Project 365: {Days 195-201}

Day 195: Luke is 6 months old! I was trying to give him a kiss but he ended up planting one on me. ;)

Day 196: We are still sick a week later...runny noses, sore throats, congestion & coughs...yuck!

Day 197: She's been so cuddly lately! I love it!

Day 198: Dance party in the streets of DHS

Day 199: Nana arrived!...which always means a date for Brian & I! We spent all afternoon walking around DTD & ate at House of Blues.

Day 200: Nana & Carly after riding "Meo" at the "Mickey Park"

Day 201: Carly was so proud of all her books lining the couch. They stayed like that for a week... ;)

Project 365: {Days 188-194}

Day 188: Carly came down with a fever in the middle of the night and could not sleep so I crawled into bed with her for the first time ever!  It was fun minus that I couldn't get comfortable on top of all those stinkin stuffed animals she has in there!  She was so sick all day long so I got lots and lots of snuggles.  Luke got a bit jealous so he joined in on the fun.  When Brian got home her fever broke within 30 minutes and she was running around the house yelling, "Go Mickey park in car go see Meo (Nemo) big blue woooooooorld get juice!"  So off we went. ;)

Day 189: This is how little man prefers to eat his bananas.

Day 190: Carly's (and Luke's) three beautiful babysitters came to hang out with us!

Day 191: Carly showing off that she reached 35 inches & could ride Goofy's Barnstormer!! She LOVED it, shouting "weeeeeeee" the entire ride and exclaiming, "ride again!" at the end of the 20 second roller coaster.  Disney just got more fun. ;)

Day 192: Carly loves to be the first to greet Luke in the mornings & after naps.  She usually jumps into his crib and bounces him.  Don't we all want to be woken up to someone bouncing in our bed?

Day 193: She's such a big helper!

Day 194: Never go a week without getting to the pool...oh wait...this was the second pool trip this week.  #thefloridaheatisbrutal #isitnovemberyet?

"I'm Your Buckaroo" {Luke 6 Months}

Happy half birthday to our Little Man, Buddy Boy & Ookey!  The past six months have been pure bliss filled with lots of love, laughter, snuggles & smooches.  He's a near perfect baby (at least for us, anyway...he still gives his baby sitters some trouble) and is learning new things everyday.

• Luke's favorite activity is probably chasing Carly around the room.  We can run circles around our couch for hours on end & both kiddos are so satisfied!
• He is reaching for everything in sight and makes the cutest determined face while he focuses on getting his hands to do what he has concocted in his mind
• Seriously dislikes being tickled unless his thigh is squeezed in which case we get some smiles
• Smiles on command but only lets out a giggle if something is really funny...ie throwing his hands up in the air or rolling a ball down the stairs
• Loves to play patty-cake & 5 little monkeys
• Enjoys music in the car
• Puts everything in his mouth
• Has a continuous stream of drool from his lips to his shirt around the clock
• Is a sweaty, drooling boy...and smells quite tangy when he wakes up from a nap...yuck!
• His favorite food is banana but really loves any fruit, oatmeal & sweet potatoes.  Not super into anything green quite yet
• Fully sitting up and beginning to successfully rock on all fours
• Bounces in his jumperoo multiple times throughout the day
• Has outgrown his bumbo and complains most times he is put in there
• Loves to be outside...but whines every time we try to take him in the pool
• Could go on a walk in his stroller or chill in the bike carrier for hours
• Loves any toy that lights up & sings
• LOVES to be read to
• ....and still wants to be carried around 80% of the time ;)

It's amazing how allowing my baby to fall into a "guided" rhythm has worked so well.  I really disliked how stressed I was about Carly's sleep and am glad that I've improved in that area with my second.  At 4 months Luke was nursing 3 times/night and taking those silly 45 minute naps, at 5 months he was nursing twice/night and took one long nap in the afternoon if I stood over his bed at the 45 minute mark ready to re-insert paci before he was all out of sorts and at 6 months he is taking 3 good naps & only getting up once a night.  See, it just takes time.  Here's what his rhythm looks like:

9pm-5am: Sleep
5am: Eat
5-8am: Sleep (often times sleeps from 6:30-7:30 with Mommy then when Carly wakes up I roll away & he continues sleeping)
Nurses at 8, 11, 3, 6 & 9
Naps from 10-11, 1:30-3 & 5-6
Generally eats a banana for either breakfast or lunch & a bowl of oatmeal around 8pm.

He's been pretty consistent with this schedule which helps so much for planning our day! Carly was so unpredictable until about 8 months so its been a nice change of pace. The other thing that is AMAZING is that 90% of the time when I lay him down he...guess what...goes right to sleep!! No cry it out which makes this mama's heart EXTREMELY pleased.

Luke is 18 pounds, 10 ounces & 27.2 inches long.  He wears 9 month clothing a few 12 month hand-me-downs.

I love this boy with all my heart and thank God every day when I'm snuggling him to sleep at night for giving me a son.  He's healthy & happy and such an added joy to our family.  I am just so thankful God has orchestrated our children in the way He has. :)

I just had to include this...what the photos looked like pre-edits! HA!

Project 365: {Days 181-187}

Day 181: Reunited in Celebration with two of her baby buddies

Day 182: So excited to have Grandpa & Grandma here

Day 183: A fun evening spent in EPCOT; complete with a fabulous dinner & dancing at Biergarten!

Day 184: More time outside...whether it be walks, swimming or helping daddy in the lawn; Carly & her grandparents were all over that.

