The Allen Family

Pirates and Minnie Mouse

2012-02-07T14:43:00.008-06:00

On January 11th, Avery turned 2 years old! This is such a precious age... she is speaking in LONG, kid-like sentences these days and it's simply precious!!! She says things like, "you got" instead of "you have" but that makes me smile :) Anyways, on her actual birthday, we had a little family dinner, cupcakes, and she got to open one present from us (and one from Gigi and Hoss).

On February 1st, Bryce turned 4! Wow, 4!!! It's hard to believe. He's such a sweet-hearted, rambunctious little fellow. If you can imagine putting both of those adjectives in one little guy, you've got Bryce :) Anyways, we had a similar family dinner/party for Bryce on his "real" birthday too. But, poor Bryce, we went to the doctor on-his-birthday :( Both kids have been soooo sooo healthy ALL fall and winter long (thank you God)... up until the weekend before their birthday party. Thankfully, he was better by party time :) but he was pretty pitiful earlier that week :(

I have sooo many videos I want to share (I got an I-phone and I've really enjoyed the handy videos and pictures it takes :) I've tried to get them downloaded... I'll just keep trying :) (JJ, I may need your help).

On February 4th, we had a party for the two of them... Bryce had a pirate themed party, and Avery had a Minnie Mouse party. We had it at the bounce house, and fun was had by all :) Here are a FEW pics (I really tried to enjoy the party and guests and not get too involved in all the picture taking this time)

BIG buck, little horns

2012-01-23T20:49:00.009-06:00

So far... Bryce has had 2 hunting experiences in his lifetime.

His first experience was on a cold afternoon... he was dressed in camouflaged layers from head to toe. Adam had a mug of hot chocolate for them to share, AND he had his first experience with hand warmers :) We were both pretty amazed at how this VERY active, (almost) 4-year old boy sat so still and only whispered with his daddy... for almost 2 hours!!!!

Well, a few weeks ago, he went with Adam again. This time... when they set out, it was a warm afternoon. Bryce didn't have on the multiple layers, and no hot chocolate or hand warmers were packed. When the sun set, the temperature dropped, and Adam said it got colder than he had anticipated BUT (they) shot a deer!! So... the temperature dropping was one of the last things on this little boy's mind...

On the other end of the phone, all I could hear was this very excited sweet voice saying, "I got a deer, I got a deer." "It's a BIG buck."

Y'all... this little boy DID. NOT. STOP. TALKING. until 9pm that night (when I finally just had to turn around and walked out of his room... Bryce still steadily talking). Those of you who know him well, know that when he gets excited, he talks NINETY. TO. NOTHING. and you can hardly make out what he is saying!

So... after these sweet, excited, words were interpreted, the details went something like this... a "doe" came out, and at first they just watched "her" for a long while. Then, as it was turning dark, Adam gave into the peer pressure from Bryce to "shoot it." Bryce "shot" first with his styrofoam bullets, followed by Adam. Bryce immediately tells Adam that they killed a BIG buck! Adam tells him... no buddy, it's a doe (so he thought). Bryce insisted that the deer they killed was a buck... apparently he really wanted his deer to be male. He wasn't disappointed in the least that the deer didn't have horns, he was TOTALLY pumped that they killed a buck!

It turns out, it was a buck, a button buck (much to Adam's dismay... for those of you who don't have hunting husbands, shooting a button buck is a no-no... you want to let them grow), but Bryce's excitement was so worth it! So... here is the BIG buck with little horns and a very, very excited little boy!
They brought the deer to the lake on New Year's weekend, and we all ate tenderloin and biscuits, and hind quarter... Bryce tried his BEST to like it... He kept trying it and saying he liked it (but I could tell otherwise :). I think it's safe to say we have a future hunter in the making :)

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T15:10:00.003-06:00

This year, we brought in the new year with family at the lake!

These cousins have a great time getting together and playing! They play, and play, and play!!!! Last night, the kids lit sparklers, and the daddies put on a BIG firework show for us :) It was really impressive (so impressive, I didn't want to leave the show to get my camera :)

Hope y'all had a good New Years weekend as well.

And to this coming year... my prayer is that we will feel the presence of Jesus with us, whatever we encounter. If we encounter blessings, that we will know and give thanks to Him who bestows them upon us, and if we encounter trials, that He will be our HOPE and sustain us. A friend posted this on her Caring Bridge website, and I loved it:

"I am able to do far beyond all that you ask or imagine. Come to me with positive expectations, knowing that there is no limit to what I can accomplish. Ask my Spirit to control your mind, so that you can think great thoughts of me. Do not be discouraged by the fact that many of your prayers are yet unanswered. Time is a trainer, teaching you to wait upon me, to trust me in the dark. The more extreme your circumstances, the more likely you are to see my power and glory at work in the situation. Instead of letting difficulties draw you into worrying, try to view them as setting the scene for my glorious intervention. Keep your eyes and your mind wide open to all that I am in your life." (Eph 3:20-21; Rom 8:6; Isa 40:30-31; Rev 5:13).

Christmas Eve and Day 2011

2011-12-27T13:43:00.007-06:00

This Christmas Eve, we had a fun time of fellowship with our friends, the Nichols! We had a yummy meal of turkey, dressing, broccoli casserole, macaroni, broccoli cornbread, and pumpkin cheesecake! The kids played and loved on "baby Coy" (McCoy)
They made (and ate) cookies for Santa, (and spread out reindeer food in the yard).

Christmas morning, Bryce awoke to a "real" gun that shoots velcro bullets at his deer target, some blue light-up swords/guns, a (stuffed) shark (he talked about everyday since the visit to the aquarium), and a stocking full of surprises :)

Avery awoke (first) to being terrified of the deer target, and then to being delighted with her kitchen, baby doll with paci, play food, and fun princess jewelry and lipgloss in her stocking :)

We skyped with Gran and Pappy after Santa came, told them what he brought, and opened the presents from them. Then, Gigi and Hoss came over to see the kids and ate Christmas breakfast with us :) Afterwards, the kids helped me make cupcakes for Jesus's birthday party. We took them to Gigi's after nap, and had a wonderful evening visiting with family, eating soup, watching the kids christmas programs from school, and singing Happy Birthday to Jesus!

My favorite part was Gigi reading the Christmas story, and the kids acting it out...

Hoss (a shepherd) was blinded by the bright angel :)

Emory said the lines that Gigi read to her and little "repeat" angel followed along behind her :)

Gigi used her creativity to cut these costumes from a roll of fabric in about 5 minutes! It was such a sweet picture of the Christmas story :)

The next morning, we went to Gigi and Hoss's house again for Christmas breakfast and to open presents. Then, we all went to visit Gogo (minus Bryce, Avery, and Adam due to naptime)... she was having a good day, recognized all of us, and seemed very happy to see everyone all together!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas as well!

Fantasy in Lights

2011-12-24T14:22:00.005-06:00

So... we bought tickets to see Fantasy in Lights at Callaway Gardens for thursday night, BUT it was storming, and there were tornado watches out. We called and even though they said they were still open, and the trolley would run... they were nice enough to let us come last night (Friday) instead :)

waiting in line to board the Jolly Trolley :)

Can you imagine riding in this during a storm? (with 2 small babes?) Something tells me this wouldn't have been a "jolly trolley" on thursday night...

but, our trolley ride was jolly :)

and comfy- cozy

Okay, so I had trouble figuring out what setting my camera should be on... when I put my camera on the setting that showed the lights all lit up, some of them got REALLY blurry, but maybe you can get the picture :)

This was the first set of lights we came to... multi- colored Christmas trees. At the end of the ride, this was one of Bryce's favorites... he liked the green and red Christmas trees!

This was the tinkerbell-themed lights (one of Avery's favorites)This is blurry, but I wanted to remember the effect... the trolley has a glass or (plexiglass) top, so you can see overhead. These lights were hanging above and all around us.

Tinkerbell changed the colors of the lights several times

and this was Bryce's all time favorite... the butterflies.

Now, for mine and Adam's favorites (although the pictures don't do it justice)... the snowflake themed lights...

a long section COVERED in white lights that made you think you were in a winter wonderland :)

and these HUGE trees lit up were magnificent (their reflections on the lake were equally beautiful)

This is Swan Lake... very pretty with the reflections on the water. Another of Avery's favorites (she called them quack-quacks)

and after the jolly trolley, we went into one of the tents to look around. There was a huge gingerbread house,

and Bryce found rudolph :) (and got hot chocolate)

and Avery found handfuls of gingerbread men... (don't worry, those didn't make it home with us :)

It was a lot of fun, and these 2 snuggled up in their jammies on the way home and fell fast asleep :)

Remembering...

2011-12-21T18:09:00.004-06:00

Every night I tuck Bryce in, he always says, "come check on me before you go to bed." I always do, but he never remembers (because he is sleeping), and therefore always says "you didn't check on me last night." So... one night I took a picture of him to prove it :)
and it reminded me of this picture... (taken his first Christmas... about 10 1/2 months old)

So sweet! Now I know what my mom always meant when she said, "they're so sweet when they're asleep"

Wait... hmm... not so sure that's exactly what she meant LOL, but aren't they?

Pre-Christmas Fun...

2011-12-20T15:44:00.018-06:00

My attempts at a Christmas picture in front of the tree would have been okay, except the lighting and/or fuzzy-ness of these pictures :(

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So... we have done several little Christmas-y things here lately...

