Lucy 6 months

What?!  6 months?!  Where has the time gone since April 9th?  Lucy keeps changing and growing every day, and time goes by so fast.  She is sitting up on her own, loves playing with toys and chewing on EVERYTHING.  Ben is by far her favorite person- she practically laughs out loud when he comes into her view.  And let me tell you, I didn't think I could love Ben any more than I already did, but when I see how sweet he is with his little sister, it melts my heart every time.  

The 6 month "photo shoot" didn't go so well this time.  Lucy would NOT sit still, and Ben wanted to be a part of the fun too:)  I love these two... 

Just chillin with my brother...

Ooh, my arms seem to have extra rolls today

Wait Mom, let me chew on my foot for a sec...

And I'll just stick my tongue out at you... good luck getting a decent picture!

The only person Ben will let wear his "Woody" had from Texas Roadhouse:)

Go Colts!

The aftermath of pigtails

Because he's so stinkin cute... eating brownie batter off of the spatula:)

The new Indianapolis Colts

We had a much needed date day this past Sunday and had the opportunity to go to our first Colts game of the year.  It was a perfect day, the roof was open at Lucas, a great breeze going through the stadium, a day away with my husband (sans kiddos), and spending time with our friends Mike and Erin and also my Mom and Ralph.  And the Colts came away with a victory!  Thanks for the tickets Mom and Ralph- we had a great time!!

Lucy- 5 months

Little Lucy is not so little any more!  She is 5 months old, and starting to get chubby and fabulously squeezy:)  I mean, check out those thighs!  I just love this girl- she lights up my day each and every day.  She sleeps through the night, she has thunderous belly laughs, she is starting to eat peas and squash and other veggies, she rolls around on the floor like a crazy woman... she is just awesome.  Check out this sweet girl...

6 girls... and Ben

Ben is one of 7 grandchildren for my Mom.  And the poor guy is surrounded by girls!  He doesn't ever seem to care though- they get together and just play and play and wear each other out.  Ben loves these girls.  We've had the opportunity to get together a few times recently, here are a few of my favorite pics.

Here comes the Bride

I can't believe our little sister Lindley is getting married!  And to make it all seem more real, we had a wedding shower for her this past weekend.  She is all grown up and will make the most beautiful bride!  Our theme was champagne and lace (and okay, it was chocolate too).  We had a wide array of chocolate-y dessert bites for everyone to sample, and some fruity champagne to sip on while doing so.  Hard to find something wrong with that!!

Lin- I'm so honored to be a part of your wedding party.  I am such a lucky girl to have you as a little sister!  We love you and Frank and can't wait to celebrate with you in October!

A break, if you can call it that

Pretty much the only break I've taken over the last 6 weeks is from blogging.  Otherwise, life has been going.  Full.  Force.  I have found truth to the statement that my Mom used to always make, and I never really understood... "There just aren't enough hours in the day."

Let's see, so Lucy is 4 months old now, and most people would admit that mothers with small babies should rightfully be tired.  Add in a 2 and a 1/2 year old, going back to work full time, and oh yeah, we moved... WHEW!!  Life has been hectic, but we are finally starting to hit our groove and get back into the swing of what can be defined as our new "normal."

So my goal is to do a better job of keeping up with this blog.  I really love doing it, for my own memories of my family growing and changing, and so that my extended family and friends can keep up with the Vollmer's!  With that being said, there are some exciting events coming up.  Visits from cousins, Nick's elk hunt, wedding events for Frank and Lin... can't wait for it all!

I'm excited to share some updated pictures of the kids.  Lucy literally looks like a different girl every day because she is changing and growing so much!  Here are her 3 month, and then 4 month pictures... what a cutie!!  Hard to believe it's the same baby when you look back at the 1 and 2 month pics.

Lucy also got to meet a new friend, Olivia.  Mike and Erin had her on August 1st, and just like Owen is to Ben, I'm sure she will be Lucy's best friend:)

From youngest to oldest... baby sisters and their big brothers!

Such a big girl sitting in her Bumbo!  

Some of you may already know, but Ben is a gold medalist for the marshmallow toss.  Priceless.

Sold!!

It's official- the house on 15201 Smithfield Drive will only be home to the Vollmer family for about 3 more weeks.  With a relatively spur of the moment decision to put our house on the market mid-June, Nick and I were a little shocked when it sold in just three short days!!  So the house hunting began and we found a beautiful new house that has the space (and storage) that we need, and now it's just a matter of time before we call that house our home.

