One Sweet World

2012-02-06T12:18:00.001-05:00

It's been a while since I last updated, so I'm just going to load a bunch of recent pictures on here and hope it tells a story!

I am home from work with 3 sick babies, so MAYBE I will have a free second to put a post up. No guarantees though - this house has been the scene from a nightmare a few times already today. I've been tending to crying babies, cleaning up puke, cuddling babies, doing 76 loads of laundry, changing crib sheets, etc. without a second to spare. Grace has a nasty, nasty stomach bug, and Jack and Erin are running fevers. All of those viruses come with a case of extreme whininess and crabbiness too!

I want to put down for the record that Erin had her first night ever in her big girl crib last night. I know...almost 6 months old, I kept her in our room as long as possible. She was WAY too big for her bassinet (see below, LOL). She did fantastic! We put her down around 8, and she woke up just before 6. I'm sure she was much more comfortable in her spacious crib.

Here are some pictures from Jack's sleepover in Venice, FL with Grandma and Grandpa. We missed him so, soooooo much, but it helped that we could clearly see he was having a great time in the pictures.

Ready to go! Here he is right before leaving for his sleepover:

You can see that he didn't have any separation anxiety, which makes me happy and proud of him. He was very excited when we asked him if he wanted to leave to spend the night there. When he got back he told us both numerous times that he missed us so much and he kept asking us if we cried when he was gone lol.

He got to go swimming:

Eating at Salty Dog Cafe:

They visited Mote Aquarium.

Taking a (I'm sure quick) break from it all:

Enjoying playing in the sand at the beach:

There's a very similar picture of Colin when he was a kid like this. Taking a bath in the sink:

We enjoyed a weekend visit from Mimi last week.

They decorated sugar cookies one day while I was at work.

New shades! He said to me, "mommy, I changed my mind. My favorite color isn't red anymore. Now it's black." So those red sunglasses that Santa brought... those are no good anymore! ;)

We took a couple of trips to Waterfront Park.

A trip to the outlet mall:

And a girls' night out - Millennia Mall and P.F. Changs:

My most recent pictures of working on my photography skills:

Misc. Baby Erin:

Trying out a new pose LOL...

Gracie is a big fan of "dip", especially ranch dip.

It's funny - whenever I get Gracie all dressed and her hair fixed, she will usually stand up on the changing table and just look at me, waiting for me to say, "cute!" or take a picture. Here she is modeling:

When I'm on my own in the mornings, I try to get up around 5:30 so I have time to get myself ready before any kids wake up. I'm lucky on mornings when that happens. Usually, this is what I resort to while I get ready - putting on Dora while they all lay in my bed.

Woody playing with the barn and animals:

The girls all bundled up and ready for a stroller walk:

All 3 McCormick children:

Jack pretending to shave with the play set from Uncle Mike and Kiya. Bath time lasted for a LONG time when he still had some of the "shaving cream".

One of our favorite places to go as a family is Uno Pizzeria. They have outdoor seating, so we don't have to worry about annoying anyone with our loudness.

Playing with his t-ball set:

I posted this on facebook a couple of weeks ago. I had texted this picture to Colin to show him why we wouldn't be visiting the fire station that day. They both woke up from nap on the wrong side of bed! But I thought it was so funny when I looked at it again because they are both making the exact same facial expression and also their finger!

I have recently (within the past 5 weeks) started back running in order to get back into shape after 3 consecutive pregnancies. It's going pretty good (other than trying to find time to go), and on the weekends when Colin is working I've been having Devin come play with the kids. Kiya and I are doing a 5K in April. I also want to sign up through Team in Training for the Disney 1/2 marathon in January.

Cheese!!!

Colin went to pick up something at the outlet mall last week. Jack got to JUMP again!

Sunday morning donuts? Gracie says, "YES, please!"

Daddy and Jack working on the the truck. Jack loves tools, and said to me the other day, "My daddy can fix anything!"

And just keepin' it real... I want to show what was going on so I could finish this post up. Erin fell asleep on the desk, and Jack and Grace were watching Winnie the Pooh the Movie. And I might add that the "baby zone" is a DISASTER!!!!!

Scene's From Jack's 1st Camping Trip

2012-01-15T14:57:00.000-05:00

Colin took Jack camping for a special boys only night. They left yesterday late morning and came back this morning. You'll see below that they had FUN!! Us girls stayed WARM in our cozy beds!

fun in the wilderness

fireside dinner

warming up after a night of sleeping in the tent

2012-01-03T19:36:00.000-05:00

My New Years Resolution is to try to better manage my time! I just cannot find the time to get everything done that needs to be done in a day's time. Right now, for example, I have a limited window of time. I'm choosing to start a blog post, but I really wanted to go for a run and also order thank you cards. I guess something has got to give...

This morning we took Jack for his 3 year well visit. I can't believe that 11 lb. baby boy we brought home on Christmas morning is THREE!!! He weighed 35 lbs., and looks very healthy. He had to get one shot, but seems to be doing fine. He had many conversations with the NP, Eweena (Elana), and she said he was "hilarious". I heard him talking in his room during his "rest" time today saying, "I don't like shots at Dr. Yarckin's."

We made an appointment for Grace too. She had a park injury where she twisted her ankle and also a lingering cough. We are going to keep an eye on her ankle, since she seems to be improving daily. And she is starting an antibiotic for a sinus infection too. Poor girl needs to feel better! She weighed in at 22 lbs. Just for fun, I put Erin on the scale, and she is 15.10.

The kids will all three start a new day care tomorrow, Musicaro Family Day Care. It is right down the street from my school, and we feel comfortable sending the kids there. They will all go there when both Colin and I are working. On Colin's off days, either Jack or Grace will continue to go to Children of Promise. I'm going to alternate days taking them. We decided to do this for many reasons, mainly financial (they wouldn't accept part time infants, so we were going to be paying for Erin to be there every day when she would only be going 1-2 days a week) and also to have me only make one drop off in the already chaotic mornings, rather than two.

Erin is now rolling, reaching, and talking up a storm!

We had a wonderful Christmas vacation, visiting family and friends back "home" in the midwest and also having some down time around the house here. We made it to Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin all in a week's time. I have many pictures, but will try to pick a few.

One of the highlights for the kids during our trip...meeting Purdue Pete at a girls' basketball game:

All the kids were great little travelers. We had many "adventures" along the way, but overall, the drive wasn't bad!

Jack baked Christmas sugar cookies with Mimi while Gracie napped, and Colin, Erin, and I shopped for Purdue gear and ate at Nine Irish Brothers.

Gracie with her new cash register from Aunt Linda:

Court, Mel, Colin at the Heide Christmas gathering.

Papa and Grace:

Colin took Jack jumping at the mall while Courtney and I got massages one afternoon. He loved the one-on-one time.

Carusos and McCormicks

Senasec, Fulmer, and McCormick children:

Aunt Court with baby Erin

The big kids, plus Gracie, eating Pizza King. I think we ate PK at least 4 times last week! And Pepe's twice.

