Grant moving all around

  

Yes, he is 11 months, and no, he is not walking.  He isn't even crawling yet!  But he IS getting up on all 4's and rocking back and forth.  And he can stand by himself at a table holding on to it.  And he rolls ALL over the place.  He can get clear across the room in the same amount of time it takes for me to walk it!

This does not worry me in the least because Natalie didn't crawl until 13 months and walk until 17 months.  Grant has been just about 1 month behind her in everything so far.  So I'm predicting crawling at a year, and walking at 16 months!  You heard it here first!

Natalie had a cookie in her mouth in the next picture and Grant looks like a deer in the headlights, but isn't he cute in his little Auburn shirt?  And Natalie is actually smiling normal and looks super cute except she has a cookie in her mouth.

Here we tried to do a self portrait but Grant wasn't having any of it.  Natalie was cute though!

Yo Gabba Gabba pictures

In my last post I said I didn't take any pictures last weekend.  Silly me, yes I did!  This picture is of Natalie and I with our DJ Lance Rock glasses on.  Pretty sweet.

And here's a shot of some of the Yo Gabba Gabba gang.  For those of you who don't speak "Gabba" talk, this is Muno, DJ Lance Rock, Foofah, Plex (in yellow behind Foofah), and Brobee.  They sing and dance and teach lessons about friendship, eating healthy, being scared, and other preschooler type issues.  I actually don't really like the show (it's SO weird) but the live show was fantastic and I was really surprised about how many songs we knew! 

And who doesn't love a little Biz Markie doing Biz's Beat of the Day?  Yes, he was really there, and yes, I swear he's only there to entertain the parents.

The highlight of the event was when Natalie took a late potty break at the end of the intermission.  Well timed, little girl... because we ran into Foofah and Muno near the bathrooms.  Muno gave Natalie a hug, and Natalie ran up and gave Foofah a hug.  What's funny about this, was for weeks she had been talking about wanting to give Brobee a hug.  I kept explaining that they would be on stage singing and dancing, but we probably wouldn't get to see them up close.  She totally proved me wrong!

During the intermission, you could text a message and having it show up on the big screen.  So I texted "Natalie Loves Brobee!!!"  and there it is!  Natalie was not as excited about this as I was. I... love technology. 

Great weekend

We really had a very nice weekend.  Yes, it was hectic and stressful, and no, I didn't get any pictures, but it was productive and fun!

Saturday morning, Todd went to CrossFit while Grant, Natalie and I went to gymnastics.  Natalie's coach (Gary) told me that Natalie was VERY strong!  It's funny to watch her out in the gym doing her gymnastics, because there are a lot of gymnastics moves that we do in CrossFit.  Things like knees to elbows, the rings, handstands, etc.  I saw Natalie doing knees to elbows with ease.  Meanwhile, I can't do that AT ALL!  She's going to school me when she's 4/5 and starts CrossFit Kids!

Natalie took a slightly early nap on Saturday and I went to get my haircut.  My normal girl was booked up and I HAD to get my haircut before I went to Spain.  It was insanely long.  The other girl, Jillian, did a great job and had a fantastic flat iron that I contemplated buying for about 5 minutes until she told me about chemical relaxing... and I am TOTALLY going to do that when I get back from Spain.  It's kind of expensive, but you only have to do it twice a year, and your hair will be super straight even right out of the shower.  I really need this, because after having my two babies, I got a crazy wave in the back of my head.  It started out fairly small with Natalie but grew to encompass the entire back of my head with Grant.  It's frustrating because flat iron's really don't even get it out.  So I'm excited to get it chemically straightened. 

