And Now For Something Completely Different

Okay, so the zoo isn't something different.  However, for us this summer, it was!  It has been sooooo hot all.summer.long.  Between the heat and having a new baby (and not wanting to take Juliana out in the extremem heat), we've pretty much stuck to the pool and the indoors.  So, when the weather finally cooled down this past week, I made sure to make the best of it by taking the kiddos out in the mornings to some of our old haunts that we hadn't been to in a while!

 Our first pit stop was the Aquarium.  It wasn't overly busy and so the kids really had fun watching the penguins, sharks, rays, fish and turtles.

 Juliana was fascinated with the tunnel area.  This was her first trip to the zoo and liked seeing all of the animals swimming above her.

 After the aquarium, we stopped for a snack and so I could nurse Juliana.  To keep the troups happy, I gave Emily the camera.  She took a self picture, of course.

 She also snuck a picture of me, chilling out.

 I then snapped a picture of them playing on the turtle statues.

With a nice full tummy, Juliana then decided that it was time to take a snooze.

We also saw the giraffes, macaws and parrots at the Garden of the Senses, cheetas, the Madagascaar exhibit and finally, we pretty much sprinted through the gorillas b/c by that point, the troops (and their fearless leader) were ready to get home.

On the whole, my first trip to the zoo with four little ones went very well!  Until the very end, they all hung in there and we had a fun time together, doing something just a bit out of the ordinary (for this summer, at least)!

Aegean Teal

It's the color of our new (old) coffee table!  My living room is entirely too brown and beige.  So, I figured one project that I could tackle (and cheaply!) was to paint our coffee table.  My sweet and crafty friend, Lori, suggested the color Aegean Teal from Benjamin Moore.  I looked it up, and, low and behold, the colors that they said that agean teal coordinates with are the exact colors of my walls and drapes!  It was meant to be. 

So, I went to work (and it took me a while b/c trying to find time to sand, paint and then distress takes a while when you have a baby who only likes to cat-nap during the day and three other children who all like to "help").  Finally, this past weekend though, I finished up as best I could and Cubby brought it back upstairs.  It has made such a difference in our living room!  I love the pop of color it gives to the room.  Now, I need to find a replacement rug for underneath!  (Our old rug fell victim to three little busy-bodies who shall remain nameless....)

Family Swim Night!

Once again this summer, to save my sanity!, we got a pass to Papio Bay.  We use it all the time and last Friday we all went in the evening for a little family swim time!  We ate crappy pizza and swam it up on a hot summer night!  Lots of fun and it was great having all of the extra hands to help with the kids!

Gatorade vs. H20....Christian's vote was for gatorade!

Gpa Harvey and Baby J watching some diving

Kari, of course, is right with Grandma! 

Miss Emily, heading off of the high dive!!

Cannonball!!!!

Christian and Daddy, going down the slides

It's been an incredibly hot summer (even too hot for the pool some weeks!), but we've been so grateful that we were able to get a pass and enjoy the time in the water so much.   Good times!

Three Months Old!

 Little Miss Juliana is 3 months old today!!  Yup, she is pretty happy about it too.  Let me tell you all about her many talents and abilities!

Juliana is very good at smiling.  She recognizes her family and loves to reward their efforts with her best grins.  It's amazing to see the recognition in her eyes as she watches each of us make total fools of ourselves getting her to smile.  Juliana has also started to laugh!  She is ticklish and produces some darling little gutteral laughs when we tickle her!

She also is very adept at holding her head up while sitting or on her tummy.  She has very big, strong legs and is very good at pushing up on them while we help her to stand.

Like her sister before her, Juliana loves the Olympics!  (The winter Olympics was on when Kari was an infant and she loved to watch all of the movement!)  Juliana does too and gets cranky if we get in the way or turn it off!  Ha!

Bathtime is her favorite part of her day.  She realizes once her little jammies come off what's coming and just gets so excited--kicking her legs and smiling.  She LOVES bathtime and is all smiles the whole time!

