Weekend fun

Dylly was so excited to have a date night & slumber party with Grandma and Papa last night that she wanted to be extra fancy! So we got all scrubbed up, put her hair in French braid pigtails for the first time, and she said she wanted to wear a dress and shorts. ;) They went to Pizza Crossing and Dairy Queen, played I Spy, and read books. This morning they had egg & bagel sandwiches on the porch and watched the rain. After breakfast, Dylly said she wanted to go for a walk in the rain in the woods. Her wish is Grandma & Papa's command, and it sounds like they had a wonderful adventure! She is a lucky little girl to have grandparents who spoil her so thoroughly!! :)

Chad & Blake observing the girly-ness. ;)

Reading some books while we wait on a Grandma & Papa to arrive.

On a side note: week before last, we got two new fish. One is a plecostomus, Dylan named him Hula Hoop. :) Now, fish are hard to photography, but plecostomus are REALLY hard to photograph! He spends most of his time hiding behind the filter, and this is the only picture I've managed to snap of him on one of his brief forays into the public eye.

Sock Hop & his new best friend, Fishy Fishy II! (Sorry I'm such a terrible fish photographer.)

 

Last night, Chad, Blake, & I had a lovely evening of making pancakes and bacon for dinner and FaceTiming with Kelly, Jesse, & Sloane. (Sloane is SO cute!) 

After Blake went to bed, Chad and I watched World War Z. Then we had a glorious night of Blake sleeping through the night and sleeping in until 9:30 am! Wow! This morning we've been making zucchini bread, biscuits, and next up is oatmeal cookies. After nap time, that is! 

Love

My love bugs. <3

Watery days

Yesterday was a study in perfection. Week days really don't come any better than yesterday did (with the exception of the most insane diaper explosion I have ever personally witnessed.) 

The morning started with a walk at the fairgrounds and into the woods with the Dickerson clan. After the walk, Heather & I sat and nursed the babies in the shelter house while the kids ran around, played on the stage, and ate chocolate covered pretzels. Then we all came back to our house for backyard play time, sprinkler action, and lunch. After lunch, we went our separate ways for nap time. We had gloriously long naps, and I eventually had to wake Dylan up at 4:15 because she'd been asleep for 2 hrs and 45 minutes! 

It's been so swelteringly hot & humid here in the afternoons that it's pretty impossible to do anything outside besides be in water. All the pools are closed, so we decided to go to "Logan Beach" as Dyl calls it (Lake Logan, really.) We called Chadmo and he headed out of work earlier than usual and met us at the lake. We had a great time swimming for about an hour & half until our Pizza Crossing was delivered! Then we had a pizza picnic lakeside (dairy is definitely still a fail for Blake. Sad, but it was a delicious test.) 

After dinner we all headed home for baths. Then we watched some "Homeward Bound" before bed. The kids both went to bed fairly easily, and Chad and I had time for wine and 1 while hour of grown up TV. Perfection! 

Today we've been suffering from "everyday can't be as cool as yesterday" syndrome, and the fact that I had to accomplish some housework. Blake was pretty miserable from the dairy exposure, and Dyl was just generally a grouch. But we ended the day on a high note by going swimming at Fred & Susie's! Angie, Lauren, & Ben were there too, and it was a great time! Definitely a cool way to spend another hot evening. :) Now let's hope everyone sleeps better tonight than they napped today! 

Dyl finally conned Henry into holding her hand...

...he looks thrilled, doesn't he?? ;)

Lunch on the porch! Clothes optional! 

Dylan reading to Blake today. I just love her toes on the crib rail...

She does love to hold her brother!

"Look momma! He holding my hand!"

"I love you, Blakey!"

They really do entertain each other! 

Siblings

Oh the adorable, incredible, wonderful sweetness. Even if it's often short-lived, it is always the best part of my day. I love watching these two love each other! 

A whale of a good time!

All of our kiddos love bath time & the whale bath tub! We'll have to save this tub for grandkids someday, we have too many good memories to part with it! :) Here are a few pictures of Blake from tonight. 

Avocado!

