May started out great because Aunt Jekkah (or Jess to the adults haha) came to visit! We were so excited to have her! I remember when she came to visit after Lilly was born, too. She is such a good friend! What's amazing about our friendship is that it has spanned states, time zones, oceans, continents and has NEVER diminished. We get together and pick up like we saw each other yesterday. No wonder Jack Jack was so comfortable in Jess' arms; she is like an extension of my own heart :-)
Lilly has a push car that we used to use to take walks when she was little. We've kept it because Lilly still likes riding it down the hill in the back yard and playing "runaway baby". Well, she was being really brave today and wanted to take the car down the driveway to play runaway baby (meaning no one is holding the car, it just rolls down the hill!) I made her put her helmet on just in case, but she was having the BEST time riding her car down the driveway and then dragging it back up :-) Since we live on a cul de sac, it wasn't too dangerous! Kids need to be able to push the boundaries a little anyway; they can't live in a world of nerf!
I think Lilly plays soccer 25% for the enjoyment and 75% for the snack! Her favorite part of practices or games was always the snack at the end! My favorite part was watching her run up and down the field! It was funny because we kept on telling her to get the ball from the other players, but she didn't want to take it from them! I guess we did too good of a job teaching her not to take things from others! Parenting win...?
Yes...she is my daughter ;-) Lilly enjoys singing, or lip syncing, as much as Mommy :-)
Jack has some tummy issues, so he sleeps in a Rock and Play so he can be more upright and be right next to the bed. I wasn't totally sold on this "miracle" product that everyone raved about until I saw how incredibly well he was sleeping in it. Seriously, if you don't have one and your baby has trouble sleeping, try it!
Clearly he has no trouble sleeping on Daddy :-) Baby snuggles are the best.
Here's my sweet girl helping to mop the floors with my Norwex mop. She LOVES to help and I love that she can use these products safely.
How stinkin' cute is this onesie??? Thank you, Kelly! My little Superman <3
Sometimes you just need to take a snack break and eat your apple on your hippity hop. :-)
This is hard to see, but Darren took Lilly in the backyard and they were flying her kite together. She was running back and forth through the yard and her kite was soaring behind her. She absolutely loved it! I am so thankful that we have this beautiful yard for Lilly and Jack (and Maggie) to play in!
Several tiems a day, Lilly asks to hold Jack. I always want her to know that she is valued, I trust her with Jack and that Jack loves her, so we say yes unless he is very fussy needs to be changed. She is so incredibly good with him! I am so thankful that Lilly has a sibling to love!
It's nice that Darren gets some special time with the kids because he works all day. He is a great Dad and you can tell by these pictures how much fun Lilly (and Jack) always have with him :-)
Darren was working at White Rabbit, so Lilly, Jack and I went to Chick-fil-A for dinner and to play on the play place. Jack fell asleep in my arms and was super snuggly. I don't take many selfies, but when I have this cute little monkey snuggled on me, I want to capture that moment and share it!
Jack LOVES Lilly! When she talks to him and comes near, he always looks right at her and smiles. You can see in this picture how fascinated he is by her. I can't wait to watch these two grow up together.
Nursing is a surefire way to get Jack to fall asleep and to get my fix of baby snuggles :-)
He looks a little annoyed at me...probably because I put him down so I could take a shower! We used this exact same seat for Lilly! That's Lilly on the right and Jack on the left :-) They are about the same age in this picture :-)
Today we were playing outside while Darren power-washed the swing set and Jack was sleeping inside. Lilly and I ran around the lawn for a bit and then she said, "Let's sit down and talk about some things." I laughed, but followed her lead. So we went and sat at the picnic table and she looked at me and said, "What should be talk about?" So we talked about her birthday party, and then we started talking about Disney World. She really wants to go and I told he we needed to save up some money to buy the tickets. Then she told me, "Don't worry Mommy, I will give you...40 cents from my piggy bank! That will pay for the tickets!" She was so proud of herself :-)
One of my favorite things is to see Jack smile and hear him laugh while he is sleeping. He actually smiles 99% of the time when he falls asleep. It's actually one of the ways I know he is almost into a deep sleep. The BEST is when he starts to laugh to himself! It is so stinking cute!