First off is a visit to a live nativity (minus the animals)... which was a little bit of a bummer since we had prepped the kids for that, but it was really good and we met up with some good friends!

Our friends, the Weavers, and their kiddos :)

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Next... Bryce's Christmas Program:

He did surprisingly well (despite the thanksgiving feast meltdown). He smiled when he spotted us...

and sang EVERY word (and NEVER took his eyes off Mr. Connor)! Adam is working on getting a video clip uploaded, so... I won't bore you with still pictures of Bryce with his mouth open, but it was such a sweet, sweet program, and (of course) I had teary eyes pretty much the entire time :)

My favorite was "Jesus, it's your birthday, and I have a gift for you. It's something kinda special, even though it's not brand new. No I didn't wrap it, it's not under the tree. Jesus, it's your birthday, and the gift I have is me." I thought it was precious :)

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Next up... a playdate with our friends, the Wilson's...

making rudolph cookies...

and eating them :)

what a fun and yummy idea (thanks, Mal)

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and last, we took the kiddos to Chattanooga for a ride on the polar express...

we ate gingerbread cookies...

served by "Chef Debbie"

and "Chef Tom" served...

chocolate yoohoo's :)

Our good friends, the Harrison's went with us as well :)

our crews combined = 5 kiddos under age 4

which = chaos at times :) (especially when your train STAYS parked at the north pole for what seems like 30-45 minutes!!!!!)

but, at last, Santa came!!!!!!!!!!!!

and the chaos is oh so worth it for such great friends!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Avery even sang a solo... a VERY LOUD but precious (to us) version of Jingle Bells :)

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Last night, we visited an actual live nativity with the kiddos (sorry, no pics) but, they loved petting the animals, and again, Avery sang a loud (and proud) version of "Away in a Manger" with the cast :)

So... we've had lots of fun Christmas festivities, and we look forward to seeing Fantasy in Lights later this week :)

Bryce

2011-12-19T22:14:00.007-06:00

Now, a post about our little man...
He is becoming more and more of a momma's boy (which is a good thing considering that Avery is becoming more of a daddy's girl). He will randomly burst out with, "I love you, Mommy." He is very thoughtful and concerned about others for his age. Naturally, for an almost 4 year old, he is excited about presents this Christmas, but he has also expressed thoughts of others on several occasions. The other day, he saw a piece of driftwood/log that he said Hoss would love! He carried it all the way home and wrapped it up and was SO excited at the thought of him opening it for Christmas! Today, he was picking some berries (don't worry, Gran, he didn't put them anywhere near his mouth :) and wanted to save them for daddy for Christmas. And, tonight, he asked me what I wanted for Christmas and told me that if Santa didn't bring me anything that he would share his shark (what he has asked Santa to bring) with me. Oh how I am so thankful for his sweet heart and pray that it continues to stay tender!!

He has been asking lots of good questions lately... a lot about the meanings of words to songs. Most of which he has been singing for a couple of years now. Call me crazy, but there are times now when I think back to songs I learned as a child, and I'm just NOW understanding what some of the words mean (okay, so I shouldn't have shown how blonde my brain is), but I think it's pretty smart of him to be asking those questions instead of simply accepting them. This has led us into some pretty deep conversations. Some about grace, peace, praise, and death. Yes, death was a tricky one for a while. Originally when he asked, I told him that our bodies die, but God makes them alive (just like He did Jesus's body when he was resurrected), and that we get a new body that never dies. But, he just kept saying, "but, I don't want to die." Eventually I got smart enough to use the word "asleep" to describe what happens to our bodies. I told him that those who love and believe in Jesus don't ever die (but, their body falls asleep while their spirit lives in heaven). (this Momma needs to start thinking through some of my answers BEFORE he catches me off guard with them).

He is also asking some really great questions about heaven... he is super excited that in heaven he can pet the sharks and lions without them biting him, and that he doesn't have to wash his hands afterwards because there's no sickness in heaven :)

Oh how I love his little heart and innocence!!!!

Avery

2011-12-19T21:43:00.012-06:00

It's been a while since I've blogged about Avery's changes, and there's some new memories that I don't want to forget, so this post is about our little girl :)

She will be 2 next month! Oh my!... I'm not usually extra sentimental, but I really can't believe our little girl is almost 2. Time flies! I still vividly remember snuggling that little bundle and her being totally content as long as she was with her Momma. She was pretty easy to take places because as long as I could hold her, she was happy. Now, she is loving her daddy like that :) and, I can see it melts his heart!

Lately, she has been reading books outloud (I've GOT to get this on tape). It's so precious. She has several lines memorized from her favorite books: "The Little Red Hen" and "A Mud Pie for Mother" She has also been singing songs outloud with us! The other day, we took the kids to the Polar Express, and when we all started singing Christmas carols, the lady put the mic up to Avery... she was singing SO loud and with such enthusiasm (a little behind the rest of us, but that made it even more precious). Also, the other night, we took the kids to a live nativity and when they started singing, "Away in a Manger," Avery joined in! VERY LOUD, and since she was on Adam's shoulders, she drew a good bit of attention to herself :) but she just kept on singing her little heart out!

She is very girly about being "cared" (scared). Sometimes she is really afraid, but other times she dramatically says, "I cared" while folding her arms in as if to give herself a hug! However, she really is afraid of most animals when she first encounters them... interested in them, but "cared" at the same time. A couple of nights ago, she was having a bad dream... she woke us up calling out, "no reindeer! no reindeer!" and was scooting back in the bed with her little hand out as if to push a reindeer back. Bless her...

She is a spunky one who wants what she wants, when she wants it, but she also has a tender heart. When she gets in trouble, the corners of her little mouth form this sad frown that hurts my heart. I just want to run and hold her and make everything better because at that point, I know that her strong-willed, independent heart has changed. Her feelings are hurt, and she needs comfort to know that we love her and are no longer upset with her. I'm so grateful for this heart that God has given her. I pray it will always be tender!

Thanksgiving in Shreveport

2011-12-08T21:12:00.004-06:00

We had thanksgiving at Aunt Tanya's house again this year!
It is a beautiful house, and our favorite part... the kids have wide open spaces to romp

and roam...

My 2 babies LOVE babies, and this year we had a brand new one to love on...

Gran with her babies (and Avery's camera smile)

We also celebrated Christmas with Aunt Aubrey, Ainsley, and Uncle "Wance" (as Avery calls him). They filled the kids' giant-sized stockings with goodies...

Avery loved her doodle pad...

and Bryce and Adam got matching overalls :)

as you can see, they spoil our kids...

and they love it :)

So... the return trip home was an adventure... we stayed until Monday so Adam could make a sales call. That morning, he set out for Coushatta, and noticed he had car trouble. He took Gran's car instead, and Pappy set out to fix his truck for us while Adam was gone. The short version of this story is that we were supposed to leave around 10am that morning, and instead left around 2pm! But, the kiddos did surprisingly well! They napped first off, then we stopped in MS for dinner. Once we crossed the AL line, we stopped and put their PJ's on, and they slept (except our little princess in the pea fussed off and on from about Birmingham until we arrived home... 11pm ish). But, we made it home safely :)

Thanksgiving Feast

2011-12-08T21:00:00.003-06:00

The happy little indians (and pilgrims) marched in...
sang a few heart-warming songs about being thankful... (our little indian spotted us, smiled, and waved) and then the llama drama started... (bless him, he said he wanted to sit with us)

but, it was nothing a chocolate cupcake couldn't fix :)

here's to hoping his Christmas Program is drama free :)

War Eagle!

2011-12-08T14:53:00.006-06:00

Trying to get my "scrapbooking" caught up before Christmas posts come...

We met up with Hayley and Emory at the Auburn homecoming game again this year (even though we missed Bentley)! It was all smiles and giggles as these two greeted each other outside the stadium

Bryce has been saying "war eagle, hey" and singing the Auburn fight song since he was about 18 months old. Now, suddenly he is confused about us living in Alabama (but NOT pulling for the Alabama football team). But, not to worry... we are working on it :)

My little turkeys

2011-11-02T21:13:00.005-05:00

Turkey #1 had just pleasantly spotted an airplane, and turkey #2 is showing me her "camera smile."

A couple of recent stories from these 2 turkeys:

The other day, Avery was jumping on the bed. I said, "Avery, don't jump on the bed." Steadily jumping, Avery replied, "I not!"

We went to the hospital to visit a friend and her newborn baby recently. Avery, noticing a lot of commotion around the little bundle, said, "pet!" When we let her gently stroke the top of his head, she pulled her hand back and said, "licked me!"

Bryce was limping around the other day, and I asked him what was wrong. He knelt down, pulled up the bottom of his pants, and said in a very serious and painful tone, "I have an ankle."

Bryce's lyrics to his new song he learned at school... "The wiseman came from A FARM" (when I had him repeat the line, and suggested maybe the wiseman came from afar... he said, "oh Momma, maybe it is supposed to be "BARN"... that makes more sense!)

My two little turkeys... oh, how I love them!!!!!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T21:47:00.005-05:00

From:
Captain Hook, Tinkerbell, Tiger Lily, and...

Peter Pan! (Peter Pan was too "t-irsty" for the group picture)

Peter Pan and Tinkerbell joined by Spider man and Super girl!

We were so excited that Big Bad Wolf/ Hoss and ....

Gigi joined us this year for trick or treating!

These boys did some regular ol' trick or treating...

but, also took some detours to play "guns"...

to crawl under sticker bushes (chasing a cat)

and to swing on a trick or treaters "air pogo"!!!!

