Point Pleasant

Yesterday was a "girls day" since Ed wasn't able to get of from work. The girls and I took a day trip to Point Pleasant Beach. This is the closest beach I know if that has a boardwalk. After dragging all of our stuff on to the beach (towels, a tent for the baby, a cooler, beach chair and diaper bag) O and not to mention that the stroller will not roll at all in the sand so I had to drag it through the sand. We head down to the water only to realize that we are not between the "green flags" where it is ok to swim! I was not about to move all of my stuff over so we just walked over to the safe to swim area leaving all of our stuff behind. Jillian was not a huge fan of the water. Alexis was sitting at the waters edge holding her thinking that a little wave would come and just splash enough to get their legs wet when all of the sudden a giant wave came along, she didn't have time to get up so she held Jillian in the air as high as she could while sitting, but... it wasn't high enough, the wave rolled in and over her head. She was not at all happy! She cried for a few minutes, we cleaned all of the sand off of her face and tried to just dip her feet in, but no luck! After what happened she wanted nothing to do with any part of her body being in the water. Needless to say we only spent a little over an hour on the beach, got showered, stopped for lunch and headed to the boardwalk for some rides!

Jillian is in her best moods when there is tons of action. Once we got over to the rides, it was sort of like a carnival and she was in a wonderful mood looking around at everything. We spent about 3 hours watching Alexis and Marissa enjoy the boardwalk rides.
















































The girls were having so much fun I felt bad making them leave, but Jillian was done!










It was a fun day and the kids got along so well the whole time we were there. I even saw Alexis and Marissa holding hands to get to each ride, which hardly ever happens anymore. Of course as soon as we got home the fighting started so they were in bed by 8:30 last night! Will it ever stop?

Teeth

So this morning Alexis had an appointment with the oral surgeon to have 4 teeth removed in order to continue with getting her braces in place. About a week ago she freaked out and was having total anxiety about it and wanted to know if she could be put to sleep. I called the office and they said they don't normally do that for these kind of extractions. So we get there this morning, wait for over an hour to be seen, get the x-rays only to have the doctor come in to the room see Alexis crying and agree for us to come back later in the week to be put to sleep in order to remove them. I found this completely hilarious because, a few years ago I needed to have ONE wisdom tooth pulled and I insisted on being put to sleep because I was so afraid!!! Then 2 years ago the other 3 got pulled and same thing. I guess it must run in the family to be a complete spaz!!!

Car Show Party

Every year at the end of July our town holds a car show. The whole road in front of our place is blocked off for the entire day and people come to enter their cars in the show. Unfortunately I did not get any car pictures because it was like 95 degrees out and I didn't want to take Jillian out in the heat. I should of had Ed take the camera when he walked down with a few friends to check things out!! We had a BBQ and invited a few friends over like we have been doing for the last 5 years.
This year Alexis and Marissa came up with a great idea to make some money for themselves. They decided to set up a lemonade stand and sell lemonade and bracelets that they made. It started off slow but they were only out about 2 hours and made $20, not to bad for kids!!!


This is the sign they made, we taped it to a folding card table and set it up not to far from our house so I could keep going out to check on them





I found out later that since business was a little slow in the beginning, Marissa decided to put the lemonade in cups and walk around asking people if they would like to buy some lemonade. I didn'tthink this was the best of ideas but according to Alexis this is how they got most of their sales!! I guess it's hard to say no to her cute little face!!!























We have recently been back in touch with our friend Kristen and were so glad she was able to make it to our cookout!
























The "S" family has a new baby, her name is Madison. She was so sweet! Slept almost the entire time on her moms lap and then here with Kate sleeping a little more!


























And we can't forget the "S" family's little guy Jackson. What a cutie!

Hopefully next year I will be able to take Jillian for the long walk through the car show and get some pictures of all of the cool cars that enter in the show!

Addyson AKA Bratty Addy

CUTEST COUSIN EVER!!!!

We are all looking forward to our trip this August to see this little one. We all met up[ last year in Mexico and spent the week together. We like to call her Braddyson, just to watch her get so angry that it looks like her head will explode!!!! I will have more pictures of her and our vacation to Utah next month!



























Addy and Uncle Nathan "schwimming" (that's what Addy calls it anyway) in the pool at our resort!
This was such a fun trip, I can't wait to get back there in January. Hopefully we can convince Jenny and Nathan to meet us there again!!


























