Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July! We had a fun day with friends celebrating the day. We started out by playing in the yard before it got too hot. Then mid morning we got everyone into the car and heading to Huntersville. Birkdale Village, a great family friendly area, was having a parade and outdoor activities for kids. We met our friends Jen, Kevin and their little boy Tyler as well. As you can tell in the picure, Tyler and Olivia are quite fond of one another! Luke had a great time sliding down the bouncy house with daddy and Olivia had fun just running around. The line was too long to get their faces painted, but they did enjoy picking out a balloon to carry around.

The parade started around noon. We thought it would be like the parade we went to for St. Patrick's Day, but this one was very simple. It mainly consisted of kids dressed up walking down the street with their parents. Luke and Olivia were starting to get tired and hungry, so we decided to have lunch out at one of daddy's favorite restaurants, Jason's Deli. With full bellies and tired babies, we headed for home.

Once nap time was over, we went to our neighborhood park for awhile. We were supposed to go sit on our friends dock to watch fireworks, but it started pouring down rain around 5:30pm. We could have gone later in the evening, but we were all tired and decided to call it a day.

Here are some pics from the day:

Dada's Home

Dan is home from Japan. Yipee!!! =) I have to say, these past 2 weeks have probably been the "easiest" so far. No one got sick (except for my tonsillitis) and we stayed very busy with family and friends. Needless to say, though, we are always happy when daddy comes home and our family is complete once again.

Luke's first bee sting

Luke, Olivia and I were at the park yesterday morning and we were just about to leave when a bee stung Luke on his ankle. The little pest got him right through his sock, and he got immediate tears in his eyes. My poor little guy =( He cried for about 10 minutes before I was able to settle him down a little. I raced home and gave him some tylenol and washed it with baking soda. I know you are also supposed to put ice on it,too, but good luck doing that with an 18 month old! I kept him up from his nap for awhile to make sure he didn't have an allergic reaction, and thankfully all was better in the afternoon. Today he doesn't seem like it bothers him at all. What a tough little boy!

Neighborhood Playdate

I have become very good friends with a few girls in our neighborhood, and some days I don't know what I would do without them. Meredith has Lilah, who is 1 mth older than Luke and Olivia. Jen has Tyler, who is 2 mths older than L and O and Stacy has Sean, who is 1 mth younger than my kiddos. Needless to say, with so many kids around the same age, it's like we have out own little traveling daycare! Jen is a teacher so she is off for the summer and Stacy is a dentist but off 2 days a week. Meredith stays home like I do, and we all see each other lots...3-4 days a week sometimes. We go to Chick Fil A for ice cream and indoor cool playtime, go to the local splash parks and spend lots of time at the parks here in our neighborhood. We rotate play dates at houses and go to Discovery Place Kids together. It has been beyond wonderful to find such a great group of girls, and I love that Luke and Olivia get some playtime with other kids as well.

We also get to see Aunt B, Uncle Marc and family usually at least 1 day a week, and we look forward to those visits as well. I love sharing our time with so many wonderful people. It was SO hard for me to leave Atlanta, my friends and my career to begin a new phase of our life in NC. But everyday I am more and more thankful for what we have, and there really is nothing better than family and good friends to not only enrich Luke and Olivia's life, but mine as well.

Future Basketball Stars?

Luke and Olivia are obsessed with balls lately. Basketballs, baseballs, soccer balls, bouncy balls, small plastic balls, etc. Basically they love anything that rolls and makes me have to chase after it! I understand why balls are round, but sometimes it would be nice if they were square, especially when outdoors. We even have to take a ball with us when we go to the store. Luckily they are very good about holding onto it, but couldn't they find an easier lovey? haha

Here they are playing with the new basketball goal we got for them. Notice Olivia is about to attempt to put 2 balls into the hoop. Luke loves to put the ball in the hoop over and over again. Sorry, Dan, we may have two basketball and not baseball stars in our family afterall =)

The countdown is on!

