LOTS of birthdays!

We spent most of the weeknd in Gainesville celebrating birthdays....BIG birthdays! Hossie celebrated 83 years and Granny celebrated her 80th! It was lots of fun and lots of family time! We also worked in some good down time at Poppa and Nunno's!

Saturday morning we got up and grilled out some burgers at the house and then headed to Gville for Hossie's party! Jack loved playing with Anna and Lucy got some good time with family too! We spent the evening in the backyard playing with Jack and Lucy loved swinging! Sunday we spent some more fun time in the backyard. Jack and Poppa ran through the spinklers and got soaked! After some good naps, we headed to Jennifer's (my first cousin) house with all of the Buffington family! It was a big pool party and the kids LOVED the water! Jack stayed in the whole time! He let Daddy throw him way up in the air across the pool. He would go all the way under and pop back up smiling! He has worn his floaties the past few times we have been to the pool and just goes all around the pool by himself. We are working on taking them off some and he is able to support himself on the noodle! Hopefully after some more practice we can spend some time working on swimming without them! WE had lots of birthday cake this weekend and lots of fun time with family!

On some other news.. Lucy is rocking on her knees now when she is playing. I am not sure how long before she is actually "crawling"...but she is definitely mobile on the ground! Watch out world! Jack is really working on how to spell words now and loves to guess the first letter of most words. He sounds it out and usually gets it right. He is even trying to write his name. He can do a "J A C" but hasn't quite gotten the K yet! They are really growing up!

Mimi and Granny are headed up today to help out with Lucy this week while her nanny is on vacation! We can't wait to have them here to visit! It should be a fun week!

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Sweet Lucy (holding her dress sucking the thumb)

Brother and Sister (watching a show!)

Jack and Anna (right before they jumped off the step to Poppa!)

Jack and Poppa running through the sprinkler!

Backyard fun!

Mommy and Lucy in the pool!

The Leonards playing in the pool!

Poppa with his Lucy

Jack and Lily on the BIG SEA TURTLE!

Lucy loving to splash!

Jack and Lily having so much fun together!

Jack and Lily helping blow out the candles!

Granny and her kids looking at the neat pictures from Maegan!

A Family Created by Love!

6 Months!

Lucy Bear is 6 months old! She got a great report from Dr. G today!!! He was thrilled with her and also thinks she is pretty cute! She is 15lbs. 2oz (50%) and 26" long (75%). Those are the same % that Jack has always been! The funny part was that they weighed her and when they got to the room they said she weighed 17lbs 9oz!!!! I couldn't believe it! There is no way she gained that much weight! Luckily, we re-weighed her! I almost fell out the chair! Dr. G said her physical exam is perfect and that she is even ahead of some of her milestones. She can roll and scoot across the room and babbles lots of sounds! He is always impressed with their sleeping (We are too!) A few things about Lucy at 6 months...
Sleeping: She sleeps 12 hours at night (7:30p-7:30a) and takes 2 naps (9:30 and 2:00 - usually 2 hours each)
Eating: She is taking 5 bottles a day (around 6 oz. per bottle) and eats 2 meals a day (Rice cereal in the morning and rice cereal with a veggie at dinner) She sits in her Bumbo right on the table with us each night at dinner! Jack tells her she is doing a good job and she laughs at him! She loves her food and ATTACKS the spoon. It can be a bit messy! I am just about done with nursing. It's a little hard for me but makes it easier that Lucy and I kind of decided together. I just wasn't making very much so my body told me it was time to cut back. It would have been harder if I was making milk and then decided to stop but my body kind of did it for me. It would have been hard to go back to work pumping when I wasn't getting very much and my days can be busy and not always reliable to have a certain time to go. I am ok with it and know that I did my best and gave her all I could for 6 months! She has been a healthy and happy little girl!
Playing: She loves her Exersaucer but really loves just being on the floor. She almost won't lay on her back. She prefers to play on her tummy and move around the room. She loves getting her toys and putting them straight in her mouth! No one can make her laugh as much as Jack. He was pretending to fall off the couch tonight and she just giggled. He also likes to tickle her! She flaps and slams her arms down really hard when she gets excited!
Lucy seems to be getting a little better with the separation anxiety. She had a really great week with her nanny. That makes us so happy! She has been happy and playful and taken her naps! The first morning was a little off but the rest of the week has been good. That makes me relax so much more! Hoping with time she will be just like her brother and smile and wave when we leave! :)
The only other thing about Lucy these days is that she DROOLS ALL THE TIME! Oh, I dont know if I just dont remember Jack drooling this much or she is just excessive! What a mess! I almost feel like I should keep a bib on her all day long! She smiles and blows bubbles and drool all over you!

