TBT Joyful July '17

July was action packed and included a little getaway at the very end. And by "getaway," I mean a long road trip and several night stay in the country with three children, several dramatic crises and very little sleep... so we didn't technically "get away" from anything. Although, the setting was beautiful and there were horseys! More on that at the end.

We were still swimming a lot. Avery was having more interest in getting into the pool this summer. Especially if daddy was involved!

    

Look at that beautiful smile! Love it when she can relax, enjoy and feel the weightlessness in this body that is always giving her challenges. And look at those legs!! 

At this point in the summer, Maddie was at the neighborhood pool pretty much daily, and becoming a total pool float hog.

Random July happenings include:

-An occasion where I picked up a large piece of furniture that took up the whole car, so Avery had to sit up front in the passenger seat next to me. She loved it.

-I finally hit the gym for the first time since having bubba! Felt so good, I didn't go back for another month. lol

-The girls enjoyed themselves at James Coney Island. With hats, of course.

-Bubba started to like the Baby Bjorn, which thrilled mommy immensely

-Nana retired!!!!!!!! She worked so incredibly hard to get to this point. We couldn't be more proud or happy for her. And then she started coming over daily to help with my crazy crew. She's the best.

-Toward the end of July, Lee became a jumperoo baby! just like his sisters before him... with some book assists.

Maddie did a theatre/dance camp for three weeks that ended with an A-mazing performance. She was one of the youngest ones there and had a small part, but still definitely stole some of the spotlight. They performed "The Big Bad Wolf" musical and she played a wolfette. The most darling wolfette you've ever seen!! Here she is with the group--

Her dancing and singing was so fun to watch. She remembered everything perfectly and you could tell how much she was enjoying herself! Our whole family came to the performances. We were so proud of her.

Last but certainly not least, we traveled to a dear friend's beautiful north Texas horse farm. It was serene and magical- the farm that is :). The main house was just gorgeous.

We stayed at a cottage on the property. We got to visit and chat, walk through green pastures, play with goats and puppy dogs, swim, and admire the horses. Our dear friend breeds horses and also trains them. She has a giant horse arena and large barn, where the horses are treated to their own giant stall fans.

Both girls and I got to take a ride, but Maddie took to it the most. She's a natural.

Avery preferred to pet and/or brush the horses. 

I'm so glad we took the trip, but it was not all smooth sailing. The night we arrived, Avery had one of the longest, most intense seizures we seen had since her VNS device was implanted in May. It was scary, but she stabilized and seemed better for the rest the trip. The day before we left, Maddie was stung by yellow jackets while trying to swing on the porch. Poor thing! She pulled it together though and put on a brace face. Meanwhile, the baby was in the middle of a sleep regression and being away from home was not helping his situation either. Bub the hub and I were tired, to say the least. Good trip, but ready to be back home.

In the last days of July, Avery received a fun gift from Uncle Rob and Aunt Christine... her very own ball pit! It's the perfect place to relax.

Baby brother joined in too!

TBT Lee's Newborn Portraits

Before I post these precious pics, I have to shout PRAISE to the Lord, the new background I have been trying to post for YEARS has finally worked. I wanted to brighten things up for awhile now. I hope y'all like it. 

By the time I got around to organizing Lee's "newborn" pics, he was not exactly a newborn anymore... so they were more like his "Two Months plus" pics instead. I think they are still the cutest things ever. And I think we caught him right before he grew out of that tiny baby phase, but still got some adorable shots where he is really alert. Like this, one of my faves.

And this little smirk!

This sweet tummy :)

Although big sis Avery refused to smile for 99% of the pics...

when it came to one-on-one time with her little brother,

she was all happiness and kisses!

Maddie was thrilled as usual for some of her own baby time ♥

We tired him out pretty good, which was perfect because

I needed some sleeping angel pics too.

Isn't he the most precious-est?? I want to snuggle him forever. Oh wait, I do already!

Just a few adoring mommy pics...

And one cute daddy pic! Where you can see his a
mazing cowlick in full glory.

TBT 4th of July '17

July was all fun in the sun. The Bubs traveled on a couple of short vacations and went to the pool constantly. Bubba's little personality was coming out full force!

