One down, one to go!

I have been really busy and exhausted. I co-hosted Lee's baby shower last weekend and we thought it went really well. I was really pleased with how everything turned out. All they have left to do is leave on August 4th and get their daughter.
This Saturday is Ellen's bridal shower. I think I have changed the menu about four times. She will get here today and that will give her some time to put her feet up.
Brady came home on Saturday. I was happy to have her back and she was as tanned and beautiful as ever.


On Sunday, we went to Oglebay for brunch and then to the Good Zoo. Brady, Oliver and I took the trolley (kids love that) and Michael met us with the car. The Good Zoo has Lorikeets this year and if you buy a cup of nectar they will sit on your hand and drink from the cup. However, the zoo was so busy that day that the birds weren't hungry anymore. I told her we would come sometime when the zoo wasn't crowded. It was still a fun trip and nice to spend it together.
Brady started nature camp on Monday. it is going ok. She doesn't like the walk from the Schrader center to the pool because her backpack makes her back and neck sore. Her backpack is half her size! No wonder!

No, No, No

Oliver is determined to get his hands on my laptop! I move his hands away and tell him very slowly, "No, no, no." I wave my finger and furrow my brow. I think he gets it because recently this was his response:



I felt so bad and it was so cute that I laughed and hugged him. So much for being effective! Brady has generously given him her Disney Princess laptop.

It holds his interest for about 3 minutes and then he moves on, usually to try again to get his hands on my laptop. He is just so busy. And happy, happy, happy. He wakes up smiling and energetic. This morning it was at 5:30am. He rattles the bed and squeals. I can't tell yet if he has been looking for Brady or missing her. I know I am. I talked to her dad and he gave a great report that she is riding the waves and looking for seashells. Lucky girl! I wish I were at the beach.

Off to the beach!

I love this picture. I just took it the other morning. Her hair was still a little messy from sleep. My Luvbug is leaving for the beach this morning.She is going with her dad and his family. This is the third year in a row and it seems like it will be an annual event. She won't be back until next Saturday. That is 6 nights without her. My heart is very heavy. I will miss her terribly. It will give me the chance to really clean and organize her room. She may even have a new bed waiting for her when she gets back! I also have Leebug's shower to get ready for as well as Ellen's. Hopefully, keeping busy will keep my mind off of missing my Brady.

Update on News:

Lee and Jon have their travel date! They will leaving on August 4th to get their daughter. See you next weekend guys, we will celebrate then!

News to Share!

Our friends, Lee and Jon, received their referral last month that their daughter is waiting for them in Vietnam. At 2 months old she weighed 8lbs 8oz. I have seen a picture, but have none to share. She is a sweet baby girl. They are now waiting to travel. Hopefully they will depart in early August to get their girl! As soon as Lee shares pictures of the new family, I will post! They will be here next weekend and we can hear all about Zoe while we have a shower for them before they bring her home. I am just so excited for them!

Weddings and Birthdays

We have so much going on here! We are trying to prepare for our guests and finish up that little home improvement project that has turned out to be very challenging. We are also trying to get our outfits for Ellen's wedding. She gave us the colors and said, "find something you like." Sounds easy, right? Not necessarily! I am so afraid that my color will be waaaaayy off the others. Michael has actually gotten his shirt. He is the first person in the house to have done so. Surprise, surprise! I have found Brady's dress and am ordering it today. Now that just leaves me. I had hoped to lose 20lbs before dress shopping. I worked a wedding reception last weekend. What is it about bridesmaid dresses that make you a bad dancer? Everyone of them did the standard snap your fingers, forward foot stomp, switch foot, forward foot stomp. And of course, the DJ played all the standard reception songs. The worst one of all, The Electric Slide. (no chicken dance, thankfully) So Ellen, I promise not to be a bad dancer if you promise not to let the DJ play the Electric slide. Just kidding!
My birthday just passed. It wasn't so great. I wish I could embrace birthdays with the same enthusiasm that Brady does. Maybe I need a pinata too! My girls did have a surprise barbecue for me on Sunday, which was great. I was super tired from working the night before. I didn't get to stay as long as I would have liked either. Oliver was over tired and needed to go home to bed. I think he fell asleep within a minute of being in the car.
Speaking of Oliver, he is growing so fast. I think he looks like such a big boy in these photos:

