Another sunny visit to San Diego

What better way to start summer vacation than with a trip to sunny CA???

As you may recall, Alli's BFF Ainsley moved to San Diego last summer. 
Fortunately, the distance has not hindered the friendship at all (with any of the Lynch fam!)
On Monday night, I boarded a plane with Alli and Luke ~
Eli had a mini vacation with Ducky Gramma and Papa so he was beside himself with excitement!
Our flight left at 8:45 pm so I figured the munchkins would snooze ~ such a silly Mommy :-) 
We were in first class and it was way too exciting to sleep. 
Thankfully, both were extremely well behaved! 
Alli did finally fall asleep for the last hour and
Luke took two short cat naps but really wanted to just flirt with the other passengers.

By the time we arrived in San Diego, it was after 11 pm and the kiddos were tired!

Luke fell asleep in the car and I left him in his carseat to sleep when we got to the house.

Little guy was zonked ~ didn't wake up until almost 6 a.m.

I was reminded once again why I do NOT share a bed with Alli . . . 

for such a little gal, she is a serious bed hog!!!  I took a couple kicks to my back and head!

The girls were all so excited to see one another Tuesday morning and the playtime began.

It is so amazing to see the friendship between the girls, I hope the distance never matters for them.

Given that it was FABULOUS weather, we went to their neighborhood splash park for the afternoon.

Have I mentioned that I am so ready to move to sunshine??? :-)

Seriously, how fun does this look????

Tuesday evening, Alli was so excited to have a sleepover in Ainsley's room.

This was her first ever sleepover with a friend and I think it went well.

Luke bunked in the same room as me in the pack-and-play and did a great job sleeping.

I think he loved all the attention!

Wednesday was just as much fun as the girls swam in a neighborhood pool.

We were the only ones there for most of the time and they all had fun swimming.

Even Luke put his little toes in the water :-)

Of course, plenty of time was spent playing at the Lynch house and there was even a little beauty salon time, where Alli was the hairdresser and Elleanor did nails!

On our final day, we went to a pottery painting studio and the girls had a blast making their creations.

Alli was so sweet, she chose an angel so she "won't be scared at night" because the angel "reminds her of Jesus" ~ doesn't get much sweeter than that!

Elleanor was working so hard on her butterfly that she chose to sit at a different table

but all had a great time, even Luke!

Aside from getting to play outside, I think Luke's favorite part of the trip was all the attention and getting held nonstop :-)  He LOVES to be in the Ergo with Mommy and spent loads of time there when we were out and about.  I just love his little expressions!

It was such a wonderful visit and we enjoyed sunshine, warm temps, swimming, and fun times with our fabulous friends in San Diego.  I loved chatting with Sarah and miss living close by one another but feel so blessed to have these friendships.  We miss you Lynch fam and are already looking forward to our next visit!  Thank you for your friendship and hospitality!!!

11 Years and going strong . . .

So much has changed since we said "I do" eleven years ago . . .

We moved to the East Coast, returned to the West Coast, completed grad school (both of us), started new careers, went from being a full time military family to a part-time (Reserve) military family, suffered through infertility and a miscarriage, had three kiddos, lost our cat, bought a house,

and so much more. 

Through it all, we've made an amazing team!

Love that Alli jumps in the anniversary picture every year ;-)

Lukers was down for the night and Eli was way too busy eating his pizza to jump in the photo! 

We enjoyed a fabulous dinner at Stanley and Seaforts!

Cannot wait to see what the future holds for us . . .



Last day of school {2011-2012}

Although I pride myself on being a "tough gal"

I teared up today as it was the last day of preschool.
Check out this for a reminder of the beginning of the school year ~ crazy how much they've grown!

Our baby girl is going to Kindergarten in the Fall and Eli finished his first year of preschool.

Both were very excited for school today though neither wanted it to be the end of the year.

We love how much both of them LOVE their school and teachers!

Chapel Hill is without a doubt the BEST preschool I have ever seen ~ love it!!!

Alli is less than excited at the idea of leaving Chapel Hill to go to Kindergarten

 but decided rather than moping today, she would put on her silly face :-) 

The kiddos were very excited to give their teachers their end of year gifts,

cups with the teacher's name, filled with M-n-Ms and a gift card.

Eli was most excited about the thank you card as it had pictures on it ~ he made sure all three of his teachers saw his pictures when he gave them their gifts ;-) 

I do not think Eli realized that today was his last day of school for the year,

but he was very excited to bring in cake pops to celebrate his summer birthday!

They were a hit!

Eli had lots of snuggles and loves for his teachers, Mrs. Benoit, Mrs. Littlefield & Mrs. Fouquette.

