Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Baseball is by far Ryan's favorite sports so we gave him tickets for Father's Day.  It was just our luck that it was Disney night at the ball park.  Tessa looks so sweet with her daddy even though she had a sinus infection and an ear infection.  Frozen lemonade is a perfect treat on a hot night. 

We took turns walking Jackson around the stadium, sitting still isn't one of his favorite things.  Pretty cool picture of him with Gampa and the field in the background.   

Look at Jackson's thumb planted firmly in his mouth.  I have accepted that he will not love his binkie like Tessa and I did.  He is a thumb sucker like his Daddy. 

We made it to the 7th Inning Stretch before calling it a night.  That's pretty good with two kiddos.  Jackson is passed out in my arms and Tessa is taking the picture as we leave the park.   

Sitting Up

Guess who can sit up now!  Jackson can!  We were hanging out in the playroom when I realized that he can sit by himself now.  It usually lasts about 15 seconds and then he falls over but he can do it.  Such a big boy.  He also babbles constantly.  He might have said Momma.  During a diaper change his babbling sounded like "Why Momma?" 

And here he is feeding himself.  I have no idea what he is eating, banana or pizza crust.  Who knows, I'm too sleep deprived to remember. 

Speaking of sleep deprivation, I was way too optimistic when I posted that he is sleeping through the night.  That just doesn't happen around here.  And as an added bonus, I think Tessa is having night terrors.  She wakes up screaming most nights.  Someday we will all sleep, someday.   

Father's Day

It was Ryan's first Father's Day as the Daddy of TWO kids.  His arms and his heart are full. 

We went for Mexican food at Chuy's with G&G.  Tessa loves this restaurant because she can get a fruity drink, pretty much the same reason I love it.  She is so sweet with my dad, Happy Father's Day Gampa!

 And this girl loves her Daddy. 

 After lunch we all took a nap.  Pretty much an awesome day all around.  We love you Daddy!

Swim Team

Summer break has officially begun and that means we are at the pool almost every day.  Tessa has swim team practice each morning.  I wrestle her little brother while she swims like a fish.  

This is our last year as a Guppy.  It's nice that they keep the little kids separate, it makes for much quicker swim meets.  G&G came to cheer on our little swimmer.  Dressed in white with their sun hats on makes me flash back to how they looked when they worked my swim meets. 

Everybody gets a ribbon, of course.  I'm very proud of Tessa, as the season went on her times improved.  She still likes to pop up out of the water to make sure everyone is watching and cheering.  When she stops socializing and swims, she is pretty darn fast.   

At some of the meets, they do a fun parade to get things started.  Tessa is cheering for her team. 

Yet another pre-meet parade, this time princess style.  Tessa's friend Stella joined our swim team this year and it's been fun for the girls to swim together.  Fun for me to have a chance to catch up with her mom too.   

Little Man is a trooper when it comes to being dragged around to his sister's events.  Here he is in the shade kicked back with a bottle.  How can he be old enough to hold his own bottle already?!  Pretty soon he'll be swimming too. 



Last Day of School and Five Months

Last day of school, hurray!!!  Tessa is so excited about summer vacation and so am I.  No more car line, no more packing lunches, no more missing Tessa all day.  Mrs. Crocker was wonderful, it was a good year and Tessa learned so much in kindergarten.  My favorite line from her teacher is "Tessa reads beautifully!"  Yes she does and I am so proud of her.   I plan to do summer homework including reading, math, speech and writing most days.  Hopefully we will be well prepared for first grade in a few months.  She looks so grown up compared to how she looked when school started.  It's amazing the difference a year makes. 

And speaking of amazing differences, look at Little Man.  He's five months old and 17lbs 3oz.  He nurses all the time.  He's better about eating cereal now that I mix it with breast milk.  I would like to wait until six months before I introduce more foods.  He's happy and so fun.  His pincer grasp is well developed.  He grabs everything in site, especially hair.  He took a few sips of water out of my cup, he wants whatever I have.  He is trying to suck his thumb but I keep giving him the Wubanub binkie with the bear attached.  He may actually be sleeping through the night. 

