Blast from the past...

Here is a great photo of Pat taken in the mid-1990s during a visit to Washington D.C. Dave, one of Pat's childhood friends, posted this on his Facebook page and I just had to share it.
Beneath that full head of hair and beard, I still see my great-looking, wonderful husband.

Savannah "dancing" to Wii Fit...

Savannah loves watching her Mama and Daddy embarrass themselves on the Wii Fit and now actually thinks the aerobics are dancing. As you can see in this clips, she helping Mama earn activity points by "dancing" - and she actually hits a few of the steps.
Julius shares his thoughts on her skills at the end.

Weekend in Virginia Beach...

I captured some beautiful pictures of Savannah and Julius this weekend during our visit to see Mom and Dad in Virginia Beach. Savannah has been having a lot of problems lately with sharing the spotlight with Julius and that has led to almost daily temper tantrums. The doctor said this is normal and will occur off and on as Julius reaches more milestones.
She still loves her brother and I'm grateful for that.

Reading her book...

I captured this video of Savannah reading a book on going to the potty... it amazes me how strong her memory is! She doesn't mention the word "potty", but talks about the other things she sees in the pictures (like the doggies).
She's started talking about being scared... and you can see she asked for her Daddy at the end after she hears something in the kitchen.

Just like her Aunt Sharon...

Savannah was channeling her Aunt Sharon on Wednesday night as she played beautician to Julius and her dolly. I was out on an errand when Pat snapped these pictures of Savannah trying to put a hairband on Julius' head... I don't think he liked it very much.

Our new driveway...

We had our driveway repaved yesterday... something we've been putting off for several months now, but we finally had no choice to do because of a pothole that was becoming unavoidable.
The paving crew did the work in one day and while we were off enjoying ourselves at the water park.
We haven't been able to drive on it yet, but I'm excited just to know I won't have to drive over that pothole any more! The multicolor you see with the new driveway will change as it dries... we had to wait 24 hours to drive on it and we're actually waiting longer so it can be completely dry.

Fun in the sun...

We took the kiddies to the Massanutten Water Park today while the work crew was busy repaving our driveway.
I think Pat is going to have to settle on only one of his children being a water baby... and it's not Savannah.
We had a great day at the water park and here are a few pictures from our trip... and we came home to a nice, smooth driveway!

Our not so little guy...

Julius had his four-month check-up today and he measured in at stats for a 1-year-old! Julius is 18 lbs., 15 ounces and 26.5 inches in length... in the 97th percentile for children his age.
Dr. Mayo said he's in perfect health and she's not worried about his size because he's proportionate. She also told me that he'll probably surpass Savannah in height and weight long before he's 2... so she had better be nice to him.
I'm glad he's doing so well, but it's sad to see him leaving the baby stage as I know we won't be going back to that stage again.

Bubble time...

I took this video while we were sitting out in our front yard last week... our babies are growing so fast!

Julius in the swing...

Father's Day at the park...

We took the kids to the park this afternoon and I had a great time watching the three... I mean two... of them play!
It's hard to believe Julius is big enough to sit in the baby swing (I would never have dreamed of putting Savannah in one at just 4 months).
I guess you do lose a lot of fears after the first child!

Big helper...

Pat captured a few pictures of Savannah feeding Julius this morning (or early afternoon). Although we don't go to the doctor until tomorrow, I figured Julius was ready to start eating some solids (and hopefully lessen the amount of formula he's ingesting).
He really likes the cereal and seemed to enjoy the pears Savannah (and his Mommy) fed him this morning. Savannah finished up the container so I'll have to open up the second one to feed him tonight.

Happy Father's Day...

I just wanted to take a little time today and wish Pat a Happy Father's Day.
Last year, he had plans to take Savannah to Virginia Beach and celebrate the day with his Dad while I partied it up to Tim McGraw. But then my Daddy died and he ended up greeting the holiday on a southbound Amtrak train to Georgia.
In the last 12 months, we've add our precious Julius and adjusted to life in the house with two little ones. I won't say it's always been easy, but we've made it through and have come out on the other side.
Pat is a wonderful Husband and Daddy. Savannah lights up when her Daddy walks in the door at the end of his night (yes, she's still up most of the time) and Julius grins when Daddy catches his attention.
I love him more today than I did when we married and feel like I won the Husband Lottery when watching the three of them together.
So Happy Father's Day Hubby... thanks for all you do to take care of our little family.
I love ys!

WW Week 3- Keep on Moving...

I'm down 10.4 lbs. in body and hundreds of pounds in spirit and close to my first goal of 15 lbs. down. I hope that I can achieve that goal by Aug. 1 and am not going to beat myself up to make it come any sooner.
I've had a lot going on in my personal life, but have tried not to let that affect my weight loss efforts... and that's a big step for someone that eats to make myself feel better or to "choke" my emotions.
On to Week 4... next week I'm going to be weighing in Virginia Beach as we'll be visiting my in-laws for the weekend. I hope the scales there will be kind to me also.

Four months...

Julius has been a part of our little family for four months now and it's hard to remember life without him. He's really a sweet child and reminds me so much of his sister at this age. She was a very happy baby and he's following suit as he smiles a lot more than he cries.
I'll be taking him for a check-up on Monday and am eager to see how much he weighs and how long he is now... he looks like he's about two months ahead of schedule!
Here are some pictures I took of him last night while his sister was in the Jumparoo... he's growing so fast!

Jumparoo...

I caught Savannah playing in her brother's Jumparoo last night and had to capture a few shots of her. She had no trouble getting in the Jumparoo, but couldn't figure how to get herself out of it.

Our sleeping angels...

I took this picture tonight as I watched my babies sleep together amid the laundry on the couch. Savannah, who had a long morning of playing with some new kiddies we met at a playgroup, finally fell asleep after taking off all of her clothes (except for her Pull-Up). Julius, who is going through a growth spurt, has pretty much been eating and sleeping for the last few days (with lots of stinky poops in between).
This is perhaps my favorite of all of the pictures of the two of them together because it speaks of how much Savannah loves her little brother.

Keeping the seat warm...

Savannah was kind enough to place one of her dollies in Julius' bouncer while he was napping the other day... guess she was making sure her little ones enjoyed some bouncing time.
This is the American Girl baby doll that Grammy gave us several months ago and we recovered from our friend Heather's house last week.
Savannah wasn't that interested in him when she left him over at Brooke's house, but she now wants him to sleep in the bed with her.

Now you see it... and now you don't

Savannah also had the chance to pop a few bubbles... as you see here.

Blowing bubbles on the hill...

I captured some pictures on Monday of Pat and Savannah blowing bubbles in the front yard. Julius is just chilling out on the blanket and seems oblivious to what is going on around him.

Weigh-in - Week 2 on Weight Watchers

Wow, it's been a stressful week for me that started out with a whirlwind trip to Virginia Beach and Stafford and then ending with the anniversary of my Daddy's death. There has also been some family drama to add into the mix just to keep it interesting.
Plus, I have the infamous uncle visiting for the first time since Julius was born... ah, the joys of pregnancy and what you miss... NOT!
So I was really just hoping to maintain my initial weight loss and not lose any weight so imagine my surprise when I got on the scales and had dropped TWO MORE POUNDS!
WOO HOO! I have now lost 8.6 lbs. since starting WW.
I've been really good about eating this week and didn't run to the kitchen when I got stressed or upset, but I haven't tracked everything like I should.
That will stop as I go back to my tracking and keep myself on track.