But... Tinkerbell was mostly excited about candy!!!

She rode in the wagon/pirate ship, and ate candy...

and stood and ate candy... (double fisted)

We had a great time walking up and down Glenwood, seeing our friends and their kiddos, and hanging out. After we trick or treated, Gigi and Hoss came back to our house for some gumbo (thanks to Adam) and chocolate chip pound cake (yum)! I hope you all had a Happy Halloween as well!!

Weekend with Gran

2011-10-16T15:29:00.025-05:00

A few weekends ago, Gran came in town for a visit. Our Saturday was action-packed, and we have the pictures to prove it! Our day started out with a visit to Bennett Farms.

When Bryce picked out a pumpkin, guess who else did too?

Both checked out the photo funny pictures!

I love this picture (below) of Bryce... he was so focused and interested in how this machine worked and what made the corn de-kernel (I guess I'll call it). Do you think he's concentrating?

Much to Adam's dismay, we (Gran and I) tried REALLY hard to get the perfect photo with 2 smiling kids, matching outfits, and pumpkin scenery. After 300 and some odds pics (over the course of the day)... this was the best we got:

Can you see Adam's face in this picture?

...and that's why God made Daddies :)

Gran with her AL babies :)

Bryce loves animals, and he was so concerned that this donkey had "sad eyes."

Out of all the animals in the petting zoo, his favorites were the bunny and black cat :) They were so soft and he kept going back to pet them.

While we were waiting on the hayride to return, Daddy initiated some fun...

After the pumpkin patch, we headed to the lake to spend some time with Gigi and Hoss! We played some baseball...

and roasted marshmellows (or mell as Avery calls them) YUM!

What a fun weekend with Gran! (even though we missed Pappy)

Happy Saturday and WAR EAGLE!

2011-10-15T14:00:00.004-05:00

Here's to hoping our tigers play well today! Our season may not look very promising, but regardless, it's GREAT TO BE AN AUBURN TIGER!!!! WARRRR EAGLE!!!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and enjoy this beautiful, fall/football weather!!!

What we've been up to...

2011-09-18T14:09:00.008-05:00

I'm going to start this post with some picture-moments... moments I looked at Bryce and Avery and grabbed my camera. One evening, I was folding a load of laundry and cooking dinner... (in our house, the laundry and cooking are done in close proximity LOL :) (a positive to having a smaller house, I guess). Well, I left the dryer open while I went to check the stove, and Bryce decided the dryer was a pretty cool place to play!
So naturally, little "repeat" thought so too :)

I remember seeing a similar picture of me playing in the dryer when I was about this age... must be such an exciting adventure for 3 year olds!

About a month ago, Bryce was very into Peter Pan, and he kept saying he was going to be Peter Pan for Halloween. So... I went ahead and ordered his costume so he could be playing dress up in something else besides his cousin's princess costumes and/or dance outfits LOL! The day Avery's tinkerbell costume came in, they both couldn't wait to get their costumes on and play!

I have since learned that Bryce gets very into something quite often. He is now already planning his birthday party (in February) and his ideas change every other week!!!! Needless to say, we aren't party-planning yet :)

He has started his 3 year old preschool, and really seems to enjoy it! He talks a lot about his friends there, and comes home singing new songs and talking about what books they read etc. The other day, his teacher said they were going over their letters and sounds, and they came to the letter "I" and they were supposed to say, "I is for icecream, i, i, i (the sound an "I" makes)", but Bryce said, "I is for icecream, yum, yum, yum!" I laughed, and said it was very fitting... this little boy will do just about anything for a dessert :) (takes after his Momma)

While Bryce is at school, Avery is enjoying being the only child, and sitting in "Bryce's seap" She gets so excited and races to climb up into Bryce's carseat... she thinks she is so big! For those 3 hours, she is my buddy!

She is steadily saying more and more, and now says "war eagle, hey" and does her arm motion! She loves playing with her babies and as many lovies as she can find!!!!! (including Bryce's monkey or puppy). She can't stand for anyone to walk ahead of her, (even into another room) she's so afraid she will be left behind... so many times, I hear, "momma wait! momma wait!"

She is also getting to be Miss Independent. The other day at the park, she wanted to hang from the monkey bars BY HERSELF and if I put my hands up towards her she said, "mommy stop!" She also says "PICK" every time I try to dress her (either pajamas, shoes, or an outfit)... she wants to pick it! Shesh, I don't remember Bryce doing these things this early. I think she sees him doing things, and thinks she is as big.

She is one tough cookie too... if she cries, she's hurt... because I've seen her fall or get tackled too many times and just get right back up! (and then returns the tackle).

There's no doubt... neither one lack for personality or spunk! I have 3 messes on my hands (including their daddy)... but I wouldn't have it any other way :)

Slip-n-slide, Shreveport, and Some-more

2011-08-13T21:10:00.011-05:00

We had our first slip-n-slide adventure with Bentley and Emory this weekend... they loved it!

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A couple of weeks ago, we went to Shreveport to visit Gran and Pappy... I just love Avery's face in this picture... she loves her Pappy! and I think the feeling is mutual... what do you think?

On Friday, we went to Texas (east Texas) and swam with Aunt Aubrey and Ainsley. We girls had a shopping excursion to a cute little store in Longview (thanks Gran!) On Saturday, we played at the park and fountains, and then visited with the great grandparents, great aunts, etc. Here are some pics from earlier that day (too bad I was too busy visiting and didn't snap any pics that evening...)

This one was at a park where we fed the ducks and played...

Playing at the river front...

Bryce and Gran were BIG buddies :)

and they ABSOLUTELY LOVED the fountains!!! I tried to get pictures, but they were loving the fountains so much that they didn't want to slow down for pics :) so I have mostly action shots :)

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At home... Bryce "reading" to Avery (and baby)!

Avery is 19 months old!! Her language has really taken off this month! She said her first 3 word phrase when she picked up her gingerbread man book, "can't catch me!" and now says at least 2 words almost everytime she opens her mouth... "Mommy hold-me, Daddy help, Bryce play, Bye Bye Bent, Hey Emmy, etc. etc." She's a parrot! She repeats everything we say. The other day, I said, "what baby?" and she said, "what baby?" She has started calling paci "paci" now (along with calling it meme or mamie). She still says wovie (for lovie). She loves putting her babies "nigh-night" and tucks them in so sweetly with a paci, wovie, and blanket (just how she likes it)

Bryce is still the protective big brother... the other day, we were at the pool and some big boys jumped in the shallow end... Bryce immediately starts saying, "hey boys..." I cut him off (because I think he's just being bossy and telling them not to jump in the shallow end), and I'm explaining that their mommies can decide what they can do. In the meantime, Adam says, "I think he's upset because they jumped too close to Avery." When I asked Bryce what he was going to tell the boys... bingo! Adam was right! He was going to scold those boys for jumping too close to his tink-tink! I'm glad he watches after her :)

Soon, Bryce will start Pre-K 3 three days a week. We just had open house and met his teacher. I really like her, and I think Bryce is going to get a lot out of school this year! They have music one day, chapel the next, and storytime the next. They will have a Thanksgiving feast, Christmas program, and several field trips... I think he's going to feel really special when he has "programs" for us to come and watch!

Pretty much wraps it up for now... have a good week!

Pudding Paint

2011-08-02T16:34:00.005-05:00

The other day I picked Avery up from MDO, and her teacher, Miss Rachel (who I LOVE) told me how much fun Avery had finger painting that day. She said Avery seemed to know just what to do and asked me if we painted at home. My response, "um... no" (well only in the bathtub).

I'm embarrassed to admit that we seldomly do things like this because #1 I'm not creative and #2 It's a mess! But, after hearing about how much fun she had, I decided that I need to do more things like this. Gigi gave me a great idea to use pudding for paint and let it double as a snack! So... today after naptime, we did just that.

We started out with plain ol' vanilla pudding, but then I added some food coloring to it and we (Bryce and I) attempted to teach Avery the colors blue and (pinkish) red.

Bryce really enjoyed painting a picture...

and Avery really enjoyed eating the "paint!" (I hope she doesn't try that at school next time)

So... it was a successful and fun activity!!!... and relatively mess-free (once we switched from finger painting to using a paint brush). We'll have to remember this on those cold, winter days :)

Baby Bryce Playing Piano

2011-07-26T21:32:00.002-05:00

Another older home video of Bryce when he was about 20 months... playing piano :)

Enjoy!

Old Home Video

2011-07-23T15:18:00.002-05:00

So... I FINALLY got a video to post!!!!!! (Thanks Mal!) Bryce was about 20 months in this video, and tackling himself on our bed :)

Enjoy :)

Sunflowers and 18 months...

2011-07-12T13:15:00.012-05:00

Among other things, Hoss planted sunflowers this year!!! And so, this weekend, we went out and picked/played in the sunflowers! If you can see Bryce's face well in this picture, you can see he is beyond delighted about the sunflower he picked!!!
I'm not sure if Miss Priss enjoyed riding on Daddy's shoulders more, or the sunflowers?

She was definitely having a ride though :)

lots of personality...

LOTS! Can you see her eyes in this picture? She is pulling Daddy's hair (and she obviously knows she shouldn't be)... poor Daddy :(

If Bryce is outdoors, he is happy :) Bryce can't help but be a country boy... he got a triple dose from his Daddy, Hoss, and Pappy (not to mention his Momma loves the outdoors too)

I LOVE his sweet eyes and smile in this picture... pure contentment :)

I think this made a pretty picture of them riding towards the sunflowers :)

This was what Miss Priss kept asking to do, "ride ride" and "tract-a"... probably another little country girl too :)

Sweet siblings :)

having fun together...