He loves each of them so much!  Thankfully, he will have Mrs. Benoit again next year :-)

Mrs. Littlefield (the Director of the preschool and one of his teachers) is retiring at the end of the summer and we are very bummed that we will not see her next year at school :*(

Hopefully, she will make some surprise appearances from time to time!

Eli's first year of preschool was a huge success and we cannot wait for next year . . .

Like Eli, Alli LOVED her year at Chapel Hill.

Her teachers, Mrs. Liberty and Mrs. Miller, were AWESOME and she does not want to leave them!

Alli did so well at school this year both academically and socially.

She made lots of friends and is sad to say goodbye.

I got to attend the Awards Ceremony in her class and Alli received the Fruit of Spirit Award for "Gentleness" ~ she said her favorite part of preschool was playing with Amelia ~ so sweet!

She and her classmates performed a couple songs and dances and the girl can move :-)

Such a fun experience!

Miss Alli had a fabulous year and it ended on such a great note . . . she made a couple new friends at recess today when the three little girls all realized they would be going to the same school next year and she and her buddy Alaina learned that they would be together again next year ~ YEAH!

Bring on Kindergarten!!!

Next stop, summer vacation . . .

Yummy!

Luke is a lot like Alli in that he is not too interested in eating solids.

He does, however, have lots of fun playing with solids and blowing it out of his mouth :-)

This oatmeal with applesauce provided loads of entertainment!



Mommy's Day 2012

This was my 6th Mother's Day, and it was FABULOUS!!!

The picture has certainly grown a bit ;-)

I still cannot believe that God trusted me with these three munchkins but I am so grateful!!!

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The celebrations began on May 2nd with a Mother's Day Tea at Alli's Preschool . . .



Though you cannot tell in this picture, we were wearing our matching dresses!

When I arrived, I found this waiting for me at my table

How sweet is her little hand print???  She told me she did blue because she knows it's my favorite color but couldn't help but add some pink and purple too ~ melt my heart, she's such a sweetie!!!

She and her classmates performed a darling show with signing and singing,

then it was time for refreshments ~ poor Alli was so bummed that there wasn't real tea!

She recovered quickly by enjoying the muffins and strawberries.  After eating, she and her classmates ran around like crazy having a blast, it was the cutest thing to watch.

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My fun continued on May 9th with "Spa Day" in Eli's class!

Sadly, no pics of the two of us together but lots of cute ones of Mr. E ;-)

When I arrived (at least 5 minutes early!!!) Eli was out at recess and crying.  Apparently other Mommies came even earlier and he missed me ~ how sweet (and sad!) is that???

He got to walk me into the classroom and show me where we were sitting . . .

How precious are these placemats that he made??? 

We enjoyed strawberries and cookies with water before the "Spa Treatments" began.

That blue comb was in "my" goodie bag, along with lotion, chapstick, chocolates, and a nail file.

I use the term "my" loosely since Eli wanted to keep most of the goodies in the bag ~ silly boy!

After combing my hair, filing my nails, putting chapstick and lotion on me,

he decided to eat "my" chocolates.  He did such a great job pampering me, I guess he needed them ;-)

Another very fun celebration!

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The celebrations continued on Mother's Day with a visit to my folks' before church for some yummy omelets and donuts.  The kiddos had lots of smooches and hugs for Ducky Gramma!

I love these shots of Ducky Gramma with her oldest (Ashlie) and youngest (Luke) grandchildren!

It was fun to visit with my folks, my big bro Danny and his daughter Ashlie.

Sadly, no shot of all three of us kids with Mom because Tony and his fam came later,

we had to do it that way due to Alli running a very high fever ~ don't want to expose Kyle! 

Alli had been sick and running a high fever for days but did okay that morning and was all smiles! 

Poor thing was back up to 104 by the afternoon :*(

We learned Monday that her ear infection hadn't cleared up despite strong antibiotics for 9 days.

After leaving my folks, it was off to church for Eli's BFF's baptism.

How absolutely precious are these two together???

We were so honored to be asked to be her Godparents!

Next stop, the Clubhouse for brunch with G's family.  By this point, everyone was exhausted, especially Luke, but it's our tradition.  I admit, I was ready to just go home but after taking the first bite of a chocolate eclair, I remembered why I loved the brunch so much and all was right!!! :-)

When we got back to our house, we took some pictures with Barbie Gramma . . .

Barbie Gramma with her two boys.

I look at this picture and it's like looking into my future . . .

hard to believe my two sweet little guys will someday be bigger than me!

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We put the munchkins down for some much needed naps and when they woke up, Eli and I went to the baptism celebration at his BFF's house ~ G stayed home with Alli and Luke.  I have to say it was a wonderful Mother's Day and I feel so blessed to have such a great family!

