Summer Pictorial

It feels like it is officially fall! And while I usually enjoy the cooler weather and beautiful colors, right now I'm longing for summer to come back because I feel like we didn't take advantage of it while it lasted. I had all these grand plans since it was my first summer off in almost forever, but I guess I didn't remember how much a newborn throws the plans off! But hopefully now that it's not as humid and the mosquitoes are FINALLY dying, we'll get outside and have some fall adventures to help ease the summer regret. I also thought it might help to put up pictures of the things we did actually do this summer. I'm sure as I sit here for what will seem like hours and wait for everything to upload it will seem like we did tons of stuff! So here you go - a look at summer, Wacky Willhite style!

Taste of Grayslake and Fourth of July Fireworks

Riding the tractor with Grandpa

Swimming and Sunbathing at Gray's Lake

Lake County Fair

Shedd Aquarium with Grammy, Grandpa & Uncle Rory

Sixth (maybe 7th?) Annual Zoo Trip with the Nelsons

Learning to sit on the big swing at the "Little Park"

Labor Day at Grandma & Grandpa's with a semi-surprise visit from Uncle Darrin and a successful surprise from Aunt Sue & Uncle Guy

Sweet Baby Girl

Today this beautiful baby is three months old - can you believe it?? She has changed so much in the last two months, so I figured I better do a full update. We are really enjoying having Cecilia in our lives - she is so easy-going and happy. Plus, she is a GREAT sleeper! She takes a long afternoon nap that coincides with Sully's nap and she has been consistently sleeping through the night for the last 2 to 3 weeks. I am so grateful! I never expected to have uninterrupted sleep, and it is so nice to have a few hours to myself each afternoon! (When Sully actually sleeps that is...today was his first day in the big boy bed so there was absolutely no sleeping. However, he hasn't gotten out of bed yet, and I think he may even be sleeping! Cross your fingers!!)

Some of Seesa's new tricks include smiling and cooing, putting weight on her legs (see above), sucking her thumb (which allows her to put herself to sleep, so I'm okay with her total refusal of the pacifier), and rolling over from tummy to back! She's actually only rolled over twice, but she keeps trying to go from back to tummy, so I am thinking she'll be an expert soon. I guess that means I have to keep a better eye on her! Here's some quick little videos of a few of those tricks:

She doesn't go to the doctor again until 4 months, but everything looked on target at her 2 month appointment. She weighed 13 pounds and 9 ounces which put her in the 96th percentile, and she was in the 90th percentile for height at 23 1/2 inches. And I know she's grown a bunch since then. We're not used to having such a big baby! I've already had to retire some of her clothes, and when we compare her to Sully's baby pictures she's already as big as he was at 4 months! But she is losing her hair just like he did, so we'll still have a bald baby! Good thing lots of people have sent her some really adorable hair bands! (Take a second to scroll back up and look at the yellow flower one - it has a rhinestone center and you can mix and match what's on the band! My talented friend Anna made her that one. I'm so excited we have a girl so I can dress her up and accessorize!!!)

I think that's all the major news about our little love bug. She has definitely won over all of hearts - even her big brother! I think he's smitten now - so much so that he wants her to wake up when she is sleeping so she will look at him! He delights in making her smile and he is always speaking gibberish baby talk to her. Thank goodness she's so adorable (and tough!)because he wasn't so sure about her in the beginning. But now....

AWWWW!! Well, that's all for now. It sounds like Cecilia is waking up, and she needs a bath tonight. Stay tuned for another posting sometime soon with pictures of all our summertime adventures! (Oh and give a cheer because it's now 9:22 and I still haven't heard or seen any movement from young Master Sullivan since we put him down almost an hour ago, so I think we may have just had our first successful sleep in the toddler bed! Hooray!)

Our Little Performer!

I know I am way behind on posting (honestly - are you surprised??), so you are probably checking in to see how little Miss Cecilia is doing. But since there is so much to say about her and all the adventures we have had this summer, a full update is not in the cards for today. But you are in luck because the other night while Grammy and Grandpa watched Sully and Cecilia while I was at a visitation, this is what Sully spent the evening doing:

For those unfortunate few among you who have not seen The Princess Bride (good thing that's no longer you, my favorite mother-in-law! This makes you want to watch it again, right?), first let me say that I pity you because you are missing out on the best movie ever, and second - go watch it so you can truly appreciate how hilarious my son is!

I must admit, it may not have been the best idea to teach an already aggressive toddler words like "killed my father" and "prepare to die," but he delivers the line with such conviction and enthusiasm that he gives Mandy Patinkin himself a run for his money. What else could his theatrical mother ask for?

One month old!

It's hard to believe little Miss Cecilia is already one month (and one week!) old! Today is her 5 week birthday (I started this post on Wednesday, but now it's actually Sunday), and aside from having her first cold she is doing very well!

