Joint Bath Time

Jocelyn LOVES bath time with her big sister, and Daphne LOVES bath time with her little sister.

As you can tell, Daphne and Jocelyn love taking baths together. Jocelyn has gotten to where she will cry if she has to be put in the little tub. She tries to wiggle her way off her seat because she is splashing so much! We have had a busy few weeks. School has started back, which means mommy is super busy, the house isn't in summer neatness condition anymore (haha), the girls have both been sick (Jocelyn last weekend with belly mess and fever, and this weekend Daphne with ear infections, strep, and bronchitis), and daddy is just trying to keep up with all of us! Jocelyn has finally gotten used to daycare. She was reluctant the first few days, or at least with the bottle. She did NOT like that AT ALL. She would only have 1 or 2 a day, and that was only because she was starving. Finally, she has realized that it is a good thing and that mommy will still feed her in the evenings/nights. Daphne has had some trouble getting back into the groove of things. She was given a new color at school for her behavior "black." Luckily, we have had a better week last week, so we are hoping it continues. We are so thankful to have wonderful ladies who watch over our two precious girls everyday and not complain when they have a bad day!

Daphne's 3rd Birthday Extravaganza...

We have obviously had a very busy two weeks. We had to prepare and celebrate our big sister's birthday. Daphne had a wonderful time at her Tangled birthday party. Jocelyn has been working hard on her tummy time. She is holding her head up really well. Of course, we work so hard that we sometimes fall asleep on the nice comfy surf board.

Anna came over to play and spend the night on Tuesday the 2nd. We got to try out what we borrowed for Daphne's party. Bryson, Anna, and Daphne got to go down a water slide in the front yard. This is them waiting for it to be blown up.

Jocelyn even got to go down it :)

Anna helping Daphne up the slide.

This would be a really awesome picture if the camera didn't fog up. Right before Daphne's party started, it began to pour down rain. She was really upset. Luckily, she at least got to play on the water slide a few times before the sky opened up. Then it stopped right as people started showing up. Whew, that was close!

Daphne can climb up the slide by herself.

This was her before her party started. She is playing in the rain.

Mommy made the birthday cake look like the tower from Tangled. Of course, aunt Emilee helped with the construction of the tower. I was very pleased with myself at how well it turned out.

The spread of food...before all the hamburgers and hotdogs and such.

Orange jello boats inspired by the movie Tangled.

All the kids playing on the slide.

Anna and Daphne sliding down the water slide. Needless to say, the water slide was a really big hit!

Katherin, Lauren, Mimi, and Jocelyn watching the kids playing.

Uncle Ben getting to see his goddaughter for the first time.

Daphne opening all of her presents. It was so cute because all of the kids were surrounding her trying to help her open presents.

Bryson, Daphne, and Madi (Dawn's daughter. Dawn is a teacher friend of mine)

Daphne loved the binoculars mommy and daddy bought her.

Opening the gifts

Yay at the new headband!

Everyone helping and watching patiently. Apparantly she opens presents like her mother, which is very meticulous and slow, instead of ripping the paper off. She likes the suspense too :)

Boots! yay for boots! Daphne is a boots fanatic.

Playing with her brand new soccer ball. We have played with it quite a bit this week outside, untile it becomes unbearably hot with an eight week strapped to mommy.

Daphne, Bryson, and Shannon horsing around like they always do.

The other side of the cake, along with the 3 big candles. Can't believe our baby is already growing up THAT quickly!

Most of the kids from the party. We are missing Mackenzie in the picture, but she was sitting on the couch.

Blowing of the candles

It was 3 layers of yummy goodness. Oh so moist and very good if I do say so myself. It had a secret layer of strawberry just for Daphne, along with two layers of funfetti cake. Mommy even made all of the icing :)

Aunt Emilee made this wonderful banner for Daphne, also inspired by Tangled. If you haven't seen it yet...you need to take the time to do so. You would love it, even big kids like it.

Purple and gold lanterns, and Tangled balloons. We had a paper lantern that we put a candle in and it floats away, but we forgot to do it before everyone left.