Well... since I've already got the juices flowing... I'll fill you in on Miss 18 months old! She is a bundle of joy. Personality, yes! A mess, yes! But, she gives THE BEST squeezy hugs and sweet kisses ever!!! She just wraps her little arms around your neck, and you feel SO loved! And when she kisses, she makes the sound and everything... she gives Lovie, or ("wovie" as she says these days) kisses, your arm kisses, your cheek, lips (you get the idea, right?)... and then looks at you with sweet, sweet eyes that say,"I love you so much!" and of course, the whole time, I'm saying, "oh, thank you" "so sweet" "such good kisses"!

She can say "wove you" (love you) now... so sweet! She says, "dank do" (thank you) without being prompted. A new phrase is, "hold me." I hear that one a lot now :) Also:

0bbie/open

pier/ up here

mee/ please

Honestly, I can't even count how many words she can say now!!!! She loves books, and can name just about any noun (or the sound it makes) when you point to it. She only says a few 2-word phrases, but she can understand a whole list of commands! The question (here lately) is whether or not she WANTS to follow those directions :) When she is compliant, she says, "oh" after you ask her to do something... Avery, can you put lovie in your bed? "oh" she says as she takes off towards her room!

She is obsessed with chapstick and toothpaste!!! She loves shoes!

She'll say "tee tee" and SIT on the potty... and then puts in toilet paper!

She still says "no" for her answer to ANY question... even when you know she means "yes"! I've tried to teach her to say yes before I give something to her that I know she wants. I knod my head, and say "yes," and she knods her head and says "yes," but when you ask her again (without prompting a yes) she again says, "no"!

She thinks she is as big as Bryce! There's really nothing that he does, that she doesn't do! and not just TRY to do, she does it!! She jumps off the diving board (with her puddle jumper on), goes under the water, and everything! She picks blue berries at the lake (well... picks one, eats one)! She rides on the tube (with one of us), rides the Sea-Doo, etc. etc. She doesn't want to be left out of ANYTHING!!!!

She puts her babies to bed... turns on the sleep mate, turns off the lamp (a dimmer switch), puts a blanket on them, gives them a kiss, and tells them "nigh-nigh."

Still her favorite things these days are: wovie/lovie, mamie or meme/paci, nack/fruit snack, and momma! (I'm so lucky :)

July 4th

2011-07-05T14:35:00.002-05:00

Happy fourth of July!

We are so thankful to live in a free country, and thankful to our troops (and families of) for their service, dedication, and sacrifice!!!

May God bless America!

My 30th birthday

2011-07-05T14:33:00.008-05:00

For my 30th birthday, some of our best friends went with us to north GA, and stayed the weekend. The first day we floated down a river peacefully. No kids = lots of quality time catching up with one another. The only adventure we encountered was spotting 2 snakes (from a distance), and Alan popping his tube :) Leave it to Alan :)

After our "float," we headed to our cabin...
if you call it that! It was a very nice 4 king bedroom house (that only cost $250 a night!)... divided 3 ways = less than that :)

we spent a lot of our time... here! Cooking yummy meals and fellowshiping...

The next morning, we all drove to the Ocoee for some whitewater rafting!

and that night, we cooked out again, and had a Wii dance-off!!!

and Alan scored the most points! (Although I think the girls had the best moves LOLWe missed our friends, the Nichols' (JJ is prego), but we love the Wilson's and Harrison's so so much! They made my birthday a very special one, and many thanks to all the grandparents who made this trip possible!!!!

Family Beach Trip

2011-06-12T21:49:00.008-05:00

We just got back from our family beach trip with my parents, sister, nieces, and brother-in-law.
It's always a great trip, but I think that this year was the best in a couple of years (since children). The older kids are getting easier, and playing together so much better! The girls are so sweet to Avery, and I said several times how much easier my life would be at home if I could just bring Bentley with me! She was so good to sit down with Avery and play and watch after her!!

(As you can see from the lack of variety of outfits in these pictures, I didn't get my camera out much, so I'll just randomly "talk" about our trip in between pictures :)

We stayed at the Turquoise Place again this year! It's so awesome, comfortable, and spacious! The first day there, we just unloaded, made the grocery run, ate dinner, etc. etc.

We spent the next morning at the pool (kids choice)... they have an awesome zero entry pool with small fountains, and a waterfall off the bridge. The kids were so excited to be in the pool! Bryce and Emory swam without floaties, and we were so proud of them at how well they did!!! We kept telling them that they swam like a fish (and Bryce kept saying, "like a jellyfish") ha! They dove and swam for coins we tossed in the shallow end, and Avery got REALLY good at holding herself up using her puddle jumper!!!

They also had organized games in the pool this day. Bentley wanted to do them all, and Bryce was more than ready to follow her lead!

At the beginning of the week, the ocean was too rough for the kids, but towards the end of the week, it got a little calmer, and they all enjoyed the waves!!! Here, Bryce is making a "sandcastle" out of cup-fulls of sand!

while Avery had a tea-party (Mommy pouring water into her cup)

This large shallow area made a perfect spot for the babies to play...

Other than the pool and beach, the guys got to play golf 2 days (Bryce played 9 holes the second day), and we took the kids twice to the Caribe... their pools had water slides, and the kids HAD A BLAST! Even Avery enjoyed (sitting in our lap) the slides! They were actually pretty powerful and were fun for all of us (including the adults)... although we decided that I was slide-challenged... the first SEVERAL times I went down, I kept getting stuck! I got so tickled one time, I thought I wouldn't be able to get down because I was laughing so hard! Gigi kept saying, "even I!!!! can slide." Then, Jason got stuck too, and we decided that we must be too athletic for the slide! (yeah, that's it... we'll just keep telling ourselves that)

We were also able to play with friends... my friend, Leann and her girls who live in Mobile stopped in for a visit one day! It was so good because we usually don't get to see one another except for our annual beach trip! Also... Mallory, Sissy, and her kiddos were staying just 1/2 a mile down from us and we got to play too! One night, we went to the Track and the kids LOVED the rides... even Avery rode the train and ferris wheel with the big kids! After the Track that night, we all caught sand crabs!!! It reminded me of when we were kids!!

Sissy, Gigi, (and Adam) were sweet enough to listen out for the kiddos during nap time one day so that Mallory and I could have some "girl time" and catch up without any distractions. It was so relaxing and wonderful to have that quality time with my best friend!!!

Avery was 17 months this Saturday! She is now saying a few 2-word phrases like, "my milk," "there's Bentley," and "bye bye Mommy!" She loved Bentley and Emmy (as she calls her), and loved to hold their hands. Also, now when she wakes up in the mornings, she calls out for "mommy" or "daddy" (depending on who has been getting her up most recently). She has also been doing this yelling thing lately... and the other day, she made the funniest "yell" face and said "MOMMY!!!" (I was right next to her), and my mistake was letting her see me laugh. Because now, she just randomly yells names or phrases at anytime. The whole week, she seemed to love to yell, "Jay" (our brother-in-law) while sitting in her high chair. She doesn't just yell it once, but over and over... So... (as you can imagine)... by the 50th time she yelled "J," I'm sure he was less than thrilled LOL! But, he was a sport!

We had a WONDERFUL trip... thanks SO much Gigi and Hoss!!!!

Happy Summer

2011-06-01T15:58:00.008-05:00

These are just a few pictures from the start of our summer...

These were taken in a field of wildflowers we found out near Webster's Chapel. We took lunch to the workers who were helping clean up the trees from the tornadoes. To see the devastation in person was indescribable. I pray that during these difficult times that many people are drawn closer to Him. Whenever I see debris scattered, it reminds me of the verses in Matthew 6:19-21 "do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal (and in this case natural disasters). But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

It's easy for me to say as I sit here typing comfortably in my cozy home. I hope I will always keep my eyes on my eternal home especially when facing such devastation.

As for the ones I have talked to who have lost their homes, they are extremely grateful that they ONLY lost their homes, and that their family members and loved ones were spared. My heart goes out to those who lost their home and to those who lost loved ones especially.

On a MUCH lighter note, here is Bryce trying on his Buzz Light-year costume for our superhero birthday party coming up... he couldn't wait to put it on, and once he put it on, he didn't want to take it off! The wings on the back move up and down and Bryce thought they were especially cool! Thanks to our friend, Quinn, we have a costume to wear! (It's especially hard to find costumes this time of year)

Post-sprinkler pics..

Avery enjoying a "nack" after naptime...

Playing with/drinking from the watering cups in the bathtub!

I hope y'all are having a great beginning of summer as well!

Happy Birthday

2011-05-15T18:07:00.005-05:00

Hoss and Gigi! Hoss turned 59 on April 21st and Gigi on May 15th! Don't they make ALMOST 60 look so good? I don't have pictures of the actual birthday celebrations, but... on Hoss's birthday, we all got together for an Easter/birthday celebration at their house. JoJo (my dad's sister), and Macky came too. We had an Easter egg hunt, yummy dinner, and Hoss opened his presents while the kids opened their Easter presents from them!