For some reason, blogger wouldn't let me put a title to this!
I'm not going to post any pictures, but we are working on updating a few things around here! The part we are working on right now will be done by the time we get our visitors later in the month! Lee and Jon are coming in for the DanOpen and a baby shower for Zoe. And the following weekend Ellen, Tom, Steph, the girls and Tom and Noreen will be here to shower Ellen before she ties the knot. Such a busy month! Michael and I are really looking forward to all the visits. We are even more excited to reveal this recent update. It is something we have wanted to do for a while and I finally said let's do it! ( I was the one procrastinating b/c of the amount of work. I was right, it is a LOT of work but will be soooo worth it in the end!)
Here are some more Brady and Oliver pictures just for Pap:

4th of July

We had such a great holiday! We started the day with a rush to get Brady's bike decorated for the Dimmeydale 4th of July parade. Our friend Brad lives in Dimmeydale and he invites us every year to his 4th of July party and the whole neighborhood has a parade. It is a small parade. All the kids decorate their bikes or scooters and walk through the neighborhood to the playground. The parade is led by a Wheeling PD cruiser, color guards, and a bag pipe band. At the playground they said the Pledge of Allegiance and someone sang the national anthem. After the ceremony there are small games for the kids to play and they walk away with prizes and huge smiles. Brad cooked ribs and burgers. We ate and had a blast. Thank you brad for the invite!
We came home after the party to put Oliver down for his afternoon nap. Out neighbors were also having a party that we were invited to. Brady put on her swimsuit and she and Michael headed over. Oliver decided it wasn't time for his nap yet and we joined them. Brady has become such a good swimmer! I am so proud of her.
Our plans for the evening were to head to Dan and Jeananne's for their party. We were a little leery as we were supposed to get major thunderstorms and had a tornado watch. We watched the weather for a while and the storms literally split and went around us. Thank you mother nature! So we packed up the kids and headed out. We had such a blast! I played wiffle ball with Jeananne and some of the kids. Boys vs. girls. I thought it was so much fun that we should make it a regular event. I took sparklers and small fireworks and the kids had a great time with those too. At about 9pm I looked at Brady and told her we were going to be missing the fireworks downtown. She begged me to hurry and leave so we could see some of them and I couldn't resist the look in her eyes and I said, "Let's do it. Get your stuff gathered and we are out of here." So our next adventure for the day was heading to the fireworks. I wasn't sure where to watch them and knew I didn't want to battle downtown as Oliver was now asleep. So we headed for Wheeling Island's parking lot. We got there just in time. We didn't get home until 11pm. What a great day. We were pooped but it was worth it!



This is Sam Byrum holding Oliver. Isn't she stunning? She is now 13yrs old and is just starting to babysit. Lucky me! I have known her mother since she was pregnant with Sam. I have watched her grow up so I know what a great kid she is.

Monster

Oliver is so busy that sometimes all I can think to call him is the little monster! He is now trying to climb the sides of the pack n play. Need I remind you that he is only 7 1/2 months old? He won't even be eight months for two more weeks. I may start a betting pool on when he will walk. He has no problem pulling himself up on anything. He can stand, hold on with one hand, bend down and pick something up without falling. He has even tried to stand unassisted (lets go of what he is holding onto) but only makes it for 2 seconds and then falls.


Oliver is getting better at mashing foods with his gums and teeth, He has one tooth on top now and he has gotten really good at using them. He is also feeding himself a lot more now. He manages puffs, Cheerios, small pieces of ripe pears and Nilla Wafers. I will slowly introduce more soft foods that he can mash easily. But he LOVES those pears! He is a mess after he is done so we then have to have one of these:

As busy as he is, he is still my sweet little boy. I am looking forward to the day when he isn't so busy and will snuggle more.