tuesday park day - week 4

We went back to Centennial Park in Naperville today and met up with Jack, Addie and Alex who's only four weeks younger than Ava. It was so cool and cloudy out today, nice for the kids not to be sweating, but I have to admit I was chilly and prefer it much much warmer! Logan played in the sand for almost three hours! Carter was in there a long time too, but ventured out to the playground a few times and we went down to the river with some friends he made wishing he hadn't eaten his whole sandwich so he could have fed some of the bread to the ducks!

logan, addie, carter

addie

alex and ava, stroller bffs

congratulations

Congratulations to Cory, Jeff and big sister Grace on their new baby girl! Hannah Jean Christensen was born today just before two o'clock at 8 pounds 11 ounces and 20.5 inches long. Mom and baby are doing well and already Facebook-ing!

welcome to the world hannah!

t-ball

Well, our first two weeks of practice are through and now we're ready for games to start. Tonight is Carter's first t-ball game. Fisher Cats vs. Doubledays (what's a fisher cat?!). Friday we finally got uniforms - Carter's the famous number 23 (Jermaine Dye, Michael Jordan, Carter South!). The first three practices were getting kids aquianted with attending, listening to the coaches, throwing, catching, running the bases. Things Carter didn't really need introduction to (well, maybe the listening/following directions part), but he had fun doing it all out on the field and with nine other little kids. It's funny to see the range of ablitites, interest and experience of all the little kids. Friday we had a practice game so the kids would be ready for tonight. They got through 2 innings in the hour and Carter got to play second, pitcher's mound, and first base and was first up to bat for his team both innings. He's the only one who brings all his own gear - well, everyone brings a mit but Carter has his baseball pants on, socks pulled up, batting helmet and glove of his own. He's serious about this but has so much fun at the same time, even encouraging and cheering on his teammates from the dugout. Here are some pictures from our practice game on Friday. You never know, maybe someday he'll be in the Baseball Hall of Fame! It all started here...

waiting in the dugout for his team to arrive

pep-talk before being first one up to bat

swing batta-batta swing!

safe on first (everyone's safe on first or any base for that matter-no outs)

playing second

loose tooth

Carter has his first loose tooth!

Boy will his smile look different once the tooth fairy pays him a visit!

date night

Saturday night Auntie Natalie took both the boys out for a movie and a sleepover! Their date night turned into a date night for Charlie and me! We went to dinner with just Ava to Boston Blackies - someplace we don't normally go with the kids. When we came home we put Ava down and watched The Dark Knight. Carter and Logan saw Up and loved it! On Sunday both the boys were trying to tell me all about it in the car - I'm always amazed at how much detail Carter remembers! It was actually Logan's first time at the theater. He really had fun. Everyone stayed up until 10:30 and got to play in the whirl pool tub in the morning after eating cinnamon waffles! Thanks Auntie Natalie!

at the movies

treats: popcorn, fruit snacks, hot dogs, pink lemonade

On Sunday we spent the afternoon at Mom's slippin' and sliding in the backyard after going to Pot Belly for lunch with Jamie and Natalie. Later Charlie met up with us and we went to Heritage Fest in Downers Grove. Fifteen dollars got the boys on a couple rides but their faces and laughs while on 'em were priceless! They love carnivals and had a fun-filled weekend that flew by way to fast!

ava - 2 months

Yesterday we had Ava's 2-month check-up with Dr. Law. Today she is nine weeks old! It was such an easy appointment. Ava seems to be doing great. She's responding to our voices, she's cooing and full of smiles. She's 12 pounds and 3 ounces and 23 1/4 inches long (76th and 78th percentiles). She goes about 4 hours between feedings during the day and has been sleeping from 8:30 or 9:00 at night until 5:00 or 5:30 in the morning and back down until 8:30. Dr. Law assumed she must love tummy-time since she's got "such a beautiful head and no bald spot!" Hahaha...yeah she tolerates it but I have to admit she doesn't do it three times a day every day. We get it in though every once in awhile. I'm not worried, she's really strong and holds up her head really well. It's not easy when it's summer and we're out and about a lot. I've made myself some promises after this visit though:
1. commit to doing tummy time more often.
2. give the girl a rattle (they asked if she's grasping a rattle yet - I've never given her one! she does grasp onto our finger though and that counts for something, right?!)
3. read to her and only her more often - yeah she hears stories with the boys, but I have to be better about reading those wonderful boardbooks to her and only her as well as including her when we're reading about Hummers, BMX bikes, baseball players, caribou and hyenas (the boys are way into nonfiction these days!)
There are some many new things coming for us with Ava over these next couple months. I hope time goes by slowly because she's the last one and I want to enjoy every minute of her being a baby!

tuesday park day - week 3

Today we met up at Moore Park in Geneva. I want a park like this! They have both a playground and a SPRAYground! And it's free! The boys had so much fun with all the water spraying everywhere. Even Ava had her bathing suit on (thanks Auntie Jamie)!

I've decided we've got to get there as much as we can this summer. We got there just after 10:00 when the water came on and stayed 'til noon. Once we got home we had lunch, fed Ava and set up the slip-n-slide in the backyard while she took a little cat-nap. Around 3:00 we came in for naps and quiet time. I'm glad we've found something fun and easy to do in this heat that isn't staying home in the ac! It's still too hard to go out to the pool for the day since we have Ava and I can't be out there in the water with the boys if Charlie or an Auntie is not with us. So Moore Park it is if we want to get wet! I love this place!

1. it's not extremely huge - I can walk around and play with the boys holding Ava or just sit under the canopy with her and see them wherever they go.

2. it's gated - no one can escape!
3. it's free!