For Gigi's birthday, we all went to the lake and celebrated. Hayley and her family came too! We had a great weekend being together, playing games, riding in the boat, riding in the golf cart, and the kids even swam! They had a blast being together, and we all had a yummy dinner, cake, and homemade icecream! Each grandchild had a chance to blow out a candle, and my aunt (dad's sister) said the sweetest thing (I'll paraphrase): "35 years ago, Gayle came into our family and I couldn't ask for a better sister, wife for Donnie, and mother for y'all. Donnie could search high and low and never find one like Gayle." Okay, so that's as best as I remember it because we all got teary eyed (until Gigi broke the seriousness with a little laughter, "thanks Jo, I'll pay you later for that!"

We are so thankful for our wonderful Gigi and Hoss!!!!!!!!! Happy Birthday to them both! (Hopefully Gigi hasn't killed me for posting her age, and I'll be around for another post soon!)

16 months (and 3 1/4 years)

2011-05-15T13:53:00.006-05:00

Avery turned 16 months on the 11th of this month. This weekend, we saw a video when she was a year old, and it was amazing at how she had changed. She looked so much more like a baby just 4 months ago. She now looks (and acts) more like a toddler... I guess she IS a toddler, and I just have a hard time actually calling her that... it's hard to accept that I MIGHT not have a baby anymore (so I'll continue happily along in my denial).

As you can see... she is full of personality!!! When I first get the camera out, she liberally flashes her smiles (and then gets distracted and totally forgets I have a camera).

Not too much has changed this month. Using her daddy's words... she is still a mountain goat (a climber), a opossum (loves to hang upside down), and a billy goat (puts things in her mouth). However, her climbing has definitely increased, and she now climbs up on every chair or ottoman in the house. I constantly have to watch her and make her "sit down." (Which she USUALLY does pretty well). But now, she also will walk up to you sitting in a chair that she wants to climb in, and proceed to PULL you OUT of that chair! (So now you know her spunk has NOT decreased).

She is a little less of a billy goat these days... not so much of everything goes into her mouth (although I did persuade her to open her mouth the other day, only to find the smallest bit of pea-gravel in it!)She is saying some new words... open, up, out, bath, boons (balloons), hop, jump, teeth (when she wants to "brush" her teeth), bow, hair, ow (and purposely pulls her own hair), night-night, piggies (for toes), thank you (my favorite... it's sounds a little bit like "daddy" if you don't listen closely for the context). She also now says ears (in addition to eyes, and points to them both), Bentley (Bent-be), and what we hear most from her is MAMIE (that's her word for lovie and/or paci). She does well during the day not wanting them so much, but... put her in a car (or boat) and that's ALL she says. I'm sure it's because I always bring them with us when we are away from home (just in case), and she's caught on to that!

She has finally taken to her milk (or MIL as she says), but is becoming less interested in meats. She still eats fruit and veggies well, but would live off of "NACKS" (fruit snacks) if I would let her.

We're down to one nap now... we finally just did away with the short morning one. She still seems a little sleepy in the morning and will fall asleep early if we are in the car, but usually doesn't get too fussy staying up. She averages about 2 hours now on her nap. (Which is shorter to what Bryce has always done, and still does, but... after all, she does sleep an extra hour or so later than he does most mornings).

As you can see, she loves BRY (her word for Bryce). If she wakes up in a good mood after nap, she walks around calling his name and looking for him. (He's usually still asleep), and many times she has woken him up standing at his door calling for him... I really have to work to keep her away from his room during this time (and vice versa for him in the mornings). They both wake up looking for and wanting to love on the other one!!!

I think I blogged about this earlier, but she gives the best and sweetest pucker kisses! (Bryce thinks so too) :)

Bryce... what's new with him? From his perspective, there's usually something new every day!

As you can see from this picture, life is EXCITING for this 3 year old! I think this is partly his personality and partly his age. He's always been "easily excitable" and now there's so much more that he can do and understand and yet hasn't seen and done... so much excitement EVERYWHERE! There's no activity that you can suggest that he will turn down! From playing in the mud, to picking Cataba worms... he's ALL FOR IT! I even bet if you said, "who wants to go shovel cow manure with me"... he would be the loudest in the crowd waving his hand in the air saying, "me, me, ME!" and... to tell you the truth, keeping him busy with activites is the also the best way to keep him out of trouble. If his mind is idle, he creates his own activity (which usually is mischief that gets him into trouble). So... we try to stay busy playing baseball (wiffle ball), tennis, sprinklers, bubbles, spray bottles, bounce houses, parks, bikes, wagons, playing in the pea-gravel pile, in the bunkers on the golf course, mud puddles, etc. etc... like I said, it's activity in general that he loves!

Pictures

2011-05-08T21:19:00.003-05:00

While Adam worked in the yard on Saturday morning, I decided to snap a few pictures of the kiddos... I thought several of them turned out cute. If only I had dressed them for a photo session (sigh)...

Hope your Mother's Day weekend was as good as ours :)

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T20:49:00.007-05:00

A few pics taken after church this morning...

running from Hoss

and some from the egg hunt on Saturday...

(Avery is "feeding" the Easter bunny grass... not sure why, but it was pretty funny)

Bryce and "Rissa" hunting for eggs...

she loves playing peep-eye right now...

they were both all about loving on the Easter bunny

Bryce wouldn't even slide until Rissa got there...

We had a wonderful Easter weekend! Beautiful weather, family time, and a wonderful sermon this morning. For fear I would butcher the sermon by trying to give high lights, I'll leave you with the website, so you can hear it for yourself. http://www.gracefellowshipcc.org/ Carlton did a great job of "proving" the resurrection as well as explaining how the reality of the resurrection effects us so greatly! To top it off, we closed the service with the Revelation Song... love that one!!!

Hope you all had a very Happy Easter as well!

Dyeing Easter Eggs...

2011-04-20T20:05:00.003-05:00

I have been telling Bryce that we would dye some Easter eggs, and today I couldn't put it off any longer. So... despite the light rain, we went outside and dyed our eggs. Bryce was into it, (and so was Avery- literally. She actually ended up in the swing while we finished). Couldn't get a picture of the two of them, or I would have captured Avery covered in dye! :)

We wore our paint clothes...

and were all smiles :)

We had a mess after dyeing the eggs (despite the fact that the box said, "spill proof cups") so... here we are post-bath in our PJ's, and so excited about our finished product!

Some of them didn't turn out as bright as we would have liked, but this was our first time at this. I think next year, we will opt to add vinegar (like the box suggested) :)

Tuesday Morning!

2011-04-19T07:59:00.007-05:00

We've been saying we wanted to get a picture of Avery when we are saying the blessing, so... this morning, we did! Even though you don't necessarily have to fold your hands, bow your head, close your eyes, etc. etc. to pray, we unknowingly taught these very things to Avery.

One evening, we said, "let's say the blessing," and when we looked over, this is what we saw. She wasn't taught or prompted, which made it even more precious to us. So now, (I admit), we prompt her :)

and... after the blessing, she repeats, "AMEN!" with a big grin :)

Bryce and his morning-do wanted in on the camera action this morning (very unlike Bryce to WANT a picture, so we took him up on the offer) :)

Since the kiddos were both in there bunny outfits, I attempted to get a picture of them before school. (Despite what it looks like, I wasn't trying to cut Bryce's head off in this picture, I was actually attempting (poorly) to get a close-up of Avery)

Again, Bryce surprisingly was cooperating... Avery, umm... not so much :)

Anyways, happy Tuesday on this Easter week!!!!!!

Brother/Sister

2011-04-08T12:43:00.006-05:00

I just like these pictures... it captures an average weekday in the Allen house. Momma putting in a load of laundry and hearing little giggles coming from Bryce's room. When I popped my head in, this is what I saw...

These 2 really do enjoy playing with each other. I can tell Bryce loves having a built-in playmate at all times (well, unless he is playing with HIS trains) :) But, pretty much ever since Avery was born, Bryce has liked to be right there with her. One time, I took him to get his haircut (alone) and he looked over and saw Avery's empty carseat and said, "but what about Avery?" There are times when we are heading out the door, and Bryce will say, "Momma, don't forget Avery" (as if I have done that before). On MDO day, he bends down and tells Avery, "we've got school today, Avery!" His teacher has told me that they play together on the playground or in the gym :) One day, I went to pick them up and they were all out on the playground... Bryce's age in a separate section than Avery's, and he had his hands reaching in the fence on her side touching her hands... it made this Momma's heart smile!!!

Bryce has been such a big helper to me lately. He can (and is most of the time more than willing) to help me around the house. One thing he often asks to do is to vaccum! He likes to use the small attachment and watch it suck up all of the dirt (especially out from under the kitchen table after a meal). He also likes to help me water plants, windex, and dust! This boy loves to WIPE!

I really do think he has such a sweet, tender heart. He has his moments (don't get me wrong), but for this characteristic, I am most grateful!!!!

This boy LOVES his daddy! and with good reason (he has a great one)! When daddy icomes home, it is play time!!! They wrestle, tackle, play on track hoes, fork lifts, fix stuff, and the list goes on and on. They are also snuggle buddies on the couch at night :) There are numerous times a day when we are doing something, and Bryce will say, "we'll save some for daddy" or "daddy will be so happy/proud."