Blake had his first 'solid' food today - avocado! It went pretty well really, and he thought it was fun. He actually liked it best if I fed him off my finger as opposed to the spoon (he's apparently anti-all-things-plastic in his mouth, not just bottles.) I think he really liked being included in lunch with Momma & Dylly!!

"Hmmm, what is this stuff?? It doesn't taste like milk!"

Happy birthday, Poppy/Papa!!

Happy birthday to the universe's best Poppy & Papa!! We love you bunches & bunches!!

Dylan wanted to blow out candles with Papa, so we lit them a second time and let her help. Taking pictures with kids is always a bit of a challenge... 

Blake's turn! Take #1. In a classic Blake move, he smiles and then ducks his head to the side. Our shy boy! ;)

Take #2: Blake loves his Papa!

Success! Papa and his grandkids! Soon there will be 3 sharing that lap - hurry up and arrive, Miss Sloane! We thought she might be coming today as a birthday present for Papa, but it turned out she was just faking us out. Sneaky baby! Jesse told Kelly he doesn't think she's really committed to having this baby! ;)

This makes my heart happy.

And so does this! I'm bummed the lighting is so terrible - these would've been so cute! Grandma was holding Blake, and Dylan comes over with a book and says "Scoot over! I want a side!" LOL At least she's learned from Daniel Tiger to talk about it when she's jealous!

These two sure love their Grandma to bits too!

18 pounds!

I can't get enough of these bedtime snuggling pictures! These 2 love each other so much right now! <3

Blake had a check-up on Friday and he weighed in at 18#1oz (70th %), 27.25" long (87th %), and his head was in the 86th %! He's growing like a weed! And the doctor could see his left lower incisor below the gum, so that's working it's way in too. His head size was originally in the 40th, then the 67th, and now the 86th percentile, so he's on the same exponential growth trajectory that Dylan was - resulting in her extra big noggin. So it looks like the Stevelt-Mitchell tradition of big heads lives on. ;) 

Summer Fever

My poor Dylly-pot-pie woke up from her nap with a fever of 102.7 degrees. I knew something was wrong when she laid down on the carpet in the middle of the living room when we came downstairs. Sure enough, she was hot as toast. So we watched some Cinderella, and in pretty short order she threw up. A lot. She was pretty lethargic and miserable until around 6 pm. Then she was drenched in sweat and her fever seemed to break. I'm hoping it really did break for good, and that it wasn't just Advil! She didn't have much appetite at dinner, but before bed she was a hungry hippo and had a squeeze pack and a piece of cinnamon toast. I'm hoping she sleeps well and is back to normal tomorrow! (And that nobody else gets it!)

My sick patient, watching Beauty & the Beast. <3

Blakers learning that he can use his foot to play with his toys! It's so cute to watch him learn & discover! He is just SO smoochable!

Chicken & rice soup that I made for Dylly. (It turned out really well!) I told her I made it for her tummy, to help it feel better. She said, very seriously, "No, don't put it on my tummy! I hungry. I want put it in my mouth." LOL 

A.M. & P.M.

Good Morning!! 

Good night!! (Dylly was going through her bedtime routine with Daddy!)

We had a delicious dinner at Red Lobster tonight. Dylly loved popcorn shrimp! (And of course, cheddar bay biscuits.)

Love

I love you like frogs love flies,

I love you like pigs love pies,

I love you like boots love splashing in puddles,

I love you like bears love kisses and cuddles,

I love you like the moon at night; big and round and warm and bright,

I love you, good night. <3

Nelsonville Pool

We had a super fun evening at the Nelsonville Pool tonight! (Blake and I were in Columbus yesterday, that just didn't post till today for some reason.) Chadmo brought Chipotle from Athens, and we had dinner pool side. Dyl & I went down the big slide at least 10 times, and it was so adorable to hear her say "Wheeeeee!" Afterward we played on the playground next door. It was pretty much Dyl's perfect evening, if only there had been ice cream. ;)

Our little mermaid! 

Stomping on the fountain. You can see the fun slide in the background! 

Daddy/Sea Monster & Blake/Clover :)

Happy boy! Tummy time can be pretty fun! 

LOL!