Max and Gracie

Kaelan and Jack sitting outside the jump house

Miss Addy and Gracie

We got to see snow one day. Colin took them out to play in it, which they enjoyed. Jack told me once we got home that he wants it to snow again.

Colin reading to Wes.

Gracie and Jack in their matching jammies with Jessie and Woody

Erin's favorite Christmas gift - an activity mat.

Grace modeling her new Christmas outfit from Grandma. Erin got one too, and I dressed them in the outfits as much as possible. So cute!

Here's Erin's Christmas outfit.

Smiley little girl:

Another Christmas gift - a new bouncy chair that she loves, but is quickly getting to big to sit in it comfortably.

Grace with her Baby Alive from Aunt Court. She is such a little mommy.

Jack with one of his favorite gifts - Cowboy Woody

Santa brought a Polar Express train!

Grandma and Grandpa with the little ones in their Christmas jammies Grandma got them.

Here's one way to get Grace to smile!

Sisters

Daddy and his baby girl

Grace with her buddy (my cousin), Olivia.

Birthday Boy with VeggieTales cake #2

Grace is SUCH a daddy's girl

Mimi and Great Aunt Judy with the babes

This was my horse when I was a kid.

Helping decorate the Christmas tree.

Lukie and Baby Erin

First taste of rice cereal...which she enjoys!

Am I supposed to swallow this?

2011-12-20T07:28:00.000-05:00

We had a mini birthday/football party on Sunday. Jack got a new scooter, from Uncle Mike and Kiya, which he loves! Kiya and I were very proud of the cake. Jack kept telling me he wanted a "budgietales" cake. Nowhere makes them, so Kiya made the fondant pieces and I made a cake and frosting, and it turned out beautifully (not to toot our own horns)!

I'm going to start a birthday tradition of asking the kids the same questions year after year. Here is my first attempt for Jack's 3rd birthday:

What is your name? um, Jack
How old are you? 2, I'm 2
What is your favorite color? um, red and black
What is your favorite toy? um, a little dumpster truck
What is your favorite food? um, fruit snacks
What is your favorite fruit? um, grapes
What is your favorite vegetable? um, fruit snacks
What is your favorite T.V. show? um, Veggietales
What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? um, hot dog
What is your favorite outfit? um, red
What is your favorite game? um, dinosaurs
What is your favorite snack? fruit snacks, fruit snacky
What is your favorite animal? um, a cow
What is your favorite song? Hot Diggity Dog
What is your favorite book? Dora ones
Who is your best friend? Baby Erin
What is your favorite kind of cereal? I don't know!
What is your favorite thing to do outside? um, go outside and run down the hill
What is your favorite thing to drink? juice
What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? um, toast
What is your favorite movie? um, Dora
Where do you want to work when you get older? um, at the fire station
Do you like school? yes
Who is your teacher? Miss Reaves
Who do you play with the most at school? um, Rylan
What is your favorite thing to do at school? um, i like gym
Do you take a nap every day? no
What do you want for your birthday dinner? um, a Eggo

Kelly, Devin, the kids, and I went to Magic Kingdom a couple of weeks ago. They were filming the Christmas parade, so we thought that would be so fun to see! Well, turns out it takes ALL day, literally. And they do soooo many takes of each and every part of it. People are also crazy about it... Not sure why exactly, but people would push and shove to get to their spot. Selena Gomez, Mario Lopez, and Justin Beiber were all there, so that could've been part of it. It really wasn't the best environment for the little ones. So we only saw a few minutes of it and spent the rest of the time doing rides. They did film the kids a few times though, so tune in to the Disney Christmas Parade to see if they made the cut! We rode Buzz Lightyear, It's a Small World, Dumbo, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Carousel, Winnie the Pooh, Snow White...and I think that was it. The kids loved it, but I think I finally came to the realization that you need a 1:1 ratio of adults to kids. It was insanely crazy, and each kid had a "buddy". I had Erin, Devin had Jack, and Kelly had Grace. Even Colin and I would have a very difficult time managing all 3 kids. We will have to wait a couple of years before we start going again (much to Colin's disappointment I'm sure).

Here we were just hanging out in the front yard on a nice day.

My mini Boilermaker:

Little Miss Mischief - I left the bathroom momentarily and came back to find her standing in a drawer and brushing Erin's hair...also getting into my make-up.

We went to an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party last weekend. We don't leave Erin with the babysitter yet, so she always gladly accompanies us to whatever social things we do. Here she is all decked out and ready to go!

Jack got a black eye by running into the corner of a table while we were at the party.

We went to Bass Pro to see Santa. The kids enjoyed the things to do while we waited in line just as much (okay, more than) as seeing Santa! Grace is still NOT a fan at all. Jack was unimpressed. He was under the impression that Santa was going to give him gifts right on the spot. When we were walking away he told me that he TOLD Santa he wanted red sunglasses, but he didn't give him any!

Our baby girl is 4 months old! She is such a joy to be around. Her doctor's visit today went well. She weighed 14.11 lbs (75th percentile) and was 25 3/4 inches long (95th percentile). She got 2 shots plus an oral vaccine, and seemed to do pretty well. She cried for a second, and then was a little fussy this evening I'm sure from the shots. She has a bit of a cold, mostly just a stuffy nose (along with Colin, Jack, and Gracie). Hopefully it will pass soon! She has been waking up once in the middle of the night, which she hasn't done since she was a few weeks old. Usually she will sleep from about 8PM-7AM. The doctor said it could be due to her congestion or it could indicate that she is ready for cereal. If she is still waking up after her cold goes away, I will start to gradually introduce solids. She's doing great! She is the easiest, most happy, social, and easygoing baby we've had (and the others weren't hard newborns at all).

Happy girl ready to meet Santa for the first time! Yes, this is what we wear in December in Florida.

And ending it with all 3:

New Years Resolution: (besides losing remaining 20 lbs. of baby weight by July, which is my 30th b-day and our 5 year anniversary) ... get back into blogging!!! I really enjoy blogging to record our family adventures.

2011-12-04T18:54:00.000-05:00

We are still here and doing good! Just really busy and never a dull moment. Plus every time I go to upload pictures, it takes ALL DAY...literally. Not sure what is going on with blogger, but I'm going to decrease the amount of pictures for that reason. Hope you enjoy!

Fun at Paradise Park

Loving having their car seats in the way back together.

Visit daddy at the fire station

2 Happy Campers!

A show before bed

We love Christmas around here! Our tree has relocated to our front porch because of a new allergy I've apparently developed. Waking up covered in hives is no fun! I had to sacrifice the tree unfortunately. I will be out the day after Christmas trying to find a bargain on an artificial tree!

Matching jammy night is fun!

