Milestones in Pictures

OK, I rolled over for the first time... Now what?

I'm not so sure about this thing either...

Goodbye East Peoria (Officially)

We closed on our house in East Peoria on Wednesday, July 24. Its been a very long process but we are happy to be done.  We did not get what we had hoped in the sale but we had to make a decision and ultimately it was more important to finish the sale and save the tax spending.  The sate of Illinois is in rough economic shape so that really affected our resale. We went back to Peoria over the weekend to sign paperwork at the house and visit with friends. Ally was very surprised to see the empty house and loved running all over. Although she had seen it empty the day we moved, she still was wondering where all of her toys and things went. Hadley made her first and only visit there and didn't seem too impressed. We loved the house and it served us very well but we are VERY happy to only pay a mortgage and taxes in one state now. The overgrown front bushes, weeds and burned out lawn are now someone else's problem!

Hadley is 4 Months Old

Month four included 4th of July activities and family reunion in Oshkosh, swimming in the neighborhood pool, trips to the zoo, trips to the children's museum and visiting our friends in Milwaukee and Peoria.  Here are some updates on the fun things Hadley has been doing.

• Happy and giggly girl, always talking and laughing
• Likes Ally's singing and Daddy's whistling
• Discovered she likes to push up onto her feet and stand on your lap
• Learned how to reach for and grasp toys and can move them to her mouth
• Loves her taggie blanket, its her favorite thing to chew on in the car
• Constantly scoots herself backwards while laying on her back. I always find her way up at the top of her crib in the morning.
• Prefers bouncing to rocking
• Likes to have anything and everything in her mouth right now, usually her whole fist or a finger
• Has gotten herself on her side but has not rolled over yet
• Not a big fan of napping in her crib either at home or at day care. She much prefers the swing but the day care ladies are trying to get her to nap for longer than 10 minutes in a crib. No real consistent nap schedule but usually does at least one hour plus nap each day.
• Enjoyed swimming in the neighborhood pool
• Likes riding in the stroller like a big girl without her car seat
• Much prefers nursing to taking bottles. Does ok at day care but doesn't like bottles at home.
• Wearing size 1 diapers still but has moved into 6 month clothes

We survived another business trips for me this month: a same-day flying trip. I was dreading the whole process of flying and trying to pump and bring back milk but it wasn't so bad. Security both in Indy and in Atlanta was fairly easy to work with and I was able to bring back everything in a cooler bag. I'm on the road with two overnight trips in August so we are getting better each time.

Amazing how much different it is to have a summer baby than a winter baby. Bad thing is that the girls haven't been able to share much in the clothes department but the good thing is that Hadley gets to be out and about more. Not needing socks, shoes, fleece clothes, heavy blankets or hats on a daily basis is much more enjoyable.

Next doctors appointment is August 13 so we will have new stats to report then.

July 4 Weekend

 We spent the long holiday weekend in Oshkosh with lots of family and friends. The girls got to spend time with Uncle Corey too so that was a big bonus.  Corey and Karl got a few rounds of golf in, I took the girls to the Omro parade, we had a cookout at Grandma Sandy's, Ally went to the water park and Despicable Me 2, Hadley got to visit her godmother Andrea and we all had fun at the Sullivan Family Reunion on the lake. There is just never enough time to do all the things we want while we are there. The drive up was actually our most successful trip to date with only 1 stop and minimal issues with either girl. The ride back was very long but we were able to stop and meet friends in Milwaukee to meet baby Kyle Kluneder.

I have pretty much surrendered to the fact that I don't have enough hands to take pictures of the girls anymore. Luckily, my cousin Katie was the official photographer and took these great pictures at the family reunion.

Swimming Lessons

Ally's day care offers a summer swimming lessons program through the university. Its part of their summer schedule and for a very minimal cost she gets 45 minutes of swimming lessons with her friends once a week. It started in June and she has been loving it. We made the mistake of telling her prior to her first class that she was going to have swimming lessons in a famous pool. The IUPUI Natatorium is home to USA swimming and diving and also where Purdue diver and 2012 Olympic gold medalist David Boudia trains. Ally has met him before and loved watching him in the Olympics. Immediately she got even more excited and now thinks that she is going to the Olympics every time she goes swimming there. She also then assumed that her swimming would be on TV just like the Olympics too.

Unfortunately, her lessons are at 9:30 am on Thursdays and I haven't been able to get across the street to watch yet because of a standing 10am meeting on my calendar. They go to school dressed in their suits, walk over to the pool from school with their towels then walk back after and get dressed for the rest of their day.  She loves to be in the water and isn't afraid.  Her teachers take pictures and share them with us but I hope to get there to see it live before its over.