July Rewind

As promised, I am trying very hard at blogging more and showing you a little more of what we've been up to this month.  We got to go home to Erie for the first time in FOUR years for the 4th of July this year.  Don't ya know, there were NO fireworks in Erie though this year...just our luck.  

We LOVE going downtown Pittsburgh and watching them from the North Shore, so no fireworks was a HUGE bummer for us.  Last year the kids and I sat right on the walk in front of the barges in the shadow of Heinz Field, right where the boats drop you off for Steeler Games.  It was soooo exciting for Fionn and Maggie.  It was actually our first trip (almost) as a whole family to see the fireworks here in Pittsburgh.  Daddy didn't quite make it back to us in time last year to see the fireworks...he got cut off when they started half way back to us, but that's another story for another day.

Okay back to this year...

Home.  We stayed with Mema and Pop-pop, I had a few sessions, but our big plan was Aunt Shelli's 4th of July picnic.  THAT is what we miss most living here in the burgh.  The family picnics and birthday parties where the kids play and the parents get to catch up!

The kids had a great time playing in the pools, sandbox and on the swing sets while we all had the chance to visit!
Maggie was bound and determined to get across these monkey bars.  Fionn didn't quite care that he didn't have swim trunks, he jumped right in the pool!

Somehow I didn't get a shot of the Bolte Boys and from the looks of this next picture, Fionn caught the pool right at a time when the big kids took a break!

Cate was busy being handed around to family we don't get to see that often, and I won't lie...I barely held her during the picnic!

Hope loved hanging out on the blanket watching those crazy brothers of hers play!  She had the cutest little 4th of July outfit on!

Imagine that, Fionn and Mikey found their way to the cupcakes!  LOL.  These two are so adorable together!  They def. keep us all hopping when we get to go home (right Mema?) 

Norah was writing her name with her sparkler! 
See those fireworks going off over there to the right?  They weren't the only ones.  The city may not have provided the fireworks, but the city sky was filled with them!  Look at that smile!!

Thanks for all the fun Erie friends!  It was a BLAST (hahaaaaa) getting to hang out with all of you!!

Dear Cate...month 3

Dear darling Cate, last Friday you turned THREE months! I know, already, it amazes me too!  You are such a HAPPY little girl!  I am so happy to be YOUR mommy.  God surely broke the cute mold when he made you!  I mean, I was sure that there could not possibly anyone as adorable as your brother and sister until you were born...now I know for sure that there can NOT be any more cute genes left out there!  Your mommy and daddy are so lucky!

You love your big brother and sister, but really only have eyes for your daddy!  Just tonight he came from work, and as soon as you saw him, your little face just lit up and you smiled from ear to ear.

You love to "talk" to us as of late and have really started "cooing" and are starting to make more and more noises.  You have also started to roll over already (you absolutely amaze me!)  For a little girl who was born a whole month early, you are ready to take on the world!  

You have also started sleeping through the night (most nights) and now drink 6-8 oz. every 4-5 hours.  You do NOT like to hear your brother upset and will cry now just because you hear Fionn crying.  You LOVE to give your big sister a hard time, but you adore her at the same time.(you already have this little sister thing down pat)

Basically, my darling girl, you are the apple of our eye and we have no idea how we ever functioned without you.  We are so excited to see you grow, but wish that time would SLOW down just a tiny little bit! 

xoxoxoxo

-Mommy

ps. for the grandmas out there...here are a few more pictures of our little beauty!

Cate's newest trick, she loves making bubbles!

Cate is THREE months already

I'll post a bigger post later, but here is a teaser of Cate's 3 month pictures!

Wordless Wednesday

Summertime

Oh my goodness, I see a trend in the month of July on my blog.  Not many posts at all.  I guess that means we are too busy LIVING to stop and write everything down...So here is where we have been, it's been QUITE the summer!  You all know about our vacation, and our love of the zoo and all things water so here a little more of what we have been up to (in pictures, of course)

Let's start where we left off: Idlewild

Maggie loved these logs in the parking lot of Idlewild while we were getting everything ready to go IN to Idlewild.  It was another HOT and humid day, but at least it was sunny and the sky was blue this time, so that didn't seem to bother us, esp. not after the 3 days we spent in Phili!  We had a plan for Idlewild; Storybook Forest, kiddie rides, Soak Zone and then more rides...it was so hot that after Storybook Forest and our scary trip up the nets it was time for the WATER.   

