first day of school.

wowsa, i've fallen behind on my blogs.  i want to post pics of our 4th annual lucy family labor day picnic as well as our lucy family beach trip this past weekend - another time!!  can't keep up.  we're busy and i'm tired.  

sarah kate went back to school last wednesday.   she'll go mondays, wednesdays and fridays.  on mondays and wednesdays she goes from 9am -1pm and has lunch at school.  sweet girl thinks she's so big carrying her lunch box into school!  fridays she goes from 9 until noon.

well, i guess since this is her third year at school that she's an old pro.  no tears.  no anxiety.  just went on in to that familiar place where she goes to church and preschool. she walked in and looked at her teacher, mrs. ginger, and said, "can i dress up?"  and that was how her day began.  i hugged her bye and left - she couldn't have cared less what i did though - her classroom is stocked with dress up clothes so who cares about mama anyway?!

i took her shopping a couple of weeks ago and she picked out her new lunchbox & sparkly toms.  i also let her pick out her back to school outfit the night before so of course she chose a smocked dress.  

so, here she is doing her "where's sarah kate?"  she also does this when she sees my camera because she doesn't like to have her picture taken anymore.  and she gets a real kick out of being difficult.

she is actually bigger than her bag this year!  all the kids carry the same bag from the 1 year old class all the way up to kindergarten. it changes colors each year, but is the same otherwise.  it's been fun watching her "grow into her bag."

there she goes - looking all big!! 

with mrs. karen, her assistant teacher

with mrs. ginger, her lead teacher

she had a great day!  she didn't really elaborate on anything other than, "i dressed up!"  today was her second day of school (she missed friday because we were at the beach) and she said she had fun.  she had dance this evening so her mondays are full!

i have other pics from her first day, but the only ones that will download correctly are my landscape pics - all portrait pics are turned sideways for some reason and i'm too tired to fix it all right now.  off to bed i go - i will post more about school, labor day weekend, and our beach trip soon hopefully.

hayes is sleeping in her crib tonight for the first time!  so far, so good.  i just went upstairs a little while ago to give her a late night feeding.  she didn't even really wake up for it so she went right on back to sleep when she was done eating.  i hope she has a good night up there.  kind of nervous for some reason - maybe nervous isn't the right word!  just hoping she does okay up there all by herself.  i have a video on her of course so i can look in from time to time. next year i'll be posting about that sweet baby's first day of school and sk's first day of 4k.  but i'm not worried about all that right now.  right now i'm just going to worry about her first night in the crib.=)

2 month stats and shots.

"oh, hey dad, what's going on with you? i'm just laying here on this table....."

 "what the heck!! that hurt!!  i am not going to cry, not going to cry, not going to cry...."

"oh i can't help it...i'm going to cry!"

"i'm okay, i'm okay, let's get out of here!"

my boo-boos

happy to be back at home.  "let's don't do that again, okay?!"

 

this morning was hayes' 2 month appointment.  she was really a good little patient.  she had a great check-up.  the dr. is very impressed with her growth - she is now in the 50th percentile in weight.  she weighed in at 10 pounds 14 ounces!  not bad for the little 5 pounder that i delivered 2 months ago=)

she was 21.5 inches long (25th%).  her head circumference was 38 cm (25th%).

she looked great!  that's what we like to hear - good health is an answered prayer.  the doctor said that her reflux must be under control or else we wouldn't see such excellent growth. 

hayes is still what i would call a high maintenance baby.  she has the newborn fussies - it just is what it is.  there are 3 positives about it though #1: her fussies don't seem to be out of pain much anymore which means that prevacid is working for her and keeping her comfy. #2: she is easy to console.  she is very picky about how she is held and she is a baby who craves schedule/routine - we can handle that! although....not the easiest kind of second baby to have being that we are about to be busy running big sis all over the place, but we will survive.  and #3: we know from experience that month 3 brings more contented babies - the doctor said today that by week 14 (if not before) we should have a baby whose happy times far outnumber the fussy ones.  we are already having some really good days here and there!

 

labor day weekend post to come!  sweet girl went to church for the first time which she really enjoyed but it totally threw her off her nap schedule.  just like her sis - needs a swaddle and a crib/swing to nap.  i was reminded why we were such lowsy church members when sk was a newborn.  who can nap with all that lovely (LOUD) music playing off and on anyway?!

 

a pic of my girls before church...

