Teeth, the flu, and undies!

First bath together!

Hey Lucy!

Jack asked me to take this picture of him being silly

Leonard Easter craft with footprints!

A little scared at the dentist!

Not quite sure if he liked it, but he did a great job!

Somehow we made it through all of Fall and Winter very healthy! It was such a blessing with Lucy being so small and with us being tired....however, Spring brough the flu to our house! Thursday afternoon I started feeling pretty rough and by Friday morning I felt terrible. I went to an urgent care type place Friday morning after asking Steven to please stay home (I wasn't sure I could watch both kids all day). I had a high fever and she told me that I had the good "old-fashioned" flu. I went home and pretty much stayed in bed most of Friday when I wasn't feeding Lucy. Steven was really great because I was kind of a mess! Luckily it was pretty short lived and the rest of the family stayed happy and healthy! Apparently being run down and nursing is a recipe for disaster with getting sick. After our trip to Savannah, we were pretty worn out and we didn't really slow down all that much. Anyway, I am doing much better! And.... as soon as I was feeling better we had a VERY busy Monday (of course, right?!)
We went to Music Class this morning..both kids are really enjoying it! It is during Lucy's nap time (I originally thought she would sleep..but not the case!) she enjoys it and has not fussed at all during class. Jack is loving it and loves to sing and dance! He seems like the big kid in the class when he use to be the baby (we started Jack going when he was about 4-5 months old).  Then we went to get some stuff for Jack's birthday party (it is coming up so soon!) came home to quickly eat and head back out the door for Jack's 1st dentist appointment. Luckily, a neighbor agreed to keep Lucy! I didnt think I could do it with both of them! WELL...I got to the appointment an hour early! I thought it was at 12:30.......and it was at 1:30! OF COURSE! I can't seem to remember anything these days! I think I am losing it! I will blame two kids and the flu! GEEZ! So back to the neighbors to check on Lucy and burn 30-40 minutes..UGHHH! Anyway, back to the dentist and Jack did pretty well. I would say he did great compared to how I thought it might go! THey were really great there and he let them look and count his teeth. He got to hold a really big mirror and wear sunglasses. He wasn't thrilled about them actually cleaning them. He got upset, but hung in there and they got all the cleaning and exam done! He got a new toothbrush, a sticker and a prize! And he got a new Buzz and Woody puzzle when he got home! It was fun going somewhere just the two of us. It's crazy how fast you forget that it was just the two of us running around a little bit ago. I am so proud of my big boy!
Speaking of big boy...Jack has been in big boy underwear at night for about 3-4 weeks now! no accidents so far! He is doing so great! He was waking up dry most days so we decided to give it a try! He is doing awesome! No pull ups, diapers or anything before he is 3!!!! :) So proud!

Speaking of getting bigger... Miss Lucy is 4 months old today. Can NOT believe that. She is just so much fun! She had a big month! She went to Savannah and met more family, she was Christened, she is still working very hard at rolling over from back to front (She spends most of her time on the floor throwing herself over..just hasn't quite gotten over that arm), she is taking two 2-3 hours naps, sleeping 12 hours at night, sitting in her Bumbo, reaching for and grabbing her toys, laughing out loud, spinning around (sometimes she is facing the other way in the morning when we go get her), she wakes up SO happy in the morning (she talks and squeals until we come get her), her fussy times at night are getting a little better (but we still have some rough dinner times), she took her first bath with big brother, and is continuing to bring us lots of fun times! Sweet sweet girl!

So... another week and here we come!

BIG trip to Savannah!

Leonard family before the parade

Daddy with his happy girl

St. Patty's Day Jack

Waiting on another marching band!

Happy girl!

Hey Granny!

Playing at the Tower

Jack hiding under the bench being a "Fiddler Crab"

Fun with Poppa!

Mommy, Daddy and Lucy at the Christening

Our family!

Nunno and Poppa with the "four" of us

Father Gavin with Lucy

Lucy with her Godparents

Parents, Godparents, and LOTS of kids!

