End of Summer Catch Up

It's no secret in my house that I'm not a huge fan of TV. Watching it is rare for me. Instead, one of my favorite ways to occasionally mentally "check out" is to spend time perusing blogs of other creative-types. A favorite of mine is a gal who writes daily with crafts and stories from her home - always accompanied by beautiful photos of everyday life (ashleyannphotography.com/blog). Granted, she's a professional blogger, but she also has FIVE kids!

I, on the other hand, haven't done a blog post in 6 weeks... guess I can't pin it on my TWO ankle-biters, huh?

To spare you long ramblings about our end-of-summer family happenings, these photos shall do (most of) the talking:

Somebody has all but outgrown naps. 

The lucky once-a-week snooze I do get from her usually looks something like this...

Grandma Laurie came and watched both chitlens for a weekend.

My first true overnight (3 nights!) away from Lear went great for me. Grandma, however, was exhausted - in the best way. ***Also, I'm proud to note that this picture is NOT photo-shopped. I actually got all three people looking/smiling at the same time - a small miracle!

 

I'm not sure there is anything more wonderful than a freshly bathed nudie in a monster towel.

Avery has recently mastered the wall headstand. She insisted we do one together!

Chunk-a-saurus has been crawling for a few weeks now. 

He loves being a man on the move (and getting into all his sister's things)! We've also learned he has an affinity for shoes. You cannot leave any footwear within eye shot of this kid or he bee-lines for them and they go straight to the mouth. I gag a little every time I catch him licking on a flipflop lollipop!

Uncle Casey had some use-it-or-lose-it vacation time to burn. What better place to cash that in than with his favorite niece and nephew in San Diego! We packed a lot into 4.5 days - exploring the zoo, little italy, seaport village, the beach, balboa park, a Chargers football game, dinner with the Pettit family, and a round of drinks in the Gaslamp.

 

Daddy's home these days. His return was unexpected, but certainly welcomed! 

He and Avery recently got serious about painting pottery.

 

  

Lear's first carousel ride was a success. I love that slight dimple he got from his Daddy!

We've also had to finally lower the crib mattress after walking in on this the other day... stinker.

 

And a true marker of the end of summer is the start of school. Avery is excited to be attending a half-day preschool program, 3 days a week. It's a great step for all of us, giving me quality time with Lear and allowing her the stimulation she craves while practicing some social graces.

Her teacher, Ms. Young.

October has us looking forward to a 4th birthday celebration, a visit from Oma & Opa, and hopefully a final decision on what costume to wear for trick-or-treating!

Avery's Antics 3.6

 

"Why did you show that guy your ticket?"
"I had to show the guard my ID because this is a military base and only people in the military can shop here."
(very enthusiastically) "Is GIGI (great grandma) in the military?!" 
"hahaha.... no."

Going down the stairs...
"I'm so glad I have knees!!! I couldn't bend my legs or go down stairs if I didn't have knees."

Reading Goldilocks and the 3 Bears...
"Why do they all have their own beds?"
"Because they each need somewhere to sleep."
"Yeah, but why are the Daddy and Mommy bear not sleeping in the same bed?!"
"Hmm..." 

Avery and I were out playing baseball in the neighborhood park. After sending a couple of pitches too high she says, "It's a good thing you're just a Mommy and not a baseball player!"
Killin' my field of dreams, kid.

"I'm wearing shorts OVER my leggings so nobody can see my pantylines."
(hmm... maybe I should not have tried to explain thong undies to her!)

Coming home from being at preschool all day:
"It looks like you didn't get much done today, Mom."

Lucky Number 7

Our little dude is growing fast as ever... passing the 7 month marker last week. He's sporting more (very blonde) hair, as well as his bottom two front teeth, which are nearly impossible to photograph thanks to a very wiggly tongue! An eager eater, Lear maintains his rotund physique and has yet to refuse any flavor of baby food - veggies, fruits and meats are all welcomed with a gaping mouth. No success with "harder" foods yet... not that he's lacking in nutrition! Teething has brought about some fits of uncomfort, but overall his disposition is bright-eyed and jolly. Not terribly mobile, Lear's content to sit and watch Avery play circles around him, so long as he's got something to chew on. If you lend your hands, he'll easily pull himself to standing and we have started working on sippy cup coordination. Mostly he loves watching his sister, practicing his consonant sounds ("ba,ba,ba"'s a fav at the moment), and started some waving with his right hand.

Official stats: 21.5 lbs (90%), 27" tall (50%)

Bridging the Gap

I consider myself fortunate as a 30-something, ahem, young adult to still have one living grandparent. At 79 (and a 1/2), my mother's mother is still sassy as ever.  She took the bus down from Indiana and spent 4 days cuddling her great-grand-kids and giving us an ear-full of all her wonderful stories.

