18 months!

I posted Sam's first day of school, but here are a few from before school started.  The mom's club had a back to school bash and they told us to wear old clothes.  They meant it!

Here is a before shot.

Sam threw cheetos at my head with shaving cream on a shower cap.  She refused to wear the cap.

Next up was a water relay.

 And then they played in flour.  Sam really got into it.

Here is the after shot.

Here is Sam in front of her new school on orientation day.

A few weeks back we went to a cloud dough playdate (flour+baby oil, very silky and neat), so we pulled that out.  My towel was not big enough.

 And now a few of Zoey, who just turned 18 months.

She loved hairbows, but she hardly has any hair and she pulls them out after a bit.  She also is not a fan of the highchair, so sometimes her tray ends up on the kids table.  She still loves to eat.

What a cute romper!

After her checkup.  She did pretty well, although she hated the head measurement and shot.

Zoey continues to amaze.  She knows so many words and has started telegraphic speech.  She is a climber.  She has a temper for sure, her favorite word is no and it is often accompanied by a hit.  At least she now will say sorry afterwards.  The hitting is hardest on Sam since she is often just trying to get a hug, but you cannot slow Zoey down.  She was really clingy to me after our beach trip, but she is better now.  Although still very much a mama's girl.  She is back to waking up early after what must have been a growth spurt stretch of sleeping in.  She wakes up and when I get in there she has already picked the first toy she wants.  She has started to pretend to read books, remembering what happens in some of them and saying some relevant words.

She is also tall and thin.  Amazingly, although she eats way more than Sam did and often more than Sam does, she is taller and lighter than Sam at 18 months.  Zoey is 33.25 inches tall (89%) and only 20 pounds 8 ounces (4%).  But this doctor is not as worried and just suggest that we keep up adding fat and calories any way we can.

PreK!

Sam started PreK this morning.  Yikes, where did the summer go.  What a busy mess it was.  And I know Fall is going to be insane as well.

Sam actually wanted to sleep past 7 today, which is somewhat rare.  But she had to get up and get moving because she has to be dropped off at 7:45, yikes!  We had laid out her clothes the night before.  And Nick made her this cute breakfast with a frozen waffle.

She was excited, but a little nervous.  She was all ready to go in her beautiful dress.

Look at the muscles!  That bag was heavy.

She jumped right in to work once I dropped her off.  There is only one other girl in the class, so I am hoping more will join.  But I am not sure.  Sam impressed her teacher.  She told me at pick up how bright Sam was and that she was reading up a storm.  Sam did not remember what she had done for the 3 hours, but she did say she had fun.

What a difference a year makes!

Sam's teacher seems wonderful and the rooms are great.  I am hoping for a year full of fun and learning.  Nick and I start next week.

Beach trip part 2

On our last full day there (August 1st), Sam and I joined the Bisker-Pattersons for a walk down to the pier.  It started to rain, which is why Sam has wet spots all over her.  She stopped to draw a person in the sand.  We ended up soaked, with rain running down our faces, so we hid under the pier for a bit and then headed back.

Linda and Olivia had to head back to Kingstree, so they came to say goodbye.

And they took a group picture.  Thanks Bisker-Pattersons for meeting us.  It was a blast.  We just need 2 more kids to make it cheaper by the dozen :)

 That night we went out for our only dinner out at a great seafood restaurant.  It was right on the inlet and we were treated to a beautiful view of the sunset after our meal.

Sam and the sunset.

This house was right on the inlet.  Crazy, huh?

Goofing around.

A nice Kelling shot.

Sam wanted me to take a picture of her when I was taking one of the moon.

Then she wanted to take a few.  First she took one of me.  Nice composition, huh?

And then she said she wanted to take one of the house, but this is what she actually took.

I put Zoey to bed and after dark Sam and I caught up to the Bisker-Pattersons, many of who had walked back from dinner.  We then headed out to hunt crabs.  It had been years for me, so luckily we found a nice women and her grandkids to help us.  They were amazing and let us tag along.  I caught my own tiny crab, see it in the bottom of the bucket?

They caught this huge one.

Then we left the next day after lunch for a few days in Kingstree.  We had a great time relaxing and I even got a nap when the girls did.

Although this was before the other pictures, I will leave you with our family shot on the beach.  It was an amazing trip and so worth all the sleep deprivation and crying.  Hopefully Zoey will travel better soon.  Sam starts school on the 20th, so reality will be back in full swing, but we can carry the tranquility of the beach with us.  It was a long overdue get away, but that may have been one of the things that may it so sweet.  Thanks so much Linda for sharing your house with us!

