Fun With The Fam...

Yesterday we had a really nice family day.  Erin, Owen, and Grandma came over first thing in the morning and we all headed to the zoo.  The weather was perfect and Claire was very excited to show Owen everything at the zoo, including the "parasail"  otherwise known as the carousel.

Owen had a blast.  He loved waving to all the animals and 

saying "hi".

Claire loved the aquarium.  She could not understand how the sea lions could swim around with their eyes closed.

Owen had a blast on the "parasail".  Claire told us before they went on the carousel "I am going to tell the man that my cousin is going to go on with me".  

Owen loved playing in the petting zoo.

Overall, I think Erin and Owen enjoyed their trip to our zoo :)

After the zoo we headed over to Aunt Irene's house to go swimming.  Claire and Owen had a blast in the pool.  Claire loved going from the hot tub to the pool and then back again and again and again.  By the time Daddy got there she was jumping off the diving board.  After we swam for a while Irene and Bryan made a delicious dinner for everyone.  It turned to out to be a perfect day with the family.

Oliver had a blast hanging out with Aunt Erin. 

He is such a stud.

And here are some cute pictures from throughout the week.

This is how Oliver has been sleeping lately.  Thank god for a good swaddle, a full belly, and a baby positioner.  Now the juice only wakes up once throughout the night :)

Could he be any sweeter?

One of Mark's favorite things is the Bumbo (I had to think of you Tammy ;)).  He cannot wait to get the kids in it!  So here we are the other morning with Oliver just hanging out in his Bumbo.

Fun With Terry Buchwald

Yesterday after dinner we decided to head to our local pavilion to see Terry Buchwald (an Elvis impersonator) perform.  We had a really nice time.  Claire loved hearing the music and dancing.  She loves dancing with Mark.  At one point she made Mark take her up by the stage to slowdance :) And Oliver loved being outside and looking around.  

 Claire has been lovin Oliver up lately.  She can't get enough of him.  She is always kissing him and asking if she can "pet him".  Also, she sings him the song from the book "I Love You Forever".  It is quite possibly the cutest thing I have ever seen.  

Oliver just enjoying the show.  If you look closely the hair by his ears is slightly red :)

 Claire got a chance to meet the legend himself.

Superdad on the way home :)


Here are some cute pics from the other day.

Pete had to get in on the action when Grandma and Grandpa were playing with Claire and Oliver.

Have I mentioned that Pete loves Oliver?  He is wherever Oliver is.  Pete does not leave this baby's side. 

Swimmin With Friends.

We have been very busy over here.  Blogging has definitely been harder since I now have two kids.  Also, Mark was in Chicago for 4 days for a wedding.  Thank God for Grandma, Grandpa, Nana, and Papa or I am not sure I would have made it!

Since Mark was gone we decided to just keep busy.  Thursday was our first day without Daddy so Grandma came over early and helped me get the kids all ready and packed up and we headed to our local park to meet some friends. 

Claire and Chase loved running in and out of the water.  They had a blast together!  

Oliver had a blast at the beach too.  It was super hot so he was happy as can be when we just laid him on the towel naked.  

Mommy and Claire enjoyed hanging out with Kristy and Chase.  

And what would a trip to our local park be without Aunt Jessica and Giada.  Claire and Giada loved running around in the spray park.

After the park, we headed home and took a nap.  Yep, that's right A NAP...ALL OF US!!!  Claire and Oliver both napped at the same time.  So obviously I curled up on the couch and took a GREAT nap.  It was awesome.  After our naps we headed over to Grandma's for dinner.  Claire had a blast playing in her little pool.  

When Claire was done in her little pool she talked Grandma into taking her into the hot tub.  She loved it in there.  Claire really loves water.  She was making the lifeguards a little nervous at the beach because she just jumps in the water and she will stay under there for a while.  She is a fish :)

As for Oliver, he has been just getting up once in the night to eat.  He has been going down to sleep around 11 and then getting up to eat at around 3 eating and then going back to sleep.  Then he gets up around 6:30 and eats again and then sleeps until 9.  Although I did get lucky and he slept through the night on Saturday night!!  He skipped the 3 o'clock feeding!  Hopefully he will do that again soon!  Also, Oliver is starting to really look around.  He will turn to see you when he hears your voice and he is so alert.  He is starting to hold his head up more and more on his own.  We are getting a lot of half smiles too.  I can't believe that is five weeks old already! 

