County Fair

For the fair last year, I made the girls dresses that they wore in the fashion show. They loved it so much last year that they both wanted to do it again. I decided that there was no way that I would be able to make them dresses this year unless I did it before Coye was born, which I did. The dresses were made by the end of March and sat in the top of their closet until fair time. Typically we go out to the fair at least a little bit every day, but this year it was really hot and I was worried about Coye being out too long in the heat. We went out Wednesday night because the girls had to get judged for their dresses and we needed to take their projects out. (Aubrey took a photo, a picture, snack mix, and a geranium. Chloe took a picture, rice krispie treats, and a wildflower.) We stayed just long enough for that and to grab a porkburger to take home and eat. Friday morning we went out to watch my nieces show in the 4H cattle show. They did a great job, and the girls enjoyed watching them. Luckily there was a decent breeze that blew through the show barn so we weren't too hot. We looked at their projects and ate some lunch before going home. Sunday morning it rained and was actually cool when we went out to the fair for some lunch. Calvin was going through fair withdrawal as this was the first day he'd been out there. After lunch, we headed to the fashion show and the girls walked in that. They were really cute and didn't seem nervous at all. After getting changed, they rode rides with their cousins, walked through the commercial buildings, went to the petting zoo, looked at animals, and ate supper. It was a lot to do in one day, but we didn't have much choice as the fair ended on Monday. It was a long exhausting day, but the sun stayed behind the clouds and the girls had a blast!

Coye hanging out with Grandma and cousin Eddie during the fashion show.

Chloe and Aubrey in the fashion show.

The family models who were in the fashion show (Aubrey, Chloe, Baylee, Aunt Ruth, and Ella).

The girls in their dresses.

Getting ready to ride on the carousel

Riding on the carousel

Coye was tired of his car seat and just wanted to be held. Aunt Kathy held him for a while so I could take pictures.

Sophie was so great helping Chloe on the rides.

Clare and Aubrey driving

Aubrey's favorite "ride" - the inflatable slide

Petting the pig at the petting zoo

Holding a chick

Leininger Reunion

Last weekend we headed up to my uncle's house for a big family reunion on my mom's side. The whole family hadn't been together for two years. We were also celebrating Grandpa's 90th birthday a little early (his birthday's in December). It was fun to see my aunts, uncles, and cousins that I haven't seen and get to catch up with them. There have been four new babies born in that time, three of which were born within two months of each other. As one of my cousins said, the babies needed name tags so they all knew who was who. We spent the afternoon visiting and then had a meal over at the church. After the meal, there was a short "program" that consisted of some songs and then some old home movies. It was a fun day and so nice to see everyone again.

Grandpa and the girls

Uncle David, Dad, and Coye

Coye and Gabe

Grandma and Grandpa with my three kids

Grandma and Chloe

Chloe and her two namesakes - Grandma Chloe and Aunt Danielle

Grandpa and Aubrey

Coye and Gabe playing "together" on the play mat.

Siblings

I opened Coye's drawer up last week and saw this onesie. He's growing like a weed and isn't going to last much longer in 3 month clothes, so I decided that he better get some use out of this one while he can. The girls have matching ones that they of course wanted to wear too. And because all three of them matched so well, I had to take a few pictures. :)

Aubrey was talking to him and making him smile.

My favorite picture of the three of them to date!
Chloe wanted a turn to hold him. Coye wasn't so sure.

He's recently found his fists and loves to suck on them, but he's not a huge fun of being on his tummy.

Two Months Old

I can't believe that Coye is already two months old! Time has gone by so fast. I keep telling him to slow down, but he's not listening very well. :) He went for his well check last Friday. He now weighs 11 lbs. 4 oz. and is 23 1/4 inches long. While he's almost a pound bigger than the girls were at this age, he's still just in the 50th percentile for height and the 40-45th percentile for weight. I'm sure he won't stay there for long though with the way he's growing. He's definitely filled out and isn't the scrawny little thing he was when he was born. He had to get two shots and an oral medication, none of which he really liked. That afternoon he was really fussy - I think the oral stuff upset his stomach because his poor little tummy was gurgling and he just wanted me to hold him. He didn't sleep well that night either. Luckily he woke up much happier, but he has yet to sleep as well as he was before his shots. I'm not really sure what's up with that. He smiles a lot now - usually whenever anyone talks to him. He's started cooing a little more and is awake more during the day. He had been sleeping great at night - only getting up once or twice, but now he just can't seem to get comfortable after he wakes up to eat the first time during the night. It's then a battle of getting him to sleep in longer than hour increments without putting his pacifier in or feeding him. Hopefully this doesn't last long! Last night I moved him upstairs to his own room. I was just tired of listening to him grunt and make noise all night. He slept a little better, but it was still a fight to get him to sleep after his first feeding. I was a little sad to move him up there, but I knew it was time. Calvin was ecstatic to have his own room back!

Two months old

He looks so little sitting on the chair like this!
Here's a half smile

Watching the race on TV

After his bath, which he absolutely loves

Watching his mobile in his big crib

Just Chillin'

The month of June flew by with church picnic, Father's Day, VBS, swim lessons, and t-ball games. Now that all of those things are over, I'm hoping to have some relaxing time at home to do things here. When I flipped the calendar to July, I was so relieved to see so much empty space. We don't have a lot going on this month, which is fine with me. Because we've been so busy going places, we haven't done a whole lot at home lately - mostly swimming and playing outside, though the girls sneak in playing with their dollhouse stuff whenever they can. They love it! Poor Coye has been so used to going places and sleeping in his car seat, he's now kind of at a loss. I'm working on getting him to take naps in his bed, but he doesn't really like it even though he sleeps great in it at night. Figure that one out! He's growing and changing so much! He's gotten so big and filled out so much this past month, it's incredible! It's hard to believe that he is already two months old, although it feels like he's always been part of our family.