It's been a really fun 6 months and I can't imagine how much more fun it will be the next 6 months!

Here are a few comparison pictures! Do you know who is who?!

 

 

I guess it's that time...

Well, 6 months went by way too quickly. I go back to work tomorrow! We had a very busy..but very FUN time during my maternity leave. I am very thankful to have had the time with Lucy! She is my sweet little girl and I am going to miss seeing her all day every day! It's very bittersweet for me, but I know that we will both do very well! I am proud of our little girl and I know she will be so strong! Wish us luck this week!

Sweet little girl!

How cute are those buns?!

Happy girl!

 

It was an interesting weekend! Filled with good and bad times... Steven left for Charlotte on Thursday. We always miss him when he is away! When I picked Jack up on Thursday afternoon his teacher mentioned that he was not 100% himself that day. After bath I noticed he felt warm and then he was up several times that night. Friday he was pretty pitiful. He would perk up after he had some Motrin and then spike a fever again. After being up again Friday night, we headed to the doctor on Saturday (luckily the office is open on Sat. mornings!) He didnt have any other symptoms besides a fever, so we waited 24 hours before going in.. Well, he had strep throat! That's Jack's first time having it and he had never complained about his throat and was eating so I had no idea! The good news is that it was easy to treat and after about 24 hours of taking his antibiotic he was doing much better! I brought my sick little man home from the doctor and set him up in our bed upstairs to watch a movie and stay quiet (also mainly to keep him away from Lucy) He was so pitiful. It broke my heart to see him not feeling good. Now, on a side note...  Steven and I feel pretty strongly about Jack never sleeping in our bed (just a personal opinion and not a habit we ever want to have, but every family is different) and now I feel even stronger about it. Since Jack got to watch a movie in our bed while he was sick..he has asked the past two days to please get in our bed because it's so "comfy and soft"! Wow, I can't imagine if we had ever let him sleep there..even once! He also LOVED getting to watch that much TV! We were trying to keep him quiet and he did get to watch lots of it! We were back to reality today with the TV, but he has asked 100 times about watching another movie! So anyway... I am even more aware of how quickly a habit can be formed! Anyway .... We were VERY fortunate that Nannie was here for the weekend to help out! She was a big help and spent lots of good time with Lucy while I was taking care of the little man! Thanks so much Nannie! We even got to sneak away Saturday night for a MUCH anticipated James Taylor concert at Chastain. There aren't many things more "Atlanta" than a summer concert at Chastain! It was an amazing show and we had the best time! I was very sad that Steven missed it, but very happy to have such a fun date!

We met up with the Coopers and the concert!

This was a toast to Steven for not being there with us!

The weekend ended really great! Jack was back to himself and we went to the park to feed the ducks, we played in the backyard, grilled out hamburgers and hotdogs, and even made it to the pool this afternoon! Lucy LOVED her first trip to the pool! She splashed herself the whole time! It was a VERY nice Monday just the four of us! 

Nannie and Lucy at the park

Jack feeding the ducks

Lucy playing in the yard while Daddy grilled out

Brother and Sister!

First watermelon of the season!

...and how do you rinse off all that watermelon?! Take your clothes off and run in the sprinkler!

Swimming at the pool!

Lucy splashing!

Daddy and his babies!

Blue eyes!

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A little adult time...

Steven and I had our first night away from both kids since Lucy was born! It was really wonderful! We headed up to Highlands, NC for the night with Julie and Scott. We always have so much fun and this time was no exception! It was very hard for us (more for me) to leave Lucy for the first time over night. I have only been away from her for a few hours at a time and it was hard to leave for the night.  She did really great with Poppa and Nunno which makes us so happy. Poppa called before we got to Highlands to tell us how she was smiling so big! That made our day and made us relax even more! It's always nice to hear that they are having a good time! And they ALWAYS are going to have a good time with Poppa and Nunno.
We did a lot of eating and shopping! Julie definitely helps me "pull the trigger" as she says with shopping. I am not a big shopper (I am sure most of you are laughing .. I KNOW I KNOW..I need to get better! I am great at buying Steven and the kids things..not so much for myself!) I found a CUTE dress for $15 and CUTE shoes for $18! Now even I couldn't pass that up! I even ended up going back to get that same dress in a different color! Two for $30! It was really nice to have no schedule and just walk around and talk! I think the boys did more walking around eating and drinking! There was no shortage of "free samples"! Everyone had fun! Thank you to Poppa and Nunno for that! It was so great for us!

(YES! That's my $15 dress!)

