I have had a lot of time to ponder today on how blessed I am to have such amazing children, and such a special blessing Lucy is in our family. Today, a dear friend of mine is fighting a cancer battle with her precious two year old little girl McKenzie. I have realized, while learning of how quickly their lives have changed through their trials, how much I need to count every blessing, even when it might not be easy. Today, Lucy had quite a rough day. I really think she is trying to cut teeth, but it still makes it challenging when she just wants to be held all day long. I want to be there for her every moment, but have realized that sometimes I have to put her down. I ate lunch at 4:00 because I was trying to put off setting Lu down. I knew she would cry, which she did. Also, earlier this morning, we were going to story time with Maedreigh and Mrs. Brandi. Lu woke up at 9, ate at 9:20, and story time started at 11. Usually Lucy LOVES story time, but today she realized she was hungry in the middle of it, and could not get past that thought. I ended up having to take her out early because she got so upset. She has been biting her hands, sucking in her lower lip, and just acting agitated. Once she ate, she was a bit of a happy camper for a little while. It was so sweet. Mrs. Brandi had Mardreigh dressed in the cutest purple outfit. She did not even know we were wearing purple today in support of Kenzie’s battle. It made for the cutest first picture of the girls.  

 Maedreigh was such a sweetheart today. Maybe next time both the girls will have a good day. I love seeing them. It really helps remind me of how precious our time with our kids is. When the boys got home from school, Lucy was so excited. There is something magical about how she looks at them. I know she loves me and knows I am her mom, but that also is true in her bond with her siblings. 

 

The kids have been eagerly waiting for National Night Out. Tonight was finally the night. Wylie has a pretty nice set up in Olde City Park. Nice perk is it is All free. The kids love the free hot dogs, drinks, Popsicles, and junk. They also love the rides and activities. Lucy obviously could not participate in most of it, so she slept for a large portion of it. 

    
  Lu did wake up to watch the cookie decorating…  …and finished off the evening with Mommy and Me firework selfies. She watched intently through to the end. 

 

Today seemed like a very “Mommy Day.” Lucy woke up fairly early and was very talkative. I did not think she was going to go back to sleep. After nursing a little bit, however, she just snuggled up, and went right back to sleep. It just seemed like she needed her mommy. 

 After she woke up, I had some errands to run. Lucy caught a glimpse of my phone while I was texting with my mom, which led to a mommy and Lu selfie session. She had a great time looking at herself in the camera. 😆 

 Lunch always seems to get away from me, so I had to put Lu down to get something to eat. Khaliyah was unimpressed and just wanted someone to play with. 

 After all the fun, Lucy was wiped out. She ended up sleeping for almost 3 hours. I guess she needed to save her energy for tonight’s adventure.😉  

Lucy’s tub in our new house has been wonderful! She LOVES her baths in it. She has been getting stronger though (and heavier), so we felt it was probably time to remove the newborn sling. Sadly, Lucy is not a newborn anymore. She loved sitting up like a big girl in her tub. She still HAS to have her washcloth to suck on though. If she catches a glimpse of it, everything else is done. All our other kids were just like this too. Something about that darn washcloth. 😜 

 When Lucy got out tonight, she was begging (in her baby way) to play at the mirror. She gets so excited to see herself. Her arms and legs start going crazy, and she just cannot contain her excitement. I wanted to video her, but I am out of space on my phone. So for now, pictures will have to do. 

 

The kids had off from school today. With the ever increasing cost of the Texas State Fair, we decided to go to the zoo instead. It was a fabulous day! The weather was GORGEOUS! The kids were all fantastic. We had such a great time. 

 Lucy was mesmerized by Mr. Gerald in the Nature Exchange. He sure knows his rocks!

 Lu really enjoyed the stream. The last time we went to the zoo, Lucy was still a little too small to really “play” in the water. Today she loved it. There were not very many kids splashing and running in it, so it was safer and more enjoyable for her. 

 (Baby, phone, and water made it a little hard to get pictures. 😉)

Lucy enjoyed walking the zoo. She loved the koi tank and the herpaterium. After a lot of stimulation, she was out! 

  The other kids had a blast too! They loved climbing on the statues for pictures. They were so good, and such great helpers with each other. 

Lucy has been drooling and chewing off and on for almost 3 months now. For the first time, we are actually starting to think teeth might be in the near future. Could be wrong, but she has some pretty good signs now. Poor girl. Most of the day today, she kept sucking in her lower lip. She has been pouring drool, and when she is not sucking in her lip, she is chewing on her finger. Her sleeping has been very off, as well as her nursing! A lot of times right now she only nurses about 5 minutes, max. So not like her! Her lower gums do seem swollen too.  

  

Alex got his first tooth on his 5month bday. Maybe Lucy is trying for his record. Only time will tell.

It seems like every Saturday is pretty crazy. Since Sam was gone all week, several chores and errands got backed up. So, today was the day to make that up. I hate putting Lucy in and out of the car over and over again, so Sam usually plays with Lucy at home while I do the running around. She really enjoys playing at her play gym now that she can sit up. 

 

Today we had our lunch date with Natalie. Lucy fell sound asleep right before it was time to leave, so unfortunately she was not super happy to be woken up. 

 The kids were so happy to see her, but she just wanted to finish her nap. Once she got home, she took an excellent nap, and woke in a fabulous mood.  

   She played and played. She even started doing this silly “freak out.” I tried to video her doing it because it was so funny, but I forgot to hit record again. 😜 

     Lucy also wants to play with her Merry-Go-Round all day long right now. She still gets really mad at it though. She is one funny girl!
 

Sam has been out of town all week, and it took about everything in Lucy’s power to stay up for him to get home tonight. Of course his plane would be delayed over an hour too. As soon as he came in the door, it was not long before Lucy was out!  

 

We finally were going to meet up with Brandi and baby Maedreigh today at the duck pond. What started off as a beautiful cool morning… 

 …brought THIS right as we drove up! Really?! This was the first outdoor activity we have planned in a long time. Rain hasn’t even been in our forecast for a LONG time. I was SO bummed. Lucy had fallen sound asleep in the van on the way to the park, so I decided I would just wait to see what would happen with the rain, and let her sleep in the van in the process. 

 The rain did stop after about 30 minutes. Lucy and I got out and decided to check things out. I love Bethany Lakes! It is really a great little park, especially for walking with babies. Lu and I found a crazy group of geese, however, that she realized she did NOT like. Lucy had a major 4 month old overstimulation cry, so we tried to leave them alone. We had quite a parade going on for a while. 

 Brandi and Maedreigh were able to join us, which was so exciting. They are just FABULOUS! I see special times ahead with these two little girls. I can’t wait! Of course Brandi and I forgot to get pictures of the girls, but we are going to story time together on Wednesday, so we’ll make up for it then. It was probably best to not let the girls be eaten by the geese. 😜