Our 4th of July Kids

How cute are these little Independence Day kids?

Everly in an outfit from 1983

So, when Grace was born, Mom gave me a bunch of my sweet little clothes from my first year of life. They are old but so sweet. This particular outfit is one of my favorites and I don't actually remember putting Grace in it, though I might have. But when I pulled it out, I knew I had to get Everly in it before she outgrew it. It looks like something Melbo and GG made, but actually is from Carter's. I love seeing the old tag on it too. The first picture is me when I was little in it. The rest are of Everly. Isn't she so beautiful?

Grace's Freckles & Braids

So, we were at the pool the other day and in the bright daylight in the swimming pool, I noticed some teeny tiny freckles across her nose! I thought they were so cute and decided to get some super close ups to document them. Well, you have to look REALLY close to see them, but they are there! I love her sweet little soft skin!

Also, I braided her hair like Mom did to her at Atticus's birthday. Her hair has so many lengths that I need to practice some more to make longer braids. They look more like pigtails. But, they were so cute too. So, this post is all about how cute our little Grace is!

Everly at 3 months

Last week, our little girl turned 3 months old! Here are some stats:

• She weighs 14 pounds.
• She sleeps 8-10 hours per night, but still doesn't go down until anywhere from 10-12pm.
• She has no set schedule during the day; she will nap, eat, play, but we never know when.
• She is happiest when being carried around! She likes to hold her head up over my shoulder and see everything.
• In Vic's arms, however, she falls asleep so easily. He has some special touch! This is also why many times, he takes her right as she is trying to go to sleep at night to finish her off.
• She is still in the bassinet in our room. I just can't move her yet! And I still swaddle her before bedtime.
• She has just started to enjoy laying on her playmat on her back to kick and look around. But, mostly she does not enjoy being on her back or her front. But, she likes her rocker.
• Her feet are ticklish.
• She is smiling, but only a few smiles each day. She is going to be like Atticus and take it slow! But, she has smiled while she looks at me and nurses and that is one of my favorite things!! 
• She has started to coo and "talk" to me when she is really focusing and watching me. 
• She is a drool queen sometimes. She has started putting her hands in her mouth and that creates so much drool! Sometimes it will soak her shirt and other times, she stays dry all day long.
• Her hair is still a beautiful red!
• She is in some 0-3 and some 3-6 month clothes.
• She does NOT like baths or being in the swimming pool so far.
• She takes a paci. Hooray!
•  She does not like being in her carseat or in the car unless we are on the move. If I slow down to stop at a stoplight, she knows! And she starts to cry if her paci is out. She will usually stop when we pick up again, but of course it changes daily!
• Her umbilical hernia looks like is has closed up!
• Atticus and Grace still love her and Atticus has to come tell her goodnight at least 3 times each night before he goes to bed. Grace will introduce her to people as "Ever-wee Chickadee"
• She has a little cold right now; only coughing and after a really rough day of barking coughs, they got much better. No fever, just a little coughing and congestion. 
• She is just a perfect addition to our family!

Friday Favorites: VBS, Our Swimming Pool, Gymnastics, July 4th, Bachelorette and Everly

ONE

A week ago, we ended Vacation Bible School for the summer. I enjoyed it and it was a success, but I'm glad it is over! For this year, it almost didn't make the calendar for our church. But, after putting out a sign-up and telling our congregation that the only way it was going to happen is if we filled all of the volunteer spots, we ended up having it. And, because I was committee chair for the year, I felt like I needed to be the "VBS Director" when nobody else signed up. I didn't really want to be since let's be honest here...I have a newborn and I felt like I should be allowed to just let my kids attend this year and not volunteer. But, our church is small and everyone has to do their part for their kids. So, since GG could come in for the week to watch Everly each night while the rest of us went to VBS, it all worked out. Vic headed up the kitchen, I did all the director things and the kids attended and had a great time. In fact, they had a REALLY great time. I was really proud of our VBS and the kids are still singing the theme song "Shine Bright" every day. And, the kids got bonus fun when they got to play with Maci and Kendall before and after each night they were there. For the last day, we had water day and by the end, we were exhausted. I had planned all kinds of things to do during the day with Atticus and Grace since GG could watch Everly, but we were all too exhausted. But, it was a good VBS!