Thanks Nicole, Traci, and Kyla for meeting up with the kids to play with us out there today!

happy father's day

Happy Father's Day to Charlie, who should know that even though I don't always use "please" and "thank you" or seem to totally agree with your methods or ways, I truly know how lucky I am to have you in our lives and thank you for our three beautiful kids. I know you do a lot and I could show you how much I appreciate it more often. Carter, Logan and Ava love you to pieces and though they may not ALWAYS be easy, sweet, kind and loving, remember those moments are brief and you are their hero!

Today we took Charlie to Brookfield Zoo. No working battery in the camera that Mommy seemed to have broken after taking just two pictures, unbelievable stickiness and humidity, two kids not eating their lunches, a tired sometimes whiny 5-year-old who camped out 'til all hours of the night, a tall 3-year-old wanting to be held occasionally and only wanting chips for lunch, an exhausted crabby and hot mommy with a sleeping 9-week-old smooshed against her chest in a pouch, didn't even see all the animals we could have...Ok, not the most perfect family outing, but we were together. Me, Carter, Logan, and Ava with The World's Greatest Daddy!

i wanted a shot of daddy and the 3 kids, but no one would get close to the dinosaur

And to my Dad, to Gramps...Happy Father's Day! We enjoyed a visit, a couple presents and pizza with Mom and Dad and Jamie and Evan after our trip to the zoo. "Olive Us" love you so very much Dad! Now get a new grill!

campin' out

Carter went camping in Jacob's backyard tonight! It's his first camp-out. So fun! Tom put up their big tent in the backyard and Jacob invited Carter to sleep over. Around 10 o'clock they were telling ghost stories about "light savers," "the ghost train," "scooter and bike stealers" making not a lot of sense to the grown ups listening closely to their tales. After stories they mades s'mores around the fire. By 10:15 they were climbing into their sleeping bags and giving us kisses goodnight. I'm home now and without a doubt feeling more anxious than Carter is on his first night away from home!

Thanks April for sharing the pictures!

telling ghost stories

roasting marshmellows for s'mores

time to sleep!

happily ever after

Congratulations Katie and Steve! Married Friday, June 12th and living happily ever after!

tuesday park day - week 2

A friend from work, Traci, put together a calendar of park dates for a group of Mom's from Young and our kids to get together over the summer. A bunch of us meet up with the kids at a different park each week. Last week we met up with Traci, Lisa, Renee and all their boys at the downtown Naperville Centinneal Park and saw a free show too - funny story about a money machine and Carter being picked to go in it at another time. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera last week, but I did today! More friends were able to come today and the rain held off until the afternoon. I decided to do a park post every week. Here are the boys at Commissioners Park across from Crone Middle School. They have the coolest web of ropes to climb!

girls don't get dirty

Ava will be eight weeks old on Tuesday. She's full of smiles as we watch Daddy and the boys dig a hole for the tree! Girls don't get dirty!

landscaping

Today we got our new tree! We've slowly been working on getting some landscaping done in the front of the house over the past few weeks. The tree that was put in the middle of the yard when we built the house has been going downhill and has some strange disease or something being that it only has healthy leaves growing on it in the back bottom fourth of the tree! TIMBER! Out it came! It's been so hard to decide what to plant (we are so not knowledgable when it comes to gardening) and Charlie's really only got weekends to work on it, so it's been one step at a time. Justen came by Magical Garden Center with his truck to pick up the tree once we finally decided on one, then he helped Charlie and the boys dig a great big hole and get it into the ground. It looks great! The boys are complete dirt balls at this point but they enjoyed digging, climbing the mound of dirt and clay, collecting little and big rocks, and picking up squirmy worms. I'll always remember and probably say fourty years from now..."We planted that tree just after Ava was born!"

picking out our tree

bringing it home

digging with daddy

sittin' in the hole

unloading the truck

it's finally planted!

timber! the old tree is down!

mall, mcdonald's, merry-go-round, mibrary & maps

Today was a dreary day. Cloudy and rainy on and off. I took the boys to the mall to ride on the merry-go-round and have McDonald's for lunch. Did some walking and window shopping - surprisingly didn't buy a single thing! We stopped by the library for a quick book check-out and came home by two to feed Ava and take naps. A little bit of fun on a cool rainy day -- When's summer going to get here?

carter bought a token for himself and logan with his own money!

i can ride my bike

More big news...Boy, oh boy, Carter is growing up way too fast! Today our neighbors gave Carter a hand-me-down bike and he hopped right on without training wheels and has been cruising up and down the driveways and sidewalk like he's been doing it for years! Last summer Carter rode his 12 inch bike without the training wheels a bit, but preferred keeping 'em on because all of his friends had them and he could jump on and ride along with them faster. For his birthday back in November we got him a new bike, but it's an 18 inch and too tall for him without the training wheels. Jack's old bike is a 16 inch and it's perfect for him! He was so excited to show Charlie he could do it when he got home from work. He says he's "gonna ride it everyday" but if he feels like riding his new one he "still will sometimes." I bet next summer the new bike will be perfect for him. Preschool graduation, tying shoes, and riding a bike all within one week! What's next?

i can tie my shoes

Big news...Carter tied his shoes all by himself! When we left Old Navy he asked me to tie his shoe as he got into the car. I didn't since we were going home and it really wasn't important at the moment. So for Christmas he got Red Lace, Yellow Lace and we've kept it in the car. He hasn't really been too interested in the book in a long time until today when I wouldn't tie his shoe, he picked it up. On his first try with the book, he did it! You should have heard how excited he was. Then he passed the book on to Logan and did it with his own shoe after one try! So cool. I love it!