I came back home and Natalie and I hopped in the car and headed into Boston for the Yo Gabba Gabba live show.  It was funny- Natalie kept telling me that she wanted to give Brobee (the little green one) a hug.  But I kept telling her that we would only see them from afar, and they would be on stage singing and dancing.  I wasn't sure she quite got the concept.  So the show starts and it's SUPER fun. I was a little surprised.  I really don't even like the TV show, but the live show was really high energy, lots of songs that we knew, and wasn't too long (so my toddler paid attention the WHOLE time!).  There was about a 15 minute intermission halfway through, and of course, at about minute 14, Natalie goes, "I gotta go potty!"  GREAT.  So we run up the aisle, down the hall, down the stairs and to the bathroom.  On our way out, we can see two of the characters, Muno and Foofah.  So we go halfway up the stairs (so as not to block their way- they were also coming up the stairs), and Natalie is in total awe.  Muno comes right up to her with open arms and she gives him a big hug!  Then we follow them upstairs as they are waiting to go into the audience to walk up the aisles back to the stage, and the lady who was leading Foofah around said, "Would you like to hug Foofah?"  So Natalie RUNS up to Foofah (cutting off the other little girl who was there!) and gives her a big hug!  She comes back and goes, "Foofah is soft."  All I could think of was meeting Peter Buck in the airport in Madrid and thinking about how excited I was to meet one of my idols!  The second half of the show was equally as entertaining and Natalie really had fun.  So much, that she had a little tantrum as we were trying to leave.  She didn't want it to end and was begging me to go to the next city.  I'm like, "What are you?  Me, following REM around?"  I went to 3 REM shows in the summer of 2008 (Raleigh, DC, and Jones Beach, NY).  I was amused by her obsession (although, NOT the tantrum).  I bribed her with muffins that Maureen had made with her and were at home in the fridge.  She immediately perked up and we went home and had the muffin treats.  Whew, muffins save the day!

Saturday was also a good football game- Auburn beat South Carolina in another close game, and Mississippi State beat Georgia!  I love it when both of my teams win!!!

Sunday we got a lot of things done around the house.  We even started getting ready for our trip to Spain next week.  Just buying some toiletries and getting the kids diaper bag and church bag ready for Grammi and Bean's.  I got a bunch of other things done around the house (sheets changed, floors vacuumed, swiffered, mail organized, etc.).  We also ate YUMMY food this weekend- Todd made homemade meatballs with tomatoes, zucchini, onions and squash in the slow cooker, and we had chicken apple sausage from Trader Joe's.  SO YUM.  The Patriots won in a nail biter, and the only thing that brought my weekend down was the darn Bucs lost to the Steelers!

Auburn-Clemson game

For my birthday, I got a weekend away.  I flew down to Atlanta Friday morning and a bunch of us drove to Auburn that afternoon.  (But not before having lunch with Bayless, who was not going to Auburn because she flew to L.A. to see her husband, who is the drummer for Skid Row, play at the Verizon Amphitheater!).

Luckily, Kim's husband Rick scored us a free sweet 4 bedroom condo/townhome!  His company owns the place and during the week, some of the workers who are working on projects in Auburn stay there.  But they leave on the weekend, so we got a free place to stay.  

Friday evening, we all went to Amsterdam's for dinner and a mini ZTA reunion (our sorority).  

My big sis Hope is in the pink almost off screen next to Ayala.  Then there's (and I'm only giving maiden names here!) Melissa Ayala, Kirstin Myers, Kara McLaughlin, Stacie Wright, Katie Allen, Michelle Motley, and Tyler Martin. 

While we were there, Kirk Herbstreit, Chris Fowler, and Erin Andrews came in and sat in a corner booth.  GameDay was live from Auburn on Saturday, so they were in town.  We love them because they always have great things to say about Auburn.  Plus Erin Andrews is a ZTA! 

Saturday we got up early to get to the tailgate.  Unfortunately, we couldn't get the TV to work, but we did have satellite radio and listened to some of the earlier games while eating burgers, brats, potato salad, brownies, veggies and dip, and cookies. 

Oh let's not forget my old pal, Maker's Mark, who made an appearance.  Ayala and I started drinking beer, but it was just making us sleepy.  Thankfully Maker's Mark (aka: brown liquor) was there to save the day!  I don't think you can see it very well in the picture below, but the normally red seal wax on the top of the bottle is actually orange and blue when you buy it in Auburn!