On Monday (her actual birthday), mommy, daddy, and Jocelyn took Daphne out for the day. First, we went to Bojangles to get a boberry biscuit for breakfast. Then we went to mamaw and pop pop's house to say hey. Daphne wanted to ride bumper cars, so we decided to go to Concord Mills Mall to the Nascar Speed Park. Unfortunately, Daphne was an inch too short to ride any of the rides, even if daddy went with her. So...we decided to walk around the mall and see what else we could find for Daphne to enjoy doing until it was time to see the movie Cars 2. We took her to the merry-go-round to ride and then she wanted to jump on the big trampolines. She did a great job! After that, we went to get some lunch at Firehouse Subs. Once we finished that, we walked around a big more and then went to see the movie. Daphne wanted popcorn and fruit snacks while she was watching Cars 2. It was a cute movie, but definitely not as good as the first one.

Daphne getting strapped to the bungee cords.

We could tell she was a little nervous once she was hooked up.

She may have been a little nervous, but she ended up doing great. She didn't do any flips, but she did start to get into the jumping a little more towards the end. We were sure if she had done it again that she would have jumped really high. Mommy and daddy's little dare devil!

Tuesday night we went to dinner with Jason and Emilee to celebrate Jason's departure to boot camp. We ate at El Paso and then came back to our house to hang out. Emilee and I gave the girls a bath. Daphne takes baths like a fish, and Jocelyn is really getting to where she enjoys the baths a whole lot. She splashed Emilee quite a bit, and there was water EVERYWHERE when she was finished.

Yes, the boys have taken Daphne's birthday presents and put them to good use. They are attempting to make the trains go down the track without help from them.

They worked on this for over an hour :)

Emilee and Jocelyn watching the boys right before Jocelyn went to bed.

On Thursday (the 11th), Grandpa Bill and aunt Cassie came to visit. She wanted to meet Jocelyn and see Daphne again before she had her own little boy (in November). We did a lot of talking and playing, and eventually ate Chinese and Japanese food. I'm sure you can guess that Daphne and mommy were the ones that had Japanese, daddy had sushi (yuck), and Grandpa Bill and aunt Cassie had Chinese.

Now, school is starting next week so we are enjoying the last bit of summer we have left! That also means doctors appointments, hair cuts, and teeth cleaning (just for mommy though). We take both girls to have their well checks, and Jocelyn gets her first shots. It will be interesting to see how much they have both grown!

Mountains Trip with Both Girls

We took the girls to the mountains for a little trip. It was great. We took Daphne to find rocks (gem mining), shopping, and hiking. It was nice to get away. I also was able to catch a few more zzz's thanks to Mimi who would watch Jocelyn after she was fed and settled for a few hours here and there. I had to leave for a night to take a test for a class I am taking and go to the doctor. J went with me on this trip. The girls in the acience department loved her. I have been taking this class for the past two weeks, finishing up tomorrow the 29th. Dad and Shannon has watched Jocelyn while I am in class, and run her back and forth so I can still nurse her. Yes, I am dedicated to breastfeeding my babies. This class is wonderful and will help me out a whole lot this year as I teach science to 5th graders.

Digging for rocks

Brian is enjoying himself

so is Paw Paw

Daphne rinsing off the gems.

Look at all my pretty "rocks." These aren't really rocks, they are awesome gems. We have several huge rubies, garnets, and a whole bunch of others. We are working on a rock tumbler to make them look amazing. Yes, Clinton and I are nerds and we are raising the girls to be smarty pants nerds. :)

Paw Paw explaining the difference between types of rocks.

Uncle Brian and Daphne playing in the water

Our cutie

Our other cutie chillin' at the cabin

Daddy, Daphne, and Jocelyn watching a movie. Daddy got to come up for a night to play with us too! We sure did miss him!

Catherine came down for dinner one night when we got back from the cabin. She wanted to see the two little girls (and of course us too!)

This is Daphne dancing to Alvin and the Chipmunks. She would really get into it when I wasn't videoing her!