We had a fun Thanksgiving week with Mimi, Papa, and Aunt Court. It was pretty crazy in the absence of our baby zone at home, so that's my excuse for not taking any pictures. :( We had lots of fun though, staying at a house with a pool and hot tub. We had a delicious feast and Mike and Kiya came to share in the festivities on Thanksgiving.

I think we may have worn them out and kept them up past bed time!

Pictures from their Thanksgiving Program, which we were all 5 there this year! Very cute and fun.

Colin and I deep fried Oreos for one of the desserts.

Our traditional front door pictures before they leave.

Aunt Court with Gracie before bed.

Jack and Aunt Court

Outlet Mall shoppin'! Only Starbucks for Gracie--jk!!!

Jack - same as always. Too smart for his own good. The most mischevious, strong-willed, and also affectionate kid there could be. Loves everything red, and requests to be "the boy in red" almost every morning (aka - red underwear, red shirt, red shorts). He wants Santa to bring him red sunglasses.

We went to Santa's Tree Forest, of course! Jack was playing in the hay.

Doing what I love!

Grace - The biggest thing about Gracie is that she is potty training!! To say that I am thrilled would be an understatement. She has pooped on the potty several times this week, and also peed a few times too. She even has done it without prompting. To think of only one in diapers, is sooooo exciting!!! Also her language is exploding, and she is learning lots!

Santa's Tree Forest

She finally fits into her Purdue cheerleader outfit!

I guess riding a horse for the first time is no big deal!

Erin - She is beginning to get very vocal. She seems like she is going to be very social, always smiling and talking. She recently started to really laugh and also spit and blow raspberries. The best baby ever! I'm sure I said that about all of them at one point, but she is always happy and so much fun! She isn't rolling over yet, but when she is on her back, she rolls to her side easily. She seems content to lay on her belly, so she doesn't even really try to roll over. She just lays there with her head up and look around.

Always smiling!

I always attempt to get pictures of her rolls!

Trying her Polo track suit on. I'm afraid she's already outgrown it!

Cheese!

We had family pictures taken a few weeks back, which turned out great:

2011-11-19T10:25:00.000-05:00

She wasn't a fan of having a hat on at all, but it looks so cute.

Surrounded by laundry!

Gracie colored while I cooked chili

and she's happy about it!

Devin making Erin smile at Chipotle

This is a picture of the monitor during nap. She had removed her pants and diaper, and here she is working on her socks.

I'm so smiley!!

I rounded the corner to find Jack doing this. I had to laugh!

Pictures from our annual Uncle Donald's Farm trip --- SO fun!

Ready for my first trip!

walking in

A few other misc. video and pictures:

The aftermath of a donut. We never have donuts, but I decided to get some last weekend. I gave them each a whole sprinkled donut, and what's on her face is all that is left of her donut!

2011-11-05T14:00:00.000-04:00

Some pictures from poor Jack when he was sick. That fever just made him feel so puny and weak. At one point, we got on FaceTime with Colin at work, and less than a minute after we hung up, Jack was out cold on the couch.

Fell asleep numerous times that day just watching T.V. This is NOT Jack! Trust me...he's not a fan of naps.

Red face from fever :(

I let him eat anything that sounded good that day. Juice, popcorn, and Dora in my bed it is!

Trying to eat dinner ... pitiful!

Sick little boy

The next morning... he actually felt lots better the next day. He kicked it fast.

My chubby little cuddle bug

Puzzles in bed

Puzzle time! Jack wanted them both to wear hats. Grace complied.

Halloween 2011 -- I didn't get many good pictures. Nobody wanted to wait for me to get my camera, so I just had my phone with me. Jack was Buzz Lightyear, Gracie brought back the Nemo costume from last year, and Erin was a monster. She only wore it for one house though, because it was way too heavy for the fall Florida weather. Everyone had a fun time. Jack kept telling people, "Don't forget to close your door!" at every house we went to. Grace wouldn't give up her pumpkin bucket no matter how heavy it got. Jack wanted me to help him carry it as it got heavier, but not Gracie! We did the entire neighborhood, and by the time we got back, trick or treating was pretty much over. We were bad neighbors. And we were left with all 4 bags of candy that I bought plus 2 full pumpkin buckets from the kids' candy. Grace also took it upon herself to walk into an unlocked house when the family didn't answer the door fast enough...oops!

Family Photo Halloween 2011

Trick or Treating even wore this one out!

What can I say? I have a dainty petite little girl, but she sure does love playing in the dirt!

LOL First time in the hair chair. We were discussing how we could arrange our dinner table for 5, so I thought I would try it out.

Colin texted me this picture when I was working. Finally now that the weather is PERFECT, we can get out of the house and enjoy the outdoors. He took them to the Purple Park.

She likes pumpkin pie!

...and mac & cheese!

Posing in her cute jammies that she never gets to wear since we have to put her in a onesie. I paid for it this morning! Had to clean out a big mess in her bed. loooovely! The first words I heard coming from her room this morning were, "ewwwww! yuck!"

Big girl!

whooooa ... falling over!

night night

They had breakfast at the white table this morning.

I got out our tub of books this morning and sorted out the fall, Thanksgiving, and Christmas books to stock on their shelves. This kept them both occupied for quite some time. Jack's new favorite books are the Marley ones and Noodles the dog. Gotta get some more because the ones we are reading are Valentine's day and Easter ones.

They look so unusual in long sleeves and long pants! Cute though.

Coloring in a Clifford the Big Red Dog Christmas coloring book we found this morning.

The one who isn't holding Erin always looks ticked off!

Jack would've read to her for as long as I allowed it! She started to get uncomfortable though.

Enjoy your weekend!!!!

2011-10-30T15:18:00.000-04:00

Here are some videos that Colin took at "A Lot of Pumpkins".

riding a horse

more riding a horse

feeding the baby goats

more petting zoo fun

Happy Fall!

2011-10-30T14:40:00.000-04:00

We have a nasty virus that Jack and Grace are passing back and forth. Currently Jack has a fever and runny nose. He's been sleeping and/or watching T.V. all day up until now. Motrin is a miracle fever reducer! I can tell he is feeling significantly better, but he is still milking it. I asked him if he felt better just now, and he said in a sad voice, "no, I'm still really sick, mom." We are just going to relax and hang out at home today. It is such a nice day. I wish we could go do something, but instead I have the windows open, which is great too! It's going to be a crazy week around here with me staying at school late for parent/teacher conferences, so hopefully everyone stays healthy!

Erin had her 2 month well visit on 10/19, and her stats are:

Weight: 12.6 lbs.

Height: 23 in.

I looked up Jack's 2 month stats and Gracie's. Jack was definitely the biggest, and Gracie the smallest. It's funny because it follows how they were at birth.

Our freshly baked Halloween cookies! We are all about getting into the fall spirit around here. :)

Her scowl

Erin, Jack, and Teddy...ready for a walk!

We all went to Target and tried out the gigantic stroller!

I brought Jack...I mean Buzz Lightyear... to Fall Festival at my school, and we hung out in my classroom before it started.