 My friend, Jamie, who was leading crafts text me this picture. Grace spent lots of time painting a masterpiece on her plate...but not the shell that she was given to paint. Jamie said she was so proud of her painted plate!

 We love Maci!

 Atticus with the cheerleaders (Maci and Kendall and friends Bailey and Layla)...smart man!

 Atticus got to take part in the drama rotation by acting out a Bible Story. These kids were SO cute to watch!

 Could he BE any more VBS?

 Kristi and I "put the Pro in procrastinate" but boy can we pull off events!

 We had inflatable slides, water balloons, a baby pool, sno cones, and slip and slides. But for the slip and slide, Vic and another dad started catapulting kids down the slip and slide on floaties to make them go faster. Once Atticus finally tried the slip and slide like this once, he was hooked. The poor dads, however, were exhausted!

 

And, right as the company came to pick up the inflatable slide, Atticus finally got brave enough to try it on Vic's lap. Of course, after that, he wanted to go again!  

And, finally after cleanup of everything, a celebratory bottle of wine MIGHT have come out for a few ladies. And then after doling out all the leftover food, the remaining kids MIGHT have eaten pizza on the altar. I don't know if this broke any church rules, but just in case, I didn't send this picture to the church facebook page...

TWO

We recently invested in a swimming pool for our backyard! We finally decided we needed something better than our big plastic round one, although we still use that one too. So, we spent $24.99 and bought this inflatable one! It is perfect for our family. Vic and I can both hang out in it and the kids have plenty of room to play. I actually think it's making them both more comfortable with getting water in their faces and splashing and playing. They like to "surf", and by surf, I mean they stand up on the little boogie board and then fall down and the other one rescues the one that fell. Over and over. Then, we have water shooters and the other night, Atticus and I had a blast shooting one another over and over in the pool. And, we have water balloon fights. We are really into those "bunch o balloons" that fills up like 30 at a time. They go fast, but they take about 20 seconds to make. It has just been really fun playing in the pool. And one night, Atticus and Grace were playing in the sprinkler and water hose and they began a game of "put water from the hose into your mouth and go spit it on Mommy". It was so funny watching them try to be so sneaky and laugh so hard when they spit it out. Oh and I can't forget about Everly. We have put her in the pool, but unless she is being snuggled with a paci, she is not the least bit happy. So we dress her in those cute swimsuits and don't make her stay in the water long. 

Here he is about to spit water on me!

 

 He's trying to look innocent...

 Baby backs are so stinking cute!

 This picture was taken right before she had a diaper explosion. I have not bought swim diapers yet, so her diaper was full of pool water. Therefore, there was no place for her diaper contents to go...

 So, before we took her inside for real bath, it was easiest to just hose her down outside. She was not impressed.

THREE

We ended our last week of gymnastics this week. It was a great 6 weeks and I would do it again next summer. It was great to have something to do and look forward to each week and the kids had fun. Actually, the for his last class, Atticus was the only one in it, so his teacher gave him lots of one on one and tried to make him do stuff that he usually tells her he doesn't want to do like hang upside down on the bar or flip over the bar. But, this time, she made him and of course holds him and makes it fun. But, when he would do it on his own, she would let go and then he thought she tricked him and he told her so! She thought he was so funny, but I knew he was not going to do that flip over the bar thing too easily for her. So, at the end of that lesson, I asked Atticus if he would want to do gymnastics again and he said "Definitely not." His teacher was great though and I think he would do it again. Grace, on the other hand, loved it so much and if I wasn't planning on putting her in dance this fall, we would do gymnastics again. On this last day, I put her in a hand-me-down leotard that someone gave us. I kept forgetting about it and it was sized big, so I never put her in it until the last day. But, she thought she looked great! I think both of their favorite parts of gymnastics was the trampoline. We might have to look into getting on next spring for our backyard. 