Beach trip part 1

We left July 29th to head to my cousin's beach house in Garden City (or Murrell's Inlet), SC.  It is an amazing house and we had a blast.  The trip up was rough, we hit a lot of bad weather and an accident or cop pull over that made the trip long.  And Zoey spent a lot of then end crying.  But we made it and met up with good friends from Huntingon, the Bisker/Pattersons (asimplesix.blogspot.com).  My cousin, her daughter, and a friend also came to hang out for a few days and then we went to their house in Kingstree, SC (where my mom grew up) on August 2nd after lunch and then drove home on the 4th.  It was a long, but wonderful adventure.  We really enjoyed ourselves, but were reminded why we usually do not travel with kids.  Zoey had a rough time.  She is not a beach babe and did not sleep well in the pack in play.  The included a night (the 1st or really the 2nd) when she was up from 12-4ish.  And almost every morning was a 6 or 6:30 wake up.  I had to take a nap at my cousins, which is pretty rare for me in my busy life.  But this was vacation.  So other than sleep problems, we enjoyed the sun, sand, surf, and olympics.  Below is the July portion of our trip.

The first morning we hit the beach in clothes.   Sam loved the beach and always begged to get back out there, but we did have to balance Zoey's hatred that slowly melted into dislike and the chance of too much sun exposure.

Zoey tried the waves, but they were just too much.

Nick took Sam out to jump waves once we all got into bathing suits.  Sam was really brave, wanting to go pretty deep and not freaking out when she was forced under a couple of times, even one that rolled her over.

Zoey enjoyed chasing the birds.

No cooperation for a sister photo.

Sam got a solo shot.

Zoey did like digging and dumping and collecting the sand tools.

Sam liked digging too.

A great sunset reflection.

A close up of Zoey playing with the bucket.  She kept ending up with sand on her face and often in her mouth.

Sam did really well for her first time boogie boarding.

Zoey spent a lot of time crying.  She was super tired and clingy.  It was rough, but she did have some fun.  And I carried her a lot.

Nick tried to surf but the waves were too small and way too close.

I will put up the rest of the trip soon and then we will be in the back to school mode.  Yikes!

Fort de Soto with PALS

We recently went to Fort de Soto beach with the mom's club, PALS, which stands for playing around Lakeland SAHM.  Nick was a good sport and the only dad because many of the others work on the weekends or had to take older kids to football, etc.  But he was a huge help and I do not think I could have taken both without him.  Sam had an early hate of snow which resolved itself in Huntington.  She loved the beach on her first trip last fall and loved it this time.  Zoey hated it last time and went from strong dislike to lukewarm this time.  Maybe she will grow to love it.  We had fun, but it was a bit chaotic when the tide pool came and soaked all the stuff and all the other moms were at the water.  Nick ended up making a wall, but the kids kept trampling it.  Also, Sam and I ended up with rather bad burns.  I think the sunscreen we used was too old or something.  I did only reapply 1 time, but we stayed in the shade of our tent a lot and Zoey did not burn with different sunscreen.  We did manage to put on after sun stuff after the 1.5 hour drive and never ended up peeling, but it was no fun.  And I thought I was avoiding it by being good about reapplying and staying in the shade.

Sam had a blast.  I like how you can see her splash through the tide pool.

 Zoey actually liked the warm tide pool.  She the splash she made here.  She loves to splash in the tub or pool and says "'plash, 'plash".

Zoey's favorite thing was snack time.  We could hang out in the tent/giant umbrella and someone brought watermelon and chips to share.  

Both the girls at snack time.  Zoey actually kept the sunglasses and hat on.  She tried at first to take it off and I distracted her. I was afraid to take it off in the tent even.

Zoey helping build the wall to keep the water out.

Halfy Birthday!

Sam was so excited about being 4 and a half, partially because when she kept bugging my mom about some perfume, she was told she could use it at 4 and a half.  But we decided to have a small cake.  I thought about making one, but before she had really loved this mini belle one, so mom suggested it.  It was a huge hit and a lot less work.

I hope everyone is having a great summer.  We are finally finished with classes and get to enjoy about a month to relax some and catch up a lot more.

Jumping June and July

Wow, I say it a lot, but July has been even more busy than usual.  The end of June flew by and now we are almost halfway done with July.