Less than a week to go and Dan returns from Japan. Happy Dance! We had a very busy and fun weekend, but missed Daddy along the way. Yesterday I had to go to the urgent care (tonsillitis again; thanks MauMaw and PauPaw for taking care of Luke and Olivia) and then we went to Oma and Opa's house to play and have dinner. Luke and Olivia loved playing with new toys, and loved even more getting to watch a cartoon while they were eating dinner (a first treat like that for them).

This morning we played for awhile and then got an invitation to go on the lake with some friends/neighbors. So we went on the boat and played in the lake water for awhile. Once we returned home Luke and Olivia ate an early lunch, took a quick bath and took a late nap. They slept like champs, and when they woke up we had to go to the grocery store. I've been trying to go for days but it always seems something came up. Once we got home, I quickly unloaded the car and got the babies ready for a neighborhood cookout. They had a blast in the bouncy house with their friends and loved playing with all sorts of new toys. We got home just before bedtime and they were so tired they fell fast asleep. It was great to have so many wonderful friends and family help out, but we wish daddy could be here for all of the fun times, too. Soon enough...we miss you, daddy!

Fun in PauPaw's Garden

PauPaw has a great garden every year and they keep us well stocked with fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, and other yummy veggies. Today I took Luke and Olivia over to their house so they could explore the garden and see how their food is grown. They had the best time running up and down the rows and were really good about not pulling veggies off of the vines. Their favorite part was taking veggies from one bucket and putting them in another.

It had rained the night before, so needless to say they were a muddy mess. But a quick strip down and rinse with the hose and they were ready for round 2 of playtime.

That was a fast 4 weeks!

Well, the time has come all too quickly for Dan to head off to Japan again for 2 more weeks. He left yesterday morning (Saturday) and returns home on July 1st, just in time for a 3 day weekend-yay! We have lots of playdates planned and will stay as busy as possible. Here's hoping everyone stays healthy!

Happy Father's Day!

Since Dan will be in Japan on Father's Day, we celebrated a little early on Friday. Luke and Olivia worked very hard on their presents and "dada" loved them. They painted a t-shirt with washable paints and made bookmarks for him. They also colored him some pictures, got him Scrabble-Baseball Edition and a t-shirt that says "dad 2". Then we had a casual dinner of Bojangles and enjoyed spending some time together as a family.

Dan, you are an excellent husband and father and we're thankful everyday we have you in our lives. Happy Father's Day to one of the most wonderful men I know. We love you!

Same skirt

Olivia wore this skirt when she was 6 months old and it still fits one year later. Our lil' runt =)


6 Months Old


18 Months Old

Luke's haircut

Before:


After:

18 Month Check Up

Luke and Olivia had their 18 month check up today and it was by far, the easiest and least painful of all appointments we have had so far. Yay! =) Since they were all caught up on their shots, they didn't have to get any today (even though I was told they would get 2 each). PauPaw came with us to help out since Dan is out of town, and it's always nice to have an extra set of hands while Dr. Colyer is examining each baby. She said their development was right on track and they were doing great for their ages. I also had to complete a developmental questionnaire and they passed with flying colors. We are still going to keep the car seats rear facing since Olivia still isn't 20 pounds and the new guidelines recommend they be 2 years old. Since they have never been turned they don't know he difference, but we are ready for them to be forward facing. Soon enough...Unless something comes up, we don't have to go back for another check up until they turn 2 years old.

Here are their measurements from today:
Luke
24.0 pounds; 23%
32" long; 36%
Head circumference: 49cm 57%

Olivia
19.2 pounds; 3%
30.5" long; 15%
Head circumference: 46cm 9%

After their appointment, I took Luke to get his haircut and let's just say the third time was certainly a charm this time. He did awesome sitting in the chair and got a really good haircut for the first time ever. The stylist even put some gel in his hair, and it is so cute! I got it cut kind of short for summer so I have to get used to his new look. He is such a little man now!