Making a bookmark (or 3) with RED crayons, RED beads, and a RED pipe cleaner. Can you guess his favorite color?

Digging in the hay trying to find a winning sucker! (This was our booth.)

Back for another book mark

My wonderful 2nd grade team as scarecrows (half of us)

Next, we have the many smiles of Erin. She is SUCH a smiley girl!!!

Baby Erin as Casper the friendly ghost

Visiting the petting zoo at "A Lot of Pumpkins". This is a tradition that we started a while back. It started out as just Colin and I going, and every year we've added another person. It's such a fun and festive place to go during the fall and then back again at Christmas time!

"Can you get me out of here so I can have some fun too?"

Grace is such a daddy's girl these days!

Jack looooved feeding the adorable baby goats.

He was the only one that cooperated and posed for me. So cute!

adorable double chin!!

loves him some baby Erin!!!

This is the first year that he has wanted to ride the horse. Last year he was way too scared. He did it twice, and it was his most favorite part about going this year!

You may remember I did this zip line last year...barely. Well they have a MUCH smaller scale one for kids. We went over there with intentions of having him do that one. All of the sudden I saw Colin and Jack walking up the stairs to the big one. I may or may not have freaked out a little (or a lot). I was so nervous!!! But Jack got off and acted like he had just went down a slide or something. Not a big deal AT ALL to him. He just started talking about riding the horse again...

What on earth has gotten into my cautious little boy?!

There he goes!

I asked Jack if he wanted to get a BIG pumpkin, but he said he wanted a small pumpkin that he could carry.

Erin seems to be happy! :)

Pumpkin picking!

LOOOOVE this picture!!

Made our choices! Time to go home.

I got bangs!

We got a babysitter for J&G, and headed out to a friend's birthday party. Erin is ready to PART-AY! :)

Jack pretending he is a baby...in Erin's bassinet with her blanky and paci.

I was tackling the monstrous job of cleaning out my closet and all of my maternity clothes. Jack watched a show while I did it. E got bored apparently.

Sometimes these two play so great together! At this time, they were having so much fun with a picnic.

Taking a break from outlet mall shopping to play

He really was excited for his Fall Harvest Festival at school!

Carving pumpkins

FInished product

Jack's class

Ready to go

smooch

Ready for fall fun at Sea World

Waiting to get into Sea World

I made them pose right after we entered the park. Couldn't get any eye contact!

Grace as Nemo, Haley as a witch, and Jack as Buzz...posing with the witches

Colin had the difficult job of maneuvering the kids through huge crowds to get to the candy stops. They had fun though!

They stopped to watch a mini show. Both sat and paid attention for a while, so they must've enjoyed it!

Can't go to Sea World without seeing the Shamu show!

Dolphin watch

This was so cool - going under the aquarium.

2011-10-15T10:56:00.000-04:00

Nothing major today. A long work week kicked my booty, and I don't really want to get off the couch. :) Although the week ended great, with a surprise visit to my classroom by Colin and baby Erin as well as a new iPhone. Then last night Colin, Erin, and I went out for a date night. Doesn't get much better!

Sporting their new NIke Free shoes. :) This is Grace's new standard outfit. It saves us a heck of a lot of cleaning when we can't get her diaper off!!!

But I just wanted to put it down for the record that Erin officially coos and talks...so cute! I need to get it on video ASAP.

2011-10-06T16:59:00.000-04:00

We had a fun and eventful day yesterday - ENT appointment for J & G, Toys R Us, Jimmy Johns for lunch, then to the outlet mall to get Grace a pair of tennis shoes. Then we got a sign that it was time to go home! Jack, Erin, and I stayed in the van while Colin and Grace went to get the shoes. At that time, Jack was telling me he REALLY had to go potty. I had to resort to having him pee in the Jimmy John's cup (how convenient having a boy!), then Erin started crying, so I went to get her out of the her car seat, and there was poop everywhere. She had a major blow out all over herself, her clothes, the car seat...you name it! I went through about 20 wipes trying to get her cleaned, took her clothes off and wrapped her in a blanket, and I texted Colin. He came out to the car with Grace who had pooped while they were shoe shopping. Of course we had no wipes left....

Erin - She has been awake so much more lately, and I haven't been able to get much of anything done today. Now she and Grace are both asleep, so I'm jumping on to post some pictures. She still is sleeping great at night. She is getting SO big, and I love all of her rolls. It looks like she has about rubber bands wrapped around each thigh. So adorable! She still smiles quite often too, and I think she will be quite social like her brother! She is mostly content and relaxed, but she will let us know when she isn't happy about something!

Grace - She makes us laugh a whole lot every day! She is pretty much a canary, and repeats everything you say. Even if you ask her a question, rather than answering the question, she just repeats the last word that you said. "Grace, do you want some chicken?" "Chicken." "Grace, do you want to take a bath?" "Bath." She loves the movie Tangled, and can sit through most of it. She especially enjoys the singing and dancing scenes, and imitates them. There is one part that she and Jack clap and run around in circles imitating Rapunzel and Eugene. VIDEO (but Jack was at school). She is still taking her pants and diaper off during naps and at night quite often. While I was working on this post, she pooped, took her diaper off, then started yelling "poop" at me. Hopefully potty training is in her near future!

Jack - We have no clue where he comes up with some of the things he says, but he cracks us up too. The other day I went to pick him up from school, and there was a lady waiting to meet me. It was a girl's mom. A girl who he talks about quite often and tells us that she chases him. She was going on about how her daughter never stops talking about Jack, and that she had to meet his parents so we could set up some play dates. Mr. Social Butterfly! He loves the movie Lion King since I've introduced it to him this week. He tells us he only likes the little lions though, not the big ones. He is also all about talking about his "favorite color" - red. I think he is phasing out his nap, which makes Colin and I cringe! He will still be having a "quiet time" in his room, even if he doesn't sleep.

Ready to Boiler Up on the Day of the Notre Dame/Purdue game...not so great, just like last year!

All my future Boilermakers

They like to take turns holding Erin, who looks bigger than 1.5 year old Gracie!

I've been trying to get a lot of pictures with all 3 of them. This is the common pose, because they just keep trading off the baby.

These two will have a special relationship I think! They look alike, and Jack is in love with his baby Erin!

All the kids love my new stroller! I didn't even tell them to hold hands. They enjoy sitting next to each other. I've been able to get walks in every day too, which has been great.

We took a break from our walk to play at the "purple park".

My little monkey

Roi needs to learn manners when going for walks....which is probably my fault because I'm bad about taking him on walks.

J & G had trail mix in her room. I thought they were enjoying a snack at the white table, but boy was I wrong! These did not vacuum up either!!!

Another walk!

A Publix run before picking up Jack from school.

He had to go to the bathroom, and there was no stopping him! I had to have Colin drive to bring us wipes. He got it on video too, but I'll spare Jack the future embarrassment.

