Grandma Camp 2019 - Aviary

Grandma and Grandpa took us to the Pittsburgh Aviary where all the kids had a chance to feed birds and enjoy several wild life shows.

Grandma Camp 2019

All throughout the month of June, there was a count down to when we get to go to Grandma Camp!  The kids couldn't wait to be with their cousins and do all the fun activities that Grandma and Grandpa had planned.

When the time finally came, everything exceeded expectations.  We played a lot, ate a lot, and slept very little but mostly made a ton of wonderful memories!

Eliana decided she like her s'mores "raw"

While there, Grandpa pulled out Hylie's wiggly tooth and Hylie and Braddock became twins with their grins!

Father's Day 2019

We're pretty lucky to have this handsome man around.  Geoff loves his role as husband and father and he fulfills these sacred roles with such devotion.  Ever since Kyron was born, Geoff has pretty much taken over the morning routine of getting the girls dressed and breakfast.  He is so good about calling us all together for family prayer every day and the girls do not let him out of the house until they receive their hugs and kisses.  When Geoff comes home from work, the girls all squeal with delight and rush over to greet him and then he makes it a point to immediately come find me, give me a kiss, and ask about my day.  On "Daddy Day" (Saturday) the kiddos love the extra Dad time and work hard to get their chores done so they can play video games and do other activities with Geoff.

And, if that isn't enough, Geoff stays very patient with me as I try to figure out how to balance housework, time with kids, time with Geoff, and sleep...even as I continue to fail miserably in this pursuit.

There are some things I'm glad I have eternity to work on--because I sure need it!  How lucky I am to have this patient and loving man by my side!

*Disclaimer: these pictures were taken about a month and a half AFTER Father's Day...because, well, life.

Kyron 4 Months

Kyron keeps getting cuter and cuter and continues to be a very chill baby.  I've hesitated to say any of this out loud, but: he rarely fusses, eats well, is starting to sleep better at night, rarely has diaper blow outs, is okay with you sitting down while you hold him (all our girls insisted on being walked when they were fussy), and politely watches me while I do dinner prep.  I keep pinching myself thinking I must be in some epic baby dream, but he's real! 

He still has some crazy spit up episodes, I'm currently keeping a written record of how often he doesn't keep his meals down so the doctor can determine if he should start re-flux medication.  He's growing in length--he's now 26", and his head circumference continues to be healthy, but he's not gaining as much weight as the doctor would like.  At four months old, he's 15 lbs. 8 oz. and is in the 50th percentile as opposed to the 91st percentile at birth.  We'll see if we can figure out this spit up problem...

We also recently went to a urologist.  Kyron has a duplicate part on his right kidney where an extra ureter drains to the bladder.  We will be getting some bladder screening done to make sure everything is draining properly.  He has shown absolutely no signs of complications, and we hope it will remain this way!

In other news, he still strongly dislikes tummy time, smiles up a storm for everyone, and has even teased us with some delightful giggles.  The girls continue to adore him and he definitely isn't complaining about all the attention.

Swim Lessons

We signed Eliana and Hylie up for swim lessons.  They both are pretty nervous around water and we want them to know how to be safe when water is involved.  At the first lesson, each child is tested to see which level they need to be placed.  Eliana (who was slightly excited for lessons) crawled right into the pool and did the first task of kicks, but after that her response was "no" to any and every request--no bubbles, no face in water, no floats, no letting go of the edge of the pool.  Hylie (who was pretty anxious about the lessons) got in the pool next and pretty much followed suit...she kicked her legs but didn't put much effort into anything else.  Just as we had planned, they were placed in level one.  There were 7 kids, 3 instructors, and a lot of hesitation from Hylie and Eliana.  Paddle boards were passed out and Eliana was having a hard time just understanding how to hold it, let alone use it.  All the kiddos were lined up along the pool and the instructors stepped back about 8 feet and encouraged the kids to use their kick boards to navigate towards them in the 18" deep water.  They encouraged the kids by calling out: "Swim to us if you like pizza!"  All the kiddos took off except of Hylie and Eliana.  I was close enough to say, "Hylie, you like pizza!"  She calmly turned to me and replied, "Actually, pizza's really not my thing.  I'm more into ice cream."  Ha!  Luckily, they called out ice cream and Hylie gave it a try but Eliana continued to just sit on the edge.  After several tasks were introduced and Eliana continued to cling to the side of the pool, I finally went over to ask the two instructors (who were just sitting there talking to each other) to help Eliana out.  They did, and Eliana finally got more than just her knees wet.  I left that first day feeling a little defeated.  But I kept reminding myself it was just the first lesson, that things can only go up from here.  And that they did.  Each day the girls pushed themselves a little more, became more and more brave, and by the end of the 6 lessons, Hylie and Eliana had attempted every single task and were putting their heads under water!  Woo Hoo!

We have a pool pass for this summer and we absolutely love this facility and it's become even more fun now that the girls are getting more confident in the water.

Kyron's usually snoozing away, strapped to Mom

There's also a sandpit with a water tap--every kids dream, right?