Memorial Day Weekend -- Part 2

My brother and his family arrived in Michigan late Saturday night.  It was so great to see them after a whole year!!  On Sunday, we all headed over to my Grandma's nursing home for a big family picnic in their courtyard.  It was a little sticky and hot, but a great place for a picnic because the kids could just run around the enclosed courtyard and we didn't have to worry about keeping a very close eye on them.   My Grandma seemed to really enjoy watching all of the activity, and she definitely enjoyed the Kentucky Fried Chicken and strawberry shortcake (with extra whipped cream)! 

Poppa meets Alyse.  Tessa had to be right in there too. :)

Poppa with the five littlest grandchildren!

Yummy veggie appetizers!

Bubbles all around!

Grandma and I

Gram with her baby boy

My family with Grandma

We probably should have tried this group photo at the beginning of the picnic instead of the end.  Everyone was hot and tired at this point!

Tessa with her Great-Grandma

Grandma, Mom and Tessa

Memorial Day Weekend -- Part 1

We had a very fun and eventful end of May and beginning of June.  I'm going to try my best work my way through hundreds of pictures so I don't get too far behind! 

For Memorial Day weekend we went to Michigan with a stopover in Pittsburgh to celebrate Dave's brother John's 40th birthday.  It was also the first time John, Lauren, Madison and Olivia met Alyse!

I love this picture.  I love how Madison is looking at Alyse and how Olivia is totally hamming it up for the camera. :)

John and Lauren

Madison helps her dad read his birthday cards.

Alyse and Uncle John test out his new anti-gravity chair!

We made it to my mom's house on Saturday afternoon.  We didn't have anything planned, so it was nice to just relax and let the kids run around and play outside.  I love watching my kids play in my mom's yard.  It brings back so many of my own memories of playing there as a child. 

Calder is totally into dandelions. On a family walk the other night, I overheard him telling Tessa "It's not a flower, Tessa.  It's a dandelion.  The white parts are the dandies."

This little girl loves dirt!

Calder loves this magnifying glass with built in bug catcher that my mom keeps at her house.  Well...she used to keep it at her house.  Calder lifted it during this visit, and I didn't realize until we were unpacking the van after we got home.  Sorry, Mom.  We'll give it back one day!

4 Months

Our baby girl is 4 months old!  At her 4 month well visit she weighed in at 12 lbs 3 oz. (20th percentile) and was 24 inches long (42nd percentile).   (By comparison, Tessa was 15 lbs, 12 oz. and 24 3/4 inches).

So, although Alyse is technically still on the smaller end of the scale, she no longer looks like a preemie. She has little rolls on her arms and legs and even a double chin!  She's even starting to fit into 3-6 month clothing! She had a serious case of cradle cap, but her pediatrician gave me some tips and it cleared right up in one day!

She's not on much of a schedule yet, but she is finally starting to 'wake up' and no longer sleeps the days away.  She demands more attention which, of course, we are all happy to give her! 

Like her brother and sister at this age, she enjoys watching ceiling fans and the mobile above her crib.  She loves to suck on her fingers and barely takes the paci anymore. She likes to try to stand on our laps with her strong little legs, so we've been giving her some time in the doorway jumper.  She's not exactly jumping yet, but she seems to really enjoy being upright and seeing the world from a new perspective.  

We definitely struck the jackpot and got another good sleeper.  She sleeps from about 9:30pm to 4am every night, and then goes right back to sleep after a quick nursing.  Yay! 

Happy 4 months, baby girl! You are so loved!

Practice makes {almost} perfect

Take 1...

Take 10!

New Bike!

Last summer Calder wasn't interested in a bike, but we decided to give it a shot this summer. I was happy to score this bike at a yard sale after much searching! 

He's still getting used to it, but finds it very exciting! 

I'm sure it won't be long before he's riding circles around the neighborhood!

Calder's Dino Book

Calder is soooo into dinosaurs lately.  He has several dinosaur books and soaks up all of the information like a sponge.  He knows so much more about dinosaurs at age 4 than I ever have!  So one day he sat down and drew out pictures of all of his favorite dinosaurs, and then decided he wanted to make the pictures into a book.  He stapled all of the pages together and asked me to write down the words on each page as he dictated them.  I wrote down everything exactly as he said (he even told me where to put the words on each page).  Of course I am biased, but I think the result is quite impressive! 

*Disclaimer:  Poor spelling is a huge pet peeve of mine.  But when it comes to dinosaur names, I'm way out of my league.  So, please excuse the fact that I have completely botched the spelling of many a dinosaur name!

So, without further ado:  Calder's Dino Book

Did you learn anything new about dinosaurs? :)

Bumbo

Alyse gave the bumbo seat a whirl for the first time a few weeks ago.  I think she's a little too small for it yet..  We'll try it again in a few weeks! 

Someone else decided to give it a try too!