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Avery is almost 15 months, and she is saying more and more all the time. Also, getting a little more spunky all the time too (whew). Her new words are:

qu-qu (cracker)

co co (lo- lo... our word for lotion) (she likes to eat it too, so you gotta watch out!)

bis (biscuit)

bye!!!! (she says this loud and drawn out :)

Gigi

NACK (for snack... she usually screams this)

me-me or mamie (for lovie and passy)

mic (for milk)

be be (blueberries)

I!!!! (for ice, and eye)

na (for nose) happy (she says this plain as day and often, but i'm not sure what she means... i think it's because i always sing "if you're happy and you know it" every time i change her diaper) oh, and of course the dreaded "NO" she says this with vigor and usually accompanies it with a pointed finger or stern swating motion (told you this girl has spunk)... Like I've said before, she repeats almost anything. She pointed to a picture on her sippy cup, and I said, "tinkerbell" and she tried her best to repeat it! When Adam's family was in town, she repeated all of their names (this made them soooo happy... especially Gran) For Gran, she says, "Gan." She even said "Ainsley" clear as a bell! She too will pick up a paper towel and take it all over the house and "clean." You can even say, "Avery, can you clean?" and she takes off wiping!!! It's too funny to watch! She is following lots of other commands as well. For example: go to the bath tub, stand up, sit down, let me see your toes (she picks them up so i can wash them in the bath tub), put lovie in your bed, give lovie a kiss, take (something) to daddy/bryce... she understands a WHOLE lot. I think this is part of the reason for some of her fits... she knows alot, but can't verbalize all she wants to say. She is a good sleeper (especially at night). She sleeps about 12 hours a night... from 7:30 to 7 or 7:30 am. She goes down great for a nap, but hasn't yet consolidated her sleep well for just one nap. For this reason, she still usually takes 2 naps. A short one in the morning (about an hour) and a longer one in the afternoon (about 1 and a half to 2 hours). She gives pucker kisses now and this is probably my most favorite thing!!!!!!!! You can ask her, Avery, Can I have a kiss? and she puckers up and leans in :) She also likes to play peep-eye! She covers up her eyes with her hands (but you can see her looking out the spaces in between her fingers), it's too cute :) I have recently discovered that with a certain smile, she has a dimple on her right side :) She's still a good eater, but doesn't devour everything like she has in the past. She has finally decided that she will drink plain ol' whole milk (without formula mixed in). This has been somewhat of a long transition for us. So... we are just now trying to make the switch away from the bottle.. it just seemed like too many new things to get her to do all at once! Well, I think that about covers it for now... sorry if I overloaded you with seemingly mundane details, but I want to remember these younger days :)

Recap of March

2011-04-03T14:49:00.011-05:00

For starters, Adam took Bryce out to the farm to shoot his gun. Oh my! This didn't and still doesn't set well with me. In my opinion, he is only 3 and has his whole life to learn about guns and hunting. The only thing I think he needs to know about guns is DO NOT TOUCH THEM! But... Adam has a different opinion, and he feels that he can and should start teaching him now about guns and gun safety! During this shooting excursion, I heard him tell Bryce over and over to "only touch a gun with daddy." Whew... I don't know about raising boys, but I remember asking Gran (Adam's mom) how she did it, and she told me that she did a LOT of praying! I think it was good advice, but praying and trusting in God's sovereignty is sure testing me early :) So... mid-March, Tucker, (my best friend's middle child) had a Barney birthday party! For starters, the weather was BEAUTIFUL and the kiddos all played outside: in the bounce house... on the swings...

etc.

but then, BABY BOP showed up!!!!!!! The kids were all so surprised and excited! It was extra exciting for us adults (and I'll tell you why in a minute)! If you look closely at this picture, the expression on Mallory and Ann's faces says it all! I don't think I've laughed that hard in a long time!!! You see, the reason is that we knew who was in that Baby Bop costume (Mallory's mom), and she is a hoot!!!! She danced and motioned and put on a SHOW! and even when the costume got too cumbersome, and she tripped over a bean-bag board, she came up with a "TA-DA" type motion that was just so in character that it had me rolling!

After the dancing and singing was over, the kids all gathered 'round for a picture :)

What a fun birthday celebration!

Also, in mid-March, Adam had his big race! His friend, Josh (who he works with) talked him into running it, and they only had 5 weeks to train for it! Anyhow, it's called the Tough Mudder, and it was 13 something miles with 17 obstacles in it. Mostly all hills.

The last obstacle (which was our "watching point") was jumping off a platform into muddy water and running through a shocking section. Here is Adam jumping off...

and he and Josh swimming to the "shocking" section...

Their attire... (yes, they both wore tu-tus... go figure), but it did make it easier for us to spot them out of 3000 + people!

They were referred to as the "tough tu-tus" by the guy announcing...

The race (they say) was harder than it had ever been before, and although the average finish time was SUPPOSED to be 2 1/2 hours, it took our guys a "little" longer. Making our original plan (to show up about the time they finish) a little tricky :) Adam's family was in town visiting for this weekend, and it was a good thing! I was grateful to have extra hands to keep the little ones out of the muddy water and in good spirits while we waited :)

Here is Adam with our niece, Ainsley.

and Bryce was so happy that our "tough mudder" finished :)

Catching up...

2011-03-06T20:36:00.006-06:00

Well... I've been thinking of posting an update since Avery's 12 month check-up, but I didn't have any new pictures, so I waited. However, I still have no new pictures (although we've had several camera-moments , but I just never had my camera :( However, a lot new is happening and I just can't wait any longer for pics (I'm afraid my memory won't remember all I have to say)!

At Avery's check-up, she weighed 20 pounds and 1 ounce, and was 31 3/4 inches tall! She has such a personality now and is communicating with us so much that I now find myself looking at her like she isn't a baby anymore :( She understands SO much and is saying syllables for LOTS of words! I thought Bryce was a talker, but I think she's every bit as talkative as he was! She says:

"ba" for ball and bar (cereal bar), and Boz (she points at the DVD player in the car)
"ba ba" for bottle
mama
dada
"ha" for Hoss, hot, and hey
bye-bye
"sh" for shoe
ice
eye
"na na" for banana and no-no
"ca" for car
"baby" for her lovie and paci
"uh ah" for uh-O
"br" for bryce
"br ba" for Brown Bear (her favorite book)

She said "Allie" the other day when we were playing with our friend, Allie... and it sounded like she said, "JJ" too. She tries SO hard to say "Gigi" and makes a sound that sounds pretty close!

She also says, "apple," but I'm not so sure she is talking about an apple... she definitely can repeat ANYTHING! When she sees a picture Bryce made at school, she says something that sounds just like "happy"... still haven't figured that one out yet...

she can make a fish face (too cute)!!!!
animal sounds for cow (moo), horse (neigh), duck (qu qu), sheep (baaa)

She has had 2 bottom teeth for the LONGEST time, but has recently gotten almost 4 top teeth and another bottom tooth all at once! Wow! We went from 2 teeth to 7 teeth in a matter of about a month! But, she has been a trooper... we wouldn't have even known she was teething if it wasn't for seeing them!!

The other day, she and Bryce were both standing up in his room and she just came up behind him and hugged him and laid her little head on him... it was precious!!! She loves her brother so much!!!

She is VERY attached to her lovie and paci (even more so than Bryce was). I try to keep them in her crib (so she doesn't drag them around and get them dirty), but she will stand at the foot of her crib and cry for them! She calls them "baby"

I think my favorite thing she does is shake her head. She does this A LOT! I used to think she shook her head appropriately for "yes" or "no" but have noticed lately that she doesn't know the difference. She does it so intently that I thought for sure this was her "answering" us... it is just the funniest thing to watch!!!!

Still her Momma's girl... I am LOVING it and trying to soak it all up (since you never know how long it will last)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now... moving on to Bryce:
He has been such a sweet boy lately (hoping I don't jinks this by saying it). I don't know if he is just in a sweet period, if he is getting older and understanding this listening thing, or if I'm being more consistent with him, but... regardless of why, he is being a sweet heart!!!!

His attention span is getting better too! Last weekend, he went fishing with Daddy and Hoss, and I expected it to be a fairly short trip, but he lasted for about 2 hours!!! Came home, took a nap, and went back out for about 2 more hours!!! He loves it! Adam said at first he was into practicing "casting" and then he loved scooping up the fish Adam and Hoss caught with a net!!! He came home talking 90 to nothing about all of their adventures! He told me they even caught a "stick-fish" (I think someone got hung... haha!) This weekend, it was cold and rainy, and all he could talk about was wanting to go to the lake and fish! Sorry buddy :(

He is also enjoying fixing things right now. He told me all about the duck boxes he helped Hoss to make, and he helped Adam fix a broken pipe in the bathroom this weekend too! When I say he helped, I don't mean he popped in and out to help. He was right there the WHOLE TIME helping Adam! His attention span has really impressed me!

Also, Bryce gave up his paci about a month ago! After his birthday, we cut the end of his paci's off, and told him he was too big for them, and sucked the end off his paci... (this was the way my mom got rid of my paci as a child, so I tried it). He got pretty upset, and had a hard time for about 2 days! It kinda broke my heart that he was so concerned about paci... I started doubting if we used the right method, and I told him that we could give them to a baby because babies weren't too big for them (he LOVES babies)! He seemed to get okay with that... One night Adam put him to bed, and I came home (from bible study) and he said Bryce did great without his paci... basically I was babying him too much about it! After that, he's been fine and has only occasionally asked about his paci (when he sees Avery's). So... overall, no big deal!!! (Now he has adopted about a trillion stuffed animals to sleep with instead... ha!)