Darren snapped this picture of Jack and I just love it. His eyes look so handsome and he seems so serious, calm and pensive. Plus you get an amazing view of his chin! I love how it juts out and he has a tiny little dimple at the bottom :-) Can you tell I stare at this sweet little face ALL the time??
Lilly got in on the photo session fun. This picture captures the joy that Lilly feels playing with Jack :-) He doesn't look like it in this picture, but Jack also really loves Lilly! He lights up every time she plays with him and talks to him.
Darren brought his good camera to Lilly's last soccer game so he could get some great shots of all the kids. It was a really sunny day and Jack was not happy sitting in his carseat with his sunshade, so Darren picked him up and gave Jack his hat to shield the sun. He'll grow into it ;-)
It looks like jumping for joy, but it's actually jumping jacks :)
Time to warm up! Is it just me or does Lilly look really old in this picture?? Ok time, you can slow down now!
She really enjoyed playing soccer! It was so special that she got to play with her buddies Zoey and Grace and I know it helped that our friend Jason was the coach (and a great one at that!)
These two girls are so funny! They are best friends, they bicker like old ladies, and they make up immediately like sisters. We are so lucky to have such amazing friends and for Lilly to have these strong friendships at such a young age.
Go Lilly, go!
My sweet little blondie <3
I attempted to bring Jack and Lilly to the pool on my own for the first time. Thank goodness a few friends were there to help though, because it was not easy! The hardest part was that Jack did not want to stay in his bouncy seat for very long, so I was constantly standing in the shade holding him, which was making me hot and making him hot, but if I put him down, he was unhappy. Lilly had a good time playing in the pool though (thank goodness for puddle jumpers!) I have accepted that we will not be able to be at the pool as often as we did last year, at least not until track out and Darren is home. Then we can either all go together or one of us will take Lilly by herself.
Those cheeks!!! Did you know there was a scientific study that proved it to be some sort of biological normality to want to "bite" or "eat" the ones you love?? So I am not crazy for wanting to bite him when I look at these pictures ;-)
We went to Holly Springs one afternoon to grab a few things at Harris Teeter and to go to the puppet show at the Cultural Center. Lilly asked me very sweetly to ride the Dragon at Harris Teeter and since it was only a penny, I was glad to indulge her! She was so happy! She also loved the puppet show, though I thought it was a little underwhelming. She loved the song they sang about throwing things out the window!
Our morning really wore Jack out! He fell asleep during tummy time ;)
This is one of my favorite pictures of Jack! His big gummy grin, smushy cheeks and adorable little chin are perfect! I love how much he smiles and how happy his smile makes all of us!
After bath I started snapping some picture of Jack and was noticing a LOT of similarities to facial expressions Lilly used to make at this age. They look a lot alike, but they also have such unique and beautiful features!
You can definitely see the similarities when they are side by side in these pictures.
Just recently, Lilly has really started to like Maggie more. She never disliked Maggie, but she wasn't too interested in playing with her. Now they are clearly buddies!
I love how protective Lilly is of Jack and how much she cares about him. Look at her little hand calming him down in his seat (don't freak out that he's not bucked, we weren't driving anywhere!) She started talking to him and rubbing his belly and he changed from fussy to content.
Here's another one of Lilly holding Jack Jack. She just adores her little brother! I am so thankful that she loves him and that she is able to be so independent in a lot of ways. I work very hard to do special things with Lilly and give her "alone" time with me. She's adjusted so well to being a big sister and I am so proud of my little girl!
We obviously need to find time to just be silly and crazy together as well! Jack is looking at us like, "Are these two really related to me??"