 



hayes goes to the big town.

well, hayes survived her first road trip and really enjoyed her first visit to folkston and "the house that built me."  my mom was really sweet to drive up to fetch her girls on wednesday, the 22nd.  she didn't want me traveling alone with a newbie and a 3 year old just yet so she came up, we loaded up and i drove us back to folkston.  our ride was long, but not bad at all.  we had to stop to potty and feed a few times.  it was great to have mimi with us - she took sk to potty while i fed hayes.  teamwork.  trey came down and spent the weekend with us.  he drove us back home on sunday and i couldn't have asked for a better trip.  not a fuss from either girl and we made great time.

it was in folkston that we started to see an improvement in hayes's reflux issues.  she started really smiling at us and focusing in on our faces (and mimi's cap - she was obsessed with that!)  she had several visitors come over to see her - her aunt fran, "aunt" barbara, "aunt" cathy, mrs. kim, aunt theresa, uncle gary, cousin brooke, billy, "big" cousin lilly rose, reagan and riley.  of course she also got to see jonathan, ashley and the twins, but that wasn't their first meeting=)  i should have taken pics of hayes with her visitors but i didn't.

sarah kate was so excited to get back down to folkston.  it had been a long time for her and she had been asking to go.  she spent time with her cousins riley and reagan.  and ava and bryce came over saturday and spent the night with us so she got to enjoy playing with them quite a bit.  all the girls rode diamond (the horse) which was something she had been asking to do.  she went on golf cart rides, picked grapes, went into town with me, and got to watch 2 movies that she had been wanting to watch again - snow white and peter pan.  she did not want to leave on sunday, but it made it easier that mimi and papa left at the same time to take ava and bryce back home.

mimi and i took the girls to the swamp on friday.  sk was hoping to see an alligator, but we didn't see one.  it's not always a given that you get to see one, but we usually do.  bummer!  anyway, we had a picnic lunch and then walked around looking for gators, played in the visiors center and then got a few souviners from the gift shop.

 

picnic time for hayes!

 

 

sk, mimi and i riding...

 

hayes riding...

ty riding...

sk washing grapes.

no visit with the cousins is complete without a tea party=) 

the 3 amigos.

talking!

 smiling=)

 hanging out one morning in her nap nanny on mimi's pool table...talking and smiling at mommy=)

ashley and precious cousin lilly rose who is 6 months older than hayes

ava and her trey.  time for bed! 

in  bed with my girls one morning.

 hayes was obsessed with mimi's cap!

 

 thanks mimi and papa for having us and for always making our stay so fun and relaxing!  hayes's first trip to folkston will always be remembered as wonderful....it brought out a happy hayes and was where we first saw those real deal smiles! =)

2 months.

hayes was 2 months old yesterday! (8/29/12)

 

 

 

hazie mae!!  you are 2 months old and will be 9 weeks old tomorrow!  time is flying by.  your 2 month appointment (shots!! oh joy!) is next week so i'll update your stats after that.

 

 here are some little facts about your second month -

 

*you moved up to a size 1 diaper

 

*you are still sleeping well at night, waking once to eat after your late night feeding.  last night you slept from 11:30 until 5:30 this morning, ate, and then went back down until 8. 

 

*you still sleep in the pack-n-play beside mine & your daddy's bed.

 

*you started smiling this month!  real, on-purpose smiles.  i work hard for those smiles and look pretty ridiculous, but you think i'm super funny. 

 

*you took your first trip to your sister's favorite place - folkston.  still working on that post - having issues with those pics uploading correctly.

 

*you take your naps in the swing. 

 

*we swaddle you every night.  you sleep in the nap-nanny every night.  we will try to back you off of this every so often.  you started out flat on your back a few nights ago and i ended up putting you back in the nap nanny because you were quite restless. 

 

*prevacid is working well for you!  you are much more comfortable after feedings now.  you are still a little fussy at times and are VERY particular about the way you are held, but you are getting much better!  you have even spent some time under your play gym and in your bouncy seat this week.  you don't want to be there for long, but you are beginning to enjoy these things.  being held (especially in the bjorn) is still your favorite.  you are so cuddly!

 

*your hair is just like your sister's was at this same age.  yours is a bit lighter, but the texture is the same and the ends curl up after bath and in the humidity.  it's too soon to tell what kind of hair you are going to have i know, but if we had to guess then we'd say that we are on our way to having curly girly number 2. your poor mama in the mornings;)

 

*you are still exclusively breastfed.  you nurse every 2 and a half to 3 hours (give or take, but usually it's right around every 3).  except at night.  you usually go 4 hours at night - last night you went 6!  keep that up, baby hayes!!

 

*you wear 0-3month clothing and some newborn things.

 

*you take a paci but you're not obsessed with it.  every single time i laid you down to change your diaper today you tried so hard to suck on your thumb.  you want to, and sometimes you are able to make it work for a few seconds, but you haven't mastered it yet.  if i had to guess, i would say that we have another thumb sucker on our hands!  fine with me....go ahead and do it already so that you can pacify yourself!!  i am not a paci fan...can't ever find one when i need it.  it falls out and we have to put it back in (this is not an issue at night yet thankfully).  and on top of that, the brand you like is that kind that the hospitals use - NO hook so i can't hook it onto the cute and handy "H" paci clips that several people gave us to attach to your clothes. so just go ahead, be a thumb sucker and we'll just throw those thumb guards on you at age 2. 

