Lilypie Fourth Birthday tickers

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Lilypie Second Birthday tickers

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Wednesday, August 24, 2011

The Last Days of Summer

My students start school tomorrow, so I thought I should get caught up with a few events that went on at the end of the summer...

Chris came over and cooked us her award winning ribs.
They were delicious!
Kyri ate them right off the bone like an animal.


We went to the Cougar's game with Bryan, Kay, Aubry, and my mom.
Glad Bryan and Kay let us tag along on their anniversary!

Tessa B at her first baseball game
(wearing a Sox shirt instead of Cougars...)

An attempt at a group shot.
The kids weren't being very cooperative.

During our group shot attempt I told Aubry to look at the camera.
She scooted all the way up to me to "look" at the camera! Too funny!

K.J. and Aubs preferred to play on the hill rather than watch the game.
They did turn and clap anytime the rest of the crowd did, though.

Grandma and Kyri sharing some ice cream.

We waited around through extra innings and lots of mosquitos to watch the fireworks.
Here are some sleepy girls trying to be patient.

And here are their smiles once the fireworks finally began.
The crew watching.


We went up to the lake for another weekend.
I didn't take many pictures this time, but I had to post this one.
Kyle caught his first walleye in our lake. : )


We also traveled to the Morton Arboretum with some friends.
Here are the big kids: Sofia, Jacob, Lukas, and Kyri

Splashing in the tadpole pond

Sweet Tessa B enjoying the beautiful flowers

These two are bonding more and more these days.


Grandma Karen hosted her Island Party Luncheon again this year. Here are our tropical girls. The girls played for a little while and then we had a delicious lunch that Grandma Karen whipped up for us. Unfortunately we had to cut it short because Kyri wasn't feeling very well. (urinary track infection - yuck!)

And here are my summer buddies on our last day together.

I had the best summer!
A good mix of going on adventures and lounging at home.
I'll miss my girls sooo much!

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

6 Months

Here is the 6 month update that people have been bugging me about! : ) She had her checkup today and did great. She was so happy there and only cried for a few seconds with each shot and then stopped once the nurse started talking to her.

Tessa has become the happiest baby, and she loves everyone. She lets anyone hold her (she went through a brief two week period when she was 4 months old where she wasn't sure of others, but not anymore!) and smiles as soon as someone looks at her. Everything cracks her up and her personality makes us crack up, too. I LOVE her silly giggle. She bursts into it at the most random times. Kyle and I are pretty sure Tessa is going to be the class clown because everything is funny to her. Even after her shots today, she's been in the best mood. Who is happy after shots?

Here is some more info about Tessa at 6 months...

-Weight: 17 lbs., 6 oz. 70th percentile
-Height: 26 1/2 in. 70th percentile
-Sits up on her own
-Rolls from back to front
- FINALLY rolls from front to back (this just started this week and when she's tired, she still cries for someone to come do it for her. When I told the dr. that it just started this week, he said it's probably because she's a bigger baby and it's hard for her to get all of her weight back over. Ha, thought that was funny. Poor girl!)
-Starting to get up on all fours and can army crawl to whatever she wants. When I leave her on a blanket and step away for two seconds, she is always off the blanket and in a completely different position when I get back. I don't know how she moves that fast!
-She naps twice a day. Usually around 9:00 and then again around 1:00. She starts on her back but always ends up sleeping on her belly throughout the night.
-Right now she eats 4 bottles a day, 8 oz each. And she eats one container of baby food a day. She likes all the green veggies. Next we'll try the orange ones.
-Her squeals are still often, but now she is experimenting with other syllables. Most commonly, "dadadadadabadabadabadaba". I love hearing her sweet little voice.
-Her arms never stop moving. She is always slapping them up and down and grabbing for anything in sight. She's a wild woman! We're going to have to keep an eye on her!


I can't believe Tessa B. is a half of a year old already!!!
Here are some cute pictures from an impromptu photo shoot today while Kyri was napping. Had to have some updated 6 month pictures!




Ozzie really wanted to be part of the shoot, too!

Here's a video of our TB in action.

Monday, August 8, 2011

We had a nasty cold virus go through our house, so it's been a while since my last post. Of course, there are TONS of pictures from these past two weeks...

DuPage County Fair

I forgot the camera in the car, so these pics were all taken on my phone. Sorry that they're blurry!


Her favorite food of the summer.

Feeding some goats.
Tessa wasn't so sure about them...

Kyri was in heaven. She's a country girl at heart!

Crazy looking chicken!

Glen Ellyn Splash Park

This is my new favorite place of the summer.
Wish I would have found it sooner!

There are fountains that are little enough for Kyri to play in.

More water ballet...

Tessa spent most of the time watching from her play mat.

But she got in on the action a bit, too!


Splashing is so much fun!

Ahhh, but then it was time for a drink.
It was kind of bright out, so Daddy's hat helped.

Visit from the South Carolina Crew!

Mary Scott and Tessa were so cute with each other.
The whole gang hanging out


Mary Scott wasn't too sure about Tessa being in her mommy's lap!

The next day we took a Wendella Boat ride on the Chicago river.

It was a sweaty day, but Tess didn't seem to mind too much.

Kyri and I sat up top for a bit to get a better view!

Afterwards we got some delicious pizza at Gino's East.

Adorable Mary Scott waiting patiently for her pizza.

Kyri thought it was so cool that we could sign the walls.
She's pointing out where her name is.

The next day we took the group to Morton Arboretum.
Everyone enjoyed the creek on that HOT day!

Even Tessa B!

Bob relived his youth at the park!
We had so much fun with the Handells. So glad they could come visit us. Looking forward to the next time our families can get together!

The Lake

Kyri was so excited on the way there and was talking a mile a minute. Then two seconds later we realized it was quiet... she had passed out like this.
Tessa, on the other hand, continued to babble loudly the entire way there.
"Dabadabadabadabadaba!"

It was just us up there on Saturday.
Kyri and Kyle enjoyed a nice swim off the side of the boat.
Tessa napped under the boat seat, and I relaxed in the sun.
Great day!

On Sunday a bunch of my family joined us up there.
Grandpa Mike was trying to nap, but Kyri thought it was funny to tickle him!

Kyri and Aunt Sandy getting all sandy.

Lunch time!

Hanging out in the shade

Ike learning to swim!

He'd rather go for a boat ride, though.

Grebner Family Pic!

The sand monster!

Aunt Sherry's turn to get messy!
After fun in the sand, we went on a boat ride to show everyone around the lake. Grandma Nancy gets a special thanks for staying back with Kyri so she could nap. Everyone got to witness a very overtired KJ, and it wasn't pretty! Even though Grandma was in trouble for not doing any of the nap routine correctly, she was able to get our little princess to sleep. We all were much happier when she woke up! Thank you!