Posing after I got her hair done for the day.

We went back to Toddler Time at Sky Zone this week. This time we didn't make it to the morning session, so we went at 1:00 and skipped naps. Not very many kids came (probably nap time for them too). We were the only ones there for a bit at the beginning, and Colin and I were having a bit too much fun!

Based on this picture, I think I missed my calling as a cheerleader :) At one point we were sort of playing dodgeball when I came running across the entire gym and couldn't stop. I ran into the trampoline wall with my head and sunglasses went flying, my hair was everywhere. My neck is still a bit stiff from it! Colin is still laughing the sight of the whole thing! lol This place is soooo fun, and I'm going to go to an aerobics class on Thursday night. I'm really excited (and nervous too).

There was a great sunset this night when we were coming home, so I told Jack I wanted to take a picture. By the time I got back outside, it was gone.

Testing out his new car seat in daddy's truck

Super Grace

Again, what a proud big brother Jack is! Grace is proud too, but she is bored since it isn't her turn to hold Erin.

Look how long Erin is! I'm excited for her 2 month well visit to see what percentiles she falls into.

Sisters

loooooove this picture

And just like THAT, my summer break / maternity leave is over. I sure am going to miss these smiling faces come Monday!!! :'( I'm trying to convince Colin to take Sunday off so we can have a family day, and so I can have lots of distractions from thinking about being gone all week.

We went for their ear tube check ups. Everything looked great. Jack weighed 33.6 lbs., and Grace 20.4. Jack was talking to the doctor like he had known him all his life.

I'm soaking up every little cuddley nap I can get from this one.

Happy Fall!

Colin and Jack came home from grocery shopping with a new pair of Halloween jammies for everyone!

Tummy Time

Posing before we left to take Jack to school.

My happy little girl

Smiley too!

This was our walk this morning. Erin loves getting out in the fresh air!

Dancing during Tangled

2011-09-30T14:11:00.000-04:00

I took Erin to Mom's Morning Out at the hospital this week to make sure that she is gaining weight. She sure is! She weighed in at 11 lbs. 12 oz. on the hospital's scale. The lactation consultant said that weight gain was great and that she looked very healthy and hydrated. I asked her if it was okay to let her sleep, rather than wake her up at night. She asked how long, and I shaved off a good two hours of what she really sleeps because I knew she would freak out. This baby literally sleeps from about 8:30 or 9 until 6 or 6:30 without waking me up.

I had my 6 week post partum appointment yesterday, and had lost another 11 lbs. from my 2 week visit, which I now weigh 45 lbs. less than I did at my last appointment before I gave birth. Still quite a ways to go, but making progress! I need to lose another 30 lbs., and I need to be a lot more patient than I am! I started the 30 Day Shred workout a few times this week. Tomorrow morning I'm going to hopefully attempt to begin the whole Couch to 5k process again. Jack likes to do the "shred" with me, and he asks me when we can "dance with those wadies (ladies)". He will keep me motivated!

Video of Jack going down the slide at the pool

Video of Jack singing his Days of the Week song from school

Video of Pool Time

Erin is 6 weeks old today! I have one week left of maternity leave, which gives me a lot of anxiety. I don't want to leave her and miss out on anything! Maybe it will be fine...hopefully...but right now, it seems like it just might kill me. :(

More pictures!

Jessica sent this from her iPhone. She took it while the kids were playing together.

TRex lighting isn't the greatest, but here is Jack and Kaelan hanging out before the food came.

LOOOOOOVE how she holds her arms close to her, like I'm sure she had to do when she was in my belly.

Watching Tangled

Loves his sister!

She was not happy that I took her paci out for a picture!

Went for a visit to see daddy

Grace is going to drive us crazy by taking her pajamas AND diaper off at night! ahhhhh

These eyes can get her just about anything ;)

Taking a peek at her snoozing sister

We had a football party last weekend. Lots of fun, but didn't pull off a win. The game was quite brutal. Better luck this week!

Showing our Bear pride!

Posing with Uncle Mike and Kiya. Jack had a gnat buzzing around his eye, so I couldn't get a decent shot of him.

This sums up Grace's feelings on TRex...

Once we got in, she was fine!

Loves to play in my make-up

I got a new double umbrella stroller this week! Unfortunately, my van is being worked on, and we left the strollers in it by accident! I haven't got a chance to really test it out, but hopefully tomorrow! Grace doesn't seem to enjoy it. hah

happy happy

We went to Toddler Time at SkyZone yesterday. The kids had a fun time. What a great activity to burn some energy when it is still so hot outside! BUT....relief is in sight! Highs in the LOW 80s this weekend. CANNOT wait!

I got a sling to try out. I'm going to venture to say I'm not a natural "baby wearin' momma"! Maybe I'll try again. When I got her down in there, Colin said she was turning red and she started grunting. I think she could breathe, but I'm going to say she probably wasn't very comfortable!

Super Jack!

Watching Blue's Clues while I put laundry away

Grace has been all about holding baby Erin today! And, other than poking her in the eye once, she's been pretty nice to her so far today!

2011-09-21T13:24:00.001-04:00

I just uploaded all my iPhone and camera pictures to share....

Pretty girl

I couldn't choose which picture to post. They all show very familiar expressions of Jack's. This guy was ready to BOILER UP!

Cheese!

These two were ready to BEAR DOWN! We will all be dressed for the big game this weekend too!

Nap time during the game. It's funny that we've used this bouncy chair so much with Erin. The other two got put in it a handful of times TOTAL. We used the swing constantly with J & G, but rarely have used it for E.

We had some visitors last week - the Senasecs were visiting Disney. They came over for a play date - lots of fun!

We got them all to sit still and look --- WHAT!? Not sure how this happened.

The only reason Gracie wasn't dressed for the game was because Paigie wanted to match her. So cute!

"What mom?"

Taking a snooze on the guest bed

Hanging out in jammies before bed

We went to the Disney resort to swim a couple of times. Here we have Paige and Jack playing on the bed.

There was a pirate splash pool with a huge bucket of water that dumped out every couple of minutes. None of the kids were too sure about it at all. Here is Jack sitting back and watching. He knows he doesn't want that water dumped on him!

First time in a swimming suit!

Still just watching the bucket of water...

These two barely stepped foot in the splash pool because of the bucket of water. We eventually ended up gong to another pool that everyone enjoyed!

Napping in the shade

I took Erin grocery shopping with me the other day. We had lots of visitors who wanted to gather around the cart and look at her.

Love these pools that the small kid can just walk into!

The first time we went to their resort, it was all 5 of us. Colin had been up literally the entire night with a fire, but he didn't want to miss out on any fun, so he was such a trooper and came, even though I told him to stay home and get some sleep. The second time that we headed back to hang out with them, Colin was working. I was very brave to take all three kids by myself, but we had a lot of teamwork going on. Trent took the two big kids, Katrina took the middle kids, and I stood with the babies since I can't get in the pool anyways until 6 weeks post partum. He is laid-back Addy girl just hanging out!

