Fussy Shovel

When Lydia is fussy I call her a fussy bucket. Kate's name for her when she is being fussy is a fussy shovel. Sadly it took her a few times calling her that for me to get the association. I seriously was wondering why she was calling her a fussy shovel. Motherhood can do some serious damage to your brain. Kate is so cute with her sister, I've not seen any jealousy with her. In fact she tries to include her! For example when I tell Kate it's bath time she asks if "can Lydia take a bath with me!" She also shares her most prized possesion, her mama bear, with Lydia. It' s so cute to see the two girl together. Lydia loves watching her big sister. Lydia has been so entertained lately by watching anything or anybody as long as they are doing something. She must be a apart of whatever is going on. She is such a social butterfly. It's so cute to see her personality unfold.

I've had such a wonderful summer with my girls. I've really grown close to Kate and very attached to Lydia. Sadly this week I returned to work. I really miss my girls during the day and wonder what they are doing, if they are ok, if they miss me, if they are having fun. When I pick them up I always get a wonderful report and that Kate misses her dad....not me! What? Ok so maybe returning to work isn't as hard as I thought it would be on her. I hope to be home full time some day with my kids. Kate and her dad are buddies, in fact they go around calling each other big buddy and little buddy...Kate made that up. It's so cute to hear her say, "come on big buddy let's go water the garden"

Here are a few pictures of stuff we've been up to

This has filled our summer days with pure joy and bliss, it's a sand and water table. It's as messy as it sounds but Kate loves it. It occupies her for a long time so the mess has been worth it. I know some people fill it with small pebbles instead of water or sand, it doesn't really matter what you add kids love sensory exploration.

I love daddy daughter pictures, notice Lydia with her hands over her head, so cute. She also has been rubbing her fuzzy head lately and playing with her hands. I love watching her play with her hands I've got to get it on video. She is also starting to coo a lot the kind that almost sounds like a laugh.

I love her pouty lips! A lady a church commented that Lydia has the most perfect lips. I think so too

We went to a local amusement park, it was so fun to watch Kate have the time of her life, we love to spoil that kid, especially her dad

Lydia just chillen, the babies did great on our trip. She is napping here but don't be fooled she didn't nap long because that meant she was missing something...

We went with my sister and their two boys, one being the same age as Lydia and one a year younger then Kate. Kate was so cute that she insisted that her and Van ride this together, notice how all the other cars are empty, she also wanted the blue car


Again on the swings they had to sit next to each other. I love that Kate is surrounded by so many of her cousins. She told me the other day that "I'm a cousin" Cousins are a very important part of her life

What kinda parenting is this....Lydia was being a 'fussy shovel' so I set her outside which she loves, it quites her up immediately. Because I have a 100 things going on I just leave her out there and check on her every few minutes while I do my thing. She ended up falling asleep here but she was very content for a good 45 minutes before snoozing. She woke a few minutes later and I brought her back inside where she became a fussy shovel

Liddy Biddy Baby Boo Boo

That's one of the many nicknames for this sweet baby. I also call her Princess Buttercup, Pretty Liddy, punkin head, bunny boo boo, sweetie pie, cutie pie the list goes on and on. I do love my nicknames for her. Lydia is getting big and it's hard to believe she is nearing 3 months. She was a perfect sign of health at her 2 month check up. Here are her stats, I also dug up Kate's just for kicks and comparisons.
Lydia 2months
11 lbs 15oz 75% percentile
22 1/2" long 50% percentile
14 1/2" head circumference 25% percentile

Kate 2months
11 lbs 12oz
23in
15"

I also have a couple of pictures of them for comparison.

Kate

Lydia

I love how different and unique our girls are turning out to be. I love them both dearly. These are some of my observations of them, not really comparing them as much as describing my observations of them. Lydia has no tolerance for pain or discomfort, Kate did. Lydia is way more cuddly then Kate was as a baby. Kate has always been a very independent child/infant. I feel that Lydia is more dependent. Kate hated to be rocked to sleep, she liked putting herself to sleep and didn't like sleeping with me. Lydia loves being rocked to sleep, always wakes up and ends up in bed with me. Lydia is a princess, Kate is a drama queen.

