I was a little behind on scheduling Nola's 3 month pictures. My friend from college recently moved back and was able to shoot them. Jen did a great job! Her website is Olive My Love Photography if you want to schedule a shoot with her.
I also took a few of my own on Joe's old baby quilt. I LOVE his old quilt but will be passing it down to Nola since it's a little girly. His grandma made it for him and we aren't quite sure why she picked that color scheme.
Nola actually turned 4 months on July 15. She started to get very interested in her toys as you can see below. I also decided to sit her up one day and she was able to do it. I guess I should have tried it sooner! Louis is starting to like her more but he still doesn't like her stealing his attention. She is really starting to laugh at him which is super cute!
It was like she was saying, "See mom, I can sit with my eyes closed."
July kicked off with a fun 4th of July! Our neighborhood has a parade for the kids where they decorate their bikes and ride to one of our neighborhood parks. They serve some food and have a dunk tank and some inflatable slides, etc. Normally Joe and I are like wallflowers at these things. Neither one of us is very outgoing but this time I was really proud that we made some friends.
Later that night we did some small fireworks in the back with my brother. I didn't get many pics.
Louis wasn't crazy about the loud ones and either were we since we aren't supposed to do fireworks in town.
I left Nola for the first time for my friend Molly's bachelorette party. The sign below is how I felt.
I had a really good time catching up with some of my best friends. But man, I'm such a granny now. I have been to Vegas the last four or five years in a row but most of it was for work. Molly always has these connections and one of her friends got us into a club. I'm talking, walk to the front/on the list/don't pay cover, kind of connection. The club was SO Vegas. There were hot tubs and swimming pools and dj's spinning. I would have felt right at home here before kids, but having had a baby four months prior, my body was not "club ready". Not that I'd ever wear a spandex mini dress but at least I would have felt cute. And I'm not kidding, the strobe light would go off and I could not see ANYTHING. Boring granny for sure. The craziest part was I ran into a friend of a friend tending bar there. She gave me a free beer (great deal since they were $9) and I totally forgot to tip her! We left right after so I couldn't go back. Granny and jerk all in one!!
Meanwhile, Joe was busy showing me up back home. He BBQ'd ribs, took the kids to the redbox, zoo and for ice cream. I secretly took some joy in the fact that Nola cried the first day I was gone. I didn't want him to have it too easy since I'm alone with the kids all the time and mostly frazzled by the time he gets home!!
I'm trying to do more play dates again. It's getting easier to do things as Nola is getting on a more predictable schedule and doesn't nurse as much as she used to. We met the love of Louis' life, Parker, at the spray park one day.
We also had her and some other friends over for a BBQ. He really loves all of his friends but I've always noticed he talks about Parker just a little more than the others. I think he has a little crush.
We had an adult play date too when our friends invited us to the All Star soccer game. We sat in the cauldron or cheering section. It was really fun. I don't think I'd want to sit anywhere else.
We had some family in town. You might remember my post about Anna's wedding. They stopped by for a night when they were doing some school shopping and World's of Fun. Anna is a hair dresser so she cut Louis' hair. It was his first professional cut and he did really well for her. I hate to tell Joe, but the cut was SO much better. It's really holding up as it grows.
My garden has been doing much better than last year. I planted less variety and it hasn't been as hot. Louis helps pick tomatoes but no matter what he always grabs some green ones off the vine. I can get them to ripen near bananas but toward the end of the season I'll let him go crazy and we can fry up the green ones.
Joe took Louis fishing for the first time and brought him home with about 40 chigger bits all around his undies. I'm not exaggerating, I counted them. I felt so bad for him and he actually got really swollen. We called Joe's sister (she's a nurse) and she reassured us that he and his parts would be fine. She was right but YIKES! Poor boy. That was one of those times I kind of handed the parenting off to Joe since it was out of my department. I'm sure he will have those moments with Nola too.
We were lucky with some really nice weather and took advantage of being outdoors. One of my favorite things about where we live is our walkability. We are about a mile out in three directions from some great areas in town. We walked the kids up to the lawn at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and had a picnic. Then we finished the night at the Kaufman Gardens.
I'm also getting better at fitting one-on-one time in with Louis during Nola's morning nap. "Better" is the key word here. This isn't all the time. I'm still working on being that super mom that I see in my mind.
We do crafts.
Bake healthy muffins.
And sometimes make it outside.
This time is so important for him. Otherwise I catch him in the corner with the camera shooting selfies.
Or putting on crazy outfits like the one below. He is not wearing anything on the bottom but don't worry, he is a super hero.
We also went to his second dentist appointment. Louis did great but the dentist still didn't clean his teeth. He just counts them and takes a look at things. Maybe next time he will clean them since Louis will be three.
I can't believe that his 3rd birthday is around the corner!! The other night I got stuck watching old videos of him. I might have shed a few tears! Gosh, I really didn't know I could love someone so much. It's one of those things you just don't understand until you become a parent. I always look forward to his future and feel lucky that he is healthy and strong. But I can't help but be sad that it happens so fast. It goes by in a blink and I just want to bottle it all up so I don't forget a thing! Hopefully I'll have an August update before the month is over. You know me, I'm always late!
