Fun in the City

The day after Cade's birthday we went to the city for the night. Emalyn was caught getting into the diaper bag in the hotel room!

Cade had some birthday money to spend so we went to the Lego store. Maddi entertained Emalyn while Cade shopped.

She even got to play with some of the bigger Legos.

Then Cade entertained Emalyn while Maddi shopped at American Girl. I actually think Emalyn entertained the bigger kids while the other ones were shopping too. It worked out well because it gave each of them something to do to pass the time and it kept Emalyn happy. That, of course, made me happy because nobody was complaining/whining/crying!

Then we stopped at the Hershey store and they gave us each a Hershey kiss as we walked in, even one for Emalyn. I wasn't going to give it to her, but the kids wanted to see her eat her first Hershey kiss. I was curious to see if she'd like it because I did not want chocolate at all when I was pregnant with her. I went to let her get a bite of it and she sucked that whole thing in her mouth!

She was smiling with a mouth full of chocolate!

And the verdict is....she LOVED it!

Me and my little munchkins by the water tower after Brett met us from work. We took about 5 pictures and in every one of them Cade or Emalyn had a weird face or their eyes shut. Silly kids. So, that day when Emalyn had her headband on, we got so many comments about how cute she is, love the bow, she's adorable, blah, blah, blah. However, without the bow, she was called a boy 3 times! Twice with Brett. Brett actually asked for the headband to put it on her so she would look like a girl. I know she was wearing a blue shirt, but it was puffy on top, and there was an alligator, but there were also flowers. Anyway, Brett says she needs to wear all pink now. Ha ha. My little boyish looking girl. Looks just like her daddy!

She loves to chew on straws.

She also loves to chew on her toes and was just chewing them before the picture. She never sits like a normal child. She's always got her leg pulled up if she's sitting in her high chair or stroller or car seat. Lots of baby flex in that little girl.

Saturday we ate breakfast and then headed over to the beach for the Chicago Air and Water show. Luckily little one fell asleep and napped while we were waiting for the show to start.

The little dots in the sky and smoke are parachuters who just jumped out of the plane. That's how the show started. I am so skydiving one day!

Gotta love the USA!

It was a hot one but the kids stayed cool in the sand and water. Maddi made some friends and they were digging a big hole.

Emalyn loved the sand, but did not love the cold water. She was screaming with excitement at all the kids/people in this picture.

The cool trick planes. Love to watch them, but they make me nervous too!

Not sure what plane this was but it was really loud!

Cade and Maddi started digging a hole in the sand.

We put Emalyn in to see what she'd think of it. She clearly did not enjoy it! Look at her thighs! Can you tell she's never missed a meal?

Now Cade's in the hole to show how deep it was. They kept digging and digging....

....until Cade could stand almost all the way in the hole!

Maddi and some random boys starting covering Cade with sand until only his head was out.

He couldn't get out of the sand so we told him we'd leave him the umbrella for shade and come back for him one day.

Looks kind of like a crab here. These are Maddi's legs!

Then random boy wanted to be covered in sand and asked us to take his picture.

Then it was Maddi's turn to be covered in sand. She's come a long way from the first time we took her to the beach as a baby and screamed bloody murder when her feet touched the sand!

Daddy with is baby girl.

I love Chicago and love how the lake is right among all the tall skyscrapers.

Daddy was playing chin chomper with Emalyn. Luckily we brought an umbrella to keep Emalyn out of the sun and heat. I was happy to hold her and keep her and I shaded and the kids were happy to play in the lake and sand and we were all happy to watch the air show. It was a lot of fun.

The next day Cade was building his new Legos and Maddi wanted to build too so Brett helped her make an RV type thing. Maddi had fun and was very proud. She is such an odd girl, she is either naked except underwear or wearing footy pjs in our house. There is no in between with normal pjs, even in the summer.

8 is Great!

Other than the fact that Cade dropped my lap top and shattered the screen and now it will be gone for a few weeks.....8 has been great for Cade! He seemed to have a lucky year at 7 as many great things happened to him/for him the past year. I can hardly believe he's already 8 years old, but at the same time, he's looked like he's at least 8 for a long time now.

August 12th, the day Cade looks forward to every year, the day of Cade. He woke up bright and early (although not nearly as early in some years past) and was ready to start celebrating his birthday.

We always start birthdays with present from the family in the morning before school/work. Cade was checking out the Nano Bug Habitat that Omie sent to him.

He liked the card I made him with our 8 favorite things about Cade!

Then he opened presents from his sisters and here he is giving hugs to them to say thanks for his gifts.

Even Maddi got a hug from Cade and she commented that it was the first time he's ever hugged her. A bit of an exageration, but it is rare that those two hug.

Then it was time to check out the toys. Emalyn really liked the nano bugs and their habitat! Cade and Maddi thought it was so fun to watch her get so excited about them.

A little later that morning we headed to Chuck E Cheese. Cade laughed at the thought of having his party there but he was sure excited to go there. They'll probably outgrow it soon, but they'll still get to go there because of their little sister, which I think will be a good excuse to get to do such a "little kid thing."

I love the look on the girls faces! They were riding a horse and it was actually too rough for Emalyn and I pulled her off the ride right after this picture.

This little firetruck ride was more her speed.

The big balloon was very interesting to Emalyn.

