Last year of Preschool!

This week was Max and Claire's first week of preschool ~ 4's class. We met their teachers last week and were ALL very excited to start this past Tuesday.  They go Tuesday-Friday, 9-1.  I think I am really going to like their teachers.

 They both look so grown up! I can't believe they will be in kindergarten next year!

 Each morning they have to find their name and draw in their journal!

Their teacher sent an email recapping the first week and said all the students did great!  I am proud of both of mine for getting good reports each day!

Kate ~ 4 Months!

My sweet baby Kate is four months (and three days) old!  She is still the sweetest and best baby!  She only cries when she is tired or hungry.  She is very busy now.  She likes playing on her play mat, or having mommy help her stand up.  She loves her big sister and brother.  Claire is obsessed with her and wants to hold and play with her 24/7!

She drools constantly! I looked back and Max and Claire's 4 month post and said the same thing about Claire at four months.

I get a lot of comments that she is "so small", but I think she has grown so much in the last month. Her four month appt isn't until the 16th so we will have to wait and see her stats.

Claire wanted to be in her four month pics!

Kate can still wear most of her 3 month clothes but definitely needs to start wearing 3-6 months.  She hasn't been wearing many footed pjs bc she sleeps in her Merlin suit!

Kate likes her sleep schedule and isn't happy when she doesn't get to nap in her bed.  She usually wakes up around 7:30 and will have 3 naps a day - if at home she will sleep 1.5/2 hrs each nap! She has been waking up twice in middle of night again.  Usually around 12 and 3am.  I don't mind so much because I am exclusively breast feeding (yay!) and don't have to pump.  She is a very quick eater ~ about 5-10 min. max and then she is back to bed.

She rolled over (back to front) for the first time yesterday!  We were at the beach with Justin's family so she had a lot of cheerleaders!

Claire's baby was "four months old today" too! haha!

Love this sweet girl more than words!  Tomorrow the big kids start school and will be gone four days a week (9-1) so we will get lots of one on one time!!

NMB 2015

After our trip to LBI, the kids and I headed to North Myrtle Beach with my family. This trip was a bit different and definitely more of a trip than vacation ;)  Justin had to stay home to work so it was just me and the kiddos.  My parents have a time share and it is a three bedroom condo.  It is perfect until you try to fit five adults and six kids! It creates chaos.  While the kiddos were all in a room, Kate slept in a pack n play in my parents room and I slept on the couch with the monitor next to me.

Cousins!

My brother has twins that will be four in November and a seven year old step son - add Kate to the mix and we have a group of crazy kids ;)

Thankfully there is a pool where we stay.  All the kids love the pool and it's a great way to burn some energy!

They also played some games and had races on the beach! (but only lasted about 10 min before one of the five had some sort of meltdown)

Can't leave out our family beach pics ~ minus Justin :(

Fredrick (4) and Payne (3) twins

Claire thought she was so BIG bc she got to hold Kate for the picture!  (with hands ready in back ground just in case!)

These two are going to be TROUBLE when the get older!

Coop and the Max Man

My boy!

Beautiful Bear bear!

Love :)

The whole crew.  Not easy getting smiles from everyone!

LBI 2015

Every year we go to the Jersey shore... Long Beach Island to be exact! This is one of our favorite trips we take.   Two of Justin's aunts and uncles have houses across from each other.  We pack in to one house and enjoy lots of family time!

The water was really cold while we were there but that didn't stop Max and Daddy! Max had so much fun he said it was "the best day ever!"

Claire preferred the Lagoon!

 We tried paddle boarding for the first time!

We had a cornhole tournament!

Went out to dinner!

And the trip wouldn't be complete without our annual Darcy/Fredrick photo shoot!

Fun cousin picture!

The Fredrick Family

Kate did great on the beach... spent most of her time in her tent!

Sad to leave and already looking forward to next year's trip!

Kate ~ 3 months!

It's so hard to believe that Kate is already 3 (and a half) months!  She is seriously the best baby! She sleeps, plays, eats, and sleeps some more!  She only cries when she is hungry or tired.

We are behind on many post, but mostly because we have been away having fun at the beach.  Kate has already been to the beach twice!  First trip was to NJ (more on that later) and she did fabulous on the car ride up!

Sleep: If we are home and able, she will take about 3 naps a day and will usually nap 1.5-2.5 hrs!
Night time.... still working on getting more sleep.  She usually goes down around 8 and wakes up around 1am and 4:30ish.  I think she did a little better when she was having a bottle at night.

Eating: I am so happy that this is going well!  She has had only breast milk and has been, for the most part, exclusively breast feeding since we went to NJ.  I was soooo tired on that trip and only pumped twice.  Nursing is so much easier than having to pump and give bottle!  It also helps considering I was running out of freezer room. I have now donated milk twice, have plenty in our freezer and a large cooler full was taken to a friend's deep freezer!
During the day she usually goes 3-4 hours and at night, if I am lucky, I can get a 5 hour stretch.

I'm guessing she is around 12 lbs.  She is starting to be to long for her 3 month jammies.

She is very alert.  She has recently started grabbing her toys and toes!  Her hand is constantly in her mouth... so not ready for a teether!

She loves when we sing to her ~ especially The Wheels on the Bus!  Max and Claire are always around to provide entertainment ;)
She also loves her play mat and rocking chair.

OMG! Love this little girl so much! Really trying to soak up every single minute with her!  Love those sweet cheeks!!

It's been way too long!

This weekend my best friend of 17 years came to visit.  She moved to Florida about seven years ago and I haven't seen her in four years.  Love her whole family so much!  She has a wonderful husband and three beautiful kids!  They are a bit older than ours, but they got along great!  They were only here for one night but it was like we never left off!

Claire, with her youngest, Madison (6)

Dylan, my Godson, holding baby Kate!

BFFs!

We each have three kiddos!

Dress for dinner

Justin and I celebrated eight wonderful years of marriage on July 7th!  I always fail in the gift giving and lack creativity... until this year! A friend had mentioned a package you could purchase at The Proximity, a local hotel.  It was voted "World's best city hotels" in Travel and Leisure magazine back in 2013!  Anyway, the package is called Dress for Dinner and you check in at noon and "enjoy a romantic rendezvous that includes a bottle of wine, candied cashes, romantic music, bubble bath and turndown service in the loft king spa room".

 12-8 is a long time for child care!  We took the big kids to a local drop off service (that is awesome) from 12-4 and kept Kate with us, then Mom and Dad took all three for the rest of the time. Kate was awake the whole time so she chilled with Justin watching golf, and I headed to the pool to read and relax! It was heavenly!

turndown service

Bubble bath, good book and wine! 

It was a perfect day.  If we had just gotten a babysitter, we would have spent time doing yard work, cleaning, or doing our own things.  This allowed us to focus on each other and actually sit and relax. It is so nice not having anything to do!  We both agreed we need to do this again!