Day l85: Happy Independence Day!  I opened at work, came home to burgers fresh off the grill and we introduced Carly to sparklers as our evening activity.  This photo represents the only set of 3-gen Weiss men...until our first nephew makes his debut in October, anyway!

 

Day 186: One final walk to the Gazebo with G&G before their departure (photo courtesy of Gpa).

Day 187: Playing with bubbles outside in our jammies!

Project 365: {Days 174-180}

Day 174: A park date with Miss Adelaide...or as Carly calls her; Ala-dade.  June 23rd shall also here forth be known as the day Carly decided to potty train herself.  She asked me to take off her diaper that afternoon and proceeded to go potty, wipe, wash her hands & came running out saying, "I did it!! Mommy go see!!"  She had some struggles with the panties thing so for the rest of the week she wore diapers when we went out & ran the house in complete nakedness when we were home.

Day 175: A very fun morning with Miss Madelynn at Sky Zone

Day 176: In the Florida summertime, it's not a matter of if we go swimming, its a matter of when we go swimming.  Indeed.

Day 177: We felt like Luke was ready to sit in the bike carrier so Brian put together his Christmas present from his folks and off we went! The family bike ride was a success!! :)

Day 178: Brian pouting over the daunting mess Carly had made and miss Carly so politely covering her naked body with some toys that she was not helping us pick up. ;)

Day 179: I'm telling you...nudity was a thing this week!  I also appear to be nude in this selfie but let me be clear that I did in fact have a tank top on!

Day 180: This is a precious picture because each Weiss grandchild so far has both sat in this bouncer & worn this ducky sleeper. ;)  In this photo Luke is also modeling his second hair cut.

Project 365: {Days 167-173}

Day 167: Carly & I got photo bombed...

Day 168: Trey, Tiff & Luke arrived at 3:30am due to a 6 hour flight delay & my husband decided to pull an all-nighter playing video games so he could be the one to pick them up since they are too young to rent a car & a taxi was way expensive.  We let them sleep a bit that morning but we couldn't wait much past 10 to wake them!  I had to work so once Brian got home they ventured to see me.  It was so great to have them here!

Day 169: Of their three days here, this was probably my favorite.  We went to EPCOT in the morning and then left the big boys home while Carly took her nap & Tiff, baby Luke & I went shopping!! I never get to go shopping so it was a treat!  I scored big on new work stuff, some casual stuff, a new swim suit to fit a bigger body & some other pieces.  I really enjoyed shopping with Tiff! We were gone about 4 hours but could have stayed out all day! The boys took C to the pool when she woke up & we grilled burgers & played cards that evening & into the night.

Day 170: Beach Day! There were storms on the Cocoa coast, so we had to travel twice the distance to Clearwater but it was totally worth it! I have a lot of fun pictures from this day of us swimming, building sandcastles, making me into a mermaid, Brian walking the shore with a sleeping babe & Tiff & I working on our tan (I was just resting...I could care less about the color of my skin at my old age).  After the beach we took them to the Tampa Bay Brewing Company...a favorite for us & a restaurant featured on Food Networks, "Diners, Drive-ins & Dives"!  4 of the 5 of us got their staple, the Bomb...which is a burger baked to perfection inside pizza dough.  SO GOOD!  We stayed up late playing cards again that night...so needless to say Brian & I were quite tired from the week! ;)

Day 171: We said goodbye to the clan mid-morning and after I got off work we attended our church carnival to wrap up their week of VBS.  They really went all out and the church was decorated to perfection!

Day 172: The text I sent Brian letting him know of my exhaustion from getting up super early with this babe after staying up past midnight every night that week and explaining that after closing the next two nights I may not be among the living.  He just told me to drink more coffee. ;)

"How Deep The Father's Love For Us"

1 John 3:1-2:  See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

I am thankful for a Heavenly Father, an Earthly Father, a Father-in-law, a Grandfather I miss dearly & the Father of my children who I love more than any other person on the face of the Earth.  I married a man quite similar to my own father and have been blessed by their unconditional love, loyalty, encouragement, direction & honesty.

I interviewed Carly to see if I could capture her thoughts on her daddy.  She refused to have focused answers, but they are sweet & funny nonetheless.   I have 3 really cute clips of the below questions but I can't get it to upload so I'll have to put them on Facebook or something...

Who does Daddy love? Mommy
Who is Daddy's daughter? Mommy
What does daddy like to watch on TV? Mickey Mouse
What does daddy do at work? Eat Pizza
What is daddy's favorite food? Pizza
What do you like to do with daddy in your chair? Read Books
What does daddy do when he gets home from work? Watch Mickey Mouse
Whose turn is it to put you to bed? Daddy's turn (she always yells that at the top of her lungs so I asked that question hoping I would get the typical answer but she was too shy to do so)

Our Father's Day gift to Daddy was to tag along on a round of golf, which is exactly what we did. Luke was perfect as per usual & Carly did really really well through about 10 holes.  We all enjoyed riding in the cart and pulling the pin once we reached the putting green.  Brian was really grateful and is hoping that particular gift will make an appearance again. ;)

Brian, thank you for loving and leading us.  When I look at you I see strength, confidence, humility, kindness & generosity.  I also see someone who wrestles with sin, admits failure and accepts his weaknesses only pointing us to the fact that without Christ as the center of our home we cannot have a clear life perspective.  Our children adore you & it makes my heart so happy to see you be so successful when you are flying solo!  I knew long ago our life would be good but I could have never written the story that's developed.  Happy 4th Father's Day!