Blakely Ann - 3 Month Update

Height: about 24 1/1 inches
Weight: about 14 pounds
Head Circumference: about 16 inches
Vision: You are really coming to life this past month and are noticing more of your surroundings. You love bright colors especially TV. You will stare in awe at the TV for a long time. I'm not exactly sure how clear you are seeing things, but you seem to notice much more. You also like to look at yourself in the mirror.
Movement: You have finally started to control your hands this month and are grabbing on things that you have stared at so intently these last few weeks. The down side of being able to use your hands is you pull out your paci much more now. You have found your feet and enjoy moving them. You are also trying to roll. You really only roll over your right shoulder and get 3/4 of the way there, but can't seem to get over your arm. It won't be long I'm sure.
Eating Habits/New Foods: Not much has changed in the feeding department. You had a few days of cluster feeding (every 2 hours) last week, but I think it was just the 3 month growth spurt. We are every 3 hours during in the day and still doing 3 ounces. At night you go for about a 6 hour stretch then it is back to every 3 hours. You are still good with the bottle and stopped gas drops several months ago.
Sleeping Patterns: You have started to form more of a routine this past month. You wake up between 8-9 am. You play for a while and then nap around 10 for 1-2 hours. Then you take another long afternoon nap around 2-3 pm for about 1-2 hours and then will do little catnaps in between. You usually have your last feeding around 8-9 pm and then you are off to bed.   You still love to be swaddled. I just ordered some larger swaddleme sacks which are miracle workers. You sleep really well wrapped in your cocoon. I moved you to the crib for 2 days, but then you got sick. You got a cough a few weeks ago so I moved you to the rock n play since it sleeps at an angle. You've been there ever since I'm really planning on moving you to your crib after the keys trip
Sounds/Words: You are still making lots of random sounds and you love smiling at people. Mommy especially.
New discoveries/accomplishments:
-You flew on your 1st plane ride
-You went to your 1st movie theater...and slept through most of it and watched the other part so nicely
-You got your first real cold that was a yucky cough with mucus. I just did a humidifier and the saline spray and a bulb syringe when needed.
-You went out on the boat for the 1st time & seemed to really love it.
-You can move your hands now where you want them to go.
Places you went/Adventures: The adventures continue. We went to Collin's beach condo for the night and had a sleepover and walked on the beach, You went to baby Sadie's baby shower, you celebrated your 1st fathers day, you went to Cashiers, NC on a plane for a 5 day vacation in the mountains.
Clothes: You are growing so fast. Most clothes are 3 months, but we have moved to 6 month sleepers and some onesies. Tall like your big sister! Still in size 2 diapers, but maybe not for too much longer. You are a little chunkier than Delainey was.
Sister updates: Big Sister seems to be doing better with smothering you and being too aggressive with you. She just always wants to touch you and cuddle which can be too rough sometimes. But you are a tough lady! You are starting to smile and make noises when D talks to you so she really likes that. I can't till you start moving and can follow her around and be best friends.
Weekly Pictures:

Cashiers Vacation Recap

We started off our 5 day adventure to Cashiers with a flight out of Orlando while Delainey rode in the car with Gammoe, Paige & Collier (D's 16 yr old cousins she is obsessed with). Blakely did awesome on the flight. She slept the first half, sat and hung out for a little while and then nursed on the way down since she started to fuss a little from the pressure on her ears. We had about a 2 hour drive to Cashiers from Asheville in the rain, but we finally made it around 10 that night.  

The next morning we hung out at the house and caught  up with family before heading into town to do some grocery shopping. It was a pretty rainy day so we just laid low and enjoyed the view of the mountains. The weather was chilly too with a high in the lower 70s. Delainey was greeted by Aunt Linda, Uncle Mel, and Aunt Mary Beth with a bag full of toys so she was in heaven! She had a blow up gecko, crayons (the coolest crayons ever made out of wooden sticks), books, her own frozen plate, cup, and utensils, step stool, toothbrush... They really thought of everything she could possibly want/need. We had a nice dinner at the house and hit the hay early since we were going to church in the morning.