I didn't grow up living close to my grandparents, so we'd see them maybe once a year. But my kids are a lucky part of the Skype generation and have a firm relationship with their "Gigi" grounded in computer conversations. Although grandma isn't exactly tech-savvy, she occasionally has success firing up the skype that her neighbor helped install on her laptop to check in on her only great-grand-kiddos.

Yes, Lear had to change outfits... don't ask. ;) But, Hallelujah for a photo of everyone smiling and looking mostly in the direction of my lens!

One of the things I treasure most is photos. My grandma has stacks of old (and some very old) photographs of our distant, now deceased family members in her basement. There's something very special about looking back in your lineage and trying to find just where that crooked smile or button nose comes from. Or snickering at the fact that you totally would've had a crush on your great-great-grandpa, who was quite the looker as a younger man! Everyone knows that your DNA is half dad and half mom, yes. But in reality, its awe-inspiring to marvel at how you're actually the sum total of hundreds of relatives before you.

So, every time I have the privilege of spending time with my grandma, I try and get a few good shots of our 4 generations of mother/daughters. Not too shabby for self timer and a little photoshopping. Maybe someday Avery will treasure them too.

 

Summer Photo Dump

Yipes. It's been a whole month since I wore my blogger hat! We've done so much in the past 30 days that I'm gonna let pictures do the talking. Prepare for photo overload!!!

I love our SD neighborhood. Especially in the peace of a full moon night.

A beachside bonfire with best friends.

Uncle Spencer stopped in to meet his nephew!

Lear began eating cereal and baby food this month. Avery loves helping out (excuse the nap-hair!).

Little boy doesn't miss a meal. Can you tell?

Fourth of July means festivities at my parents place in Columbus, Ohio.

10-hours in a car...

... to see Daddy, yay!!!

An afternoon at the Virginia Children's Museum, trying to avoid the record heat wave!

 So nice to be a family again for a few days.

10 hour drive back to Ohio. Lear went for his first swim and loves the water! 

With a diver daddy and a sailor mommy, this kid really has no choice. ;)

Quality time with Opa.

With floor to ceiling windows across the entire north wall of my parent's condo, their home has some of the most phenomenal natural lighting for photos.

So I took advantage and did a little impromptu photo session of Lear. 

He looks so good in green, just like his Daddy.

No summer in the mid-west would be complete without a cornhole tournament at the midtown park.

Avery takes tossin' beanbags very seriously.

Phew! Tired of McNeil family photos yet?! Well, you're in luck, cause that's all I've got for now. Go and rest your eyeballs before we have too much more summer fun that requires a plethora of new posts!

Half Birthday

Avery's Antics 3.5

"Avery... why did you rip up all this toilet paper?!"
"I was feeding the duckies!"

"How do you say 'adios' in spanish?"

"If you don't get me a snack, I'm gonna go into beast-mode!!!"

"What does Daddy do at work?"
"He protects our country."
"Why?"
"Well, America is like a castle. And Daddy is like a knight. He protects the castle from any bad guys that want to come in."
Thinks for a minute...
"So does he go where the bad guys are and have a gun and a sword and a stick to poke them in the eye?!"
"Um, yeah. Something like that." 

I told Avery to give me a sassy pose and this is what I got... Lord help us!

365 Days Ago

What a difference a year makes!

Exactly one year ago today, June 3rd, 2011 I was 10 weeks pregnant with Lear and had this 3D ultrasound done. We didn't know his gender or the color of his eyes, but this amazing little peek at our baby boy was forever captured on film. A profile view, with one foot crossed over the other and his eye, ear and jawline clearly visible, this was the first time we saw our son. It's astounding the amount of detail and human form he already possessed at barely 1-inch long - his beating heart no bigger than the asterisk* on your keyboard. What an astonishing miracle it is that technology can provide a small glimpse into that "secret place" where God knits us together (Psalm 119:13-16).     

  

Fast forward 365 days (366 since it's a leap year?!) and Lear will be 5 months old tomorrow! He certainly still resembles his ultrasound photo in the large head department. Yowzas. Sorry kid, I think you inherited your momma's fivehead (bigger than a forehead... get it?). This isn't an official doctor visit month, but on our bathroom scale he's coming in around 18 lbs, aka: too dang heavy to be hauling around in that baby carseat! You may have noticed in the photo that he's free-style sittin' alone these days. Not entirely un-wobbly, but can hold his own upright for a stretch of 10-15 minutes at a time. He's wearing 6-9 month clothing and hasn't started any solid foods yet. Mostly because I'm too lazy to start! 

No teeth yet, but he does have a little hair, I promise. It's just so light and thin that it doesn't show up in photos. Opa asked if he has eyebrows, but I think the jury's still out on that one. He's a chill dude while awake, which is his saving grace, since he doesn't sleep worth a darn. 5 months in and this Momma's still waiting for more than 4 hours of consecutive sleep... ugh. He has more than a few nicknames including Learbug, Chunka-saurus, and Shucky-boo (what Avery calls him... don't ask). 

Five months have gone much faster with babe numero dos! We love you Chunk!