August This and That

1) I made these turkey zucchini meatballs for the first time the other week and they turned out so good and were easy to make. I served them with a little pasta sauce on top. My sister made them and loved them too. These are definitely being added to my normal rotation.

2) We went with a friend to ride the train at Memorial City Mall recently. It was cute and girls enjoyed it. Afterward we went to the play area then of course hit up Chick-fil-A. On the way out Cambry begged to ride the carousel so I agreed. We sat in this little round thing that you can spin pretty fast. Discovered Lainey does not like fast spinning. Oops.

3) I have been itching to do a new house project so I am turning Cambry's closet into a little play area. It will still have all her clothes, but the bottom part will be a fun small space for her to play in. She already likes getting in there with her baby dolls. We moved everything out and painted it but I still have some more things to do. I will post pictures when it is finished.

Vacation Party of 24

Last weekend we went on a fun mini vacation with our bible study group to La Toretta. It is a family friendly resort on Lake Conroe that has several different pools and a lazy river. There were 7 couples and 10 kids ranging from about 9 weeks to 3 years old.

The guys group picture was a little more creative than the girls. Although it is missing Justin since they were out to dinner at the time.

We managed to somehow get all the kids together for a group picture. Well, all except Bennett. For instructions on how to take a group picture of kids, please see this post.

I headed up to La Toretta early Friday afternoon with the girls and Greg got there a little bit later after work. We hung out and ate dinner by the pool. Lainey even took her evening cat nap there.

That evening after the kids went to bed the guys hung out. Some of the girls did too but I stayed in the room since the monitor did not reach far. Cambry and Lainey were so energized from all the excitement they did not want to sleep. These pictures were taken around 9:45pm. Cambry was all smiles and Lainey was a wiggle worm. They finally fell asleep around 10. Cambry was on the pull out couch and Lainey in a crib - both in the living area of our suite. A suite is the way to go with kids!

Saturday we hung out by the pool from morning until night with a brief time out for naps. Cambry was having so much fun. Lainey did great. It was so relaxing to just hang out and not have any to-do list items all day.

I can't believe we have all been in bible study together for so long. I think it has been about 6 years. We have laughed together, cried together, prayed together, and watched our families grow together. This group is such a blessing. We miss the couples that have moved away! I am so thankful that all these kids get to hang out together. It is a joy to watch them grow up. And I look forward to more little ones being added to the group. 

Lainey 10 Months

Lainey Bear you are 10 months old! I was thinking back to your first few months and how difficult things were with so much crying and tummy issues and waking up all the time. You have come so far. Even though you get fussy at times, overall you are such a good baby. Especially when we are out and about. You are so good in the Bjorn or are happy to ride in the stroller or the cart and not make a peep. You are great in the car. You get more adorable every day and it is so nice to have a content baby!

Size: I don't know your exact stats but at an appointment a couple weeks ago you weighed 17 1/2 lbs. and were 29 in. long. You wear 6-12 month clothes and size 2 diaper.

Likes: Grabbing things. You want to grab everything. If we are sitting at a table with you in our lap you will reach out your long arms and swipe up everything in a second. You still like doing v ups. Mirrors provide lots I entertainment for you. You like baths and kicking your legs like crazy while Cambry fusses at you to stop splashing her. You put everything in your mouth. Well, everything except food. Finger food is where you draw the line. But more on that later.

Dislikes: You still aren't a fan of tummy time but are tolerating it a tiny bit better. And interestingly enough you are off reflux meds. We tried increasing your dosage twice but both times it upset your tummy. Then we tried a different medication and it made you throw up. So we decided to try no meds and it has been going well. Reflux doesn't really seem worse and your tummy seems to be doing better. 

Working On: We are really working to get you to put weight through your arms so you can get in the crawling position. You are slowly making progress at therapy. You are sitting great and rolling a little more. You have been a little more vocal this past week, but mostly cooing and not babbling. We are trying to teach you to drink through a straw. You can sometimes suck up water, but you discovered how to blow bubbles with it so you think that is way more fun.

Eating: You take 5 or 6 bottles a day. Sometimes you like purées and sometimes you don't. If we try to feed you puffs you get this disgusted look on your face, keep your lips locked, and push it away. You will eat a book page but GET THOSE PUFFS OUT OF HERE. Your second tooth just popped through on the bottom.

Sleeping: You go down around 7:30 and wake up between 6:30 and 7:00. Some nights you don't wake up at all but others you wake up once (or more) and we give you the paci and you go back to sleep. Sometimes you can find it yourself. You usually take 3 naps a day of varying lengths.

You are our sweetheart and we love you so much. I love your wild hair and your little dimple that you have way on the side of your right cheek. I still can't tell what color your eyes are. Maybe a hazelish brown. Happy 10 months sweet girl.

Anniversary, Potty Training, and Crazy Hair

This weekend was Greg's parents' 40th anniversary and his Dad's birthday. We all surprised them with a family dinner at this cute restaurant in Waco. We spent the rest of the weekend hanging out and watching the kids have a blast. Cambry LOVES playing with her cousins. She just wears herself out running around and being so silly. We put Lainey and Cambry to sleep in the same room for the first time there and it actually worked out! That is a good sign because they will probable end up sharing a room eventually.

Cambry has hit some big girl milestones recently. In July she became potty trained! It was a miracle of God. Seriously. Greg was in Florida for Rush Week with the youth group, and I was not planning on potty training at all. Cambry had shown varying levels of interest over the last 6 months but nothing consistent so we never pushed it. Well one day she just started telling me every time she needed to go. So I put her in undies and we have never looked back, even at night (knock on wood!). But really, I think God was just super gracious to us and made this the easiest process ever. I am so thankful! We let her pick out a toy from ToysRUs to celebrate being potty trained and she picked a little toy minivan. She loves loading up all her people and Minnie Mouse and Daisy. She plays with it constantly. We are so proud of our big girl! We also took the front rail off her crib. She is very proud of her big girl bed.

