McClungs

Recently, we have become very, very close to our Pediatrician and her family. They are such a kind, genuine, intelligent, and fun family. And we instantly hit it off because we have children in similar ages. 

It all started with a trip to the zoo...

I invited Rachel to go to the zoo with me on one of my many, many hour long voyages down to Asheboro to see all the animals. And I was lucky enough to have Rachel accept my invitation and join me with her children. 

Lily instantly became attached to Jude. They would walk hand in hand to the various animal enclosures, climb on the railings together, play on the sculptures together, and laugh together. 

In fact, our first trip to the zoo, the kids had so much fun with each other than one trip turned into another and another.  Every time we went to the zoo with Jude was much more fun than going with Mommy and Marco.

I feel like Dr. Seuss when I say: "Our friendship grew... it grew and it grew and it grew." And eventually we were invited over for dinner at the McClungs house. 

And later we returned the favor, by having them over. Until we lost track of whose turn it was to have who over. 

We also had a lot of fun doing activities out an about with the McClungs. We were introduced to a fabulous pumpkin patch and we hope we can turn this into an annual thing.

We even run into them when we are out and about. As soon as Lily and Jude recognize each other they are off playing with each other, carefree of the parents trying to corral them into being good.

Rachel is such a good friend, that when Lily got stuck in the play-pen at Chick-fil-a, she took off her shoes and climbed on up to rescue her. Now, that is a good friend!

When all is said and done, at the end of the day, she's our very absolute favorite Doctor (besides Grandpa) and we feel so fortunate and so lucky to be able to also call her a friend!

Hopefully, there are many more adventures to come!

Marco's One Year Wellness Checkup

Marco had his one year check up on January 26. I was anxious to see his stats to see if this little guy had put on any weight from our last visit. I was thrilled to find out he had gained more weight, but bummed to realize he had stayed in the same percentile (6%).

Height: 29 in. (73.7 cm.) 17%

Weight: 18 lb. 1 oz. (8.2kg.) 6%

Head Circumference: 45.7 cm (18 in.) 38%

While we waited for the doctor we had lots of fun playing and making Marco laugh.

And once the doctor arrived the kids were more interested in her name tag than anything else.

Marco had to get his blood drawn (and get shots). He didn't cry at all when he got his finger pricked. (Lily just looks at the finger-pricking needle and starts crying). But she was really concerned for her brother and wanted to make sure that he was okay.

Marco's shots really knocked him out. For some reason, whenever my kids get shots all they want to do is cuddle or sleep. Usually it's the latter. They go to sleep within an hour of their shots and wake up the next morning. I just need to make sure I don't have anything planned away from home and that we can make the rest of the day slow and uneventful. 

On this particular doctor visit, Marco just wanted to cuddle. He is not a cuddly baby and so I was overly excited to get the chance to sit and rock and cuddle my baby boy. These cuddle sessions are so seldom, that when they do occur - I treasure them and make sure that I take full advantage of him in my arms. 

Snowmaggedon 2016

About once or twice a year North Carolina gets hit with some pretty intense snow. Usually the second wave is much more severe than the first, with the first having only an inch of snow and school being cancelled for a week.

People take preparation for the snowstorm pretty seriously. I hardly ever see anyone shopping at the local Neighborhood Walmart near us, but when I went to buy some groceries... everything was out of stock. 

The only bread left was hot dog and hamburger buns.

The sugar was ravaged through (must be serious about our treats and sugar supply when a storm hits).

The only milk left was expired or organize $5.79 (or higher) a gallon prices. Yup... I got stuck with the expensive milk because I didn't know I was supposed to run to the grocery store with everyone else.

But when the time came to go outside and enjoy the snow, we were prepared. When we were in Utah 3 weeks prior, we purchased snow gear for the kids so they could enjoy the cold weather. And even though they were warm, Marco was definitely not sure he was liking our outside adventures in the snow.

Lily was loving the snow. She managed to get her feet and hands soaking wet (we didn't plan ahead with good boots and gloves), and was still asking to go outside to make Olaf or to shovel the snow.

Daddy was even kind enough to get all bundled up when Lily was begging to go outside and play in the snow. She kept asking to go play like Elsa.

Every time the snow came down, Lily went and got her gear on before even asking us if we could go outside. I can't believe that snow made her that motivated to get ready in the morning.

One morning, when I wasn't paying attention, Lily got all her gear on, and went outside and started sliding down the hill on her bum. By the time I noticed her gone, I realized her fingers weren't in her gloves properly and her shoes were on the wrong feet - but she didn't mind - she just wanted to play. Our sleds didn't work, and the snow was so hard that with the nylon material in her snow pants, it created a perfect catalyst for her to slide down the hill. It wasn't as fun as sliding down the stairs (check out our YouTube video of that). But, bless her heart, she just wanted to play and slide so badly in the snow.

I knew that once this snowstorm was over, we wouldn't have any others large enough to create a reason to get all dressed up in snow gear. So, when all the sleds went on sale, and any warm clothing as well, I purchased them so that we would be prepared for next year's big snow storms and the kids would have much more fun playing in the snow than this year!