Thursday, June 27, 2013

First Bonfire of 2013!

Before we moved from Cranford (tear, tear), we had our first bonfire of the summer:)  The boys LOVED it.  Sadly, our fire pit didn't make the move so until we build a new fire pit...there are none in the plans!

Three more days until we finally move into our new house, hello Washington DC!  More to come soon...








Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Finishing Preschool 2012-2013!

Okay, I'm not even going to try and catch up with this blog.  I just can't do it:)  

At the moment, we are still homeless (thanks Mom for taking us in) until next week.  Chris is enjoying the first days of his new job in DC and I'm holding my mom's fort down with the three kids.  While she is busy at work (last week of school for her), we are juggling mealtimes, naps, feedings for the baby, destroying her house, and attempting some fun outings around the Raleigh/Cary area.  By the time all the kids get to bed, I sneak in a shower, chat with my mom for a few minutes, hop on the computer for a few moments, and head to bed much later than I should before the next morning 6 am wake up call!  Life is keeping us busy...

But back to the end of May...Aiden finished his Preschool-3's program this year where he attended school Tuesday and Thursday morning.  He had a great year at school and I am thankful for some wonderful classmates and teachers.  He LOVES to "play school" at home, which can be a very elaborate game, if anyone could spare an hour or two!

We are looking forward to attending a new preschool in DC next year.  Aiden will be attending four afternoons a week, while little brother Andrew will be joining in the fun by attending two afternoons a week.  It will be an interesting transition to see them in the afternoon program as well as having two in school!

So we are ready to head off to our almost last day of school here.  Andrew, of course, is dressed in his pajamas.  If you have ever tried to get a 4 year old, 2 year old, and 2 month old fed and out the door by 8:30, you understand why the only one wearing everyday clothes is Aiden!






Aiden had a Memorial Day parade at school where we got to join the fun!  We dropped him off at the normal drop off time, but came back at 11 to do a little walk around the downtown while the kids shook their tambourines and had their little preschool parade!


 All ready for the parade---see our little boy on the end (next to his bestie Bobby!).


 The preschool also had a cute music program one night called "Preschool Sing-A-Long"!  I tried to catch a pictures with all three kids, but I don't think we had a successful attempt...

 Aiden heading to stage!


All excited to sing...                                  Daddy and his boys after the show...


 And I can't believe how much Aiden has grown up this year!  Check out his first and last day of preschool pictures, how time has flown this year?!?!


My three loves before we said our "last preschool good-byes" of this school year!


Friday, June 21, 2013

Some candids!

Just some pictures from last month...

Sweet little Abby!

 Off to school...
 Loving on little sister!
 I just LOVE his smile
 Getting ready to pick up Aiden at preschool
 Playing with Daddy!
 This boy loves his little sister.
 So happy!
 Hi Mommy!
 Checking out little sister!
 Getting ready to head out to the carnival with these two sweet faces.
 All ready to go on a trip.  (Penguin and his "car seat")

Monday, June 17, 2013

Comparison Shots...

So what do you think...Similiarities?  Differences?  

These are all taken right around three months for each kid.  Aiden is on the top, Abby is in the middle, and Andrew is on the bottom.  I just can't decide who Abby looks like...  




Friday, June 14, 2013

Abby, Two Months!

Before Abby turns three months, I better do a quick two month post for you all!  

Abby has had some of the craziest months that a sweet newborn could have and she has been oblivious to it all...the best way to be!  


Her second month of life started out with her second big road trip, another return trip to DC!  This was a special trip for sweet girl as it was just her and us.  We left the boys back at home with G and G Rogers so we could do some rental house shopping without the ups and downs of a two and four year old.  So we quickly said good-bye and took a two night trip back to our future home hoping to find a great place to live.  Thankfully, we met my mom (MeMe Ruff) who offered to come help take care of Abby while Chris and I spent our days with the realtor.  Grandma had high hopes on what she was going to do with you---shopping at the mall, out to get a sweet treat, but quickly realized that all this sweet girl wanted was to eat, sleep, eat, sleep, and eat!  By the time we arrived home at 4:30 from a full day of searching, Meme finally got a shower and was ready to head out to dinner.  All in all, you were a sweet baby the entire time and we were really thankful to have a few one-on-one moments with you as they are SO short with two older brothers!

Another BIG update from this month is the first trip to the ER, aaahhh!!!  Abby has always been a BIG spitter upper, but close to around two months it was getting out of control.  Both mommy and daddy and Aiden and Andrew all had the flu this month and right around this time, Abby started projectile vomiting ridiculous amounts.  Like entire feeds for a complete day.  I'm not an overly paranoid mom, but this caused some concern in me.  I called the doctor who said to come in.  After watching you feed and spit it all back up (and a very small weight gain), you were diagnosed with reflux and given Zantac to take twice a day.  But they were also concerned it could possibly be pyloric stenosis, so if it continued, they told us to call back.  It continued into the night and after consulting the doctor around 9 pm, we were headed to the ER.  Thankfully, with the ultrasound coming clean, we were sent home late in the night that all should clear up soon.  I picked up the medicine the next morning and within days, Abby was SO much more content with life.  Two big brothers and Abby got the first ER trip!

Other things to note this month:  Abby loves the bath SO much, she cries when she has to get out!  She is starting to become a fan of her play mat for brief moments of time, but still spends most of her time in someone's arms.  Abby is not a huge fan of the bouncer, but loves the swing.  Abby takes all of her naps mostly in the swing or out on the go.  Abby still sleeps in the rock and play in our room and I am not ready for her to leave quite yet.  She is such a good sleeper, only waking to eat, and then is right back to sleep.  Abby gets swaddled to sleep and seems to love the feeling of being all cozy and wrapped.  Not a huge pacifier fan, but Mommy tries hard to keep it going as I don't want to be the "human pacifier"!


Abby spends a lot of time in the Baby Bjorn, thanks to being on the go a lot with older brothers.  She seems to really enjoy being carried and never puts up a fuss in there.  Abby has been to library, school, parks, friends' houses, Target, grocery store, and everywhere else we have to go.  It's funny how I used to get nervous taking our first out, but now, this girl is always on the go!  Abby took her first stroller rides in the BOB.  Thanks to Courtney, we got a little cushion to put in the stroller to make it a little more snug.   She seems to enjoy the rides and usually falls asleep!


First smiles have come this month and we are just in love with her HUGE smiles!


Abby weighed in at 8 pounds, 15 ounces at 2 months---just barely on the charts, but now that she is on meds, hopefully her growth is a little more solid in the next few months!  


Happy Two Months Baby Girl, We Love You SO Much!



Monday, June 10, 2013

My little Peanut soccer player:)

Aiden took part in his first session of soccer this year:


He was definitely the "peanut" on the Peanut Soccer field!  Unfortunately between preparing for a move and having a newborn baby, I only made it to one of the six sessions!  Chris was the "soccer dad" and loaded both boys up every Saturday for their mornings on the field.  

In other news, we have officially moved out of New Jersey, the house FINALLY has made it through the sale, and we are now in North Carolina with my mom until we move in July 1st to our new house in Virginia.  I will update with more details when I finally have more than a few moments at the computer.  Life has been CRAZIER than it has ever been the last two weeks, but we are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

The best news is that our family is off to the beach all week to enjoy some time just as a family of five.  I'm hoping to use some of my free time down there catching up on this very neglected blog!  Off to finish getting organized before we head out...