(Scott, Julie and Caroline; Mommy, Daddy, Jack and Lucy; Ansley and Tom)

Great Granny in the garden with Lucy

Jack loves his Nunno and Poppa

Aunt Mimi playing with Lucy

Big smiles!

Look at my pretty dress and bonnett that Aunt Virg made me!

Sweet girl!

Lucy and Tom (Tom is 11 days older)

We had such a big trip to Savannah this past week! We got in town around midnight Wednesday (I guess technically Thursday morning) and got home last night around 11:45. It was a fun and action packed trip!

We took Jack to the St. Patrick's Day parade on Thursday (Mimi kept Lucy with Granny Floyd..she did great! She was very happy and took two big naps for her). It was perfect weather and downtown was filled with people! Nannie dropped us off and picked us back up for the parade. That was amazing! Steven said his stress level dropped 1000 points once he knew we had a ride! Jack loved everything...but especially the marching bands! He got so excited every time he heard more music coming. He sat in the front with Maddy. She took good care of him and he is still talking about "Maddy being at the parade"! We got to see lots of friends and enjoy the beautiful day.  We went back to Granny Floyd's house to spend the afternoon. We played outside, had a very yummy lunch, and visited with family. It was so nice!
Friday, everyone got in town for the Christening! Julie, Scott, Ansley, and Nunno & Poppa came out to Granny's house and we all walked to the tower with the kids. It was just magical! The weather was great, the view was amazing, and it was neat to have everyone there in a place that means so much to us (Steven and I were engaged at the tower and I grew up walking to the tower). We really enjoyed the time with friends. We sat up talking and laughing both Friday and Saturday night. Granny loved having a house full! 6 adults, 2 toddlers, and 2 infants! WOW!
Saturday was another fairy tale. The weather was beautiful, the church was amazing and so many special people were there for Lucy's day. There were lots of people represented at the Christening.  I wore Snookie's pearls (Snookie was my great great aunt that I was very close to and her name was Lucille), Lucy wore my mother's gold baby bracelet, Father Gavin wore Jack's silk stole during the ceremony, Lucy wore the Christening gown (59 years old) that was made for my Uncle Jack and everyone in the family has worn, and Lucy is one of many that were Christened at St. John's.  (For those of you that don't know... My grandparents, parents, and Steven & I were married at St. John's..and all of us were Christened there including Jack)  Ansley, Julie, and Scott are Lucy's Godparents and we feel so blessed to have them as a part of Lucy's life in such a special way. They each mean so much to us and we were honored for them to be there for Lucy.
Sally and John put on a fabulous party! Their yard and house looked fantastic and the food was to die for! Low country boil, chicken fingers, Orzo salad, cole slaw, lemon bars, cake bars, petit fors..yes, it was that good! It was lots of good visiting and relaxing! It was so fun! We ended the day with another walk to the tower with good friends. Jack and Caroline ran around one of the greens on the golf course and the babies enjoyed the nice weather!
We are happy to be home and settled again, but it was just such a great weekend. SOOOO many great memories and SO many pictures! It was great and thanks to all that did so much to make it special! We are really blessed!

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78 Degrees.... with Chili?

Getting ready for St. Patty's Day (Yes, that is a beer hat that Daddy got him!)

Jack doing a dance and telling a story in the backyard

Look at my big boy boo-boo! I need a bandaid

WHOA! This game of falling off the ball went on for 20 minutes!

PEEK-A-BOO LUCY!

Douglas taking Lily and Jack on a ride

Great Grandchildren (Douglas, Alice, Jack, Lily and Lucy)

Mommy and Lucy on the swing

Tim and Katie with their girls

Daddy and his baby girl

Jack FLYING down the slide to get away from the "Monster" (aka Poppa!)

Nunno and Poppa with the babies! (Dont cry Lucy!)