Claire's Birthday Party!

Yesterday was Claire's birthday party!  She had a blast!  She loved playing with all of her friends.  And for the first time in the history of us having special events the weather was perfect.

The kids had a blast playing in Claire's new pool.

Giada and her Daddy had a blast on the slide :)

We took Claire to Tops and told her that she could pick any cake she wanted.  This is the cake she picked.  It is a Shrek cake and it is pretty much the ugliest cake that I have ever seen but it was Claire's day.

 

And she did love it :)

Everyone loved passing Oliver around.  He is so sweet, he is starting to really study things and he is giving us some adorable smiles (that are not being followed with burps or gas).

Take a closer look. He is soo cute!  Oliver is starting to lose his hair a little.  He has a slight widow's peek, but he is still handsome.

Here are some shots of everyone enjoying the party.

Great Grandpa, Grandpa, and Kevin.

Leah, Lauren, and Uncle Dave.

Auntie Rose and Nonny.

Greg and Auntie Rose.

Shannon and Jessica.

Uncle Brian and my man Owen (how stinkin cute is Owen?!)

Then it was time for PRESENTS!!!

Claire loved opening all of her gifts!

She is the only kid that I know that gets super excited about cozey pajamas!

Claire truly loved every gift she received.  Thank you so much everyone for you kind and generous gifts!

Mark and I got Claire her first big girl bike!  She loves it!!

Claire couldn't wait to put her new Woody doll in her basket and go for a ride :)

She was a big fan of her new fish goggles too!  This is her new bikini (well new to her, thanks Bella).  She informed a few people at the party "I like this bathing suit, even though my boobies aren't that big"

Here she is testing out her new goggles :)

Overall, it was a great party!  Thank you to everyone who helped out, there is no way we could have this party without you guys.  Thank you Mom for coming over early and helping with the kids and prep work.  Thank you Grandma for making food and picking up food (Grandpa too :).  Thank you Great Grandma for making my favorite veggie pizzas.  Thank you Auntie Rose for the peanut butter pie.  Thank you Jessica for helping through my meltdown the day before and for EVERYTHING you helped with (I don't have enough room to list everything).  Thank you Kevin for helping to set everything up and getting Can Jam!  Thank you Jenn for the veggies and bean salad and for cleaning up my kitchen :), and thank you to Mark for getting everything ready and dealing with me before the party.  And thank you to everyone else!  You all helped throughout the day and made the party so special!!!  I still can't believe my baby is THREE!!!

Few Things...

Claire's Birthday!

Claire's third birthday was July 3rd!  I cannot believe that my baby is THREE!!!  We told her that she could have anything that she wanted for breakfast.  All she wanted was pancakes :)  We also told her that we would do whatever she wanted that day.  All she wanted was to play outside and swim in her pool :)

Oliver had fun watching his big sister play outside while he sat in the shade.

Pete can usually be found by Oliver's side.  He is way more into Oliver than he was with Claire when she was a baby.  At night he can be found by Oliver while he sleeps and when Oliver gets fussy Pete comes from wherever he is in the house to be by his side.  It's really sweet.

Later on the grandparents, Uncle Kevin, Aunt Sara, and Uncle Johnny came over for dinner and birthday cake.  And of course the grandparents came with little presents for Claire (even though her big party isn't until this Saturday).

Claire has expressed a recent interest in going fishing ( I have no idea where that has come from).  So of course one of her presents was a little fishing pole and some fish.  She loved going fishing.

Here is her big catch of the day!

One of Claire's other gifts was a sprinkler.  And of course how could Grandpa say no when Claire asked him to join her :)

   


              Our first family photo.  Even Oliver is smiling!

Grandpa, Papa, and Uncle Kevin had a nice time talking about cars and golf (of course).

The next day was the fourth of July.  We spent the day at Nana and Papa's swimming and then headed to our local parade and fireworks display.

Claire and Oliver playing with Oliver's playmat at Nana's house.

Claire loved the parade.  But she was NOT  a fan of the firetrucks.

Nana felt that the sirens bothered Oliver's ears.  Even though Oliver did not move once during the parade OR the fireworks.  He slept through all of it.