For almost 2 months now, he has been saying the strangest thing every night before he goes to bed... he tells me "to not forget Daddy's emails at work and don't let him fall out of his truck." I have no idea what in the world he is talking about and I have learned just to say, "okay buddy, I won't forget" and he goes right to bed :) The only thing I can think of is that he started saying this right about the time Adam was in South Africa and one day on the phone I told Adam to be so careful... Bryce heard me and said something then about not letting Daddy fall off... who knows what his little mind is thinking??? But, it never fails... EVERY night (and nap) he tells me this same thing! I think he is such a concerned little guy :)

Well, that just about wraps up what's been going on here lately... pics to come soon!!!

Bryce's 3rd Birthday!!

2011-02-10T17:30:00.007-06:00

We had an "Old McDonald" birthday party for him at Hoss's barn! A petting zoo came and we had pony rides...

Goats to feed (I just love the expression on Quinn's face)

Even the donkey came! You can see in this picture the hard work that Adam and Hoss put into wrapping vinyl around the corner of the barn to keep it warm for the kiddos... the things we do for them :)

Even Avery enjoyed the petting zoo with her friend Emerson :)

Beau and Andrew (2 boys from Bryce's class at school)

Bryce and Sara Kate loved on this bunny for a while...

Ainsley may be asking Santa to bring her a baby chicken for Christmas next year (this precious little girl didn't let this baby chicken out of her arms!!!)

Isn't this a cute picture? Emory, Marissa, and Allie peeking out of the bunk beds at the barn!

Bryce loved his barn cake and cupcakes!!! Notice Bentley beside him... these 2 are almost inseparable these days! Bryce loves to follow Bentley around, and she's pretty good at leading too :) It's so fun to have a big cousin to play with!!!

Blowing out the candles... (yes, Momma remembered them this time LOL)

I think this was seriously his 3rd or 4th cupcake... I finally had to cut him off! This boy LOVES some icing!!!!

Our little family shot :)

It was such a fun day!!! I think the 60 degree weather we had the weekend before had gotten our hopes up for a nice spring day, but with the heaters and vinyl, we were all warm and cozy and had a blast!!! Happy Birthday to our big boy :)

Prayers for Kate

2011-02-02T08:27:00.002-06:00

I have blogged about this before, but am now asking again for prayers on behalf of Kate. I don't know her personally, but I can only imagine how I would feel in this position... DESPERATE for prayers for my daughter. Kate, who is 6 (I think) is a very scared little girl! So...please take a moment and pray!!!

www.caringbridge.org/visit/mcraekate

thank you!

Party Pics...

2011-01-18T08:08:00.005-06:00

The birthday girl!!

Apparently this was the "all-girls" room

because all of the guys were in here...

We just had a low key family birthday party... ate dinner...

had cake (and icecream)

mean ol' momma forgot to make sure we had candles, so we used part of a skewer (poor second child...)

Our family pic (minus Bryce- he wasn't feeling his best)

bless her heart... she couldn't even eat her cake for us trying to get her to smile... here she is clapping...

a girl-cousin picture...

i just like this picture... loving on her momma

after cake, WE opened presents... this was definitely a WE event. These girls are PROS at getting a package opened in less than 3 seconds...

and... Avery did a little upwrapping herself...

Although, I think she had more fun playing "keep the tissue paper away from Pappy" :)

I just love these personality shots... she loves for you to tease her and play games :)

An attempted group shot of the kiddos- you can tell Bryce wasn't feeling well :(

But thankfully the birthday girl was!!!

and Bryce did muster up enough energy to give the birthday girl some snuggles...

and check out some of Avery's gifts with "Rissa"

We had such a good time and were thankful for those who celebrated with us!! (and a little jealous of those who were in Glendale LOL)

This past year with Avery...

2011-01-08T07:15:00.018-06:00

On January 11, 2010... she was born!

to a momma and a daddy that love her SO much!

Bryce has always loved babies (and still does). When Avery was born, it was no different. You can see him reaching for her in this picture...

and kissing her...

and giving her his puppy (this was big) and other stuffed animals...

In this picture, Avery was about 8 weeks, but she actually first smiled at about 5 weeks! and she is still such a happy, smiley baby :)

Avery's dedication day :)

Avery at 3 months... Can you tell she LOVES a bath?

Rolling over both ways by 5 months! She still makes this face :)

Clapping and...

Sitting up at 6 months

Crawling at 7 1/2 months, and first tooth!!! (we are still waiting on those top ones)

First steps at 10 months...

Now, Avery is running (well, trying to). A funny story... the other day, Avery was getting into the trash (her favorite hobby)... she knows not to do this, so... she quickly opened it, grabbed the beloved wipe or paper towel and turned to "run" from me!

She also "runs" from Bryce when they play the tail-game!!! It's too cute :)

She is also nodding her head "yes" and "no" and (I think) for the appropriate answers.

She can point to her nose, and eyes (and say "I")

When we sing the "Wheels on the bus," she can do the motions for "swish, swish, swish" and "up and down" and "open and shut"

She signs for "all done."

She raises her hands up if you say, "touchdown!"

She pats her head when you say, "Avery, where's your bow?"

She truly is such a joy in our lives, and we are so thankful the Lord blessed us with our sweet, sweet tinkerbug :)

A friend posted this poem on her blog, and as I read it, I kept picturing my little bundle... the words are so sweet... (I tweaked it a little)

Avery McClayne, my bundle of joy
You are tiny and helpless, beautiful to see
How blessed I am that you belong to me!
Little hands that hold on tight,
Sweet little cheeks to kiss each night.
Growing, growing every day...
IF ONLY YOU COULD STAY THIS WAY!
In need of me for everything,
and loving your Momma more than anything!
Jesus loves you, this I know,
He designed you, formed you, and makes you grow.
I pray you are a child of THE king,
because dear one, that is EVERYTHING!
I can't tell you how much I love each little feature... her little hands that pat, pat, pat on my back when I hold her. Her little fingers that she pokes in my mouth each night as I am rocking her to sleep. Her big grin, shrugging shoulders, and tilted head when she's happy. Her little curls in the back of her hair. Her chubby little feet that are as deep as they are wide. Her two little teeth that like to gnaw on everything! Her little pot belly that STAYS full! Her little waddle that takes her everywhere!
Man, I could just cry... really cry when I think about how I wish she could stay this small...
Okay, so before I do cry... goodnight and stay tuned for her party pics coming this week!

A Wonderful White Christmas!!

2010-12-27T13:10:00.019-06:00

Christmas morning, Bryce and Avery woke up... 6:45ish to...

A drum set... look at that face (you can tell he wasn't playing Silent Night)! Adam laughs and says that Mrs. Claus didn't think this gift through :) Actually, I did anticipate the loudness of the drums, but must admit the LOUDNESS of the cymbals add another whole dimension of LOUD that wasn't anticipated!

Even Tink-tink joined in!
Santa also brought Bryce a guitar!

Avery got a keyboard (you would think we were a musical family wouldn't you?)... NOPE! Just coincidently had a musical Christmas!

Avery also got a ride-on toy!!! They both enjoyed this one too!

We called Gran and Pappy and told them all about what Santa brought (I don't know if they could hear us talking... but, I definitely think they figured out we got DRUMS!!! :)

Gigi and Hoss came over, and saw what Santa brought and we all had breakfast together!!! Then, Gigi and Hoss took Avery with them while the rest of us headed to Jacksonville to visit with Ms. McDonald... a sweet older lady we met for the first time that morning! We got her name and address through our church. She was not expecting us, and when we showed up at her door, she immediately started to tear up. We were blessed to meet such a sweet lady who wasn't afraid to open up and talk to us. We had such a nice visit, and it really was a special time and made Christmas morning so meaningful!

When we got to Gigi and Hoss's house, we visited while we waited on the rest of the family to arrive! We also got to play in the snow!!!!

Even Avery got out in it for a minute! Hoss let her eat the snow, and I think she liked it :)

Then, we built a snowman in the back yard!!! It really felt so good outside that day- not too cold at all!!!

That evening, the rest of the family arrived and we all had a wonderful meal (and dessert... of course)- the kiddos even sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and had cupcakes!!!!

After dessert, Gigi read the Christmas story and the little ones reinacted it... Here is Mary and Joseph tucking baby Jesus in the manger...

We had 2 Mary's... here is Mary #1

and Mary #2 is getting dressed on the right (I'm not sure why this is the only picture I have of Mary #2, but if you knew her little personality... it's fitting) :)

That sums up Christmas day! And then, we came back the next morning for a yummy breakfast and some presents!!

Gigi and Hoss gave Bryce an Auburn football uniform, and he LOVED it!!! He immediately put the helmet on and ran and fell down (head first), like he had been tackled!

He proceeded to put the entire uniform on, but somehow I didn't get a good picture of it. However, I get a feeling we'll have another post for that soon... he LOVED it!

Avery got a baby doll (one just like I had and loved when I was a baby)... she too loved it as you can see!!
(btw... do you see Bryce's tongue in the left of this picture?) Okay, I know what he is doing, but I have NO IDEA why he is doing it (except for the fact that Bentley started laughing and he was getting a reaction from EVERYONE so he kept doing it)... I just don't know about this child- isn't the first born supposed to be your calm, sweet, soft-spoken, mild child?

Yep, I just think we aren't gonna have one of those!

I just thought this was a cute picture! Notice the shoes!!!!

All 3 of the older children really do play so well together!!

However, getting them to all look and smile at the camera, is another thing... but, this one turned out pretty good... however, we had the actual tree in mind for our background... guess you can't have it all!

