Baby Erin's Newest "Trick"

Erin talks!

I made a half birthday cake for Erin this weekend since she is now SIX MONTHS old!!! This was from Jack's half birthday. I can't find a picture from Grace's, even though I know there is one out there somewhere. And I don't think I remembered to take one this weekend of Erin's - darn! We had a little family dinner in honor of her being a half year old. I made Italian beef sandwiches, which I'm eating the leftovers right now. This recipe is so tasty and EASY, I should share. 

Place a round roast (fat trimmed off) in the crock pot with a package of Italian dressing seasoning powder, a jar of pepperoncinis (juice and all), a can of beef broth. Let it cook on low all day. Shred it up. Serve on toasted hoagie rolls with melted provolone cheese. 

Another weekend fire station visit

Lots of fun at the neighborhood park

I stole this from Jack's teacher's facebook. It is a picture from their Valentine's Day party, which he was soooo excited about! He helped me write out all of his valentines and pick stickers for each of his classmates.

Our little cupid that graced us with her presence on our Valentine's Day dinner date to Panera. She got lots of attention!

Bath time

Erin is doing so wonderfully sleeping in her big girl crib! She LOVES it. It is funny that when I lay her down for a nap she kicks and gets so excited to be in her cozy bed. During this particular nap, Grace decided she needed some toys apparently.

One great babysitter!

Erin had her six month well visit yesterday. She checked out perfectly.  She weighed in at 16.10 lbs, which put her at the 50th percentile for weight (and height too actually). She has been sick with a cold, cough, and congestion a few times already, but never an ear infection. The doctor said that is a promising sign that she probably won't need tubes since her ears drain on their own. She is hitting all of her milestones - rolling, babbling, sitting up for short periods, smiling, laughing, etc. She is SUCH a delightfully happy baby girl. She is trying really hard to crawl, but hasn't quite figured it out yet. She shows quite a bit of frustration when she can't do it, so I have a feeling when she goes... she isn't going to stop. She had 2 shots plus an oral vaccine. She didn't flinch for the first shot, then made a tiny fuss for a split second on the second shot. She wasn't even remotely fussy or sleeping more than usual yesterday either, so I don't think they effected her one bit.

Waiting for her check-up:

Since we were in Orlando for the doctor, we stopped by the outlet to get Jack a pair of tennis shoes. Us girls stayed in the car while Colin and Jack ran in to get them. 

Jack and Grace both had ENT follow-ups yesterday as well. We pretty much spent our day off for Presidents' Day going to doctor appointments in Orlando. Jack got his tubes removed completely, which was no big deal at all since they were no longer deep down. The doctor doesn't anticipate any problems with ear infections. Grace still has both of her tubes in, and her ears look great. Jack weighed 35.2 lbs. and Gracie was a whopping 22.4 lbs. -- getting up there! :)

I'll try to get some pictures taken this week. I feel like I haven't been as good as I could be with taking pictures lately.

Relaxation time for me! Goodnight. xoxo

It's been a while since I last updated, so I'm just going to load a bunch of recent pictures on here and hope it tells a story!

I am home from work with 3 sick babies, so MAYBE I will have a free second to put a post up. No guarantees though - this house has been the scene from a nightmare a few times already today. I've been tending to crying babies, cleaning up puke, cuddling babies, doing 76 loads of laundry, changing crib sheets, etc. without a second to spare. Grace has a nasty, nasty stomach bug, and Jack and Erin are running fevers. All of those viruses come with a case of extreme whininess and crabbiness too!

I want to put down for the record that Erin had her first night ever in her big girl crib last night. I know...almost 6 months old, I kept her in our room as long as possible. She was WAY too big for her bassinet (see below, LOL). She did fantastic! We put her down around 8, and she woke up just before 6. I'm sure she was much more comfortable in her spacious crib.

Here are some pictures from Jack's sleepover in Venice, FL with Grandma and Grandpa. We missed him so, soooooo much, but it helped that we could clearly see he was having a great time in the pictures.

Ready to go! Here he is right before leaving for his sleepover:

You can see that he didn't have any separation anxiety, which makes me happy and proud of him. He was very excited when we asked him if he wanted to leave to spend the night there. When he got back he told us both numerous times that he missed us so much and he kept asking us if we cried when he was gone lol.

He got to go swimming:

Eating at Salty Dog Cafe:

They visited Mote Aquarium.

 

Taking a (I'm sure quick) break from it all:

Enjoying playing in the sand at the beach: 

There's a very similar picture of Colin when he was a kid like this. Taking a bath in the sink:

 

We enjoyed a weekend visit from Mimi last week. 

They decorated sugar cookies one day while I was at work.

New shades! He said to me, "mommy, I changed my mind. My favorite color isn't red anymore. Now it's black." So those red sunglasses that Santa brought... those are no good anymore! ;)

We took a couple of trips to Waterfront Park.

 

A trip to the outlet mall:

And a girls' night out - Millennia Mall and P.F. Changs: 

My most recent pictures of working on my photography skills:

 

 

 

Misc. Baby Erin:

 

Trying out a new pose LOL...

Gracie is a big fan of "dip", especially ranch dip.

It's funny - whenever I get Gracie all dressed and her hair fixed, she will usually stand up on the changing table and just look at me, waiting for me to say, "cute!" or take a picture. Here she is modeling:

 

When I'm on my own in the mornings, I try to get up around 5:30 so I have time to get myself ready before any kids wake up. I'm lucky on mornings when that happens. Usually, this is what I resort to while I get ready - putting on Dora while they all lay in my bed.

 Woody playing with the barn and animals:

The girls all bundled up and ready for a stroller walk:

All 3 McCormick children:

 

Jack pretending to shave with the play set from Uncle Mike and Kiya. Bath time lasted for a LONG time when he still had some of the "shaving cream".

 One of our favorite places to go as a family is Uno Pizzeria. They have outdoor seating, so we don't have to worry about annoying anyone with our loudness.

Playing with his t-ball set:

I posted this on facebook a couple of weeks ago. I had texted this picture to Colin to show him why we wouldn't be visiting the fire station that day. They both woke up from nap on the wrong side of bed! But I thought it was so funny when I looked at it again because they are both making the exact same facial expression and also their finger!

I have recently (within the past 5 weeks) started back running in order to get back into shape after 3 consecutive pregnancies. It's going pretty good (other than trying to find time to go), and on the weekends when Colin is working I've been having Devin come play with the kids. Kiya and I are doing a 5K in April. I also want to sign up through Team in Training for the Disney 1/2 marathon in January.

 Cheese!!!

 Colin went to pick up something at the outlet mall last week. Jack got to JUMP again!

Sunday morning donuts? Gracie says, "YES, please!" 

Daddy and Jack working on the the truck. Jack loves tools, and said to me the other day, "My daddy can fix anything!" 

And just keepin' it real... I want to show what was going on so I could finish this post up. Erin fell asleep on the desk, and Jack and Grace were watching Winnie the Pooh the Movie. And I might add that the "baby zone" is a DISASTER!!!!!