Katie (Allen Gust, blonde, long hair in the first picture above, next to Stacie) told me to meet her at the athletic center at 3:30 to get my ticket.  Her husband works for Auburn and scored me a nice, free ticket!  Hooray! Missy and I hit the bookstore before we were going to meet Katie.  I picked up some cute things for the kids- look for future pictures/posts about how cute my kids look in Auburn gear! Anyway, due to lack of cell phone signal (because you know, Auburn becomes the 3rd largest city in Alabama on Saturday's in the fall), I couldn't get ahold of her.  So Missy and I watched Tiger Walk and hung out with the Garner's (Kristen's parents!) before heading back to the tailgate.

The game was a good one.  Katie's seats were really awesome.  Hope and I sat on the 30-35 yard line, about 45 rows up.  It was so good to spend some time with my Big Sis too!  I hadn't seen her since 2008, and even then, it was brief.  Thank goodness for Facebook!  Speaking of that, if it weren't for Facebook, I wouldn't have know to wear blue.  You can see all of the Auburn fans wearing navy, because the Clemson fans are wearing orange.

The picture above is kick off.  War Eagle, hey!  And the picture below is probably my favorite picture of the weekend. We were down 17-3 at halftime, then took a 24-17 lead in the second half, only to have Clemson come back again (on dumb Auburn mistakes), and take it into overtime.  In overtime, we scored first (3 pointer) but then there was a false start by Clemson as their kicker MADE the field goal.  So they brought it back.  And guess what? He missed it!   I love a good Auburn win, especially for my birthday! 

Amused Baby

I just love this little guy.



More gymnastics

Just another shot of Natalie doing her gymnastics!  She just has no fear in her class.  Here she is getting ready to hang from the rings!  She just trots right on up and goes at it!

Picnic in the Park

Todd, the kids and I went to Boston Public Garden for Labor Day.  We brought along a picnic lunch and strolled around on a beautiful late summer day.

Natalie was a big hit, scoring lots of smiles with her angel wings on.  I mean, really, isn't she the cutest??? 

We also rode on the famous swan boats.  I had never been on them, and neither had the kids, so we took a little family cruise on the pond at the Boston Public Garden.  The sun was in our eyes, which is why Natalie has the sourpuss face on.  She was really good and had fun on the boat!

But I didn't have Grant facing the camera, so here is the big guy with his Mama on the boat.  Right after this picture, Grant grabbed my earring out of my ear and tried to fling it, but thankfully Todd caught his hand and took it away from him.  And thankfully I wear the kind of earrings that can pop right out when a baby grabs at them!

After our swan boat adventures, we went under a shady tree and had a picnic.  Of course, we forgot Natalie's lunch, so she had to eat some of ours.  G enjoyed a jar of green beans under the trees.  We didn't take any pictures of the picnic- it was a little chaotic!

The swans (the real ones - hey, they don't call them swan boats for nothing!) and the ducks were so comfortable around people, you could walk right up to them.  Here, Natalie had little interest in the birds, but was very excited about stirring a big stick in the pond.  Do you ever wonder what goes on in the mind of a 3-year-old?????  Fascinating stuff! 

Sippy cup

We keep trying to give Grant a sippy cup and this is pretty much all Ole Blue Eyes does with it:  not much.  But he looks cute doing nothing!!!

Sorry this next picture is blurry... this time, he kept trying to bend over to drink it.  He doesn't quite understand gravity yet!  But he did enjoy chewing on the rubbery spout!

Natalie's Gymstars I class

Natalie really enjoyed the brief, 10 week summer gymnastics class she took.  She was in the Tiny Tumblers class, but now she has moved up to the "big girl class" (as she calls it), also known as Gymstars I.  It's a little more organized now.  First, they sit in a circle and do songs and stretching and dancing. 

You can see here, she is doing a pretty good job of paying attention.  However, in the next picture, she is running around while all of the other kids are quietly seated.  Such is the attention span of a 3-year-old!

