Monthly Phone Dump

 Leah loves her Bear. I can't even believe she spent so many months worrying about this tikes arrival. 

 When I take pictures with my phone, Teddy doesn't even notice. When I take them with the "real" camera, he looks at it with caution. So, almost all the pictures on here are phone pictures. 

 All 3 kids have worn these Christmas jammies now. There is NO WAY they will fit Teddy this Christmas, so he's wearing them now. 

 Leah having a sleep over in our room, sleeping sideways in her bed because Ollie took up the bottom half. 

Love these Vader jammies! 

Pool Fun

 We've used our neighborhood pool more than ever this year. Instead of Goldfish, we hired a local lifeguard to come do private lessons with Juliet. She comes about twice a week. Juliet is doing great with this, and I am so glad we did this instead of Goldfish. She gets a lot more attention and instruction and has made great advancements! It's nice that Leah (and sometimes even me) can swim, too. Because we are in the habit of going to the pool more, the girls ask to go more during the week, too. Typically at least one of them sees and plays with a friend there, too, which is nice.  

 Typically Teddy sleeps in his car seat with the fan attached for the first 20(ish) minutes. Then he wakes up and I hold him while the girls swim more. Last week we brought their cousins, and we all had fun swimming. 

Now Leah doesn't wear goggles. She likes it better without them and just opens her eyes under water. I feel the same way unless I am in the ocean. 

Leah's Family Party

 Leah has been counting down to her family party for months now. Poor girl despises the fact that the rest of us have birthdays within a few weeks, and hers is several months later. 

We had teased her that she wouldn't actually be nine (NINE?! I can't believe I just typed that!), more like 8.88 at her party. We tossed around the idea of making it Back to the Future themed (88 miles an hour?!). There were so many cute things online, and Leah even found an "Enchantment Under the Sea" dress that she loved and wanted to wear--but it didn't come in time and with 3 kids and my parents in town, I never was particularly motivated to do all the cute things we found on Pinterest to make it actually Back to the Future themed. So, we ordered some sandwiches, picked up some chips and beer, made a fruit salad and called it a day. 

Both kids wanted to wear their Maui dresses. It'll be the last time Juliet wears hers. It had got so tight in the chest that she popped the button off. Why do they grow so fast?! Leah insisted on wearing the earrings she bought for Taylor Swift. She loves them! 

 Juliet wanted a picture of just her. I told her to pick a pose. She chose to pray. 

 The kids had fun with their family--my mom and dad were in town as were their aunt and uncle and cousins from Virginia. 

 There are such a wide range of ages in my family. Prior to having Leah, I always wondered if the cousins would play together or even really "know" each other. Happily, the big kids do so well playing with the little kids. There is so much love! 

 One thing Leah really wanted was a pinata. So, we made it happen. We filled it with candy that loved that she could also actually eat (pesky expander!)--York Peppermint Patties, Jolly Ranchers, Smarties, Peanut Butter Cups, and Kisses. They all had fun wacking the pinata. It never actually opened. It did get a good hole on top though. After every kid had a few turns I just shook it all onto the ground over a couple of feet of grass. 

The weather was kinda rainy and gloomy, but it was ok enough for us to sit outside for a bit and also play a few games of Bag-O.

Leah requested a vanilla cake with vanilla frosting. I made it from scratch. The cake was pretty good, but the frosting was a little runny. Too much milk and then I ran out of powdered sugar. Oh well. It still tasted good and not at all like an apple seed. 

 We had a cool candle from Amazon that opened like a Lotus flower and sang "Happy Birthday". And kept singing until you took the entire candle apart. Haha. 

 Leah got many great gifts. She was very pleased and thankful with her loot!

 Of course, books were a big request or hers and also a big hit! She has got really into graphic novels. This one had "boy drama" which I actively try to get her to avoid in her book choices. She was so gleeful telling me about the book. 

 Teddy was a gentleman and enjoyed the party. Him and Luke have a special bond. 

Flood!