We got up and headed back to Gville Sunday morning to go to the Murphy Reunion (Dad's side of the family). It was nice to see all the family and Jack loved going to the "Big Rock" to play in the water with his cousins! By the time we got back to Atlanta it was around 4:30 and we were all wiped out. We literally couldnt wake up Jack to eat dinner.  Poor little guy! 

This is my last week of maternity leave... lots of mixed feelings about it, but no matter what it wont be as hard in a few weeks. Once we get back into that routine, I know it will be easier. The anticipation of leaving Lucy is hard.. I know it will get better! I have been so blessed to have such great time with the kids! We have packed LOTS into my time off and will continue to pack in lots on Mondays and Fridays! Today was our last Music Class. Both kids have really enjoyed it! I think it's our 5th session and everyone has been so fun!
Jack starts his new class this week and is excited about being "A Big Kid" in Miss Lauren's class! We will miss Miss Brittany and Miss Zanna! They have been so great!

Jack and Lucy with Miss Kim at Music Class

Lucy covered in drool and rice cereal (she LOVES it!)

Sweet big brother stopped to check on his baby sister

Jack playing Musical Chairs at his "End of Year" party at school (with the ladies!)

Mommy with her babies at Jack's school party

Jack and best bud Andrew with Miss Brittany and Miss Zanna (Andrew is our neighbor! They are best friends!)

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We got SLOBBERED!

What a FUN day! If you haven't been to the Wild Animal Safari in Pine Mountain..you should add it to your list! It was TRULY WILD!

Sunday, we got up and successfully made it to the 8am church service (after a late night out at BON JOVI and having to pack the family up for the whole day before leaving the house... I wasn't sure we would actually make it! BUT we did!) We really enjoyed the early service and both kids did great in the nursery playing. (So proud of Lucy... I didnt think it would go so well...we have been keeping her with us during the service..which means we dont get much out of the service) We then headed down the road to spend the day with the Coopers..and the animals! Caroline and Jack really had fun, but I think Daddy and Uncle Scott had the most fun! They were in the front of our luxury van. The windows in the front were the perfect size for a HUGE cow/bull/buffalo to fit it's head through! Literally, their heads were in their laps! They were COVERED in drool, slobber, dirt, food, etc! I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes... the pictures will not do it justice! Of course, the fact that we had our 5.5 month old with us on our adventure was pretty scary funny too! Luckily, Lucy was a very good girl and was entertained by our screams and laughter! We fed cows, buffalo, deer, pigs, horses, donkeys, llamas, zebra...and who knows what else! They all come right up to the van (open windows with just a small bar to protect our precious toddler's fingers! Luckily, they had a healthy fear of some of the larger animals. Jack would just say, "NO thank you cow..this is for the deer!")
There was also a part that we could walk and see animals. Most were caged and pretty scary! Lions, tigers, giraffes, bears, hienas (VERY scary looking), baboons, alligators..all kinds of things!

The Adventure team!

Our Safari guides..Jack and Caroline!

I wish this had sound effects (Jack imitating a sheep!)

Feeding the animals!

This giraffe was very nice.. but it also tried to eat Jack's shirt!

Mommy and Jack (notice the cow in the front window with Scott!)

Feeding a llama....seconds before it sneezed RIGHT in his face! Luckily, he thought it was funny!

Backseat fun!

Lucy enjoying all the excitement (from the safety of the center of the van!)

Hello Daddy! Mr. Buffalo got a little close!

The Leonards with the safari van

Our Brave Backseat Toddlers!

It was very exciting! I definitely think it will be something we will try again some day!
Lucy ended the adventure with a VERY dirty diaper (All the way up her back to her neck)...so we were now all literally covered in mess! When we got home...EVERYONE had a bath or shower immediately! Both kids were tired (and both parents), so we got in comfy clothes and watched Peter Pan. Lucy was asleep at 6:15 and Jack was in bed at 7:30! Whew...that much fun is tiring!

On another note...I go back to work in two weeks...it is very bittersweet for me. I am really hurting about leaving Lucy. I have loved my time with her and fall more in love with her everyday. BUT...I am also excited about getting back into work and having some time to be me and do something that I enjoy. I also feel like there were so many things that I didnt get done during my maternity leave. I feel very blessed to have gotten the time home with Lucy and to have some time just us. Our sweet little man is just loving school and about to start a new class! He is excited about it and continues to do so well! I hope that I will remember that Monday and Friday are my time to be with my children and not to catch up on all the other "stuff" there is to do.

Check out all the pictures! There are TWO albums..definitely check out both! Too funny!

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