She's still eating and sleeping way better than I expected, whichI definitely appreciate because it means I am sleeping pretty well too! On Tuesday (the eve of her one month birthday) she actually slept from 11 pm to 6 am, so I was amazed! I woke up about 5:30 and couldn't believe she was still asleep! She hasn't repeated the miracle, but she is consistently sleeping for at least 4 hour stretches at night. Since I go to bed late anyway, I really only have to wake up with her once in the middle of the night and once in the morning around 6:00. Thankfully, Sully has also been sleeping in lately so I can usually go back to sleep for a little bit after the 6am feeding. I'm very lucky to have such a good little girl who lets me sleep!

She had her one-month check up on Wednesday and seems to be in good health as well. She's already weights 10 pounds and 5 ounces and is 23 inches long, which puts her in the 95% for height! She was very well behaved at the appointment (surprisingly, so was big brother who came with) and only cried briefly after she got her vaccination shot.

Here's a picture of her from her one-month birthday, post-shot. I guess she didn't enjoy the shot all that much!



In addition to the typical baby activities of eating, sleeping and pooping, Cecilia has been keeping busy. She's already been to 3 graduation parties in her short life and has spent the night away from home at Grammy and Grandpa's house. We're also trying to get her out into the fresh air as much as possible so that big brother can run around and expend some of his energy! We've been walking around the neighborhood and we've already had 2 picnics! Cecilia has also made some good friends and spent some time with some other cute babies. Katie visited on Monday with Nolan and her twin girls - they are 6 months old and Sully totally loved them. I was worried he would treat them like he does most other kids - by asserting his dominance with hitting and pushing - but he did a great job with them. He didn't touch them except to gently tickle their feet and loved trying to make them laugh by running around or dancing. And since he met them he's been much better with Cecilia! He had been hitting her pretty consistently, but now he opts for tickling or smelling her hair or even just looking at her. It's been a big relief!

The other cute baby Cecilia finally got to meet was her future best friend Claire. There's only a 6 week age difference in the girls, but Claire seemed so much bigger and more developed than Cecilia. She's smiling and laughing and has the most adorable baby rolls - I can't wait until they are both interacting with others because it will be so fun to see them play together.

Here's BFFs Claire and Cecilia followed by a picture of their mommies. Can you tell which baby belongs to each mom?





Well I think Seesa Marie is getting hungry, so it's time to wrap this post up. Hopefully we'll get some pictures of her summer adventures to post in the next few weeks. I think we're starting to get back into the swing of things so I want to get her out to do more stuff. I'd like to try to go to the beach this week, and we may go visit camp at Metropolis since it's my first summer away from there in a long time! I miss it a bit, but it's nice to just have 2 kids to take care of instead of 43! Hooray for summer vacation!

We have a baby!

Cecilia Marie Willhite made her grand entrance into the world a week ago on Sunday, May 23 at 12:32 am. She weighed exactly 8 pounds and was 20 1/2 inches long. My labor and delivery went just as I hoped they would with no drugs and minimal interventions (just a bit of baby monitoring and a port for the IV, but I didn't have to have the fluid drip!). The process took a bit longer than I had hoped....but that just meant there was enough time for Grammy to get here to be with Sully before we had to go the hospital. Mark was an amazing support and all the nurses were so encouraging! It was an exhausting and difficult process, but we couldn't be happier with the result! Baby Cecilia is so sweet and easy going and I just want to spend all day cuddling with her!

Big brother Sully seems to be adjusting to the new addition fairly well. He is learning to be soft with her and is genuinely interested in her. He always asks, "What's baby Cecilia doing?" or "Where's baby Cecilia?" right before he runs over to the co-sleeper to grab at her head. Cecilia is also starting to be more alert and awake during the day, and when she is up, she likes to watch Sully and his crazy antics. (He definitely shows off for her!)

My mom was able to stay until Wednesday afternoon, but Mark and I have been flying solo for the last 5 days. Surprisingly, I feel like we have a handle on things and have already sort of fallen into a routine. However, Mark goes back to work tomorrow so I will be on my own, and I have a feeling things will be a lot more difficult when there is only one adult around to run interference. I'm not sure how I will get food on the table for the toddler while also making sure the infant gets her breast milk...we may not eat until Daddy comes home from work!

So there's the scoop on the newest Wacky Willhite! We are so grateful she has entered our lives and I can't wait to introduce her to you all! I'm sure she will steal your hearts as she has stolen ours. I apologize for taking so long to put the pictures up, but isn't a newborn baby the best excuse? She's definitely the cutest excuse I have....

Already Daddy's girl:

She had her first bath on Saturday, and didn't even cry!

Story time!

That's all for now! Hopefully we'll be able to survive our first day without Daddy tomorrow and I will be able to post more soon!