Hanging out with mommy while the girls were at VBS

The girls love it when I put his hair in a mohawk.
I was trying to take his picture, but he was having nothing to do with it! :)

Talking to Coye

Aubrey's favorite thing to do - hold Coye

Goofing around

He's finally smiling at you when you talk to him.

Happy Fourth of July!

Every year on the Fourth of July the girls and I go to the parade in a local town. Sometimes we meet Calvin's family there, other times we just go by ourselves. This year we went with Grandpa Wagner (I wasn't going to attempt to go with the three of them by myself). It was so hot out, but the girls really wanted to go, so we did. The parade lasted about 45 minutes. The girls had a great time getting the candy that was thrown at them. We had a great spot in the shade and were in an area by ourselves so they didn't have to fight for candy. After the parade, we made a couple quick stops and then went back home to eat some lunch. All I really wanted to do was jump in the pool, but we had to wait for Coye to take a nap first. It was too hot to take him outside with us. After he fell asleep, the girls and I swam for a while and got cooled off. The water was perfect!

Waiting for the parade to start

Coye spent the entire parade in here sleeping, even through all of the sirens!
Silly girl

Waiting to go home

Hannah, Gabe, Dad, and Jenna came Saturday night, while mom came down Sunday afternoon. It was great to see them. We hadn't seen them since Coye's baptism the end of May. Gabe is getting so big and is such a cutie! He loves to talk and coo. We spent time playing cards, visiting, and swimming in the pool. Even Gabe got in and loved it! It was a great weekend!

Hannah and I tried to get the boys to look at each other, but they were both not happy about being on their tummies.

Aunt Jenna and Coye

Chloe floating in the "boat"

Aubrey on the raft

Coye hung out in the stroller for a while - he was supposed to be sleeping

VBS and Swim Lessons

The past two weeks have been very busy. Two weeks ago the girls had VBS all week. In the past, I've always helped, but since Coye was still so little, I decided to take this year off. (Plus my friend Jan was in charge and told me that I was not helping this year. :) It was really nice to take the girls to school in the morning and then come home for two hours and just hang out with Coye and try to get a few things done. It was great, but it was hard being out of the house by 8:40 a.m. every morning, especially since we've been used to sleeping in and taking our time getting ready in the morning. The girls had a blast though and really enjoyed it. The VBS was Hometown Nazareth, so they had different "shops" set up in the gym that the kids went to and learned about what things were like back when Jesus was a kid. They also got to wear costumes every day which was pretty cool too. The ladies in charge did a fabulous job and the kids really loved it. My girls came home every day telling me different things they did and what they learned about Jesus. When I asked them what their favorite part was, they said all of it.

After VBS week came a week of swimming lessons. I'm not exactly sure what I was thinking scheduling two week long things in a row. In a way it was good that the girls could go somewhere fun following a fun week of VBS, but it was hard having another week of getting up and rushing around in the morning to be to swim lessons by 9:00 a.m. Last year Aubrey took private lessons from a girl named Marissa and had such a great experience that I decided to spend the extra money and do private lessons again for both of them. They each got a half hour lesson. Aubrey would go first and then Chloe would get her turn. They both loved them! Aubrey learned so much this year, it's incredible to think that this is the same girl who two years ago wouldn't even put her face in the water! She can now front and back float by herself. She's better at the front float and will float for almost 15 seconds by herself! She also learned how to glide, which is basically pushing off of the wall with her feet and holding her arms straight by her ears like she's diving, while putting her face in the water and kicking. She does this by herself in our pool too. Marissa also taught her to tread water and Aubrey did this for 15 seconds by herself in the 5 foot part of the pool. She practiced big arms, frog and flutter kicking, backstroke arms, blowing bubbles, and jumping in. She did amazing! Chloe also did great! When we first opened the pool this summer, she was terrified and would cling tightly to whoever was holding her even with her life jacket on. At swim lessons, Marissa worked with her on putting her face in the water and even managed to get her to go under water several times each lesson without Chloe crying. Chloe practiced kicking, blowing bubbles, and moving her arms forward and backward too. Her favorite part was jumping in. I was so pleased with the progress both girls made and hope that Marissa continues to teach swim lessons next year too. She's amazing! I've been having the girls take their life jackets off one at a time in our pool so that we can keep practicing what they've learned. Chloe likes to kick, and we're trying to work on floating but she still doesn't like to put her face in the water even though she doesn't mind too much going underwater. Aubrey yesterday picked up frogs off of the bottom of the pool and even sat down on the bottom. She also jumped off of the ladder, popped herself up, and then swam back to the ladder all by herself. They love swimming and are such fishes, it's great!

Aubrey practicing floating on her back Aubrey's front float by herself

Coye slept through every lesson except one.
Aubrey gliding

Aubrey jumping in

Chloe waiting her turn

Chloe practicing her back float

Aubrey warming up after her lesson

Chloe's favorite part - jumping in