Florida Family

We just spent a week in Florida! Evie has no memory of all her visits in Florida, so it was like her first time riding in an airplane and visiting the people and sights of Florida. We spent a lot of time visiting family and friends, enjoying the sun, and going on lots of adventures.

We spent our first full day in Sarasota/ Bradenton. We started out at Lido Beach. We had a canopy, cooler, beach blanket, and refreshments, BUT, we had a huge problem getting the flimsy canopy to stay up. Each time a gust of wind came, the canopy collapsed. Imagine me holding a crying baby and a pole, Evie holding a pole and screaming she has to go potty, and Judd frantically trying to tie down the sides racing from corner to corner to just have the thing fall over after each attempt. Eventually, after much yelling and shouting at each other, we gave up on the canopy. Judd took Evie swimming so she could go pee in the water. I hung out under a half assembled canopy. We tried to enjoy ourselves, but it was really stressful. The best part of it all was that Judd's grandma, Meaw, lives about 10 minutes from the beach. We went to visit her after we had had enough sun and sweat. It was the first time Meaw met baby Katy. It had been two years since we last saw Meaw. Judd's Uncle Dick, Aunt Jan, and cousin Abby were there too. Evie quickly made friends with Abby. I'm glad Abby was a good sport and indulged Evie.

A perk of visiting Meaw is that she lets you eat WHATEVER you want.

Evie and Abby

Evie looks like Abby when she was a little girl.

After Sarasota, we headed back to Brandon where we ate dinner at my Uncle Mark and Aunt Donna's house. All my cousins along with their spouses and children were there too. It was the first time I had seen all of them in a very long time! It was great because I got to meet baby Eli, who is one month older than Katy, and meet Cooper, who is already 19 months old!

Katy (12 wks & asleep), Evie (3), Cooper (19 m.), Owen (7?), Luke (10), Quinn (4), and Eli (4 m.)

all of us cousins all grown up and married with children

the babies are both wearing blue!

Quinn REALLY wanted to hold Katy!

Two Months

We have started to hit the exciting time in baby development when things are constantly changing. Katy smiles at Judd, Evie, and me. She will follow us with her eyes as we walk around a room. When she's in a really good mood, she will coo at us. She loves swatting her hanging toys on the play mat or bouncy seat. Her legs are getting strong. We'll support her body, and she'll straighten her legs into a standing. She is a cuddly baby. Loves being held and rocked. She likes white noise, being swaddled, and sleeping in the swing. Just recently we started transitioning her to sleeping flat in her crib. Every time we laid her flat, she would instantly wake up. She is starting to outgrow that now. If she is in a deep sleep, she'll last a full nap/ night sleep in the crib. If it's a restless sleep, she'll kick her legs and pop her eyes open. Basically, the crib is still a work in progress.

Stats:

23.5 in. (90th percentile)

11 lb. 9 oz. (50th percentile)

                                                   

Happy 4th of July!

This was the second year that Judd has played with Bluestem at Lake Highlands 4th of July celebration. We arrived early for Judd to do sound check and for Evie to watch the parade. We found a nice shady spot on a grassy hill. Kate and I stayed in the shade while Evie and Grammy sat on the sidewalk to watch the parade. After that we headed up the hill to watch daddy play some music then headed over to the spray ground. AND you guessed it, of course Kate slept mostly the entire time in the sling! I LOVE that thing!!! We got home around noon. Evie went up to her room to change clothes, and she never came downstairs. After 45 minutes I went up there and found her wrapped in a blanket sleeping! That's a sign that she had a great time! She put herself to bed without even being asked!

She looked like this most of the day...

Summer Bucket List

With a newborn during the triple digits of summer, I have had to become creative in ways Evie can still have a "fun" summer that doesn't include water parks and swimming every day. I found a neat website that had lots of simple, yet entertaining ideas for summer, that are very affordable if not free. I printed out the list, and Evie and I talked about some of the activities like throwing water balloons, going to the library, having a picnic, visiting the duck pond, and collecting bugs. For some reason Evie was very intrigued by the idea of collecting bugs. I suggested that she do that with her friend Stella and her mom. Stella's mom is a nature lover. I knew it would be right up her alley! Here's what we have done on the list so far...

Collect Bugs- After spending a day at Stella's, Evie came home with a little bug habitat housing a grasshopper and a caterpillar. Talk about entertainment! She carried the little house around all night long! Stella also has some fun pets like a bunny and some chicks! (see the picnic picture)

Water Balloons with Daddy- She found a package of water balloons in our "summer" bin, and she couldn't wait to play with them when daddy was home on the weekend! Baby sister slept in the sling while I watched the fun.

Duck Pond Park- There's a really neat park close to our house that has tons of ducks and turtles. The weather this past week has been strangely cool with lows in the 60's and 70's. The day we went to the park the high was 85! That is unheard of on July 1 in Texas! It was a beautiful day to go feed the ducks and have a picnic. A nice man who lives by the park came out with a bucket of corn. He let Evie and another little girl throw the corn. Lets say that these two girls need lessons on throwing! It was hilarious. Corn was flying all over the place. Kate slept the entire time in the sling! 

Katy has had fun with her play mat. She has started to notice the toys and enjoys watching them rattle and jingle. Pretty soon she is going to be grabbing those toys.