The End of Summer

It is crazy that Wally is back to school this week! Summer, as always, flew by!

We had a great summer together though. We did all kinds of fun things and were able to spend lots of time with the ones we love!

Summer always seems to bring fun and chaos. Routines are thrown out the window, peanut butter and jelly is had almost everyday for lunch, and housework is put on hold!

I think that is why although I love summer, I also look forward to back to school time and the onset of fall weather. With back to school, comes routines. And as I have blogged about before, I love routine! Housework will get done, meals will be planned, bedtimes are set again, and I am a happy Momma!

So...so long Summer 2011. It was the best summer of my life thus far. I welcomed my precious baby girl into the world and was able to spend half of you at home with my family! There will never be another summer like you (unless of course I am blessed with another summer baby, but that is a completely different topic that has yet to be discussed further in this house - ha!).

A few (or a lot) of my favorite pics from this summer:

Fishing


Golfing


Playing


Sliding


Swimming


Zoo fun


Posing


Fishy face


Rocking it with no pants


Getting wet


Squirting Daddy


Water table fun


My loves


Surprise


Cheese


First movie


My baby doll


Sibling Love


Summer walks


My little Minnie Mouse


More Sibling Love


My kids :)


First baths


Sweet


So tiny


Catch me!


Sweetness


Makes my heart smile


Gorgeous eyes


My baby boy


Future star


Catch with Daddy


Loving his little girl


First fireworks


First 4th as a family of 4


My firecracker


Bliss!


Big Brother!


Precious - 5 days old


Content


Sleepy - 2 weeks old


Gorgeous - 1 month


First smiles!


First weddings


Grandpa love


Daddy love


Mommy love


Sibling love


:)


Twins (in so many ways!)


Funny


Dancer


Exhausted



A summer we will NEVER forget!

Postpartum Update

6 weeks after Miss Paige was born this is what's going on with me!

I had my 6-week checkup last Tuesday and all is well!

Pounds gained during pregnancy - 36

Pounds lost so far - 26.5

I have worked out once since Paige was born (at 4 weeks) and haven't done anything since, although I did buy new tennis shoes so that's a start, right?!?!

Dress shopping for Will's wedding was no fun! I was feeling pretty good about the direction everything was going until I started trying on dresses and things weren't fitting the way I'd like. That is when I really realized the changes in my body. Yet I still haven't worked out...

Problem areas = hips, butt & thighs.

Oh and my boobs = huge! That is where those last 10 lbs. are sitting right??? Ha!

I am hoping with Wally going back to school this week that will help with the weight loss. We were having too much fun at the end of summer and not eating very good so that couldn't have helped much!

My rings are still snug. I think my left knuckles are still swollen. I can get my rings on, but it is killer some nights to get them off! Maybe some finger workouts are necessary :)

Sleeping is wonderful! Every night I sigh in relief knowing that I can sleep on my stomach or my back or my side or however I want. There is no belly in the way or back hurting!

Overall, I feel great! I really have from the second I delivered Paige - it was instant relief! And I have to say that I am happy with the way my body has bounced back post baby #2. Now the rest is up to me and well, once college was over and I stopped dancing, physical activity has been very rare. I get on a kick for a week or a day and then stop. I think this time might take some effort on my part - stay tuned!

Oh and I have 8 more weeks of maternity leave left so that makes me really happy :)

6 Weeks Old

August is halfway over and Paige is already 6 weeks old!


She is still as sweet as ever.


And as silly as ever.


We get smiles like crazy these days!


Paige does of course have a little bit of spunk in her. You know, we sometimes doe get the stink eye (oh ok, maybe it was just a little bright outside for her!).


She has already attended her first wedding and baby shower and stayed in a hotel in her short little life!