Below are the pictures of our adventure on our trek through Storybook Forest and Soak Zone.  Cate did great, slept most of the time, liked the water, and then proceeded to hold her head up and look around the park until we left.  She seems to be reaching milestones quickly, and honestly, I just wish time would SLOW DOWN.  We know she's our last child and it's crazy to see how quickly she is figuring things out!  

On that note, back to Idlewood!  Enjoy!

Do Good Day

Last Wednesday was a fun day.  American Eagle's new store (77kids) was getting ready to open the next day out in Robinson so they hosted a "Do Good Day"  There was a group of other mommy bloggers over on the North Shore with goodies(and coupons) for the kiddos.  We drove down to check it out, and were blown away.  Both she and Fionn got bags filled with goodies with a "mission" inside...

They both had different Missions and we are excited to do both!  Maggie's mission is to write notes of thanks and to send them to "Thank a Veteran" in California.  Fionn's envelope had a bunch of blank paper addressed to a Senior high rise in the area.  He's supposed to color or paint on all the paper and then we'll send it off to hopefully brighten someone's day.  Seriously, how AWESOME is that?!!!?  We're sooo excited to do our missions.

 After we got our Missions we took a walk on the North Shore.  We stopped and visited the Fred Rogers Memorial on the North Shore while waiting for our next event!  Last Wednesday was the Sea to Shining Sea Bike Ride stopped here in Pittsburgh.  We had originally planned to go cheer them on at Maggie's school, but there was no way we could make it back in time after our trip downtown.  Luckily they were riding TO the North Shore and we're planning a stop there so we were in the right place at the right time (for once)
We still had a little time before they got there, so we continued our walk and even had lunch at Bettis Grill 36 (it was YUMMY)

Fionn enjoyed sitting and watching all the boats go by on the river, and Maggie enjoyed the cool breeze that we caught while down next to the rivers!  Cate decided she was done with riding in the newborn pouch in her stroller and decided she wanted to be a big girl and sit up instead.

yeah, she's adorable...we know.  She has us wrapped right around those little fingers.  As I type this she's laying on my chest sleeping. Every time I put her down she wakes up crying.  *sigh*  One day she'll sleep on her own right??

okay, I was distracted.  Back to the post (I can ramble all day about Cate)

After our lunch we went over and lined up, the riders were almost to the North Shore! 

We started waving our flags and cheering as they came around the bend in front of Heinz Field. Maggie was amazed by them, and Fionn waved that little flag like no one's business! This amazing group started their bike ride in San Francisco and will end it in Virginia Beach THIS week. I can't even imagine how difficult this ride was, if you get a chance please click on the link above to learn more about these brave veterans.  They are an amazing inspiration and true heroes.

We had a great day family day last Wednesday and were so happy that we could take our kids to see such an amazing event.  

It's been a great summer and we have been so busy.  I came back from Maternity Leave and have been swamped ever since.  I am NOT complaining at all, and love the work, but it def. puts a cramp in my blogging!  More soon, I promise! 

False Advertisement

Today was family fun day.  Whoohoo! 

We originally had plans to do some shopping and see Toy Story 3 ( I don't know who's more excited...the kids or us) but I found a coupon yesterday for a GREAT rate to go to Idlewild so I called Greg and we decided to take advantage and changed our plans.

We went for the first time last year, but Fionn was too small still to ride most of the rides, and it rained off and on (torrential downpours)
the entire time we were there, so there was still plenty of NEW things for us to do this year!
(here are a few scenes from last year...maggie was NOT happy about the rain and the cold)

I looked at the website last night, and checked out all there was to do in Jumpin Jungle since we only were in there a few minutes last year.  The pictures on the website looked like everything would be fun for Fionn, the kids were scampering right up that big net with smiles on their faces so I was confident he would LOVE it...