Dance Recital

A prettier ballerina I have never seen.  My baby is absolutely gorgeous in her ballet costume. 

I was the backstage mom again this year.  Things went very smoothly since I had two other moms to help this time.  I love that Tessa wants me around and I treasure these times with her.  She had two dances, The Glow for ballet and Magic Mirror for tap.  The Glow was so sweet I nearly cried watching them.  And I marveled at how Tessa's tap skills have improved, her step-ball-change was fabulous!  This year the recital was held at Furman University which made for some wonderful pictures.

Tessa's BFF came to watch and even brought my ballerina flowers.  Miss Tobie helped my mom and Ryan with Jackson during the long performance.     

Daddy had flowers for the tiny dancer too. 

 And Gamma's flowers were the most beautiful of all.

A nice family shot of all four of us.  We are so proud of Tessa and how hard she has worked at dance this year. 

After such an eventful day, we marked a milestone with Jackson.  He slept in his crib in the nursery all night.  Don't misunderstand, he did not sleep through the night by any stretch.  But each time we laid him back down in his crib rather than the cradle.  I managed not to break down when I saw the empty cradle in our room.  How is it that he is already old enough to move to his own room? 

Happy Memorial Day

How cute that Tessa wants to hold Jackson?  She is a wonderful big sister who is just thrilled to have a baby brother.  And I love the look on Jackson's face, he is so tolerant. 

 

Jackson is sitting well, except when he loses his balance and folds in half.  I just love those blue eyes and cute little toes. 

Charleston & Isle of Palms

Happy 15th anniversary to us!  With our newest addition and all the excitement of the previous months we weren't sure we would be up for our usual May trip.  Lucky for us, our friend works for the Orient Hotel chain and he helped us get fabulous rooms at the Charleston Place Hotel.  We stayed in a concierge suite with an extra room attached room for the kiddos.  Our hotel room was bigger than the apartment where we lived as newlyweds!      

We lunched at the courtyard café and swam in the heated rooftop pool.  Ryan had arranged to have wine and strawberries waiting for us in the room so we enjoyed that.  We also had unlimited access to hors d'oeuvres and an open bar.  Tessa was treated to complimentary room service with warm cookies and milk.  We were having so much fun living like rich people that we had to force ourselves to leave the hotel and explore the city.  My mini me and I took off to shop and take pictures.   

We then moved out to Isle of Palms for the beach part of our vacation.  We stayed at Wild Dunes which is a sprawling planned community on the island.  Our condo was nice and so was the weather.  I accidentally let Tessa get sunburned because we stayed on the beach for hours and hours.  Jackson was a trooper, nursing and sleeping and playing on the beach.  If we had known how well he would travel we might have planned a longer trip!  The crowds were light and we had a wonderful time. 

 



Jackson's New Tricks

He loves to play with his toes.

 Somebody thinks he's big drinking water out of a sippy cup!

The Greek Festival

The Greek Festival is a fun event downtown that we like to attend.  I had a Greek "uncle" in Texas and so my mom and I have a soft spot for Greek people and we really like Greek food.  This was Jackson's first time to the festival.  Tessa loves the sweet treats and Ryan loves the gyros.  I love it all.  My mom could be Greek in her blue.

There were carnival type rides that kept Tessa entertained.  There was also live music and dancing which is always fun.

In other news, this is how Jackson and I roll these days.  He absolutely hates the stroller and screams when I try to put him in it.  He also hates the carseat which makes carpool line fun in the afternoons. But he is pretty content in this carrier.  He rides adventure style now which is facing outward.  He used to ride kangaroo style which is facing inward.  We walk the neighborhood and wooded paths and it keeps me from going stir crazy.   Um, what I really mean is, it provides him with some fresh air and stimulation.