Her cheeks


and her thighs are my absolute favorite parts of her :)


Paige has also had (has) her first cold. We all came down with a cold this past week and I was a nervous-wreck about Paige. She is too little to be sick. I talked to the doctor's office just to make sure there is nothing I could do for her. Unfortunately it just needs to run it's course, but luckily she hasn't had a fever. She is definitely getting better though!


Due to her cold, her sleeping has been a little off at night. She isn't waking up more often, but waking up earlier to eat than she has been. So our day has been beginning earlier than it was previously!


Paige and Luke are still getting along wonderfully!


She is starting to 'talk' to us a lot too! She makes all kinds of sounds these days!


She is as sweet as pie :)

Summer Reading Program

Through the daycare, Luke was signed up for a Summer Reading Program at the Park Forest Library. The summer reading program brought us lots of summer fun!

We spent the month of June just reading and logging the books and once Paige arrived, we started going to storytime at the library on Monday mornings and to have Luke's reader log initialed so he could receive a prize. The librarians would always ask Luke questions about some of the books that he read, and he very shyly replied to them each time!

Luke received some pretty cool prizes through the program. The first week he received coupons for a free pretzel at Auntie Anne's and bowling. The second week he received a ticket to the Reading Program Grand Finale and a coupon for free ice cream at Culver's. The third week he got a coupon for a free personal pizza at Chicago Dough Company and tickets to the Windy City Thunderbolts baseball game Labor Day weekend where he will get to walk on the field with all of the other readers. The fourth week Luke got a free book from the library. He chose "Big Chickens Fly the Coop". He also got some free "extra effort" drawings tickets for going above and beyond!

Before storytime we would have a tea party!


Here's Luke riding some rides at the mall when we went to get his free pretzel!

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There was a park right next to the library so we stopped there a lot too!


The grand finale was very cool. They had a guy bring some cold-blooded creatures to the library. We were able to see some of the other daycare kids there too, which was nice since Luke has been home with us for a few weeks now.

We saw a large tortoise, a huge snake, a small alligator, and a huge alligator named Bubba! Would you believe that some kids were able to ride the tortoise and Bubba! Check out the video below. The last girl on Bubba is Abby from Punky's (she is Punky's daughter). Punky's husband brought the kids and I have since spoken to Punky who was not too thrilled that her daughter was riding an alligator! (And no, his mouth was not rubber-banded. He is a trained alligator...is there such a thing?!?!)

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Date Day

Last week Luke and I went on a date! This was some much needed Mommy and Lukey time!



First up was his Wiggles and Giggles class through the Frankfort Park District. We sang and danced with 12 other toddlers and parents. It was a lot of fun!

He thought it was pretty cool that he had a nametag!


Showing me the sticker he got in class.


Next stop, the park, where I could focus all of my attention on just him. There was lots of sliding, teeter-tottering, and swinging!

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Our final stop was Choo-Choo Johnny's for lunch!



We had a fun day just the two of us :)

Wedding Reception

So proud of him walking in! And I think he was pretty proud of himself too - look at that smile!


There was lots of dancing going on!

Dancing with Emmy


Dancing with Abby & Robert


Dancing with Mommy


Dancing with the Bride & Groom


Dancing with a flowergirl


Dancing by himself


Our family of 4 dancing


Watching Uncle Will dance!




Somebody was running out of steam...he put in his hands in his pockets and just started swaying to the music on the dancefloor!


A rare pic with no kids!


Grammy was in heaven holding Miss Paige most of the night!






Remember...this was how the night ended...Luke fell asleep before we even pulled out of the parking lot of the reception!


We got the kids settled in their beds and enjoyed a few more drinks with everyone at the hotel!

The next morning we joined everyone for a breakfast buffet and then we enjoyed some swimming before heading home!


Paige was a perfect angel all weekend!

Wedding Reception - The Garter Toss

Up he goes...


Searching for it...


Reaching for it...


Am I supposed to pick that up???


Now what do I do with it???


Uncle Willy wants a picture with me???


Oh so that's what you do with this!