Later that evening it was time for the big birthday bash! I knew it could be hot having a party in the middle of August, but it happened to be the hottest day of our whole summer and maybe even the hottest day since we've lived here. Oh well, the kids were good sports about it and they had water activities. It did cool off after the first hour or so. The party started at 5:00 with slip and slides and jumping on the trampoline. Then it was time for Water Balloon Fights!!!!

It was kind of like water balloon dodge ball. Brett and Cade made about 40 water ballons a few days before and they left them outside in a bucket and they all popped the next day. So then they made about 150 the next night and put them in a cooler in the laundry room. The next day Maddi, Cade, Grace, Jack and Andrew made about 100 more all by themselves. They did so great making the balloons and all the kids had a blast playing with them.

A few kids got nailed, even in the face, but none of them were made, hurt, cried, etc.

Little Emalyn had to sit on the sidelines and watch, but she enjoyed watching all those crazy kids.

Next, it was time for pizza and birthday cake!

Closing his eyes, making his wish...

and now blowing...

Candles are out and now it's time to act like the crazy 8 year old boy that he is!

It was an ice cream cake and I'd say the kids enjoyed it!

After cake we went on a scavenger hunt. My team won, but we all had fun! Then it was pinata time. I cracked up when a kid said, "Mrs. McDonald, I thought they had pinatas at Mexican celebrations!" After pinata, Cade opened presents and then the party was over. Cade has been wanting his party at home for several years and it was fun, but I think from now on, we'll have it at a place. I like showing up for the party, having fun, and heading home. Cade had a blast and was very thankful for his party and had a great day and that makes it all worth it. We love you so much Bugaboo!!!

9 Months

This little 9 month old baby girl is very loved! We actually were ready early before church Sunday and snapped a few pictures. Emalyn is finally over her stranger/separation anxiety. The last month she was not a fan of being away from her family and would scream pretty much the entire time she was left at church, the gym, with a babysitter, etc. She started to be ok as long as Maddi or Cade were with her and now she fusses right when we hand her off, but she does well once we're gone. She cries again once she sees me when I pick her up from wherever she's been, but she's happy once again when I'm holding her. I hated that she was so upset when she was left, but I knew it wouldn't last forever, and thankfully it didn't last too long. She is happy as can be when we're at home and it doesn't matter if we're in the room with her or not, she's just happy entertaining herself and exploring the house.

I thought this picture was funny because it looks like everyone is talking and even Emalyn is probably saying "UUUhhhh". She is a talker and loves to be a part of the craziness in our household! When she sees something she likes/wants like Cocoa, food, or a family member, her whole body tenses and she shreeks with pure delight. LOVE it!

Emalyn is showing off her clapping skills here. She also waves hello and bye bye. Sweetest little wrist wave, we all love it and make her do it all the time. She'll wave at strangers too.

This little baby loves her Daddy! None of the other kids liked Brett this much at this age. She adores her daddy and I'm pretty sure the feeling is mutual. She's pretty much got him wrapped around her finger. In fact, she's got Maddi and Cade wrapped as well. They will do anything and everything for her.

She loves her mama too and mama loves Emalyn so much. I honestly never thought I'd be able to love this baby as much as I do. I was done, D-O-N-E, having kids. It amazes me every day how she just fits right into our family and how blessed we are to have her. She doesn't say it often, but she'll say mmmmm-ma. Mainly when she's crying and wants her mama.

One of her favorite things these days are balls! Any kind of ball, she just loves it and she bangs them together and throws them. She's actually got quite an arm! She was at the DuPage Children's Museum and crawled right over to the ball area and stayed there for a long time. Other favorite toys are anything musical, her pinwheel, and the shapes from her shape sorter.

She is quite fast at crawling. I love watching her little butt wiggle when she crawls! She gets all over the house and is very curious. When the kids go outside to play or jump on the trampoline she crawls right over to the back door and stands up at the window and bangs on the window and says "uuuuuuh" as if she's saying "hey guys, you forgot about me!"

This is what the kids call her "cheesy smile". She scrunches her nose and when she's really excited she sort of blows out her nose over and over. Her fourth tooth finally popped through a few days ago. She now has the top and bottom 2 teeth and she will bite the heck out of you if you let her. She also grinds her top and bottom teeth and it's really an awful sound. She did it quite a bit for 2 or 3 days but isn't doing it so much anymore so I hope she's done with that.
Weight: Don't know yet, probably at least 20 pounds. Losing a bit of her baby chunk in her thighs, but as Brett says "keep crawling baby"
Height: Don't know yet (9 month well baby appointment later this month)
Diapers: size 3
Clothes: moving into 12-18 month, but can still some 6-9, very random
Sleeping: Pretty much 7:30-6:30. Somtimes wakes up around 5:30 or 5:45 and I'll give her a bottle and she'll go back to bed. Naps for about an hour in the morning (she's usually woken up if she's not already awake so we can head out for whatever we have going on that day), and a 2 hour nap in the afternoon.
Feeding: Bottle every 3 hours or so. Eats pretty much anything you put in her mouth! Still eats baby food but also lots of "real" food. She won't feed herself unless you move her hand to her mouth. Instead, she picks up her food and drops it to the floor. She won't hold her bottle or sippy cup either, she is a princess and wants us to do everything for her (and we do!).