Sunday morning, we went to church at an old methodist church. It was the pastors last Sunday and he requested that a bluegrass band play the music that day. They were really good, but I could have sworn we had transported back to the 1920s in the prohibition days lol. I snapped a few good pictures of the McLaughlin cousins and a good one with Gammoe and all her granddaughters.

After lunch, we headed down to the lake to ride on a pontoon boat and explore the lake. They had some awesome waterfalls we got to go swim near. It was pretty cold though so only D, Gammoe & I got in. We also got to feed some ducks and just cruise around the lake for a few hours. I think that was my favorite adventure of the trip.

After the lake, we headed back to the Trillium Country Club pool where D got to swim and play with her gecko. Monday we relaxed by the pool as well and then headed up to the Landing restaurant at the country club to have dinner and play bingo.

The restaurant has a great view of the lake and the girls snapped some good pictures with Delainey. They even taught her the peace sign. I swear she grew up 3-4 years just by hanging out with the older girls. She acts much more mature now. Someone mentioned they had bingo every Monday night so I jumped at the chance to play, promising that I would win if we did.

Sure enough I bought myself a ticket and Delainey one. Delainey won the very first round and won $6. We played several more rounds until the final round which was the blackout round. And yours truly won the blackout winning $120! I couldn't believe I actually won! So lucky!! As you can tell from the pictures it was some very intense rounds of bingo! :)

Tuesday we slept in and then went out to lunch at the Slab Town Pizza which was such a cute little restaurant and the food was delicious! We hit up the jelly store and then headed home before the rain got us. That evening we all snuggled in bed and watched the semi-finals of the Women's world cup after dinner.

The next morning we woke up early and headed back to Asheville to fly home. I got there in plenty of time so I was not stressed in case if it took D 15 minutes to go through security. She had a great time asking questions on what everything was and running around the airport. Having plenty of time is the key with traveling with 2 solo. D watched a movie on the plane and B was a gem again and slept. Delainey was a little hesitant about the turbulence on the plane, but I played it off like it was fun despite my fears that we were going to die! LOL I will not put my phobias onto my children!!

We were very happy to be back to see Daddy whom we missed so much, but we had a great trip with his side of the family! We were spoiled and loved on and the girls had a great time. Thanks again Aunt Linda, Uncle Mel, and Mary Beth for having us and taking such good care of us. We can't wait to come back up next year!

4th of July Weekend

We had a lovely 3 day weekend celebrating America's Independence day spent boating, swimming, celebrating birthdays, and watching some USA soccer. Have I ever told you guys I am obsessed with matching the girls clothes? well if not, now you know! I wish I could dress them the same everyday of their lives. We like to call it twinning. We started of weekend by going out on the boat to Ft. George Island to enjoy the sandbar & some sun. We met my friend Erica out there as well as Dave's coworker Joe and a few other boats. Joe had his 2 girls and their 2 friends, so Delainey was in heaven playing with all the older girls. We left Blakely home with Grammy since we knew it would be a LONG day in the sun. The weather was perfect and we had a glorious afternoon. 

Saturday, we had a party at Grammy & Pops house to enjoy the pool, cookout, and do some outdoor games. It started out just fine, the kids were playing well and everyone was having a good time. Then it rained and we had way too many kids stuck under the patio with nothing to do. We had 9 kids running around from 5 different families. The rain came and went for the first few hours, but around  4ish the rain subsided and we were back to having a good time.

 We had a nice little firework display put on by Daddy and then headed home to hit the hay since we were exhausted from all the activities.

Today we celebrated Pops 58th birthday with church, swimming, and grilling steaks for dinner. All 3 girls sported the same dresses that my Aunt Adria gave to us. They looked so precious together.  After dinner we watched the USA girls soccer team win the world cup.

 Happy birthday to the best Pops around. Thanks for all you do and for loving your granddaughters like you love your own daughters. :) You are the best!!