Such a sweet face!

A famous bath time photo!

Trying to show off her big blue eyes, but it was too dark.

Gracie modeling one of her new swimming suits that we got her at Old Navy. They have some great bargains right now! I think this was about $2.

Just like Jack did, Erin loves her paci.

Hi Mom!

Pretty dress

So adorable!

Jack trying on daddy's work boots

We spent some time out back on the swings while Colin cleared out some vines that were growing wild. Always a fun time!...even though we ended up getting eaten by mosquitos!

Cheese!!!

Could not get this stubborn girl to smile for the life of me!

Then, along came daddy!

Erin snoozed on the guest bed so I could see her through the window while we were out there.

Weeeeee!

Sisterly love

I hold her like this quite a bit, if you couldn't already tell!

Sporting another Old Navy bargain!

Jack was slithering around on the floor saying he was a snake.

Got her pillow, blanky, and a teddy bear.

Posing just like I asked them to!

Looks just like Jack with this scowl face!

One of the few times she was in her swing.

Alert girl

We had some other great friends come for a Disney visit right after the Senasecs - the Fulmer family. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures though. :( Here we are waiting outside T-Rex at Downtown Disney. Jessica and the kids also came over for a quick play visit at our house, but...no pictures. The wild and very active boys had a lot of fun together!

This was somewhat of a rough outing... Several things happened, but Grace came tumbling down these rocks. Fortunately, she landed gently on her back and didn't fall all the way to the ground. She didn't get hurt at all, but it could've been really bad.

At first she was scared to death of all the things inside the restaurant, but she loosened up. Colin loved the food, and Jack is a big fan of dinosaurs these days, so I think we will head back soon!

He's a big fan of Mr. Potato Head. Mom is not a big fan with the millions of pieces she picks up numerous times a day! :)

They were looking at the photo album of Erin's newborn pictures.

One that really shows her blue eyes. I swear my other two were not born with blue eyes! They both came out with dark eyes. It will be interesting to see if Erin keeps her blue eyes.

Oh boy.... Yesterday we went to Orlando for a few errands. Colin had ran into Dick's Sporting Goods. I was in the van, eating a Jimmy John's sub while feeding Erin. Jack and Grace were in their car seats watching Little Einsteins. Jack told me he had to go potty, so I texted Colin to come get him. The next thing I knew, he had escaped his car seat, and was squatting in the middle of my van...peeing! What in the world were you thinking, little buddy!? Colin ran into Toys R Us and grabbed the cheapest pair of shorts he could find (of course I didn't have another pair of shorts!).

Sweet baby sleeping on Jack's floor while we played.

And, to even it out between embarrassing stories... this is what I was dealing with this morning. Gracie takes her diaper off quite a bit these days. She went into the bathroom, took her diaper off, then pooped on the floor. Lovely!

I'll TRY to be better about updating. Especially because I just used up my entire nap time to do this since I was so behind. :)

Erin's Newborn Pictures - 9 days old

2011-09-21T12:24:00.000-04:00

I know most of you probably have seen these on facebook already, but just in case, I wanted to also post them here. I apologize for my horrible blogging habits lately. If I'm completely honest with myself, it probably isn't going to get much better. My maternity leave days are quickly dwindling away. Colin and I exert every last drop of our energy during the day. By the time we get all the kids to bed, we crash ourselves! The last thing I want to do is sit at the computer during my "me time". I love these pictures so much, and I'm so happy that I decided to get them done professionally. Neither of the other kids had newborn pictures. What can I say about baby e... She is still a wonderful baby! I could spent my entire day just holding her (sometimes I do!) and staring at her. She eats every 3 hours during the day. We are trying to get her to go down at 7:30 with the others, but she usually stays up an extra hour or so. She then will sleep until between 2 and 4. She quickly eats then goes right by to sleep for another 3 hours or so. She is such a smiley little girl too. She started smiling in her sleep when she was just days old, but I'd say by the time she was 2 weeks old, she would look at you and smile. She does that all the time. The other day we were laying in bed with her and she was asleep, and she had her first giggle. It was so cute! I'm savoring every second of her newborn stage - love it!!

2011-09-12T12:56:00.000-04:00

Nap time at the McCormick household, and I'm enjoying the sweet sound of silence! Not much new to report, but wanted to upload my recent pictures.

2011-09-09T17:19:00.000-04:00

Videos - My pictures are taking FOREVER to upload onto blogger...ugh! So I'm just doing a separate post with videos while I wait. Like I mention in my other post, I was drugged on pain killers and oblivious that many of these videos are being taken, but it was so fun to find them and watch them this morning! Thanks to whoever took the videos!

Lunch time discussion

Hospital Visit 1

Hospital Visit 2

Hospital Visit 3

Hospital Visit 4

SuperJack

Hanging Out

More Hanging Out

2011-09-06T14:17:00.000-04:00

Really quickly here... Jack is at school, and both girls are napping. I need a nap badly today, so I gotta take advantage! We just got back from another weight check for Erin. She weighed in at 10 lbs. 6 oz. today, and that was before her feeding, so she's doing great with the weight gain! Last night I think I learned that she still needs to be swaddled. I tried not swaddling her because she naps with her arms up above her head, so I thought she would like no swaddle. She woke up at least 3 extra times I think just because she was cold. I'll definitely be swaddling her tonight! I'm one tired momma today!

Jack trying to get Gracie to walk with him on the path.

She would rather venture off on her own!

Waiting for Jack to go potty before going to play.

Riding a little boy's tricycle. He had it parked at the playground where we were playing, and Jack asked if he could try it.

He loved riding it all around the pavilion.

Swinging before we left. I was far away on a bench with Erin, so it's hard to see.

Grace and Mimi in the shade at the park

Squished up face - napping on my chest

Nap time for everyone

Sleeping in her bassinet. Such a sweet face

See a theme? She enjoys some chest action!!!

Once again...

Daddy helping Jack ride the new tricycle Papa bought him. He has a very difficult time steering, and an even more difficult time being patient! :)

Tradition picture in front of the door before heading back to Indiana.

We decided to have lunch out - all 5 of us. It was actually VERY successful!!! You can see we are seated outside--that's so we don't bother anyone. But everyone actually behaved and ate really well.

Uno Pizzeria lunch

Yesterday we went to Waterfront Park again. Jack practiced riding his tricycle, Jack and Grace played on the playground and swam in the lake. Erin relaxed in her seat for most of the outing.

Playground fun! She loves to play with the kids and repeat everything they say! Jack played too. One little girl said something about a little baby (she was referring to Grace). Jack thought she was talking about him apparently because he piped up with, "I'm NOT a little baby!"

This was so sweet to watch. The little boy was helping Jack play catch with his football. He was so patient with him, and cheered when he would catch it!

Daddy took the kids out to swim in the lake. Everyone had a blast out there. Erin and I sat in the shade and watched.

