My little playground designer

KaBOOM! (the place I spent most of my working career) and The Home Depot are teaming up to build a playground here in Raleigh in October. Today was the kick-off meeting or Design Day where the kids, community and HD folks meet to plan and design the playground. I took Madeline with me and she provided lots of commentary on which slides she liked best but mostly she was enraptured with the balloons. Having been off the playground building circuit for over a year now, I am SO excited to build here in the fall!! Getting my pink toolbelt out of storage as we speak!

5 months

Time is flying with this sweet girl! We have had a busy month traveling to the beach and to Knoxville but Madeline, like Jack, is a great traveler! Some highlights of her month:
-started rolling over but hasn't figured out how to roll back yet. This has caused for some long nights b/c she wakes up when she can't get back to her back.
-Loves the exersaucer and the jump up; is into exploring everything around her
-Belly laughs alot! All you have to do is rub your nose into her belly and she will cackle!
- Smiles and coos anytime Jack is within 5 feet of her. She loves watching him and other kids.
-We took her out of the swing and put her in her crib a couple of weeks ago and it has been rough. Our 12 hours of sleep are no longer! A combination of the rolling issue, getting teeth and no swinging motion means she wakes up twice a night now.
-No teeth broken through yet but the two bottom ones are trying very hard to come through. Madeline is a drooling mess!
-Into 6-9 mos and 6-12 mos clothes and some of those are too small!

Madeline is debuting the first dress made by her mommy!!Yep, I was so proud of myself and then realized it is too short for her already! Mimi was nice enough to find some bloomers to match to cover up her bum!
Oh the cutest mouth!

Boatin

We spent the day on the lake with the Starritts today! It was a beautiful day and the water was perfect! Check out this wakeboarder:

Jack loved the lake and jumping off the boat into it!
Here he is jumping to me- no fear!

Tough to find a life jacket to fit a 5 month old! Madeline did great though!

Jonah- the cutest driver around!

Jack and his girlfriend Brooke

Our nephew Keller is staying with us for the week and he did great getting up on the wakeboard!

Cereal Lovin Girl

Madeline tried cereal for the first time recently and LOVES it. A much different experience from Jack who pushed it out of his mouth for a month. She eats it up and tries to grab the spoon.

mmm, licking her lips
I painted my toes this morning and Jack wanted his red too! Sorry Clay, this is what happen when a boy stays home with his mom!

week in Knoxville

We were lucky enough to have my Aunt Maureen fly in from NY and then drive over to Knoxville with us (me and the kids) for the week!

Who is that handsome man in the dark suit?

It's Uncle Ryan!! We met for lunch downtown where he is being all "lawyer-like" this summer.
Goose bought Jack his first baseball glove so he and Ryan tried it out.

"Gotcha"

Contrary to this face, Madeline enjoyed the pool!

And hanging out with Maeve who was practicing her big sister skills

Madeline and Aunt Maureen

And no trip to Knoxville would be complete without a visit to the zoo!

4th of July

We had three parties on the 4th but mom only took her camera to one. Daddy had a party at his store so we started the day with Kids Workshop there. Here we are reading the instructions intently!

They rented a bounce house and one of those jousting things. Here I am cheering Dad on:

And then I decided I could take him:

It was a fun day! We also had a block party on our street and had lots of fun with all of our neighbors. There were seven babies born between Jan and May so Madeline is going to have alot of friends!

In Connor Family news...

My sister is having a BOY!!!! These two girlie girls aren't going to know what hit them! But Uncle Cory sure will have fun! We are so excited for the Schupps and can't wait til November!

And my brother Ryan has more talents than just being a fabulous uncle- he finished his first year of law school at Tennessee number ONE in his class!! We are so proud of him!

Nags Head 2009

More pics from the beach

Me and my handsome hubby!

Daddy and his girl
Madeline chillin in her swing on the beach

Jack, on the other hand, never sat down. Lots of football was played!

And "you get me" which is what he calls it when Clay chases him

Jay's girls, Chandlyr and Bayli, loved holding Madeline.

I think Madeline and Bayli look a lot alike.

We sent Jay and Jen out on a date night and watched all the kids. Uncle Ryan was the entertainment, giving the kids rides all over the house!

Clay made rice krispie treats for the kids to make sculptures with. Ann and Chandlyr working together:

Clay helping Jack while Jack eats his artwork and Keller works seriously

Sunday we had a Father's Day/Bday party for Chandlyr and Keller. Clay raided the silly string at the Dollar Store. It was a big hit!

The Councills

L-R Adelyn, Win, Enoch, Grayson, Arwen and Will; us; Ann, Ryan and Owen; Jim and Bambi; Jen, Chandlyr, Bayli, Jay and Keller; Jordan

The whole Councill clan descended on the beach house in Nags Head to welcome Jay home from Iraq. He is on leave for 2 weeks and spending the time with his family at the beach. Jack LOVED the ocean and the non-stop entertainment from his cousins. More pics to come!

Photo shoot with a two year old

Nope, we never did get a good one.