Memorial Day

For Memorial Day, we celebrated with an afternoon of fun with my parents and our neighbors Alice and Ben Plantz.  We had a delicious barbeque with tons of fantastic food!  After we all got totally stuffed, we squeezed into our bathing suits and went swimming at Alice and Ben's pool.  Then, we played board games like Scrabble and Mexican Train until late late late!  It was definitely a very fun Memorial Day!

*Poor Saunders was at LSU and missed all the Memorial Day fun!

Fishy Kids!

These kids love swimming!

 

 Carlton and Trisha came up to visit this weekend, and we had a great time swimming in the pool with them!

 

Look at that water bug!

Katie Anne loves to splash!

SJ is getting much more comfortable in his float, too.

Splish splash!

Car Riders!

About a year ago, Gigi got a little car for free from someone who was getting rid of it.  With a little rehab, it looked just like my Element, and Katie Anne loved having her own little Element to drive around.  The best part was that it was just the right size to drive around our house on the hard wood floors.  Katie Anne really enjoyed it and drove it a lot, and it was her major mode of transportation in her pretend games.

However, she doesn't love it nearly as much as SJ does!  Within the last few days he's become absolutely obsessed with that blue car.  He wants to sit in it, drive it, or be pushed around the house in it all the time.  He would love to spend every waking second in this car! 

 Katie Anne thinks it's great that he wants to ride shotgun with her, and she has loved having a passenger in her car!

She's not quite as sure about having a new driver, though...

 Katie Anne has been very sweet to SJ and has done a good job of sharing the car. She lets him sit in it whenever he'd like, and she loves pushing him around in it, too.

 (It also might help just a teeny bit that I foresaw this problem when SJ first started dominating the car.  So, I went upstairs where we've been saving lots of KA's toys for a younger sibling, and I got down another riding toy of hers from the toddler days.  Sneaky Mommy!  So, one rides in the blue car and one rides on the "motorcycle", and then they switch.  Sharing is much easier when you've got another vehicle waiting on you!)

And, just for fun, here's one more picture... she was actually reaching up for the camera to look at a picture I'd just taken, and I accidentally snapped one more, but it looks like Katie Anne's protecting SJ from the paparazzi.  "No more pictures!"

SJ is a Crawler!

SJ learned how to crawl this weekend!

Once he got started, it took him about fifteen minutes to go from barely crawling to lightening fast, so keeping track of this wild boy just got a lot harder!

SJ's First Swim!

 

SJ went swimming for the first time today!  He took his first dip at Doc and VJ's pool.  He stayed in the pool for about 30 minutes this first time in...

 Then he chilled under the umbrella with me while Daddy and KA swam some more.

 SJ wasn't scared of the water at all.  He loved splashing in the water on the steps, but he was a little unsure about being submerged up to his chest in his new float.  

 

 

Katie Anne jumped right back in the water like a little fish this summer.  She doesn't need floaties this year and is not at all afraid to hold her breath and stick her face underwater!  I'm going to pick up some goggles for her because the pool water does bother her eyes.  I think she'll be swimming for real in no time!

Geaux Tigers ... & The Pots & Spoons Band

Early this morning, Saunders flew out to Baton Rouge, LA for two weeks of classes at LSU.  He's getting a graduate degree in banking there, so he's starting the program with two weeks on campus, and then he'll submit online assignments throughout the year.  It will take him three years (and two more big trips to LSU after this one) to complete his banking degree.  We are very proud of him for continuing his education with another degree - but we don't know if we'll be chanting "Geaux Tigers!" with him anytime soon!

This morning, it was our first day of 16 days of just me and the kids.  While I unloaded the dishwasher, the kids kept themselves occupied by starting their own little kitchen band in their pj's!  They loved banging away on the bottom of the pots with wooden spoons and their hands.  It was very loud but very fun, and it kept them busy for quite a while!

Katie Anne put the pot on top of her head and said, "I'm Johnny Appleseed!"  I didn't even know that she knew who Johnny Appleseed was, but apparently she learned all about him at school.

*This is the first time I've made pictures with the new point-and-shoot camera that Saunders and KA picked up for me for Mother's Day.  Obviously, I need to read the instruction manual and adjust the settings a little bit, but I still thought these pictures were cute!

