Concert and Emma's smiles

A couple weeks ago we took the kids to an outdoor concert at a park. We spread a blanket out, ate dinner and let Drew run around.

The park has a train, so Chad and Drew rode that too.

And then Drew asked me to take him down to the front and join in on the Electric Slide with the huge crowd. I was holding his hand and trying to teach him the steps, and he wanted to do it on his own. It was pretty funny b/c he was so serious about it and trying to do it right. Emma liked the music and being outside. She laid on the blanket and kicked her legs and smiled and cooed. Drew kept getting a running start and then coming to a halt and putting his head on the ground...I think because there were some little girls doing cartwheels near us and he was "copying" them.

Well, he may not be a gymnast (and that's okay with us!!), but he is definitely a little baseball player! Chad can toss him a ball, and he'll hit it with the baseball bat...over and over again! He'll even toss it up to himself and hit it! I've got to get more videos of this b/c we are blown away with his abilities.

Emma is a happy little girl! For a few days last week, she cried a lot and spit up a lot, and I was a little worried that she may have reflux or other tummy troubles. But after a few days of that, she woke up a different baby - super happy and responding to any attention with huge smiles and coos!

Here's a little video of her talking. Sorry it is sideways...my bad.

Emma had been sleeping about 9:30pm-3:30am, getting up to eat, and then sleeping 4-6 or 7am. That was really nice...but last night she slept 9:30-5:30! Eight whole hours in a row! I slept about 7 of those hours, so I felt great too.

The past two Sundays we have taken the kids to church. They have done really well in their classrooms while we enjoyed the service. The teachers in Drew's room asked if he was almost 3 - they were blown away by his talking, manners, and knowledge of cars! He corrected one of them when they called a toy a car - "That's an SUV!" And when we picked him up, we had to wait on him to clean up all the toys. That's his new thing - he puts everything away! If he wants to get his cars out, I'll see him folding up Emma's blanket and carrying that and her toys to her bassinet so he has the whole rug! Wouldn't most 2 year olds just toss the blanket and toys to the side?? He is definitely my child!

Emma's 2 month Dr visit

Emma had her 2 month doctor visit this morning. She is now 23 1/4 inches long (75th percentile) and 11 lbs 8 oz (75th percentile). I can't believe she has gained almost 4 pounds and grown over 3 inches in just two months! Everything else was perfect at the checkup and she did great with her shots. Now she's snoozing away!

Bathtime! As I finish up Emma's bath we let Drew hop in before we add more water and bubbles for him. Emma's wet hair really shows off that receding hair line! And poor Drew (despite wearing really strong sunblock) got a little sunburn while at the pool Monday - I need to remember to REapply while we're out there!!

And here's a random picture after we finished up bathtime and hung out in Emma's room.

Olivia turned 2 on the 14th AND Parker turned 4 on the 15th! In a couple weeks, Willy will turn 2 on July 5th! Happy birthday to all Drew's cousins celebrating birthdays!! I wish we could've been there for Parker and Will's party - I'm curious how the tornado/John Deere party went (that was the theme requested by Parker!).

Happy 2nd birthday Olivia!

Drew is so good with Emma and is helpful to me. People ask if there's any jealousy, and I really don't think there is! At first, he would act like a baby and want to be rocked or lay on the floor to do tummy time. But now he likes to talk to her and play with her. Here they are playing one morning last week.

And another cute smile from Emma!

On Sunday, we went to Drew's cousin Olivia's second birthday party in Raleigh. It was around 100 degrees, but the kids didn't seem to mind. They played with the water tables and bubbles outside.

When Olivia was just two weeks old, we took pictures of Drew, Gracie and Olivia on this couch - so we lined them up again with an unhappy Emma. It was hard for them to smile for the camera with the poor crying baby.

Here they are 2 years ago (Drew at 4 1/2 mos, Gracie at 5 1/2 mos and Olivia at 2 weeks).

We spent this morning at the pool with Drew's best friend Luke and his mom Jessica. I used to work with Jessica at the Y, so Drew and Luke hung out every evening in childwatch. Everyone always talked about what good buddies they are, and I'd see them interacting a little at the Y, but we'd never gotten together outside of work with the boys. It was pretty awesome to see Drew play with him so well for a full 2 1/2 hours! They had a blast! Luke hugged Drew and said, "I missed you, Drew!"

And here they are having a snack after getting dried off and changed.

Indiana trip

We all drove to Indiana Friday, the 28th. It was a smooth trip - Emma slept a lot of the time. When she was awake, she was pretty content and just hung out in her carseat. Drew was awake the entire time (skipping a nap at his normal nap time)...until about an hour before we got there (around 10pm or so) and then he realized how tired he was and got a little upset! On Saturday, the whole family got together at my parents' house. Then, on Sunday we all got together at my brother's house for a pool party during the Indianapolis 500 (which is an anual tradition - we always go to his house and listen to the race on the radio b/c it's blacked out on tv). Drew discovered that he likes to jump off the side...over and over! He even fell off the side once and went completely under before someone could grab him- he didn't like that so much! Here he is with Daddy.

Maggie the dog had on her Indy 500 bandana from the groomers.

Drew also liked being thrown really high in the air! Weee!

Emma dressed for the party but didn't really participate. She supervised all the silliness going on in the pool.

Drew and Mommy.

Then Chad drove back home on Monday while the kids and I stayed for the rest of the week. My parents and I went to Brown County State park with the kids. Here's a picture at our usual "picture spot."


We also got to visit my grandmother in Hospice a couple times (once while Chad was still there and then another time after), and she passed away on Wednesday. She had been asking to see Emma and Drew - so we were so thankful that we got there in time for her to meet her sixth great grandchild and to see Drew again. It was very sad to say goodbye, but she had been so sick the past 9 months and was ready to go after a full life of 93 years. Chad was able to fly back up for the funeral. After getting through all that, we spent a lot of family time together. We went to Donner park one morning. Here's Drew swinging on Daddy's lap, cracking up at Uncle Marc swinging so high he was in the tree!


And the playground was a hit with the entire family - we may have scared away all the other kids, b/c we had the place to ourselves for awhile before we sat down to eat our picnic lunch!

We also got together at my parents' house again. Aunt Sarah brought some sidewalk chalk and the boys had a blast with that! here's Drew and Will coloring the bridge!

Here's Sarah drawing with the chalk with all the boys - Parker, Will, Drew and Tim.

And the only two girl cousins in the family - Emma and Lyndsey.

And Grandpa took Drew for a ride on the tractor...and he even let him steer! Drew loved it but told my dad to "put it back in the garage now" when he was done!

Chad flew back on Sunday, but I already had a flight booked for Monday. I was a little nervous flying home by myself with the kids, but we survived! They actually let my parents go through security with me to help. And thank God they did - once we got the the gate, Emma was crying and needed to eat, and we realized Drew's shorts were soaked! So they were very much needed! There were no shorts for sale at any of the shops, so Drew ended up in a really long Indy shirt and no pants. Once we got to our seats on the plane, he was so good! He was completely entertained by the plane itself, his snacks, and a truck coloring book that my mom and gotten him. And Emma slept on my lap half the time and looked around at everyone the rest of the time. She never cried until we landed and were taxiing around for awhile - and it was mealtime for her! Here's Drew with his chicken on the plane (I covered his bare legs with Emma's blanket).

Emma has started smiling a whole bunch now - and she's just now figuring out how to use her voice. Here she is trying to smile a little.

And here's a really cheesy smile!

And here's Drew today in his Harley Davidson shirt that his Uncle Marc had been searching for and finally found - it fits perfect!