather is slowly getting better.  The local weathermen say summer is due to arrive July 5.  We can only hope!  Would like to get some pool time and water fun in this year!

Comparisons

The older Adalynn gets the less Lauren and her look alike.  They still have similarities but Lauren definitely looks more like mommy and Adalynn is looking more like daddy.  So it will definitely be interesting to compare photos here in a couple of months.  But here are the early comparisons.

Adalynn:

 Lauren:

Adalynn:

  Lauren:

 Just had to throw in this funny one of Adalynn sleeping....complete milk coma passed out moment!  She typically sleeps with her mouth open when she's really out! 

Happy Father's Day!

For Father's Day (and his birthday) Daddy bought himself a new riding lawnmower.  Each year we've made more yard by clearing brush and weeds and it became an all day chore to push mow it.  So now he has the luxury of riding while doing it.  Lauren thought it was pretty neat and even got to drive it.  She's good about wearing her ear protection too since she doesn't like loud things!

This is Daddy's golf cake for Father's Day.  Lauren had seen it while we were looking for ideas online.  So that's what SHE decided MOMMY was doing.  Love it.  It turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself!

 Hope everyone has a relaxing Father's Day!

Adalynn update

Adalynn is 1 month old today!  I can't believe how quickly time is flying by.  This pic was 2 weeks.  She had gained 12 ounces from her 1 week appt and her 2 week appt.  She has a Dr.'s appt on the 18th so we are wondering if she's a 10 pounder yet!

She has discovered her hands and is doing more with them like grabbing fingers and trying to hold her binky in.  She also is discovering her voice and has a variety of cries which mommy has pretty much translated!  I'll update more after her appt!

Lauren update

It's been nearly a month since Lauren became a big sister and every day is an adjustment.  Last week she helped me paint some butterflies for Adalynn's room. Mommy finished them off and now they are hanging on the wall over Adalynn's wall.

 This pic shows her mischievous face.  You can just see her little mind working overtime!

So Lauren has been a bit defiant and wouldn't pick up her room one day last week. I gave her one more chance, she told me no, so I got out the garbage sacks, packed two plum full, set them on the porch and told her the garbage man would pick them up. Absolutely no effect. The next morning she brings me a couple of her Strawberry Shortcake dolls and says "Here mom, you missed a couple." Wow did that backfire.

So like I said, every day is an adjustment for the new big sister.  I just hope she starts to get into a routine before preschool.  We got our confirmation letter that we got into Westwood which is held at a large Baptist Church in Olympia.  That starts Sept. 13th! 

Visitors!

On Sunday, the Holliday family stopped by since they were on the west side of the mountains.  It was so good to see them even if it was only for a couple of hours AND meet Hunter.  Hunter was born in January and it gave us a friendly reminder of how big our little girl will be in a few short months.  Made mommy want to hold Adalynn a little longer and snuggle tighter!  Lauren was a busy body and made herself known.  Each day is a constant adjustment. She still doesn't quite understand that babies aren't invincible like herself :).