Our Whirlwind August

I am shocked to realize that August has passed me by, although I can't complain too much - we have had a wonderful month!

This was Marissa's first day of school and also her first picture sitting unaided.


Marissa turned three months old on my first day back at work. She was just beginning to sit nicely in the bouncer seat, not slouching or falling to the side. I was making dinner and for some reason, Lauren insisted on wearing that windbreaker while she "cooked" in her own kitchen. She came running over as soon as I grabbed the camera to get a picture of Marissa and they looked so sweet, I'm glad she joined in.

One weekend in July, Rob and I were lamenting the fact that we would not have a beach trip this year; we knew with Marissa's arrival that going on vacation would be out of the question - a trip with a newborn is not a vacation, it's just extra work without the comforts of home. By the end of that weekend, though, we were scouring websites for a vacation rental in Florida's panhandle, and by Monday night we had secured a house for a long weekend in August. Rob asked his mom to come and help us with the girls, especially since Marissa would not be able to be out in the sun - she kindly obliged and we were so excited about our upcoming trip. So basically, I went back to work and then left the next week for five glorious days on the beach!

Marissa's first time at the beach, we went out really early before it got too hot. I had forgotten to pack hats for her, but Lauren was kind enough to share her Ariel one for the occasion.


This was a raft we had bought for Lauren when we got down there but it served as a perfect seat when she wanted to have her snacks.

Lauren had so much fun playing at the beach, she ran back and forth between the water and our chairs non-stop but then was doing this crazy slide and dive into the sand only to pop up and repeat the whole thing.


Thanks again, Grandma, for coming with us - we loved having you along and we really appreciated all of your help!

The next week, my third week back at work, Rob left for his annual golf trip and my sister and niece came to stay with us, we had a wonderful girls weekend! We only ventured out a couple of times - having three kids between two adults, even three as good as ours are, is not the easiest. It didn't matter, Lauren and Kaity played together and Marissa was on her own schedule, so it was nice to have time at home with them all. I loved having them here and hated dropping them off at the airport. Karin and I are the always the ones holding up the terminal drop-off lane because we're crying and hugging and crying some more.

We had a birthday party to go to for one of Lauren's friends, and while we managed to get a picture of Karin with the girls, we never thought to have someone at the party take one of all of us. That always happens to me!

This was Marissa's first time sitting in the Bumbo seat. She is really holding herself up well so I thought I would try it. This week at school, she also rolled over from her stomach to her back, and then showed off for us that night. I was hoping that Marissa would be a little slower on these kinds of things than Lauren was - I swear that I never got to enjoy any time of her staying put in one place - she took off crawling practically as soon as she could sit. I guess we'll see if Marissa is going to be another over-achiever or if she'll be content just to hang out and take things slowly.