First, to finish out June...
It was crazy busy with a work meetings, bunco night, friends over for dinner, and a birthday party for me.  Nick also helped a friend move houses and he helped my dad put in sod and we bought and constructed a metal storage shed.  We also had to organize and clean our house because Grammy and Poppi were coming in the first week of July.  So it was insane.  But I had a coupon for a free zoo ticket because we are members, so the girls and I squeezed in a trip to the Tampa Zoo with Nana.  Nick and I are working on a research project there, so we have been for 2 meetings but it had been awhile since I had actually walked around.  Sam did not want to ride the small coaster or flying bananas, but she joined to llama club (you buy a button and get to feed the llama) and got to feed Angie the llama.

Then we hit July, more storage building construction, Nick had to move lab stuff for poly, and more cleaning.  I also hosted book club for my moms group and I was in charge of a playdate about sense, both had been rained out in late June.  And all the first week of July Zoey had swim lessons.  She was very resistant until the last day, so I hope we can get her doing better soon.  Then Grammy and Poppi came in very late in the 3rd through the afternoon of the 7th.  It was so great to see them and both girls got lots of attention and spoiling.

First, Zoey has started eating corn off the cob thanks to demanding bites of my dad's even when she had some cut off for her.

And some silly hair she styled one day.

Sam was so excited and had to wait since Grammy and Poppi got in late and she got up way before them.  But as soon as they got up on the 4th, Sam had to read Where's Wooly because it is a story that includes a Sam and a Poppy.

Sam got tons of Grammy time reading to Grammy, listening to Grammy read, and playing games.

Zoey in a rare moment sitting still with Grammy.  She is always on the go, but she attached to Grammy very quickly.  We had not seen them since Thanksgiving.

A picture before they left.

Grammy and Poppi left and we had more busy days including when I hosted a mother night for Pina Colada day.  And then my cousin Linda and her daughter Olivia came to stay with my parents for my mom's birthday.  Linda had not seen Sam since she was about 10 months.  Sam and Zoey both really attached to Olivia.  Sam was devastated on the day Olivia took a nap.  Here are a few pictures when they came over to our house.

And overlapping with my cousins was a stop over of Nicks brother Jon and his family.  They came out to go on a Disney cruise and they stayed with us one night.  Sam and Zoey had a blast playing with the adorable Isabelle and Luke.  Their was chaos in our house for sure.  They were all chasing each other.  Luke got so excited and "tagged" Zoey which was a palm plant to her chest, knocking her down.  Zoey is a typical second child and very tough.  She did not even cry.  Just got up to keep up with the fun.

Here they all are, but the older girls are in the cardboard house.

Jon and Robyn had to run a couple of errands, so Nick took them after I put Zoey down.  I got to test out having 3 kids :)  My parents, Linda and Olivia dropped by briefly, but I was mostly on my own.

We had some ice cream.

It was pretty late, so we started getting ready for bed.  Luke was not ready.  I managed to get all 3 in pajamas and teeth brushed, but I did have some help at this point.  The plan was for Luke to sleep in Sam's car bed and the girls on the air mattress.  I started reading books and the Jon, Robyn and Nick got back.  We finished stories and I sang songs to Sam.  We said goodnight, but of course that is not where the story ends.  Luke was adamant and kept waking the girls up as they drifted off.  Luke did a short stint in the guest room but did not want to be alone, so he promised to behave and went back to the car bed.  The girls then took their turn causing havoc.  Isabelle ended up in the car bed with Luke, which made Sam upset.  After many times of kids being fussed at, Sam was told she would have to sleep in our room on her preschool nap mat.  Hysterics followed and Nick and I tag teamed her to finally get her calm.  In the end she could not keep her eyelids open to argue given that it was almost midnight and she had not taken a nap that day.  So she slept on her mat and Isabelle and Luke shared the car bed.  Zoey took a shift on havoc making duty from 4 to 6 am.  We are trying to get her back to sleeping through the night.  I tried rocking and singing, Nick tried a shift, but in the end I gave in a nursed her back to sleep.  almost 2 hours was my limit.  I folded.  Sam then got up at 7.  Isabelle was slow waking up, but the rest of the kids played in the morning.

Luke loved the tools.

 Everyone waiting while Isabelle got her hair done.

 Her beautiful hair.

  Then Jon and Robyn treated us to a quick breakfast at Panera and Nick drove them to the shuttle to go to their ship.  Sam got to play at Nana's, Zoey napped, Sam napped and we did a little shopping and dinner at Moe's with Linda, Olivia and Nana.  Linda and Olivia left this morning, but we will see them after our beach trip to their beach house in a few weeks. 

 Sam and Zoey drawing this morning.  Back to just 2 adorable and loving sisters and a more reasonable level of sleep deprivation caused by them.