This picture is so awesome.  The only thing in focus is Natalie.  Pretty wild.  After the group sing-a-long, they go and break into smaller groups and do smaller obstacle courses.  Below, she is waiting in line to start one of the courses.

In the next shot, my little daredevil is climbing the ladder (with the help of one of her teachers, Mr. Gary). 

And lastly, here she is jumping on little squeaky pads.  Yes, that is her new leotard.  She was very excited to wear it and didn't want to take it off when she got home.  She said she wanted to wear it all day!

Big boy can stand by himself at a table

Sniff sniff... where is my little baby going????

Grant is standing alone at a table now.  We have to put him there- he can't pull himself up yet, but he can stand there for quite a long time, and doesn't even have to hold on with both hands!  He is showing us this in the picture above.  See the green train mom?

And I love the picture below, mostly because Natalie took it!  Notice how cautious mommy still has a hand behind his bum!  Just in case!

Also, Grant has finally decided that rolling over from back to belly would be a fun idea.  Most babies do this around 4 months.  Grant?  Almost 10 months!  (He started doing this on August 24th).  Both of my kids are proof that every kid moves at their own pace. 

Mesh Bag Baby Safe Feeder

Big G went absolutely bonkers for the mesh bag baby safe feeder that we got him.  It's a great little contraption.  It has a hard plastic handle that screws into another plastic piece that holds a mesh bag.  You drop in some food (doesn't matter what- chicken, bananas, peaches, broccoli, whatever!) and baby gnaws on the mesh bag and gets out all of the yummy goodness without the fear of choking.  The other night, I filled it with slices of a plum, and he couldn't get enough of it.  I was worried at first, because when we gave Natalie the same device, she had no interest and only wanted to gnaw on the hard plastic handle.  One time, she ate 3 grapes in it, and despite giving it to her a handful of other times, she had no interest.  But G actually cried when I took it away from him!

Natalie's 3 year stats

Well, there's not much to report that's new here (no real changes since we self measured her in June!).  Natalie had her 3 year checkup last Thursday and she is 38" tall and weighs 32 lbs.  This puts her in the 55th percentile for weight and 60th percentile for height.  She is 5% higher in height, which is the first time in her life that has ever been the case!  It was usually the reverse- slightly higher percentile for weight than height. 

She also had to have blood taken for the 3-year-old lead test.  In Massachusetts, kids have to be tested at 1 year, 2 years, and 3 years for lead.  I'm assuming she passed because no one called us on Monday!  Dr. Meisheid and I also discussed her potential peanut allergy... so they took a little extra blood and tested that.  Well, they called on Friday and told us she is NOT allergic to peanuts!  Hooray!  What a huge relief!

Natalie only cried during the blood work and was very good when Dr. Meisheid was poking and prodding her (despite being uncomfortable that she was only in her undies and socks!).  So after the appointment, I took her to Dairy Queen for some celebratory chocolate ice cream! 

Natalie's first day of preschool

Natalie started preschool this morning and is in the Teddy Bears class at FACE preschool in Natick.  Sniff sniff.  Her backpack made her look so tiny as she walked into the school.  Both Todd and I went and she played in the classroom for a few minutes before we decided to leave.  There was only 1 other little boy there at 7:30.  Don't these parents work??? Even after dropping her off at 7:30, I still didn't get to work until 8:45 and I was on the express train! One of her teachers said that some of the kids wouldn't be starting until next Tuesday (after Labor Day).  Natalie was most looking forward to playing on the playground and seeing her best friend Gaby.  Gaby is actually in the Chipmunks class, but I'm sure Natalie will see her at some point during the day. 

Natalie's first day of preschool is complete!  And she had a great time!  Here she is in the living room before we left with her backpack on:

And here's Grant and Natalie on the front porch before we left for school and daycare:

She was very cute in the morning.  As we were walking toward the school in the parking lot, Daddy took her hand which she held for a few moments before she said, "Daddy, I don't need to hold your hand because I'm a big girl!"