Napping in Jack's room while everyone else plays.

First picture with all 3! Hopefully I'll get a better one soon.

Jack's new jammies! We saw them on TV and then drove all the way into Orlando to the Florida Mall, all 5 of us, to get them because we knew he would love these things. And he definitely LOVES them!!! This morning when I went to get him out of his room, he pushed the red button on his shirt, came charging out into the living room shouting, "BUZZ LIGHTYEAR TO THE RESCUE!!!!" We've also heard a lot of, "To infinity...and BEYOND!" lately. Tonight he will debut his Woody jammies. :)

Sweet girl sleeping in her bouncy seat. I know I have lots of pictures with her sleeping, but we are actually seeing her be awake more and more these days!

I have more pictures on my camera, but my battery is dead right now. I'll be back soon with more!

2011-09-02T16:35:00.001-04:00

Just a quick update on the girls' well visit's today -

Erin was up to 10 lbs. even. She grew in length an inch and is now 22 inches long. Her head was 35 cm. Her height and weight were both in the 90th percentile. I'll take her back on Tuesday to ensure that she has reached her birth weight of 10 lbs. 3 oz. She also got 1 shot, her first, which was the hepatitis B vaccine. To Compare - Here is the post from Grace's 2 week visit. Here is the post from Jack's 2 week visit.

Grace STILL hasn't broken 20 lbs. She is 19 lbs. 9 oz. (3rd percentile) and 31 1/4 inches long (50th percentile). Her head was 47 cm. She needed 1 shot for the chicken pox. She won't have to go back for a well check until her 24 month appointment.

Both girls got a healthy report!

Just for fun...a comparison of all the babies' hospital pictures! They each have their own look.

2011-08-31T19:37:00.000-04:00

I forgot to add a couple of details about Erin's birth in my last post. One is that she was born with black hair and blue eyes (that seem to continue getting bluer). She also had done so much flipping and flopping that she got a knot in the umbilical cord, but it didn't effect her at all. Now that I'm up and running (almost feeling back to myself), I'm going to be making an effort to take many more pictures! These are all just pictures taken on cell phones, and mostly taken by Courtney...not me. I also got her newborn pictures done professionally, and am soooooo excited to get those photos back in a couple of weeks. The photographer gave me one as a sneak peek, but there will be many more adorable poses to come! She also insisted on taking some of me with Erin, which I guess could be a good thing since I've yet to have my picture taken with her, other than the one with me laying on the operating table. Baby Erin continues to be a mellow, easy going baby, much like Grace was. As of the past couple of days, she's been awake more and more. She still sleeps well at night, only getting up to eat around 2 and 6, then right back to sleep. Such a sweetie! We got for a her 2 week well visit this Friday. Grace is also going to have her 18 month well visit that day, just a few weeks early. I will update again at that time and hopefully have many more pictures!

She smiles quite a bit for a brand new girl! Colin captured this one during one of her naps on his lap.

Sisters

First time holding Erin. We were visiting Colin at the fire station.

Sneak peek from her newborn photo shoot

She quickly realized how crazy our house has become, but crazy in a good way for the most part! :)

Grace has been extra cuddly these past couple of days. She was running a fever off and on, we think due to one of her bottom teeth trying to break through. Her gums are super swollen and red from it.

Love for Papa from all the grandkids

Another napping smile!

Alert girl

Napping on Mimi while we went to see a movie

"Life outside the womb is EXHAUSTING!"

Erin Olivia is here!!!

2011-08-25T11:16:00.000-04:00

Our sweet baby girl, Erin Olivia made her entrance into the world on Friday, August 19th at 11:47 via c-section. She was 21.5 inches long and weighed 10 lbs. 3 oz. We are adjusting well to a family of 5, and life is great. Colin and I are feeling very blessed and complete. We are so in love with baby girl, and there is just nothing better than a sweet newborn baby in the house. She nurses and sleeps like a champ. Jack and Grace are doing so great with her. Jack enjoys loving on her pretty much nonstop, giving her kisses and hugs. My recovery is going great, which is a major change from the previous two. I don't have a lot of pain anymore, and have only had to take Advil for pain relief the past couple of days.

Welcome to the world!

First group shot right after she made her grand entrance

look at her legs!

love

This is when Colin and Erin were in the nursery. Jack, Grace, and Grandma are taking a peek at the newest family member.

This picture looks so much like big brother when he was a newborn!!!

checking out my new sister

He is so proud! He told my friends that came to visit, "This is my sister. Do you want to come pet her, girls?"

Uncle Mike helping out with bedtime when we were still in the hospital.

All the grandkids!

Kisses for sister

Daddy's favorite - napping on his chest

Hanging out in the hospital bed

such sweet hugs

more cuddling

Her purple "first favorites" outfit from Baby Gap

He looks upset, but he wasn't! He loves her.

Our first outing as a family of 5 - went to get Erin's weight checked at the pediatrician's

Lastly, I was so proud of Jack for bringing this home from school last week!!! Such a big boy!

The blog is now private again. If you know people who enjoy the blog, just have them email me their email address so I can add them.

2011-08-18T06:43:00.001-04:00

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. I can't remember a time when I've ever been this stressed...for various reasons, but this week mainly trying to get everything lined up for my sub before Friday. Today I have several meetings, so my time to work in my classroom is very limited. I'm praying that i can get it all ready for her. I guess the blog has taken a back seat. I'm just going to put some pictures on here. Hopefully I will blog from my hospital bed on Friday using my iPhone with pictures of our new baby girl. Today I had a doctor's appointment, and she said that I'm effaced, dilated, and low positioned. She said it's hard to tell when, but my body is starting all the preparations for labor. I think I'll make it another 24 hours though!

Jack has said some funny things lately, but I can't remember all of them right now. One thing is he doing lately is memorizing movie lines. The other day he said to me, "My father's not crazy! He's a genius!" He said it with the most expression in his voice. That is a line from Beauty and the Beast. Then he was skipping back and forth in the hallway singing a song. Kelly, Devin, and I couldn't really understand what he was saying, but at the end of each phrase he would say, "nuh-uh!" Then I figured out he was singing, "No there ain't no road too long, nuh-uh!" which is a song from Follow That Bird. Also, I think it's safe to say that he is officially potty trained, with the exception of bedtime. I sent him in underwear to school Tuesday, and no accidents. We have the occasional one at home, but it is usually in the evening when he starting to get tired and misbehave. The other night when I let him in the living room from his high chair, I told him to go get in the tub, and he decided to pee a stream from the kitchen to the bathroom. uhh

Grace is changing and learning all of the time. She can repeat just about any word and has become quite chatty. Although she might have a shy gene in her, because when we are around strangers, she becomes very quiet. She went to school Tuesday, and she is going today as well. They moved her into the toddler room, and said she did great with the exception of nap time. They're expected to sleep on cots, and I'm sure she had no clue what that was since she's never had to sleep anywhere but a crib before.