We went through Storybook forest, then headed in.  Wouldn't you know, first thing they wanted to do...climb the net.  No problem I thought as Greg stayed with Cate down (he had her in the carrier)below and I headed up with Maggie and Fionn.

My confidence was bolstered even more by this family just above us on the net. They had a little girl who looked to be about Fionn's size and she also SCAMPERED right up the net...

Here we were still doing good...all though I was starting to question the wearing of flip flops to climb the net as my feet were starting to slide out of them as we were starting to go up...Fionn hadn't quite grasped the concept of climbing up the net yet, so we watched as sissy SCAMPERED on  up the thing in front of us(with not so much as a look back either)

Yep right about here is where I knew we were going to be in trouble! Fionn decided that he didn't want to figure out the whole climbing thing, so now it was momma climb, boost Fionn, tell him to hold on, repeat...and the shoes were making it REALLY difficult at this point...

And here...holy cow, I was just trying to save us from falling DOWN the net. Fionn had decided that he wanted me to CARRY HIM at this point in the climb and he kept letting go of the net and reaching for me. I was trying to haul my own fat butt up this thing and my shoes and Fionn. Maggie meanwhile made it to the top, flipped herself OVER the edge of the thing and we doing her happy dance at the top, oblivious to the fact that for me, this was becoming a perilous journey!  I mean really, what kind of mom would I be if either one of us fell down this dumb net, a net that small children SCAMPER up!  I had to keep going up, even though we had yet to reach the hardest part.

You will notice a nice GAP in time here, because a)my husband either noticed that we were in real danger of falling off the stupid net or b) was doing something with Cate.

We're going to say it was A, because, seriously ya'll...I was a sweating fool on this net and was only about 80% sure we were going to survive it.  So he HAD to have noticed and was trying to formulate a plan to save us from imminent danger...OR he was just laughing and thanking his lucky stars that MOMMY took them up it.

I was pretty sure at THIS moment I thought tonight's headline would read:  "We're following a breaking story out of Idlewild tonight"... "2 year old boy and his mother fell backwards down the climbing net in jumping jungle...why they couldn't SCAMPER up it is unknown at this time."

Notice my stance...I was holding myself up, and climbing UP mind you, all the while balancing Fionn on my thighs AND the net. I finally got Mag's attention and we pushed/pulled him over the edge of the net. (at that point I felt like just letting go, and falling back DOWN the net rather than trying to haul my big butt OVER the top)

WE'RE ALIVE, we made it...whoooohoooooo!

I'm pretty sure by this point that my legs were visibly shaking...it was NOT pretty. But look at Fionn, look at that proud look on his face...even though I needed to stand for a few minutes to calm my heart rate back down at the top of net, it was all worth it.  The boy was happy.

UP NEXT: the ballpit

note to future Ginger...your children WILL bury you in anything...be it hay, snow, sand, AND balls (let the daddy take them in)

In all seriousness, we had a BLAST at Idlewild, and still didn't do everything there is to do.  After this we headed to the Soakzone,where we spend the rest of the afternoon until it closed...even Cate got in the pool...but that is a story for another day!

2 months

I'm not sure how it's happened, but our little princess is TWO months old already!!  So here are the details from her trip to the pediatrician yesterday...

Cate is up to a WHOPPING 9 pounds 13 oz. and is 21 inches long.  She went from the 3rd percentile to the 25th in weight, now that's GOOD growing!!  

She's up to eating 4-6 oz. every 4-6 hours and is doing really well holding up her head and is starting to smile at us more often.  We love everyday with her, and her big brother and sister adore her 

(not nearly as much as mom and dad do though)

So here's a peek at our 2 month old!

I got this great baby hammock off of Etsy, and promised the maker pictures for her to use in her listing.  This is what I got today of Cate for her.  Cate had slept all morning, and was grumpy when we finally had time to take these.  I fed her, but she wanted more...therefore, she was NOT happy.  We only had a small window of time where we had daddy home to help, as this is a two man shoot to make sure she stayed safe.
I think the ones we got turned out well....what do you think?

Wordless Wednesday