Life With a Baby on Board: August 2017

Lily's July update:
So far this summer is flying by and we've been as busy as ever. Lily has loved going to the pool across the street from our house and is getting more and more comfortable in the water. Some swim lessons might be in order this winter to keep her used to the water before next summer. She only has 1 swim lesson left at school and now when we go swimming she tells me things like "I using my ice cream scoops to swim mommy" (cupped hands). She loves picking out her own outfits for school in the morning and told me recently that a shirt she was trying on had too many sparkles on it so she didn't like it.

Loves:
-painting
-swimming
-painting the deck with water
-the magic school bus

Hates:
-pasta
- anything spicy (this includes but is not limited to: orange juice, toothpaste and about 95% of the things I cook)
-bedtime

What Lily's been saying:
-"Mommy my heart is breaking" "Why Lily?" "I want to see more fireworks".
-"Mommy I think our country gonna end soon" (from the mouths of babes)
-Cigarettes= Pipes (which automatically makes any smoker sound very high class)
-Lily "Clara do you want to climb dat tree?"
Clara "Yah"
Lily "CLARA dats not berry safe!!!"
Sprinkles= wrinkles

Clara's May update:

This month has been equally busy for Clara. She's still figuring out when things are funny. If she thinks something is funny it will be as funny the first time as it is the 581st time. She's about to move up to the next class at school and is loving her new teacher and all the new toys. Clara is right on the edge of "I'm throwing a tantrum quick jingle some keys and I'll stop crying" and "get those keys away from me keys aren't going to fix this tantrum". Tonight she threw a 10 minute long tantrum at bath time and I swear she must have been hit by a gamma ray 1/2 way through because she Hulked out (minus turning green) and it took all my strength to get her in a diaper. She also kept hugging me then remembering that she was mad at me and pushing me away to smack me.

Loves:
-trucks
-doll houses
-the pool and swimming
-being scared
-strawberry short cake ice cream bars
-undies
-books: The Little Blue Truck books

Hates:
-waffles
-thunderstorms
-any loud sudden noises

What Clara's been saying:
"guuk" = milk
"beep"
"dig-gas" = diggers
also she says: bug, puppy, water, undies and hotdog

At the beginning of July our family celebrated the 4th of July like any other busy family who don't have time so shop for fireworks and have a few kids who are scared of loud sounds.......we drove 3 minutes down the road to watch other people shoot off fireworks while our children wore hearing protection ('Merica!!)

of the trials of having a mother who's an Audiologist

enthralled

Two nights later we drove down to Kingston to visit with Andy's mom, have some yummy food and watch more fireworks. Of course by the time the fireworks started it was 2+ hours past Clara's bed t
time so she just zoned out on Mamaw's lap. Lucky for us Andy knows all the back roads and we were able to get out of traffic pretty quickly.

cousins on a swing

Clara's first slam dunk

The next day we went to Dollywood. After out last experience at Dollywood I was a little worried about the crowds (the day after Christmas last year when everyone in the state decided to go) but this time the crowds were much more manageable. Clara and Lily loved riding on all the rides and Lily enjoyed playing on a splash pad. FYI: If you take your kids to Dollywood and bring a change of clothes but forget to bring a towel an unused diaper will work as a towel in a pinch.

baby's first dip n dots

Later that week gymnastics was closed so we headed to the MUSE (science museum) along with Nana. The girls loved dressing up, playing grocery store, climbing over all over the place and digging.

she kept saying "suck" (stuck)

The next night my uncle and cousin came through town and we got to spend some time with them.

Henry looks terrified that Clara is holding him

We then got to celebrate our local parade and fair. Lily loved the parade....Clara had mixed feelings. She loved the tractors, trucks and candy being thrown but whenever a helicopter flew low overhead or a car revved its engine she would run towards me and demand to be picked up.

That's right Clara we don't eat things off the ground....

unless they're thrown at you from a parade float

After the parade was over we headed to the fair for our first time. I was worried that it was going to be too hot but we lucked out and a lot of the fair was either in the shade or inside. We played carnival games, won prizes, petted animals at a little petting zoo, watched a belly dancing show (Clara's favorite) and bounced on bounce houses (Lily's favorite).

photo op with a belly dancer

this goat made a beeline for Clara and tried to eat her fingers

smart ducks....I wouldn't go near her either

The next day was Ice Cream Sunday day at our church complete with a 50s style ice cream truck. Both girls were able to agree that their favorite ice cream was strawberry shortcake ice cream bars. It was the first dessert that Clara sat down and ate without getting up to walk around.

Lily had another dentist appointment and again did a wonderful job. She was allowed to pick a toy from the treasure chest and picked a bracelet.....and then when I was putting Clara in her stroller grabbed about 6 other toys and put them in her dentist goody bag.

She'll be back

That weekend Clara's godfather Colin and his wife Laura came into town from Florida and came over for dinner along with Lily's godfather John. One of the extra toys that the Lily stole from the dentist was a trick piece of gum that snaps a bug on your finger when you pull it out of it's package. Both the godfathers were very good sports at pretending to be terrified every time they got a bug on their finger. Add a whoopee cushion and Lily's dress up clothes to the mix and everyone had a great time.

The next day everyone came to our house to celebrate my mom and nephews birthday. In what seems to have become a tradition we celebrated with swimming at the community pool, pizza, cake and presents.