I keep loading pictures. It takes about 15 minutes, but then don't go on the post. Hopefully it doesn't have to do with our new t.v. and internet provider that we just switched to. Strange! Therefore, not many pictures this morning! More tomorrow I'm hoping.

2011-08-02T19:35:00.000-04:00

The kids and I met Devin and Kelly at the library this morning so that Colin could steam clean the carpets before "d-day". They mostly enjoyed the puzzles and play areas at the library. They did a little bit of reading too, but preferred the other things this time. And I must add that Jack has been in underwear ALL day today, even during outings. He did have one "accident" at home this evening, but this was about the best I've seen him do for an entire day!

When did he get so big!? He looks like a little preschooler in this picture!

After many, many attempts, I finally got Grace doing some of her tricks on video. She is one stubborn little girl!

That's all for tonight!

2011-08-01T12:59:00.000-04:00

Happy August! The countdown begins - 18 days!!!

It's 7:00am, and I'm currently waiting for the first kid to wake up. That doesn't happen often...or ever for that matter. I heard Gracie saying, "hi" over and over on the monitor so I got up, but now she is laying back down, so I thought I would get started on this. I think she feels like she needs to wait until she hears that Jack is awake before she can get out of bed. Every morning Jack calls for me ("Mommy, I'm all done sleeping now. I'm wake up. Come and get me please."), I go get him, then we go in and get Gracie, so I think it's just a routine for her now.

I took a photography class at Best Buy this weekend. They just taught the basics of all the things D-SLR cameras can do. I was practicing quite a bit yesterday. I took my camera off the automatic setting, and set all of the pictures up based on the conditions. Hopefully I'll get better and better! It's hard when your main subjects are so energetic. After I manage changing the aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc. I might want to make some purchases like a flash attachment, some lens filters, and a telephoto lens. :)

Jack absolutely LOVES swimming these days. He often will tell me, "mommy, will you please text Beth to see if we can go in her ploo (pool)?"

jump!

The title of this picture is "Lazy Sunday". Needless to say, he was my easiest subject!

Trying to get the look where one main close-up object is in focus, and the background is blurry.

SO excited to put flowerbands on the baby!! Grace won't keep them in for long at her age.

I got out our huge storage bin of books last night to try to find a specific one for Jack. I go a little crazy buying books for them, so what I end up doing is just rotating the books out every couple of months or so. They each found several to pull out and keep on their bookshelves. Jack was silent for a LONG time going through all the books that he's never seen. The kids loves his books! Grace is liking them more and more all the time, but not as much as her brother.

Don't think she's too excited about the tutu! She kept saying, "off" and trying to pull it down.

This weekend Mike and Kiya took the kids for a few hours. They went to a park in Tavares that we've been meaning to go to this summer at some point. Sounds like everyone had a fun time. And Colin and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing a movie and going to Target, BJs, and Publix. We got lots done, and man, is shopping a leisurely experience when the kids aren't with you! :) Pictures from the park:

Last night we were eating dinner. Jack had been next door playing, and was telling us about that. He was sitting on the kitchen table eating a plate of popcorn chicken when I asked him why he wasn't sitting in his chair. His response: "That's a good question!"

And a couple of pictures from this morning - Grace knows I like them to sit together for pictures. She took it upon herself to go sit by the front door where the lighting is usually the best, so I took advantage of the photo opportunity!

Grace smiles!

Jack smiles! He was saying, "Gracie tickled me!"

Gracie and I are just laying low today and staying in the air conditioning. We did make a quick Winn Dixie run, but other than that, we are just hanging out at home. I pondered going in to get some work done at school, but I think we will do that on Thursday. She is napping now. I'm going to eat lunch and clean up around here. We might do a rare thing (for a weekday) and head to the fire station for a visit after we go pick up Jack from school.

2011-07-29T19:40:00.000-04:00

I know this has been posted many times, but he changes it up. We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Jack.

This is Jack starting to read Gracie If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, but he quickly got annoyed with Gracie's behavior.

Snack conversation with Jack.

Today Gracie and I were supposed to meet up with some friends at the splash pad in Winter Garden. By the time I had dropped Jack at school, came home to shower and get us ready, it was 10 before we got on the road, which was when we were supposed to be there. Then I passed my street and ended up almost to Colin's work so we went to say hi to him. Once we got to the splash pad, our friends were packing up to go eat lunch. So we met some new friends and hung out there for about an hour. Grace had fun!

The quality of my camera on my iPhone is going downhill fast, so I apologize for the fuzzy pictures!!

Jimmy Johns

Watching Wonder Pets together

This was a special treat for Jack - I let him watch a show in our bed before he went to bed. He LOOOOOVED it!

Potty and books

He stuck a ball in his shirt, and came over to me saying, "Mommy, I have a baby in my belly like you!"

Having a heyday at Toys R Us

Selling tickets (hair clips) to go see elephants. Such an imagination this one has! Today he saw sitting up against the closet with a doll right next to him. He told me he was leaving to go on a train. Then a few minutes later he asked his doll if he was ready to go home and see his mommy.

Playing this morning

He saw a gymnast on TV doing flips, so he was attempting to do it.

Every time I check my watch, she imitates me. That's what she is doing with her wrist.

She fell asleep in the van on our extravaganza this morning, so when I laid her down for nap at the usual time, she just played quietly. I watched her on the monitor. After a half hour, I went in to get her out of her crib. This was the face I got!

Baby bath time

Music time

Playing together

2011-07-27T19:23:00.000-04:00

Baby Update: I had an ultrasound today to determine the size of our baby. She is measuring to be over 8 lbs. already, and I'm still 2 days shy of 36 weeks. This is considered the 95th percentile for weight. I will be having her via c-section at 39 weeks, and on average, babies gain about a 1/2 lb. per week at this stage in the ball game. Therefore, it's looking like we will have a baby close to Jack's size (11 lbs.) at birth. This wasn't much of a shock to me because I feel HUGE, and my skin is stretched to the absolute max. The doctor also checked for any progress that would indicate labor coming on, and there was none. I go back next week, and each week after for weekly check-ups. It's getting so close, and I am getting SO excited to meet her! It's going to be such a surprise to see her little face because we haven't been able to get a profile shot of her via ultrasound ever. Today she was all covered up with her hands and arms. We couldn't see an inkling of her face. So excited to meet her!!! :)

just pix

2011-07-27T09:30:00.000-04:00

It's a (messy) movie night!

Playing on the ATV at daddy's work.

iPhone app fun before bed

Ready for the day!

His newest motivation for using the potty - eating sprinkles. He insists on having the "whole thing sprinkles", so we set the timer for 2 minutes, and he goes to town!

Ready for school! Apparently he now has an opinion about what he wears. He insisted on wearing his swimwear to school, even though it wasn't a pool day yesterday. He told me at breakfast, "I'm going to ask Miss Reaves if we can go to the pool today."