Our rescheduled Buffington Family get together was today! The weather was awesome..in fact pretty warm! For the past 3 years, we have had the Buffington family down to our house for chili and some good family time.  It is typically in February and we make chili..but today was really warm! However, the chili was still very good and we had LOTS of good family time! Jack loves playing with his second cousins, Douglas and Lily! Today was no exception! Jack was so tired by the time he got in bed..he didnt make another sound after we said good night! It was really great to see everyone today.  LOVE the time change..it was nice to be outside later tonight! The kids loved playing with Nunno and Poppa too! The one interesting thing that happened tonight was that Lucy did not want anyone but me (or Daddy) to hold her. That is sweet...BUT that makes it difficult for others to help and to get to know her! I love having a mommy's girl and love holding her, but hope it was just the fact that there were so many people around and a little loud with 3 kids running around. Hmmm.... hope that won't be the case in the future! She is so happy and fun! I love hearing her squeal and talk..hopefully she will let everyone else play with her like that!

We had a really good week and weekend. Daddy had to work all day yesterday so we missed him (I really missed him with both kids!) He had a successful Open House at the track so it was worth it! Jack, Lucy and I played outside and ran some errands! We went to Ace Hardware to get some charcoal so we could grill out, and they were so nice to us! They greeted us at the door (maybe they were worried about me walking in with a roaming 3 year old and a stroller) and got Jack a balloon and helped us out to the car with the charcoal! They have got my business! It was a nice little errand! We had Beer Can Chicken last night for dinner and it was so yummy!

We start Music Class tomorrow (very excited about starting this with Jack again..just hoping Lucy will behave) and have a busy week getting ready for Lucy's Christening! It should be a fun fast week!

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Constant....

Something is constantly going on in the day in the life of a 3 (just about...a month to go) year old.  Today, we got up and watched a show while Jack drank his milk (he does this every morning even before school...it's a little down time and he loves it), then we had breakfast (waffles and fresh fruit...he would ask for waffles everyday if we would let him have them), we played with Lucy and then put her down for a nap.  This is the time that Jack and I have some really good one on one time together. We played for two hours. We played the Thomas Memory game three times, we played cars and raced to see what car went the fastest, we played with his stuffed dinosaurs (he has been calling them his "babies" and we hug them and put them to sleep).  We also played catch with a small basketball.  This is where Jack began to instruct me on how to throw, catch, and bounce it. He corrected me several times about the bouncing. He said, "Dont slam it mommy...do like this, see? Just like this!" I listened and said I would try again! He is getting really great at catching and has a very powerful throw! Then we got out his Preschool play book and he loves doing those exercises. Lucy got up and we fed her and played a little more before lunch.  Jack had a ham and cheese sandwich, pretzels, green beans, mandarin oranges and milk.  Lucy joined us in the Bumbo up on the table for lunch. She liked it and occupied her while we ate! We played some more (tried out a new card game..Crazy 8's...it went alright, but I think we will have to work on that one) and all went down for a nap. Both kids have been asleep almost 3 hours. AMAZING, right? I think the "CONSTANT" going the last few days has caught up to them!

I made a comment to Steven a couple of weeks ago that I felt like I wasn't doing enough with Jack (here is the Mommy guilt of the second child... we haven't been on the go as we were before..I also think Winter and the weather didnt help either). I think my exact comment was that we were not "enriching his life enough right now". We should be taking him more places and going to the park, etc. I am also VERY good at finding things to worry about. It's not a good quality and wish I was better at NOT worrying so much...I am sure Steven would agree...most of the conversations start with Steven looking at me and asking, "What is going on in that head over there?" I dont hide it very well.
So, in the last two weeks...Jack has been to the zoo, the circus, the aquarium, a swimming lesson, a playdate, out to paint pottery, and to a birthday party to go bowling...Hmmm, I think we are enriching! It makes me feel less guilty about the fact that we are all still in our pjs today!
Steven also reminded me that Jack goes to school 3 days each week, participates in Fit-Kids sports at school, and Tumblebus each week as extra activities. We are also about to start Music Class again and swimming lessons... he told me that we are "enriched" and to go take a nap!

Lucy holding on to her ring

Happy girl (sitting on the table during lunch)

Learning to bowl for the first time

This is soooo fun!

Cheering for everyone!

Look at this Daddy!

Hmmm. I wonder why Lucy looks so scared! Hahaha!

Big brother!

Do you laugh or cry?