 She look so grown up in this photo.

 

 I love how they have them throw their hands in the air after a routine.

 This girl was waiting on someone in front of her and got distracted by the mirror. I laughed out loud watching her pose and smile in the mirror at herself. This girl!

 

And he did it! But, he was not as thrilled or as entertained as his teacher! 

FOUR

So, this year was great for the 4th of July because it was on a Monday and that gave Vic a 3 day weekend! After an extremely long and tiring week of VBS, I was so happy to do nothing all weekend. Well, we added in a quick date night on Saturday night and went to church on Sunday, but otherwise we just hung out in the pool and ate some tasty 4th of July treats on Saturday and Sunday. But, by Sunday night, Grace was sick and our actual 4th of July did not go as planned. Poor Grace. She gets these little viral bugs that have fever and throw up and then after about 2 days they usually go away. I think we've had them 3 times in the last 3 months. They are not always contagious, but when they are, only Atticus has gotten them. So strange and always so inconvenient. On Monday, Vic and Atticus went with the Scarmardo's to a parade I saw advertised on our neighborhood information app. It was in another neighborhood and while it mentioned that kids could line up earlier to be in the parade on their bikes and wagons, I just assumed there were more things in the parade. But, no. Apparently, that was all it was! Just kids going around a little triangle area 3 times. Oh well....I'll do more research next time! The rest of the day included naps for kids and chili dogs for dinner. But, we still have some cute 4th of July outfits that did not get worn, so I'm thinking a 4th of July repeat weekend is happening this weekend!

 

 Those little cheeks just couldn't stay in her swimsuit!

Atticus was trying to hide from Vic here. Sneaky boy!

I thought she was just being snuggly and sweet when she decided to curl up because she was cold in the pool. A little while later we realized she had fever.

So, earlier in the day, Vic realized the plastic part that holds the water balloons before they drop off full of water, made a great shower head. So, later that evening Vic brought soap and a wash cloth out and bathed Atticus in our outdoor shower! What a fun July 3rd day!

 The next day, we woke up to this cuteness!

 And later, she became my napping buddy!

Poor little Grace did this...

...while Atticus had park time and errands with Daddy (after the parade didn't work out).

 We finished our day with dinner and TWO 4th of July desserts that Atticus happily ate!

FIVE

On July 2nd, the Saturday night, Vic and I had another quick date while GG was here to watch kids. I saw an ad on facebook to go to a concert put on by Luke Pell, who happens to be on the Bachelorette season we are all watching right now! Although it was random, we all decided it looked legit and Vic, Katherine and Chris and myself decided to go. We drive about 15 minutes into the country to what is someone's home in the middle of nowhere. We drove through a pasture and then past the house and parked in another pasture. There were probably 200 people with lawn chairs eating free chili dogs and watermelon and pie. People were just hanging out like it was a family BBQ. It really was a public event hosted by some real estate firm here in town. Luke took pictures with fans before and then played a show. They were going to have fireworks at 9, but we decided to leave a little early to go grab a fun drink. But, it was so fun because Katherine and I felt so spontaneous! (something we never get to be now that we have kiddos). And, it was something so out of the ordinary; just some good country music out in the country while we visited and hung out. So fun! And as of now, Luke is still in the running to win Jo Jo's heart on the Bachelorette...but something tells me if he is playing a concert on the 4th of July weekend in College Station instead of sneaking a trip to see Jo Jo before the finale airs, that he is probably not going to win her heart! We shall see!

SIX 

And finally, here are some quick pictures of our little girl! I never did a 2 month post, but I will try to do a 3 month post

 Have a good weekend everyone!