How cute are these ones??? Addy's dance recital pictures!!! CUTE CUTE CUTE!















And then more from Mexico!!

Jillian's first tase of real food ( well... sort of)

Over the weekend Jillian had her first taste of food. I wouldn't really say it was real food (baby cereal). Kind of gross but she seemed to enjoy it!

Final Game

Well.... It's all over. Our final tournament game was last week. We lost 3 to 1 vs. Cheltenham. It was a horrible day for a ball game, high winds and on and off rain. The game went on delay 3 times because of rain and some lightening. So our season is officially over and we came in 3rd place. Not to bad, but hopefully we will do better next year.

Surprisingly, Alexis was ok with not winning which was a big change from years passed where the girls have been so upset about not taking 1st that they end up crying! I guess she really is growing up!

Bald and Toothless

A few newer pictures of Jillian. I keep telling her this is the only time in your whole life that she will be this adorable bald and toothless!!!! I'm in love with this baby!!!

Round 2 game # 2

Game #2 was very exciting for our team last night. By the third inning the score was 5 to 7 and Upper Moreland was in the lead. During the 4th inning 2 home runs were scored one by Alexis (GO ALEXIS!!!) and the other by her team mate Stephanie. Each of theses home runs brought in 2 more runs. By the end of the game the final score was 10 to 16, this game went all 6 innings and our girls played a fabulous game. There were very few errors made in the outfield! Tonight is game #3 of this round vs. Cheltenham. This team beat us big time in pool play so hopefully the girls learned from that game and can win tonight!!!





Once again the pictures below were taken by Marissa since we had Jillian along.



























Best first base girl ever!!!!

Ed and Jillian hanging out watching the game!!

One of the girls on our team found two adorable baby bunnies in her back yard and has been bringing them to our games. I think they have been a good luck charm for us!!




















After the big win... Look at these happy faces!!!!!

Alexis- Independent, Laid Back ,People Pleaser

Alexis- where has the time gone??? It seems like just yesterday you were barely talking.. walking around telling people to "wewax" (which really meant relax!!). You were such an awesome baby and toddler. I sooo miss those days. Seems like now you hardly need me for anything. Unless of course you need a ride to a friends house!!! You have grown in to an awesome preteen!!! You are the the most laid back person I know! You have a huge heart and think that you need to keep everyone happy. I have watched you stand in front of someone or get a call that something you had looked so forward to is being cancelled, look the person in the face and say "o that's ok", then walk away or hang up the phone and cry your eyes out!! Your ability to make things seems ok for everyone amazes me each time it happens. In some ways I love this quality you have with people, but I hope one day you will realize that you can't make every person 100% happy 100% of the time!! In so many ways I wish I were more like you.

Alexis is so independent!! It is so hard for me to let go and allow her to make all of the decisions on her own, but I know that one day I will have to!

You are an outstanding student and a beautiful girl inside and out. I hope you stay that way forever.

Unlike Marissa, you have never promised that you would live with me forever. Recently Alexis and I had a conversation about college. She said to me, mom I want to go to Penn State and I replied, that's great!!! There is a campus just down the road from here. Then she says.. o no mom I'm not going to that campus. I want to go to the main campus and live in the dorms!!! I should have known better!!! She has always been this way.... always insisting that she can do everything on her own!! I know that I will never have to worry about this one getting through life on her own!!! I have said this before but it is so bitter sweet watching your first child grow up in to a woman!!!

I love this picture. It was from her second year in little league. Look at the determination on her little face!!!

My little tom boy!!!

More of Marissa

A couple more pictures of Marissa just becasue she is so cute!!! Most of these are from our trip to Mexico last year and a few are from gymnastics class. Love this kid!!!!

Jillian Rolls Over

After a few weeks of "tummy time" for atleast 5 minutes each day, Jillian has learned to roll from her stomach to her back. The sequence below is pretty much how it works each time she does it.
























I put her on her tummy and she is almost instantly frustrated....

























Then she calms herself down.....




















Gets her body moving in the right direction....




















Then over she goes.....




















And then screams her head off!!!!!


I can't believe how fast time is going. In less than 2 months I will be back at work and missing all of these firsts. Before I know it she will be walking and talking. I soooo wish she could stay this little forever. The older girls keep saying, I can;t wait til she can walk, I can't wait til she can talk, I just want her to grow up and play with us. I keep telling them to slow down, time goes by way to fast when you have kids!