Welcome Lucy Joy McCarthy!

July 2014

Tommy and I were in our car driving home from a movie when we first got the news that his sister, Brandi, was expecting.  We were so surprised, but thrilled to learn that a new little niece or nephew would soon be joining our family. I must admit that I was even more excited when I learned that the baby was a girl.  I know that Livi will love hanging out with all of her boy cousins, but I was really hoping that she'd now have someone with whom to share all the "girly" things in life. I guess I had saved all those pink, frilly clothes for a reason!

It wasn't an easy pregnancy for Brandi.  Chasing a 4-year-old and a one-year old while battling swollen legs, carpal tunnel, sickness and exhaustion was rough, and I know the whole family was more than ready to hold that little baby in their arms. The original due date was the middle of July.  I had my fingers crossed that I might share a birthday with my little niece, but she had other ideas. At almost midnight on July 1st, 2014 Miss Lucy Joy McCarthy made her grand entrance into this world - a head of dark hair in a family of blondies!

We were headed to Louisiana on July 3rd to spend the long 4th of July weekend with Poppy and Gigi, but we were so excited that the newest member of the McCarthly family.  Luckily for us, both mommy and baby were feeling well enough for us to stop by the hospital for a visit the day before we left.

Everyone always says this, but you really do forget how tiny a newborn baby is. Aunt Audra got to take the first turn holding her less-than-day-old little niece.  Her cousins were very interested - I'm not sure Livi knew quite what to think, but my sweet Jack kept stroking the blanket and saying how cute she was.  Love my guy!

When we left the hospital, I posted this picture on Facebook - despite the caption saying otherwise, I think there were a few people who thought that we had added a third child to our family.  Oops!

While Uncle Ryan took squirmy little Livi out to roam the halls and ride the escalators, everyone else took turns cuddling Lucy.  Cousin Jack was smitten:

As was Uncle Tommy:

Welcome to the family Lucy Joy - we're so happy you're here!

Two Little Fishies

Summer 2014

This summer marked Jack's third year to take swim lessons from Emler Swim School.  We also signed Livi up for her first lessons this year.  Jack's lessons had gone really well in past years, so I was excited to have them both taking lessons from the same place.  This year's lessons were OK, but not as great as I'd expected for a few reasons.  First, unlike when Jack was 2 years old, they now required a parent to be in the water with each kid in Livi's class.  I really enjoyed being in the water with her, but Jack's 30 minute lesson started 15 minutes before Livi's.  Tommy and I tried to both be there, but if only one of us could make it, it was very difficult to stop halfway through Livi's lesson to talk to Jack's teacher and be sure that he was sitting by the pool watching calmly for the rest of Livi's lesson.  Second, Jack's original teacher taught just a couple of lessons, then was replaced by several weeks of substitutes and a brand new, young and inexperienced teacher to close out the session.  Combine the inconsistency with the fact that he had forgotten most of what he knew from last year and I felt a little like he'd taken a small step backwards this year.  Next year, I think I'll try to get them in lessons at the beginning of the summer where they go every day, but just for a couple of weeks - I think it will stick in their memories more if they do it consistently for a few weeks rather than one lesson a week over the whole summer.  We'll see...

All of that is not to say that we didn't have fun and learn a little.  Jack's class worked a lot on getting the freestyle hand motion down and eventually adding some breathing.  They also perfected the "jump, turn, swim" to get back to the side after jumping in.  He loved to slide down the big slide at the end of every lesson.

One week was water safety week in Jack's class.  They all donned life jackets and learned what to do if their raft flipped over or they were stuck in the water.

Tommy and I took turns swimming with Livi.  The hardest part of her lesson was usually getting her out of the water when class was over. She was still a little tentative to jump in the water by herself, but would do so easily when you held her hands.  She could "swim" under water for the count of 7-8, the best of anyone in her class!  At her age, the main point of the class is to get them comfortable in the water - I'd say that was a success! 

"Motor boat, motor boat, step on the gas!"

"London Bridge is falling down"

 

Daddy's little girl!

My 2 little fishies:

I tried to get them to show off their ribbons after the last class, with little success.  I'm not sure where Livi's ribbon is, maybe in the giant bag she's carrying.  Oh well!

A Grand Time at Grand Lake

June 2014

 

After the wedding festivities concluded, we had a week of fun at the lake to look forward to.  We stayed in a big 5-bedroom house, with plenty of room for everyone and beautiful views of the lake.  We had a nice. relaxing week filled with all kinds of lake activities. The dock was about a 5-minute walk from our house, and we spent two of our days out on the lake in the homeowners' pontoon boat.  All of the kids really enjoyed the lake.  Here's Livi, ready to head out one morning:

Grandpa had driving duties, but all of the kids got their chance to be co-pilot:



 

While everyone else enjoyed the ride:

 

Grandpa bought kid-sized fishing poles for all of the grandkids, so they were really excited about fishing.  We pulled to the shore a few times to try our luck.  We had fun trying, but the fish weren't biting much out on the lake.

Ian paddled the kids around on the inner tube when we were on the shore:

But when the boat started moving, those of us who were brave enough used the inner tube in more exiting ways!  Jack and Ben were our little daredevils - both of them would stay out on the inner tube being pulled behind the boat for as long as their Mommy or Daddy could hang on:

Even Livi got out there - even if only for a second!



In addition to the fun on the lake, there were lots of other fun things to do around the lakehouse.  Uncle Ian brought water balloons.  Water balloons are really fun, but it takes a really long time to fill them up and they are gone in seconds.  But those are some awesome seconds!

There was a giant yard behind the house, leading down to the lake.  Perfect for running out some energy:

We walked down to the boat dock to fish a few times.  I love this shot of Grandpa's boys, following behind him to the dock, each with his fishing pole: 



We had much better luck there, with fish biting pretty much within seconds of the hook hitting the water - sometimes even without bait!  Everyone was very excited, and decided that fishing was pretty fun stuff!

Grandma was really excited for everyone to make smores.  On one of our last days at the lake, everyone gathered around the grill to roast their marshmallows:

Yum!  (with a photo bomb by Aunt Katy!)

There was also time for relaxing. The kids watched the Lorax a few times when it was time to calm down a little:

A few very fierce ping pong matches took place.  Tommy was a little out numbered here:

Of course, as is the case with most Bitler vacations, we ate well.  Each family was in charge of preparing dinner for one night of the trip.  Mom and Dad prepared paella, the Davises prepared fish tacos, and the Mhires made pasta.  All of them were delicious, but I think the kids' favorite part was the pre-dinner appetizers.  We had trouble pulling them away from the queso!

We had beautiful views of the sunsets over the lake.  A perfect time for some father-son bonding:

Of course, no night would be complete without bedtime stories from Grandma:

We celebrated a big 6th birthday while we were there.  Happy birthday, Evan!



He got his much sought-after rainbow loom.



It took some studying from his Dad, but Evan was able to make some lovely bracelets for himself and his cousins:



On our last night, we all went out to a local lakeside restaurant.  The food was decent - nothing amazing, but a good dinner (except for poor Dad who chipped a tooth on a rock in his fish :( ). 

Livi loved her cheeseburger - that's a big bite!

All of the boys got grilled cheese sandwiches.  Jack thought his was pretty tasty:

We even managed to sneak in a sister photo at the end of the night!

I may be writing this post on Thanksgiving, but really am so thankful for my family and the time we get to spend together. I don't stop to appreciate it nearly enough, but I really am a lucky girl!