Little Chef

 SJ gave Katie Anne a wooden make-your-own-pizza set for her birthday, and she loves it!  She's always in her play kitchen whipping up an unusual pizza for us to try.  She's our little chef!

A Real Baby Alive

Katie Anne has her ultimate real Baby Alive right now... her little brother!  She loves to pretend that he's her baby doll.  

She loves to pretend to feed him in her play kitchen.  Of course, SJ plays right along.  He doesn't seem to care that there's nothing on the spoon - he thinks whatever Katie Anne wants to do is a great idea!

Yum yum!

9 Months Old

 

SJ is now nine months old!  In the last month, SJ has really blossomed from a baby into his own little person. 

The biggest milestone in the last month for SJ is that he finally - mercifully - started sleeping through the night.  At first, it was touch and go with him waking up a few nights a week, but now I can safely say that he's solidly sleeping through the night.  He usually goes to bed around 7:30 pm and wakes up about 6:00 am.  It is making life much easier for me that I'm finally getting a good night's sleep only nine months after giving birth to this crazy guy!

He has learned how to eat finger foods without choking - even though he still hasn't popped his first tooth yet.  I've tried to broaden his eating horizons this month, and he's doing well with trying new foods and feeding himself.  He loves eating Puffs, fruit, and veggies by himself - his favorite foods are green beans and watermelon!  Unlike Katie Anne, he really doesn't like yogurt at all.  He is still eating baby food right now, but I don't think it will be long until SJ decides he's done with that because he definitely enjoys feeding himself.  He's still taking 4-5 six ounce bottles of formula each day in addition to his three meals.  Here his is enjoying another favorite vegetable - lima beans!

SJ hasn't started crawling yet, but he's soooo close!  He gets up on all fours and rocks, so we know it's just a matter of time until he takes off!  SJ is also pulling up on the coffee table and chairs, but he hasn't really started cruising.  He can stand up for awhile when he's holding onto something, but he can't stand up on his own just yet.

SJ loves to play with toys.  Right now, his preferences are blocks, small stuffed animals, things that make noise, and anything that he can shake.  He loves to bang toys together!  He loves to play his baby piano and push buttons on his big baby telephone.  Basically anything that lights up or makes noises makes him happy!

New Car Seats!

Today was a big day for both of the kids - they both made a big move from their old car seats into new ones!

   SJ moved up from his infant car seat into a rear-facing convertible... he's using one of Katie Anne's old seats, but he also got a new one that's just for him!  He was very happy to stretch out in the new, bigger seat.

While we were shopping for a car seat for SJ and trying to do the math on whether to buy SJ 2 new car seats or KA 2 new ones and reuse her old ones for him, we realized something crazy... Katie Anne is well past the height and weight requirements for a booster seat!  Apparently, she could've moved up to a high-backed booster a long time ago, and now she's actually big enough for the backless booster.  I could not believe it - and I wrestled with the idea of moving her up because I just couldn't accept that she's that grown up!  But, finally I did accept it, and we bought her a booster seat!  She is so excited to be riding like a big girl in the car.

 (But ... I'm still keeping her in the high-backed booster for awhile.  Even though she can ride backless, I just feel better with her being a little more protected.  She's not all grown up yet!)

Our Family Drawing

Katie Anne drew this picture of our family all by herself, and I think she did such a wonderful job!  That's me on the far left, walking Ginger on a leash.  I'm holding hands with Katie Anne, and she's walking Abby on a leash, too.  Then, there's Daddy holding SJ on the far right.  I think this one's suitable for framing!

Cubbies Awards Night

Tonight was Cubbies Awards Night.  All the kids who participated in the Awana Program at First Baptist this year got awards.  Katie Anne was very excited to be a part of the program!  She got a participation award for being a Cubbies member and a little bear for completing her book.  She learned a lot of Bible verses to earn that award, and we are very proud of her!

Sweet Cubbie Friends!

Katie Anne, Lily, and Bear

Waving to us from on stage

Cubbies Participation Certificate or Awesome Pope Hat?  You make the call.

Unfortunately, Cubbies Awards Night means that Cubbies is over for the year.  We'll definitely miss Cubbies this summer!  Katie Anne is already looking forward to going back in the fall.