Once we got there, Natalie found out where her hook for her backpack is:

She had a great day and the teacher had nothing but good things to report about her.  She ate Cherrios with milk for breakfast, and for lunch, they had brunch!  She told us they had waffles and cucumbers for lunch, but I can't quite figure that out!  Some kids didn't nap, but Natalie definitely did.  In fact, they only napped for about an hour to an hour and 15 minutes, which is definitely NOT long enough for her.  Natalie normally naps for 3 hours.  So to cut that to less than half, she is definitely going to be a little grumpy in the evenings until she adjusts (oh please, let her adjust! This evening was not fun...) 

Above is Natalie with one of the teachers, Doreen.  She was getting ready to wave at us out the window, which she thought was pretty funny.  Natalie was also very good about using the potty and asked her teachers whenever she had to go.  She also stayed dry during her nap, which is sometimes hit or miss at home, but like I mentioned, she usually sleeps for 3 hours at home! She did see her friend Gaby, but I'm not sure for how long.  She also made a new friend when playing in the sandbox outside.  She couldn't remember her name but she said she had black hair like mine.  (HA HA, my hair is brown).  She also got to make a crown that she colored and put stickers on.  Of course, she was the only kid who had to have an "extender" because her head is so big! HA!  Overall it was a great first day!

Big Boy and solid food

We are introducing more solid foods to Grant these days.  Here he is with his first cracker.  There is some great video of him making funny faces on smugmug. 

The cracker didn't get much love from Grant.  In fact, it got broken into about 15 pieces and thrown on the floor.  But he did taste it, and didn't really like it.  Nor does he care for puffs or anything with lumps in it, much like his sister when she was his age.  He's been trying mashed up banana and yogurt, both of which he did okay with.  (Well, better than the cracker anyway).  Maureen is giving him mashed up fruits too.  He now has 8 teeth that have popped through (4 on the top, 4 on the bottom) so he's definitely ready to use them!

Weekend on the Cape

The weekend of August 14-15, we all went to the Cape!  Natalie and Grant got to stay with KK and the kids in South Yarmouth, while Todd and I went to Wellfleet to hang out with some of the Wilmington crew.  We went last year too, but I was really pregnant, so this year was much more enjoyable!  At KK's, Natalie and Seth got to go to a carnival, and Natalie was riding all of the big kid rides and according to KK, wanted to go faster!  Uh oh! I think I have a dare devil on my hands!  It probably helped that Seth was going on the rides.  She even went on a mini roller coaster!  They also went to the nearby pond and saw some minnows.

We had so much fun on the Cape except for the Great Tsunami of 2010, but more on that in a second. 

Right after we arrived in Wellfleet, we joined the Cucci's and some of Karen's work friends at White Crest Beach.  This beach is insane- it's on the opposite side of a massive dune.  I think it's like, 3 stories high or something.  

See the people walking up to the parking lot? Todd and I were joking it was like a CrossFit WOD just getting up and down that hill!  But the beach was really pretty and the weather was surprisingly warm!

Just another view of the beach- the waves were pretty big both days.  But I don't think the water was over 70, so you know I didn't get in!  There were some cute seals in the water too!  I mean really?  Seals?  Don't they love icy cold water?  Yeah, that "sealed" the deal for me!  Plus with recent shark sitings off of Chatham and now near Truro, no thanks, I think I'll be staying farther up on the shore. Anyway, the waves were big, but we were set pretty far back from the wave line. Or at least we thought, until a crazy rogue wave came up and drenched us all, and all of our stuff. Including my towel, which was lying on the beach with my shirt and shorts on it. And both Todd's and my BlackBerry's in between. Somehow, Todd's stayed dry and mine was drenched. And ruined.  And there wasn't a wave before or after that was as big as that one.  A lot of people asked me why I brought my BlackBerry to the beach? It's my cell phone and I have kids that were elsewhere, so I needed to have a phone in case of an emergency! (I shouldn't mention that there wasn't any reception/service on the other side of those dunes though!) I was so mad.  We went back to the house and put it in a bag of rice, which is what you're supposed to do with them, but with salt water in a BlackBerry under the touch screen, I am doubting it will ever be of use again.