We had a big day today.... maybe not big to most, but big to us.  Our day started out very early. We needed to be at Ga Tech by 8:40 to get ready for Jack's first swim lesson of the season. I have found that the hardest part of having two children is getting out the house. It always takes longer than I think... Daddy was around before he left for work to help us, but it was still an ordeal. We got in the car and were happy and on our way! When we met our instructor...she informed us that she just found out that the pool closed on Fridays at 9am for maintenance (Hmmm... our lesson starts at 9am so how could that be?!) Anyway, that was the beginning of my frustration. Luckily, one of the lifeguards was nice enough to stay an extra 30 minutes so we could have our lesson. (I think that the instructor that we paid and scheduled the lesson with should have known this, right?) Anyway, it could not have gone much worse. Jack was not happy and didnt get over it the whole lesson. I was so upset. He just never gets upset and cries like that! We stepped away so they could not see us...It didnt help that I could hear the instructor continuously tell the children "Stop..Stop..Stop crying!" I dont think that is the best way to get a toddler to stop crying, but what do I know?! I was not impressed with the experience, she was not energetic or fun with the kids... Maybe I am officially that mom that blames the teacher if my child is upset... I hope not.  I am ok with Jack being upset or scared by something new..this was just not a good experience all the way around! That was an expensive bad experience! Oh well, I am not giving up on the swimming lessons! We will try again!
Then, we decided to go to the aquarium with Julie and Caroline (swimming lessons and then the aquarium with both kids in one day..yes, I was asking for it!) Jack had never been and since we were so close it sounded fun! We got there and parked..the kids watched a movie in the back while I fed Lucy in the front seat (I am getting more and more comfortable nursing in a parking lot! Geeez... that poor second child is just on the go all the time!) However, Lucy had an explosive poopy all over her cute outfit! Thank goodness I had grabbed a set of fleece pjs to throw in her bag at the last minute! Wardrobe change!

We headed in and were really excited! But before we got to go see all the fish, we all needed to go potty! So here I am with Lucy strapped to me in the Bjorn, pushing the snap n go (I knew I would need that at some point in the outing if she fell asleep) and holding Jack's hand. We went into the handicap stall as a family (Hahah!) Jack had to sit on the potty because it was too tall for him to stand or me to hold him. So I knelt down in front of him (So if you can picture this..Lucy is then hanging off my chest right in front of him) he starts saying "Oh Lucy, you are so beautiful!" and reaching to touch her. I scream.."NO, dont touch her face with your hands!" I mean we are on the potty at this time! Jack got done and I tried my balancing act to tinkle with lucy strapped to me and keep Jack from running out of the bathroom.  Well, I was doing pretty well until I reached over to grab Jack and banged Lucy's head on the handicap rail on the wall! WOW. Luckily she was ok, she cried for a minute, but was really fine and no lasting marks to prove I hurt my child! Whew! This is when I thought maybe we should just head home..it was just a bit much to be at the aquarium with both of them in such a busy place. But I took a deep breath and we headed on our adventure. It really did turn out to be such a fun time. Jack LOVED it. He was so excited and would run to the next exhibit screaming "Ohmigosh!!! LOOK AT THAT!" I dont know when I have heard him say that but it was pretty funny! He was thrilled by everything and very happy to be with his good buddy Caroline. It was so nice to spend the day with Julie and Caroline. It's nice to have great friends to do things like this with!
We went across the street to Johnny Rockets and had lunch. WOW, big yummy burgers and milkshakes. It was a treat! Everyone cooperated but Lucy. She had had just about enough. She pulled through so we could finish eating, and then we headed out (it took us awhile to get to our car... little confusion in the parking deck..I am sure you can imagine this was not calming at the end of a long day) ANYWAY, we got in the car and I fed Lucy again and she was so happy and smiling! We got home and had some down time. No one really napped but we had some great time together in Jack's room just playing..one of those good happy moments.
Everyone went to bed early tonight, and we are about to have a glass of wine.....or three! Hahahah!
Unfortunately, I have NO pictures to document today...Didnt make it out the door with the camera this morning!
Even the tough days are worth it! Whew...but I am tired!