Juliana is a very talented eater.  She LOVES to nurse, much like her brother!  No joking, she nurses every hour and a half all.day.long.  However, she sleeps through the night (lately 9-7!) so she's just packing in her calories during the day. (And that's just fine with Mommy!)  Right now, Juliana is not earning any medals for napping.  (She's a cat-napper, folks!)  But, again, she gets the gold for night-time sleeping.

Juliana is a huge hit with our family.  Another gold-medal kiddo for sure!  We're so grateful she's such a healthy and happy baby and we're thrilled she's a part of our family!

Happy Fourth!

 We had a fun-filled Fourth--VERY hot, but then again, it is July during one of the hottest summers the country has seen in a very long time!

During the day (and the afternoon/evening of the 3rd), Cubby was hard at work on trying out his smoker with a HUGE beef brisket (11 lbs).  In the afternoon, we all went to Papio Bay and kept cool splashing around in the pool with our friends.

That evening, we brought the party over to our backyard, with all of our favorite neighbor friends.  The kids were just a little excited for all of the fun!

 They did their best to keep cool in the pool and with water guns.

 Here is Juliana (with my friend, Bridget), keeping herself cool.

And here Juliana is, giving some smiles out to Bridget.

Christian and his friend, Henry, keeping watch over the dessert table.  Good job, boys!After dinner, the dads got out some fireworks and we lit a couple off in the backyard and then out in our driveway.  Nothing fancy, but definitely a fun day with friends and family! 

Happy Fourth!

Catch Up

I'm playing catch up for June!  (It's pretty sad that I only did four posts for the month!)  Here goes:

We did swim lessons the month of June.  The first two weeks, Kari and I took a "Mommy and Me" class.  Kari loves the water and we had a lot of fun together.  (Mommy sure loves Kari as the water was still pretty chilly!)  Grandma Karen came over to watch Juliana while we did this session. 

Kari was SUCH a big girl and even jumped off of the diving board for the first time!!  She was the littlest one to do it too!  Kari's teacher, Miss Ember, was very sweet and let Kari turn the slides "on" and "off."  The slides were Kari's favorite part of the lessons.  The big kids were jealous that we got to go down them so much!

 The weather most of the days was warm, but one day it was a bit rainy and pretty chilly!  Emily NEVER gets cold and still had a great time.  Christian was FREEZING, but was having fun and toughed it out.  At the end of the first session, Christian had passed Level 1 and got to move up to Level 2!  At the end of the second session, Emily was finally able to pass Level 3 and next summer will be able to enter Level 4!!!  (Level 3 is the level that many kids have to take over before getting to move on.)

 Way to go, kids!

 Also in June were Christian's baseball games.  Here is cute little Kari, eating her snacks and cheering her brother on.

 We've also had some down-time.  (Having a new baby in the house kind of forces you to slow down!)  But, the kids have enjoyed it and one day I popped in on them making Kari's day by having a tea party with her.  (That's a party hat that she's wearing, folks!)  Sweet times like these make me want to call out, "Alright, everyone, STOP GROWING!"  The days are long but the years go by way too quickly.

Juliana is also busy growing and Daddy is wasting no time at all teaching her some tricks.  Soon enough, he'll have her standing on his hand; just like the rest of the kids!

Good times!  Sometimes I wonder, "when does school start again??!" and other days I wish that summer would never end.

2 months!

So, this "little" girl is now 2 months old!   I put little in quotations because, she is little only in age, not in size.  Juliana had her two month check-up today.  Here are her stats:

Height:  25 inches (99%)

Weight:  14 lbs. 4 oz. (98%)

Head circumference:  16 inches (87%)

Now, wouldn't you agree with my quotations?

Such a sweetheart, Juliana fills our home with joy.  And, not to leave out real life, she makes life just a tad bit busier...we sure wouldn't want  a "down" day, now, would we?  (Yes, I love to use quotations.)  Hence, the reason my blog hasn't been updated in a bit.  We have been busy just keeping up with everyday life and trying to have some summer fun along the way!  More updates soon though, I promise!