Saturday night, we had a big cookout.  (Karen, Cooch, and Mike Morris enjoying the food, above!) Todd and I managed to even eat pretty clean on our Paleo diet with the exception of the beverages, of course!  Oh and the dang donuts that Rob brought.  Oh, and the smores we had by the firepit later in the evening.  OK, so maybe it wasn't all that paleo!  But it was sure tasty.  Who doesn't love a good smores though?  The Cucci's had those colossal marshmallows that were the size of a fist --- YIKES!  Well, Rybo found it amusing, anyway...

Sunday, we all got up and went to the beach again.  This time to Cahoon Hollow Beach. It was a bit overcast and much cooler, and we had to leave to go pick up the kids, so we left just before lunchtime.  So long beach, until next summer!!! 

Weekend at Grammi and Bean's

Every summer, the Maryland Bailey's take a week long vacation up to Massachusetts to visit the rest of us Bailey's that all live up here.  Natalie really loves all of her cousins.  And cousin Megan is off to Gettysburg College in a few weeks, which is really unbelievable.

(Grant, Megan, Seth, Natalie, Lauren, and Ryan below.  Sorry it's not cropped very well.  There were several taken, but this was the only one where everyone was looking in the general direction of the camera!!!)

We had a lot of fun when they were visiting.  We went to the pond one day and Grammi let Natalie use a fun raft to help her swim all around without Daddy's help.

Daddy said the pond was chilly so Mommy and Grant opted not to get in!  But I snapped a cute profile picture of baby boy anyway...

Mmmm, snackalicious!  Anyway, we also spent some time at the pool.  Natalie had fun in the kiddie pool, but even got to go in the big pool with Daddy, Lauren, and Hannah!  The girls are so sweet with Natalie and she really looks up to them all.

Thankfully, the little pool was nice and warm, and we had fun splashing around!  They always have a huge basket of toys at the kiddie pool and there's always plenty of things to play with.  Now that summer is winding down, we are looking forward to some fall weekends in Plymouth and Great Island's new heated indoor pool!  It's open to kids (but only if they're potty trained, sorry G) and families from 2-4 every day.  So we are looking forward to that!  We will miss the warm summer days though!

What we've been doing in August

We have been so busy, I haven't had time to post anything.  We went to Plymouth last weekend to visit with Todd's brother and his family who were in town from Maryland.  We had fun going to the pool and playing with the cousins, Megan, Hannah and Ryan.  Ryan is 5'10" now, so other than Seth and my own wee bitty ones, I am the shortest person in the family!  Nice.

Then we all came back on Monday but we brought Lauren and Madison with us.  Maureen was closed for the week because she was on vacation, so the girls watched the kids during the day while we went to work.  They did great!  Todd and I were able to go to several CrossFit classes this week (including our first one together) and we both were able to work late one night each this week since we're super busy at work too.  I think I want Lauren and Madison to move in permanently.  I would love to have a nanny!

Helen picked Lauren up from our house last night and today, the rest of us are all going to Plymouth.  Todd and his dad are having a re-do of the Bailey Invitational at Cape Cod Country Club this afternoon.  The kids will be hanging with Madison and Grammi.  Then tomorrow morning, we'll take the kids and Madison to KK's house in South Yarmouth and Todd and I are going to Wellfleet to the Cucci house for some weekend fun with the Wilmington crew.  Good times! 

After this weekend, things will be quiet for a while.  Natalie starts preschool on the 30th, for 3 full days a week.  Sniff sniff.  I got her backpack already.  I know she's been going to full day daycare since she was 3 months old, but there is something about preschool that just makes her seem like such a big girl.  I know she will have fun though.  She's very much looking forward to it!

Serious vs. Smiley Grant

Serious Grant.

Smiley Grant.