 

*we love you!  sk said to me yesterday, "i love your baby hayes, mommy!'  and she really does.  she got a little irritated with you one time - you were screaming like crazy in the car one day when her favorite song came on the radio and she couldn't hear it.  she said, "please baby hayes, stop that crying, i can't hear "speakers go boom boom!!" 

we know that you are starting to feel better and that a happier hazie is on her way.  i so wish that you didn't have reflux and that you were more content.  i feel like we are always counting down the weeks until you hit 3 months which seems to be when everything gets better for babies like you.  that's just sad!  we're waiting around for you to get older!  i want to enjoy this little tiny newborn stage with you, but i want you to enjoy your life too.....so we wait.  and it's getting better and better. 

we are so glad you are part of our family!!  we are so glad that you are a sweet little girl. 

 

 

 

 

 



displaced.

i feel like every little thing in our house has been displaced.  nothing is ever where it should be.  there is a certain 3 year old living here who spends her day collecting things, relocating things, and pretending, pretending, pretending!

 

 

today i saw her go to her little farm and collect all the animals.  i was just walking through and happened to see her "herding" the farm crew but didn't know what she was doing.....

 

the empty farm


 

later i was in the playroom and noticed that the silo on her playmat puzzle was sticking up....

 

and then i found the farm animals' new home...

clever.  and terribly cute and sweet. 

 

also, at some point during the day, she created a picnic area outside my bedroom door.  again, i saw her coming downstairs with a basket of food and blankets in tow but wasn't quite sure what she had going on.....

 

and then there's the tea party that she sets up on the coffee table every morning and it stays there all day.  i'm invited for tea all.day.long.

 

i have asked her 100 times not to collect my pewter coasters, but i see that she has collected them, put them on her tea-set plates and topped them with a frog and a crown silly band.....never a dull moment.

 

so, a couple of things to document here.  yes, we have been home all summer with a newborn.  we've been inside alot because of said newborn (& constant rain the past month).  however, sarah kate hasn't skipped a beat.  she entertains herself very nicely with her own little creative mind.  sooooo thankful for her little personality. even if the drama is trying sometimes it is also part of what makes her pretend play so fascinating to watch.  drama - she will be head of that club in highschool, you mark my word.  all that being said.....am i ready for miss priss to go back to school next week??? YES, because i can't figure out where anything is anymore!  i need a few days to get my house back in some sort of "order."  her poor classroom teacher - hope she isn't at the school busy putting things in the perfect spot, because all those things will be displaced soon enough.

 

that would be a good place to end this post, i know.  this is off topic, but i have to post some pics of my hazie.  today was her best day so far.  she really enjoyed her little life today! she took great naps, felt good after her feedings and had some really nice wake-time.  she was in the bjorn some, but didn't spend all her wake time in there so that was awesome! 

hanging with daddy after work.

 

getting her sis up from nap...

sk has a big boo-boo on her chin, kind of like carpet burn.  happened on our big chair.  also, hayes is wearing a bib.  i don't remember sk drooling until she started teething, but hayes has been drooling so much that she'll soak the top of her clothes so i threw a bib on her.  weird.

kisses from sarah kate=)

hayes got so tickled at sarah kate.  i wish i had caught it with my camera.


 

it's so funny, sarah kate says to me all the time, "your baby hayes is so cute!"  cracks me up.  i always say, "thank you, but she is your baby hayes, too you know."  funny little girls.

 

 

 

 



tiny dancer.

ballerina, you must have seen her....

 

on our way to her first dance class

 

we are so proud of sarah kate!  she got dressed, rode to dance, put her little dance bag on her shoulder and headed into class just like a big girl.  she didn't want to hold my hand and she didn't cry. in a waiting room we watched the class on a t.v. monitor.  no sound but from the looks of it she was quite compliant and did a great job!  it's a ballet, tap and tumble class so she started out in her ballet shoes and did some pretty fancy twirls and toe-points.  then they changed into their tap shoes and made some noise.  and last they did some tumbling - not sk's strong "subject" so it will be really good for her to get a little gymnastics in at the end of each class.  the best part was that she was so excited after class - bouncing off the walls.  she forgot her bag upstairs so trey was going to go up there with her to get it and she turned around and said, "no dad, don't come, i can get it!"  well, that's that.  she can do it.  she's such a big tiny dancer;)  she is going to enjoy it so much, i can already tell. 

 

she thought she deserved a sucker for her good job...she was right;)

 

 

toe point ;)

 

now she's in me, always with me, tiny dancer in my hand....

 

now, we have "meet the teacher" thursday morning and she's back to school next wednesday.  bring on fall and school and routines and now dance.  we are ready.