A few weeks ago, our road flooded after some heavy rain. It only lasted for an hour or so, but it was INSANE. The girls thought it was the coolest thing ever. They begged to put on their suits and play in it. I know how gross it is, but it's one of those things that I knew they would love and nothing that a shower couldn't fix. So, they suited up and played in it for at least an hour. They loved when cars drove by. They would "jump" over the waves they created. 

 They really wanted to jump in the puddles. I thought rain boots would be best, but they only wore them to take a picture. Then they wanted flip flops.

Back to the Future!

 Art in the Park had a "real" time machine that you could sit in for a small donation to The Penn. The girls had to do it! There were also 2 guys dressed up like Doc and Marty which Leah thought was just weird. 

 It was pretty cool! They also watched some guy juggle fire and do other assorted tricks in the park. They thought it was great. 

 We got ice cream and that was fun, too. 

 Out of time!

Teddy is THREE months!

Happiest of three month birthdays, Bear Bear! You continue to be a giant. We've moved into 3-6 month clothes exclusively. Some are even snug. You were a size 2 diaper during the day and a size 3 at night that you pee out of probably every other day. You have great rolls. Your arms are developing rolls in places that I've never seen kids have rolls. Diaper changes always make me laugh when you poop, because there are legitimately 10+ different rolls to clean out.

 You continue to be one of the happiest babies on the planet. You make Daddy and I so happy! You smile all.the.time. You love to talk. Most nights we have long conversations before you go to bed. You wait your turn and coo and coo. Then we talk back, and you respond. You have mastered the excited coo, the concerned coo, the tired coo, and the conversational coo. You have so much to say! We are hearing more and more constant sounds within your coos. I swear that when you get really mad to try to say "mama". You are very agreeable, and happily go along with whatever we are doing as a family (the one exception was the strawberry patch).  

Speaking of getting mad, during these pictures I bopped you with my foot in the side of your head. I was stepping over you to set up your month blanket, and the top of my foot bopped the side of your head. I've never heard you sound so mad. You cried and I felt so, so bad. You recovered quickly, and haven't held it against me. Thank God, because I felt guilty all day. 

 You are a great sleeper! Most nights you sleep for 4-6 hours straight--but you've also done 7 hours a few times. That's part of the problem with the night time diapers--that's a long time to sleep. You also LOVE to sleep on your stomach which makes the problem of pee even worse because it all runs out the front while the back of the diaper stays dry. For the first half of the night, you sleep swaddled in the Dock-a-tot. If you're NOT swaddled, then you don't sleep long before waking up. You still have a pretty good startle reflex. You never cry when you wake up in the middle of the night--you just grunt until I pick you up. After nursing in the middle of the night, you try to throw yourself to your stomach. You haven't rolled over yet, and don't seem to want to practice during day light hours. Only in the middle of the night. I help you over so that you don't try to wake up for the day. You still wear the Owlet on your foot, which gives me a great deal of peace of mind as you sleep on your tummy. 

 You love your sisters. Juliet was one of the first to make you laugh out loud.  You always love when Leah drags her hair across your face. Leah and Juliet have become more and more interested in you. Sometimes they beg me to let them help change your diaper. I've just started letting them walk with you under close supervision. To make sure they don't drop you, you grab their hair for added support. You are stingy about your laughs. When you are in the mood, you have a great belly laugh. Sometimes, you are super ticklish. Sometimes you look at me like I am insane when I try to tickle you. 

 You continue to love to be outside. You take great naps on walks. You love to look around. You love people and do well when out and about. 

 Like Juliet, when you are tired, you drool. We've started putting bibs on you occasionally. You are also pretty interested in your left hand. You haven't purposely sucked any fingers yet, but you like to try to jam the entire thing. We are hoping you don't start sucking your fingers. You absolutely refuse a Nuk. 

We love you so much! I am so, so glad we got you! 

Sweet Boy

 Just a few cute pictures of the best Bear on the planet. 

 Here is his suit that he wore ONCE. It was hard to push him into it. He came to Colony with us and did a great job. It was like 95 degrees, so we wrapped him in a damp blanket and he hung out in the pool for an hour or so. We had lunch and went home. He loves to be outside!