Conversation with Natalie

So this was a conversation I had with Natalie in the car today on the way back from Joshua's birthday party.

Natalie:  Hey, there's old McDonalds!  (That is what she calls McDonalds)

Me:  Yep, there it is!

Natalie:  No it's noooooot!

Me:  What?

Natalie:  Old McDonalds isn't there!

Me:  It's not?

Natalie:  YES IT IS!!!  (say that with a good amount of whine to it)

Me:  What?  Okay, yes, there it is!

Natalie:  No it's not!

Me:  Okay, whatever Natalie.

Natalie:  Look, there's Wendy's!

Me:  (silence)

Grant's 9 month stats

Without further ado... my big boy's 9 months stats from his doctor's appointment this morning...

Height: 29" (up 1.5") - 75%

Weight: 21 pounds (up 4 pounds!!!) - 60%

Head: 47cm (up 2 cm) - 90%

Sheesh, no wonder my arms are getting tired!  He got a Hepatitis B shot, and Todd discussed the big gap between his teeth and how his frenulum comes down between his teeth.  Dr. Meisheid said that most likely when the other teeth come in, they would push the front teeth together and it wouldn't be a problem.  So for now, we're just going to watch it.  I just don't want it causing any speech problems!  Dr. Meisheid is also not concerned that he's not crawling.  Wow, what a difference - our pediatrician in Virginia was really concerned about Natalie not crawling at this age!  FYI- She didn't crawl until 13 months!!  Grant seems to be about a month ahead of her in everything so far, so hopefully by the time he turns 1, we'll have a crawler, and maybe a "stand-at-the-table" baby!

Visit to Grammi and Bean's

This weekend, we went to visit Grammi and Bean in Plymouth.  It was nice because it was just us visiting.  Oh, and favorite Auntie Helen, but we hadn't seen her in a while, and she is always so funny.  I feel like we haven't gotten enough quality 1 on 1 time with the grandparents this summer!  We got there Saturday just before lunch and I got to hang out with Carole and Helen while the kids napped.  Todd and Warren went to Cape Cod Country Club and went golfing, although their outing was delayed by major traffic at the Sagamore Bridge, and then cut short by thunderstorms.  The Bailey Invitational will have to be put on hold until next time...

Saturday evening, Grant got his first bathtub in the Bailey sink!  The Bailey's have pictures of all of the kids in the sink getting a bath.  He was so cute...

After the kids went to bed, we all watched Crazy Heart.  It was pretty good.  Although the ending was a little Hollywood, I guess.  Happy ending, all sunshine and flowers, and fairly abrupt. 

Sunday after church, Natalie took an early nap so we could go to the pool.  This is definitely her favorite summer activity!  She was SO funny at the pool.  She is just so friendly to everyone, and walks right up to other kids and says, "Hi, my name is Natalie!"  She met a little girl named Charlotte who was 2, and she said, "Hi, my name is Natalie!  This is my mom Colleen, and my dad Todd, and this is Grammi and Bean!"  I don't recall her mentioning her brother, which is funny since she usually loves to show him off.  But it was so funny how GROWN UP she sounded when she said it.  (By the way, Charlotte is the one in the lower center of the picture below).

For her birthday, Grammi and Bean got her a pair of goggles, which she did not take off for the entire 2 hours that we were there!  So this is what she looked like for another 2 hours after the fact...

Another quick story, she will probably kill me some day for posting this on a blog for the whole world to see, but we were in church Sunday morning in Plymouth, and I was finishing up giving Grant a bottle as the service ended so people were walking by us down the aisle to leave.  Natalie was waving at all of them, which is a total invite for them to talk to her.  One lady asked if Grant was a boy or a girl, and I said a boy.  To which Natalie replied, "Boy's have penises!"  VERY loudly.  IN CHURCH.  I wanted to crawl under a pew and cry.  The ladies laughed right out of the church.  Oy vey!

Good times at the Bailey's... we'll be back in a couple of weeks when Steve and his family come up for their summer visit!  I hope Natalie gets to participate in the talent show this year!