We took an impromptu visit to the beach for July 4th. We visited Surfside Beach, which was perfect because we were able to drive right onto the beach and set up our stuff just yards away. Important when you have a disabled child!

I only have one photo from the trip, so I guess we were busy having fun! Or still overwhelmed by three kids? Probably both. It is a super cute pic though.

Happy beach baby!!

We wore this baby out.

See how well his cheeks are filling out? We are very proud of that.

We also celebrated the 4th with family. Nana made some delicious food, so we let her have a nice cuddle with Avery :)

We also visited with Uncle Drew and Aunt Shannon, who have been kind enough to take Dixie dog on an extended holiday while we continue to adjust to life with a new baby, a.k.a. a lot less sleep. Dixie is having a fabulous time playing with her new cousin-dog, Posey Grace, not to mention getting more attention than she's had in awhile, and maybe ever. 

Maddie and Bub the hub played with sparklers before bedtime.

This sassy pose reminds me how old she is looking lately!

I'd like to end with a throw back (inside a throw back post- whoa) to 4th of July in 2012, when big sister was 4 and lil' was 1. Avery thought it was great fun to steal the bows out of Maddie's hair, who thought it was hilarious as well. Sweet sisters. Stop growing up so fast!!

Lee at Three Months

Lee Michael is three months old!

We finally saw some real growth in those sweet cheeks!!

There were a lot of changes this month. He weighed in at 13 lbs. and measured 24 in. this month. More than double his birth weight! His percentages look a little higher this month: 25th for weight and 40th for height.

Things that have not really changed this month: mucho, mucho spit-up...dear Lord, he is a tiny yet powerful fountain allllll day. He goes through lots of outfit changes, and so do we. Thankfully, he really doesn't have reflux issues at night and is still sleeping well on the inclined bed. He goes for about 6-7 hours at night. So asleep about 8pm-2/3am and then wakes for bottle and goes back to sleep until 6/7am.

There is so much new Lee stuff to share! For instance how amazing does he look in a tie??

Professional Baby, at your service

This month he is making coos and lots more noises. He has the most adorable laugh, and is very smiley, especially with tickles. Lee has discovered that he has hands (!!) and is starting to enjoy the caterpillar play mat, which was loved by both of his sisters before him.

Behold, sister Avery on the play mat!

These two definitely look related, don't you think?

Lee's love for bath time has only increased.  He uses the Puj tub like Maddie did, which fits perfectly into bathroom sinks. He laughs and squeals at the water and doesn't mind being washed.

He even sits in the Puj tub sometimes to chill, when mommy and daddy need a break.

Super Lee!!!!

This month he fell in love with the "mamaroo" swing, which is super high tech and supposed to swing babies like they are in the womb, or some nonsense like that. Bubba stays happy for long periods of time in this swing and even watches some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with his sisters. His eyes are focusing well.

I am still loving the baby lap naps, and therefore STILL not getting much (anything) done. Sometimes I can deftly transfer him to the couch, where I proceed to take photos of him sweetly sleeping because I absolutely cannot resist-- which swiftly wakes him right up again. I never learn because look...

I did, however, manage to finally finish painting the stripes in his nursery this month. They look really fun. I will do a nursery tour at some point! 

He is nowhere close to sleeping in his room yet, but we have had some visits to his crib, where he is mesmerized by the hand crafter cloud and rain mobile that mommy loves too.

We all love when Nana comes over on the weekends and does lots of baby holding that gives the bubs a break. We call this the magic shoulder because he snoozes peacefully and easily, whereas he squirms relentlessly on his parents.

Caught a sleep smile!

Lee was a lot more awake in the car this month, and made sure we understood that he is not a big fan of long car rides, or being in his car seat in general. Taking him to pick up Avery from school in the afternoons is no easy feat. It is a fine balance of bottles, musical toys, Maddie distraction and/or praying he takes a nap. 

Our third month was challenging for sure, but we were getting a little better at the kid juggling, and learning more tips and tricks for little brother. If he could just work on taking naps for longer than 30 minutes at a time, that would be super helpful. And maybe start sleeping magically for 12 hours every night, that would be great too. ♥♥♥