At one of Lilly's soccer games, Kathryn and Rob's son, William, who is about 8 months old, was fascinated by Jack. He was leaning over his stroller and grabbing on like he wanted to get closer to him. I guess he knows that in a neighborhood of little girls, he needs Jacks as his ally!
Sweet boy!
Lilly was playing with Jack and made a "tent" for the two of them to play in using Jack's activity mat to hold it up. She was laughing so hard and Jack was having fun as well. It was great that they were actually playing together :-)
I can't remember where we were...but Lilly found an interesting use for a straw wrapper!
Some of the neighborhood kids were playing together and were visiting with Mr. Jim, Ms. Nancy and Ms. Janet across the fence. We are so lucky to have such wonderful neighbors who not only put up with our kids, but actually want to be around them! :-)
Bubble baths are a commodity around here! We usually just take regular baths, so Lilly was super excited about playing in the bubbles. She made herself a bubble beard, which I can remember doing when I was a little girl, too :-)
Lilly and I made this "garden" for Grandma for Mother's day. Lilly painted the flower pot and helped to paste the pictures on the flowers, and I cut the flowers out. It was a fun project to work on and I know my mom really loved it.
I absolutely love taking Lilly to Marbles! We would go every week if it weren't so far away and if it wasn't crazy busy 85% of the time. Luckily we pretty much only go on Thursday evenings when there's almost no one there :-) Even better, Zoey, Addy and Kari came with us! Marbles is really a lot more fun for Lilly when she has kids to play with, especially now that I have Jack to care for as well. These girls had an absolute BLAST!
She was doing some serious shopping! Three baskets and a cart!
I love these little girls so much!
Here's another picture of Jack's sleepy smiles :-) It melts my heart every time!
A couple of our friends were hosting a Memorial Day BBQ and we were all very excited. Lilly was so excited she made a card for Miss Melanie to thank her for having the party! I am so proud of how thoughtful Lilly has become. She has ideas like this a lot and it makes me feel like we are doing something right. Parenting is HARD! It's so hard. And you often feel like you are not doing it "right", so I like celebrating when there are moments like this when you know your child is turning out to be a good person :-)
Jack relaxes a lot in the bath and has really started to enjoy it. It's a nice quiet routine before bedtime and it's such a special time with him :-)
The WRAL Balloon fest was going on in Fuquay this year and though we didn't attend the festival, we DID support our local downtown restaurants that weekend! Lilly definitely enjoyed her breakfast at Jus Enuff! She loves to play the game "what's missing" at the table when we are out to eat. It's been a life saver! We read about it in a Daniel Tiger book and since then, it's been our "go to" game while we are waiting for our food. That along with a few coloring sheets and going out to eat is great!
Oh no, we're in trouble! Lilly is already calling her "boyfriend" on her "cell phone"! How cute is she??
Time goes by SO quickly when you have a newborn, ESPECIALLY when you have another child to care for as well. The fact that Jack is 2 months old already feels completely impossible. On the one hand, I wish time could stop and I could snuggle this little baby in my arms forever, but on the other hand, I remember how much I enjoyed each new stage with Lilly, so I am excited that Jack is growing and changing. The infant stage is TOUGH in so many ways, but I think that's what strengthens the bond you have with your child. When Jack wakes up in the middle of the night to nurse and I am completely exhausted, I have no problem admitting that I am a annoyed and wish he would just go back to sleep. But I also look down at that sweet little baby in the dim light the night light and watch him snuggle against me with his eyes closed as he nurses himself back to sleep, and I think there is no where in the world I would rather be.
The crazy love I feel for my children is indescribable. Parents know what I mean. You love your spouse, your parents, your siblings, your dog...etc, but the love you have for your children is different. I am certain it's the strongest feeling I have ever felt and ever will feel, and I am so thankful to be Mommy to these two munchkins!
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