And so, the packing begins.  Not only do we find ourselves with just a few weeks to pack up, but I also go back to work from my maternity leave on Monday, so we definitely have our work cut out for us!  Luckily we have such wonderful friends and family who have already been generous in giving us helping hands:)

August 1st is moving day- wish us luck!!

The Sunshine State

To celebrate selling our house and having a little time left before going back to work, Nick and I took the kids down to Florida for a week at the end of June.  We went to Clearwater- one of our favorite places to visit as Mom and Ralph are always so generous to let us stay at the condo (makes vacation pretty affordable!).  The weather and a few other unfortunate events threw us a few curve balls this year, but we didn't let that keep us down.  We had a great time despite tropical storm Debby and her aftermath!

I loved spending this week with my 3 favorite people.  Can't wait for our next trip!

Lucy- 2 months

Today Lucy turns 2 months old!  It has been so much fun watching her grow and change over the last few weeks.  The recent favorites are her awesome smiles and the new coos and gurgles she is starting to make.  She loves her big brother and gives him a big smile every time he comes around.  Ben also loves her to pieces- always wanting to kiss her!

At her 2 month appointment, little miss weighed 10lbs 14oz, and was 22 1/2 inches long.  This is 50th percentile for weight and about 35th for height.  I love that she is getting chubbier and chubbier:)

I did the 2 month photo shoot this evening.  It's fun to compare to what she looked like at 1 month- you can check it out in the post from May 9th.  Hope you enjoy!  Here is my beautiful Lucy!

Summer Fun

With the beautiful sunny weather lately it is starting to really feel like summertime.  Not just the weather, but we have the blow up pool as a permanent staple in the backyard now, and at least 3 meals a week are done on the grill.  That is definitely a sure sign of summer!

It has been so much fun spending my days cuddling Lucy and also getting to spend more time with Ben than usual.  It will be so hard to go back to work in 5 weeks!  I am trying to soak up every minute of this gorgeous weather- and every minute with my kids as possible!!

Here are a few fun pictures of our recent summer days...

This is the face I wake up to every morning... she is all smiles for the first hour she is awake!

A summer staple- Corn on the Cob... Ben LOVES it!  

How sweet is this boy?!

Ben spends most of his free time running around in his swim trunks- apparently he was feeling a little restricted because he had them tugged down a little when I came around the corner the other day! 

A trip to the zoo and his very first ride on the carousel!  

The last few weeks...

We've been keeping busy over the last few weeks as we welcome the summer months and I enjoy being home on maternity leave.  With a busy life comes lots to blog about but little time to do it!!  So I thought I would do a catch up post and put up some of my favorite pictures from the last few weeks... enjoy!

 Nick and Ben planted some new bushes, plants, and an herb garden for me for Mother's Day.  Ben had a great time digging in the dirt with his Dad!

 He's all boy- wanting to get as dirty as possible:)

 On Mother's Day we spent some time up at my sister Allison's house- here is Ben with her girls Anna and Alexa.  To all my cousins who look at this- Remember those days of sitting at the "kid's table"??  What a big deal it was when we were finally able to sit at the adult table!!  

Here is one of my kind of failed attempts at getting a good picture of my kiddos together.  Ben is always talking and moving and Lucy looks cross-eyed every time I snap!  I'm still working on it!

 Ben and Alexa chillin in the world's largest purple bean bag.

I can't believe Anna is old enough now to hold Lucy without any help!  She loved every minute of it!

OK people.  I've had a boy for two years.  I need help in the bow department!!  Poor thing.  I'm sure I'll get the hang of it:) 

 Ben's best bud Owen turned 2 last week, so we went over to the Watts house for cake and ice cream!  We decided it would be less messy to just take the boys' shirts off and send them outside to eat cake:)  

We also got to spend some awesome time at Grandma G's this past week.  She is such an amazing woman- had 9 of her great-grandkids running around her house and it didn't even phase her!  

 Ben watering my herb garden with a little TLC and his brand new cow watering can.  

Lucy is SMILING now!  It makes my day every time.  She smiles almost every time I come into her view- love it! 

Okay- here is another, maybe better, attempt at a pic of the kids.