This picture of me and the "bigs" playing with the camera phone sums up the day perfectly!

Delicious Donuts

What could possibly be more fun than getting a donut after dance class???

Because of Luke having colic the first few months and then Eli's Mommy & Me tumbling class,

I haven't been to many dance lessons this year, however, whenever Eli's class is on break, I try to go.

Today, we let Luke stay with Miss Kaitlyn so he could nap and I took the bigs.

After class, we walked over to Dippity Donuts for a little treat ~ it was a hit!

How could you not love these little faces???

They both have such distinct little personalities ;-)



Two tooth wonder

As we mentioned in his 6 month post,

Luke has had cold sores over his bottom two teeth for three weeks. 

We were starting to think he would never get teeth and he hasn't been fussy.

Just yesterday, I was commenting on how painful his gums looked but he didn't seem to mind.

Today, when Kaitlyn got home from taking Alli to dance,

she pointed out that both bottom teeth were through and very visible.

These two pearly whites popped through at 6 months, 1 week, 4 days.

Though he is our biggest baby, he's been the slowest teether :-)

Both A and E had their bottom two teeth at 5 months.

Two teeth at once and all smiles while blowing raspberries ;-)

Way to go Lukers!!! 



Sweet Boys



Getting them to smile in the same picture is nearly impossible but the cuteness still oozes ;-)

Before having two boys, I didn't think boys' clothing was too cute, but now that we have a "big" and "little," I am having almost as much fun dressing them in matching outfits as I do dressing Alli!

Do you wanna dance???

What to do while Mommy makes dinner?

Dance around with your sibling and toys to the Beach Boys "Do You Wanna Dance" of course!!!

I made up a song about teeth brushing to this tune and Alli wanted to know if it was a real song so we had to download it.  The bigs LOVE it and have a blast dancing to it now ~ so cute!

I also call this the calm before the storm . . .

the next night, the entire family got sick and we are still not 100% better, hopefully soon ;-)

Luke: 6 Months

Happy 1/2 Birthday to the cutest little guy around!

Yet another month has passed and we have now celebrated 6 months with

Luke Daniel Fisher

As you can see, Luke thinks that being 6 months is super fun! 

At 6 months, Luke is now

16 lbs 8 oz and 26.5 inches

He is wearing mostly 6-12 month Gymboree or 12 month Carters ~ by far our fastest at outgrowing clothing!!!  Thankfully, we had everything of Eli's from 6 months on so we're good there. 

 At 6 months, Luke's little personality is shining through.

We are praising God that the colic (i.e. screaming all day, every day) is a distant memory.

Luke is definitely a guy who knows what he wants and let's us know it, but he is now very happy.

We get loads of smiles and giggles from Luke on a daily basis ~ woo hoo! 

 At 6 months, Luke is a great roller and constantly rolling to his tummy.

Though not as good at it, Luke can also roll from tummy to back.

He is starting to push up more when on his tummy

but still does his signature "Baby Buzz" move as we call it ;-)

At 6 months, Luke still has a darling gummy grin ~ meaning no teeth,

though he has had two very painful looking cold sores over his bottom two teeth for three weeks.

Doesn't seem to bother him too much but we're hoping they pop through soon.

 At 6 months, Luke is still spitting up quite a bit but does have some good days where he can make it through the day with only one or two clothing changes ~ on other days, way more changes :-)

The spitting doesn't bother him in the least but it sure is messy!

 At 6 months, Luke is still not terribly interested in his thumb, though he has sucked it a few times.

He's also not very interested in anything other than milk.

We've tried oatmeal, bananas, apples, sweet potatoes, peaches, and pears (store bought & homemade)

He finally seemed interested in the mashed bananas but it turns out he's allergic to bananas ~ grrr!

Now we're just giving him large pieces of fruit to gum so he can get used to different tastes.

It's like having Alli all over again ~ she didn't care too much for food either! ;-) 

At 6 months, one of Luke's favorite things to do is play with his siblings.

Poor Eli was sick but Alli was more than willing to pose with her baby brother and both had a blast!

 Alli loves that she can hold Luke now and he doesn't mind one bit.

Both Alli and Eli are great with Luke and love to snuggle and play with him, which he loves!

 At 6 months, Luke isn't much of a sitter and still flings back.

Maybe that's a skill he'll start gaining in the next month . . .

 Love that it looks like Luke is pointing at something!!!

 At 6 months, Luke is still sleeping pretty well.  Taking 2-3 great naps during the day and going down around 6 p.m. for bed, waking usually only once to eat and up for the day around 7 a.m.

This makes for a well-rested and happy little guy!

 At 6 months, we are completely in love with our little Luke!

He is such a joy and the perfect completion to our family.

We love you Lukey-Doo!!!