I signed Kate up for swim lessons in the fall with her dad. She is also going to take a turn in ballet. She has never expressed interest in ballet or even dancing much for that matter. But they had a time slot available that actually worked for us so I figured I'd see how she does, who knows maybe she'll be a star on "So You Think You Can Dance" someday.

Happy Birthday To Mommy

Kate loves birthdays. I recently had mine and she's been fascinated by it. She always reminds me about my birthday. And when I ask her when her birthday is she always tells me "Loctober". She tells me she wants stars on her cake. So on my birthday Brock and Kate went to the store to get some things to make me my favorite birthday lunch, a grilled beef tenderloin filet. They also bought me a birthday cake, as soon ask they walked in the door Kate yelled to me that they got me a birthday cake. The next thing she did was go to the kitchen drawer to look for a spoon "so she can have some of that cake" she just couldn't wait. Brock and I got a kick out of it and whenever we need a good laugh remind each other how she did that. I captured some of it on video. Besides that, we kept it low key for my birthday, I didn't get a lot of sleep the night before and it wasn't because I was excited for my birthday! I was up with a baby that wouldn't sleep. For my birthday I got an iflip minoHD camera, it was really a combination gift from my inlaws for the birth of the baby and my birthday present (they helped pay for a portion of it). We also went to our local waterpark for a little bit, mostly to let Kate splash around

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4th of July

We had a great 4th, it was jammed pack. We went to our town parade in the morning. Emily and Justin along with their boys and my Mom came up later that day for a bbq. After that it was break time and we all took a rest, after all it was a holiday. We had ice cream and then headed over to Warren's new house so that everyone could see it. It's a beautiful home. While there we went ahead and bathed the kids so they would be ready for bed as soon as the fireworks were over. It was cute seeing the cousins in a tub. We barely made it to the fireworks and maybe caught about 10 minutes of it. It was enough for me, I thought it was spectacular but mostly I wanted Kate to see them. Of course she was wowed by them!

At the town parade

Grandma with her new grandbabies

Love-a-dub-dub 3 cousins in a tub

Out Numbered

Brock is outnumbered but if you ask him he wouldn't have it any other way. He is a great dad and husband to his girls. If one of the girls cries he is usually the first on the scene to find out what is wrong. He begs me to pump so that he can feed the baby. He's not afraid of a dirty diaper, and doesn't mind the spit up. He doesn't mind the night shift, but I usually have to give him a big nudge because he sleeps like the dead. His favorite chore is cuddling the girls, it's a rough job but someones got to do it.

We tease that our dog Tilly and Lydia are the same size, but the truth is Lydia is about 2lbs bigger then Tilly. Poor Tilly will always be the baby.





One of the cutest things about Lydia is the way she sleeps. She sleeps on her back (or sometimes belly) with her arms stretched over her head. In fact I just checked on her a minute ago and sure enough her little arms are over her head. She's always slept like this, it's so cute how she does it.

She isnt' really sleeping in this picture but you get the idea, she is a stretcher

Kate's Garden

Brock and Kate have been growin it, I've been eating it! If I can't find Brock or Kate I know where to look....the garden. Those two have been hard at work in the garden all summer and their efforts have payed off, they have produced some great stuff. Kate will eat a whole cucumber by herself. She doesn't like tomatoes, but doesn't seem to mind growing them. They also have a sunflower that is about to open and bloom anyday.
I also bought some fresh corn and peaches from the Snead's (a farmer I worked for when I was 18). I think he has the best produce in Virginia. I froze away 3 dozen ears of corn and made fresh freezer jam with the peaches. It was wonderful on our pancakes this morning.

Lydia's tooth

It comes from my side of the family I suppose. My nephew had teeth early and I think my dad did too. Lydia joins the club with early teething. She had a tooth pop through on the day she turned 10 weeks old. I can see it and sometimes feel it, it sorta goes under the gum and then comes back up. I actually noticed this white pimple on her gum in the hospital with her, I thought it looked like a tooth then but brushed off the idea of it since she was so young to be getting a tooth. I also had been meaning to bring it up to the pediatrician but always forgot. I tried to get a picture of it which she didn't like very much. You'll have to tell me what you think.

Click on it to make it larger. It's the white pimple thing in the lower left gum.

Life is a bowl full of cherries



My friend Becky sent me the most beautiful handmade quilt for Lydia, a friend of hers made it. I thought it deserved a picture on my blog.