Oh Lainey Bear. She is just the cutest. I love her hair. It keeps growing longer, but mainly just the top part. The back and sides are still pretty short. But it is just so adorable. I put it in a little pony tail on top of her head the other day and when I took out the pony tail it looked like this. So funny.

Around the House Vol. 4

1. Cambry loves to serve everyone food. But do not attempt to eat off any plate except the color she has assigned you.

2. We figured out how to make a double stroller using her baby stroller + high chair. She is very excited about this. Please note both babies are wearing shoes.

3. A girl can never have too many accessories.

4. Can't leave out baby bear! I love this picture of her sleeping. I just want to gobble her up.

Stitch Fix Round 2

Well I just got my second Stitch Fix in the mail yesterday. When I opened it up I instantly loved 4 out of the 5 items. I thought they did a great job of picking things out that I would really like. Well, except the 5th item. Something went wrong. Terribly wrong. You'll see below. (If you don't know what Stitch Fix is you can read my first post where I explained it here)

I like this dress and it fit well. It is navy and white, although it almost looks black in the picture. It is pricey, so I probably won't keep it...but still deciding.

I love the color, the print, and the length of this shirt (tunic). The only thing is the belt. I don't really think belts over top of shirts are flattering on me. I have tried them in the past, but I just wasn't crazy about this one. I can't decide if I should keep it and wear it without the belt. You can't tell from the pic since the belt is holding it in, but it is very flowy with no belt. I really wish it was just a little more fitted because I love the pattern.

This is a Daniel Rainn shirt. I only know that brand because I have another shirt that brand and it is one of my favorites. It came from Nordstrom Rack. I have seen a lot of that brand there and tend to like the style. I really like this shirt but it is a bit too big. The arm holes go really low so I would have to wear a tank under it because it shows my bra. I may ask them if they have this in a smaller size so I can do an exchange. This shirt is black and it is hard to tell but there are some really pretty details.

I like these skinny jeans. They actually fit well. Although I suspect they may "grow". You know how you try on jeans in the store and are like wow these are awesome and then you wear them and a couple days later they have stretched out 3 sizes and you are like WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED, I HAVE BEEN TRICKED AND I JUST SPENT A TON OF MONEY. You know? I fear that may happen with these pants. I think I am going to tell stitch fix no pants from now on. They have picked out cute pants for me both times, but it is just near impossible to find the perfect fitting pant.

I am not sure what to say about this dress. It was hideous on me. You can't quite tell with the sash around it how HUGE it is, so I took a picture without it. The sleeves are so long and loose and the dress is just a house. It is a size small so apparently this is the look they were going for. It is not a tunic, it is a dress. I do love chambray and would like to have a top or tunic, but one with about 50% less material. But to give the stitch fix people credit, it would be very hard to pick out clothes for another person so overall they did good.

I thought this box was better than the first. I think I may just try to see if they have a different size in the black shirt and send back the rest. So even though not much has worked out either time, somehow I still want to do it again. I guess I keep hoping that each time with a little more feedback I will get better stuff. I really do need a few new clothes and I just don't have much free time to shop. I had a referral credit on this one so even if I send it all back I am not out any money. If anyone does want to sign up - you can do it here.

A Girl and Her Babies

I love how much Cambry loves her baby dolls. She has a lot - probably 6 or so. And she plays with most of them. I will often find the doors closed to both her and Lainey's rooms and find a baby doll in the swing or doll bed "asleep". If she sees me going back there to put something away she will tell me "Shhhh! My baby is sleeping!". We will be playing in the play room and she will say, "My baby is crying!" and run off to the back to tend to her baby. A couple of her babies are named Holly, one is named Savannah, and I not sure what the others are named. She constantly totes them around, pushes them in the stroller, holds them, etc. When she gets to watch a tv show she sets them up on the couch and puts their sippy cups in front of them (which she gets out of the kitchen cabinets). She is constantly putting Lainey's diapers on her babies too. Recently she has started telling me "bye, I am going to Mom's group." And then will pack up all her stuff and push her babies in the stroller to the other room. She is just so funny.

She seriously talks non stop. This is unrelated to babies but - she talks so much, especially in the car. I just bought the CD that our church choir and orchestra put out and I can hardly listen to it because she is talking the whole time. But I love that sweet little voice so I will give up trying to listen to a song because this time with her is precious. She is so observant when we drive. Constantly asking about the cars around us and who is in them. Who is in that car? Is that a daddy? Where are they going? What's that car called? She is also very interested in street names. She often asks me what are our friends' street names (as in, the name of the street they live on). She knows our street, she knows the road we take before we get to our street, and she knows I-10. This girl is so funny and inquisitive.

Ok I don't really know where I am going with this post but just I want to remember little things like this because they are so cute and the stages change so quickly. She will soon be on to something else and I will completely forget about the little details.

Oh but one more thing. Let's tie it back to babies again. Cambry first started taking an interest in babies around 10 months old to this one baby doll from Nana that we names Robin. She started sleeping with it, and continued to for a long time. If we ever needed to get her to smile for a picture as a baby, we would just wave Robin around. Well at some point she completely lost interest in Robin. In fact, she never plays with her and does not seem to like her much. I think maybe because she is smaller and not as "real" looking as her other babies. She is a good size for a first baby. Cambry will allow Lainey to play with Robin (but not her other babies! We are working on sharing...). Lainey smiles at Robin when I pretend the doll is talking to her, just like Cambry did at first! It is so cute. Maybe Lainey will start to like Robin just as much as she gets older.