Avery had just woken up from a nap when we tried to get this picture, so we didn't have many "takes" before she was DONE, so... this was the best I got of the 4 of them!

Then it was time for the Harris family to go back to Montgomery :(

When Bryce woke up from his nap, the first thing he asked for was "Bentley-Emmy." I had to remind him that we told them bye-bye!

The day after Christmas was so much COLDER than the day before, so when we played in the snow this time, we had to bundle up much more!

and little Tink-tink had to stay inside :( but she thoroughly enjoyed watching from the window :)

Bryce decided that actually making a snow angel is a LOT colder than it looks...

and he decided to stick with throwing snowballs at Daddy :)

It was some of the best couple of days we have had in a long time!!! I hope your Christmas was as Merry as ours :)

11 months!!!

2010-12-09T14:17:00.004-06:00

Well... what do ya know? This post is early!!! Avery turns 11 months on Saturday, and while I have a minute, I wanted to post about what she is doing these days!

I feel like all of a sudden, she is learning SO much!! On command, she will: clap, pat pat (your back), give a five, wave bye-bye, and play peep-eye! She is also walking FULL FORCE all over the place. She definitely has some first words now... she says: ma ma, da da, bye (only once so far), "pee pie" (per Gran... I haven't heard this one yet), Ha (for Hoss), Na Na (for no-no and night-night). She eats great and LOVES table food!! She uses her two little teeth and eats just about anything! The other day, I gave her small bites of Bryce's hotdog, and she did great! She is also using a sippy cup pretty well too! (not that I'm pushing for all of these grown-up things... she's my baby :)

She does really well for her age at listening to instruction, I think. If she is getting into something she's not supposed to, I can usually say, "no mam" and she'll pause and look up at me like... "are you sure?" but then she usually walks away and moves on to something else (like the trash or toilet water... ugh... we've got to remember to keep those potty seats down). Every now and then, she'll get her feelings hurt when you tell her no... and you can see a little frown start forming and then comes the tears... but she seems to be distracted easily :)

She's just at one of my favorite ages!!! So smiley and happy and yet I've really started seeing her preferences too (with some personality :) She will point and grunt to let you know what she wants (with some vigor), and then gives you little sideways grins and cuts her eyes at you because she is so happy to get it!! Such personality... she's a mess... our little mess :)

Thanksgiving and Christmas in Shreveport

2010-12-01T09:24:00.005-06:00

Before I get to all of the Shreveport activities, I wanted to share a quick snapshot of Bryce at "school." His teacher, Mrs. Amy (who I love) had them a thanksgiving party, and all of the kids made and wore little pilgrim costumes. When I came to pick him up, they were all dressed up :)
This isn't the best picture, but at least you get the idea. I'll take just a second to brag on Mrs. Amy... she always seems so patient, kind, and unfrazzled (if that's even a word)... even in midst of ten 2 and a half year olds. I love her little updates on Bryce everyday when I go to pick him up... what kind of day they had and what they learned and did!!! It allows me to understand better what all Bryce is trying to tell me about his day :)

Now, on to Shreveport... So, on Wednesday, we traveled to Shreveport. On thursday, we had thanksgiving lunch at Gran's house (which was yummy), and I can't believe I didn't take a picture, but Avery enjoyed her first thanksgiving food very much!!! In addition to her sweet potato/corn baby food, she had broccoli cornbread, broccoli casserole, and some mashed potatoes! She's my little eater :)

It was a good time with family, friends, and fellowship :)

After nap time, we had Christmas with Gran, Pappy, Aunt Aubrey, Uncle Lance, and Ainsley! The kiddos were spoiled and got way too much, but had a great time!!! Here is Avery with her seahorse/baby doll whose tummy lights up and plays music...

and her baby doll car/stroller (thanks to Uncle Lance for putting it together)

she loves it as you can see!!! It's perfect because she is walking really well, but this is sturdy and gives her more balance to go WHEREVER she pleases :)

After we finished opening presents, we took Bryce's airplane outside to see what it could do...
that's not a bird in this picture... that's his airplane!!! It will circle for like 100 feet (I think the package says), but when the wind gets it... it'll go further :) it even flew on top of the neighbor's roof!!! (but, we got it!)

and then it was time for Aunt Aubrey, Uncle Lance, and Ainsley to go back to Texas...
so we gave them big hugs...

and kisses...
and I don't think I picked up my camera another time :( but... we went to the Cat in the Hat story time and Chick-Fil-A one day, to the park another day, and visited lots more family!!! Adam hunted with his dad and killed an 8 point!! oh, and... we watched the Iron Bowl too... Warrrrr Eagle!!!!

and we headed home on Sunday!

That just about wraps up our Thanksgiving holiday... I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving as well!!!

10 months and firsts...

2010-11-18T09:40:00.004-06:00

this guy is so funny...

and it's the funniest thing when he sneaks up on me and scares me...
where'd he go?

oh, there he is!!!

one night Bryce was finished eating, and he jumped down and snuck up on Avery, and scared her (he's really into this right now). She just belly laughed. We have it on video, and I have asked Adam to help me get it uploaded (it's on his phone) so... I (think) he's working on it. But, I did take a few pictures too :)

Anyways, Avery is 10 months old... man, I LOVE this age!!! She's so fun!!! Adam now has a new name for her (other than tinkerbug)... and it's little billy goat. This girl will crawl up on anything...

(she's loves to jump on Bryce's trampoline too :) and she will put EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING into her mouth (man, we have to watch this). I mean, EVERYTHING... rocks, nuts, leaves, sand, paper, ANYTHING! and she doesn't want to give it back! It is an all out fight to get this girl to open her mouth and get something out... she's stubborn (and has a little temper too, I might add)... I think we may be in for it :)

But, she's still just as smiley as ever, and we love our little billy goat/tinkerbug/Avery-bug :)

Her 10 month stats... she's 30 inches tall, 19 pounds and 15 oz

She's really into feeding herself right now... being VERY picky about what baby food she will take. and if she doesn't want it, good luck :) She will clamp that mouth shut, put that hand up and block the spoon (oh, the joys of motherhood) :) but, she is loving most table foods/finger foods (it's just tricky to find a variety of things that are soft enough for her to eat... she only has 2 teeth :) but her favorite right now is carrots :)

She has taken a few steps on her own, and can stand balanced enough to bend her little knees and "dance" to the theme song of Chuggington!!!

I (think) she said her first word this week too!!! (The jury is still out on whether or not she actually "knows" what she is saying), but... I'm counting it, especially since her first word is:

MAMA!!!! (yea!!!)

One day this week, I was getting Bryce dressed, and she crawled up to my leg, pulled up (fussing) and said, "ma-ma" then this morning, Adam was holding her and she pointed at me and said, "ma-ma" so... I'm counting it!!!!!

Anyways, Bryce has also had a first recently. We took him a couple of weekends ago to the AU Homecoming game (his first Auburn game). I will post a picture, but it's giving me trouble... something about how some program can't open it... (once again, something about my lack of technological skills). Anyways, Adam and I took him and we met Hayley and her girls! When we first saw them in the stands, Bryce tried to duck under the rails and go straight to them- he was so excited to see Bentley and Emory!! We had a great time, and the kiddos did really well. Our goal was to make it until half time, and we did!!! We got to see the eagle fly (I think Bryce saw it, it went right over our heads, but his eyes didn't really follow it, so I'm not so sure...), and those little ones shook their shakers the whole time (until the game started). During the first quarter, we ate hotdogs and nachos, and Bryce looked up at Adam and said, "I'm duuun!" Adam said, "are you done with your hotdog, buddy?" (Bryce- "No, I'm dun with football). uh oh... luckily a sweet little girl next to us had a coloring book and asked them to color with her- so... we were able to make it the second quarter too :) They were all excited to see Aubie and do the wave!!!

Oh, and he loved riding the "bus" to the stadium too :)

So... thank you Hayley, Dr. Norby, and the Frenchs for the tickets... we had a great time!!!

Kate's scan...

2010-11-04T07:59:00.002-05:00

An update for you all who prayed for Kate:

Kate's scan came back STABLE, which is great!!! Her mom is so joyful and thanks everyone for their prayers!!!

Halloween

2010-11-02T17:56:00.011-05:00

A few days before Halloween, we carved a pumpkin!!! Bryce was very interested in the process and liked helping Daddy :) and I roasted up their pumpkin seeds (which Bryce didn't care for) and Miss Priss watched and snacked :)

Bryce liked pulling the insides out :)

a proud pumpkin owner :)
On Thursday before Halloween, the club had a Halloween party and Gigi and Hoss came with us! Here's our picture of Old McDonald and his pig...

and here's our little pig crawling :) doesn't she look like a real pig in this position? We laughed and laughed at this :)

Momma and her babies :)

we met up with some bugs and bees along the way :)

and all the kiddos had fun coloring their pumpkins :) I was very surprised at how much Bryce got into this (he was in one place for like 20 minutes) !!!

On Saturday (when our neighborhood trick or treated), our friends, the Harrison's came in town and stayed with us. Their twins (Brax and Reed) are Avery's age and Drake and Bryce are the same age (despite the size difference :)

we all trick or treated in this fashion...

and met up with our friends, the Nichols!!! The crowd was just beginning to come out, but the streets were soon FILLED (you can see the road is blocked off in the picture), and before we went home, both sides of the streets had more people on them than you could count)

we saw Obama and Sarah Palin :) (aka our sweet friends and down-the-street neighbors, the Popes)

and even saw the headless horseman!! Bryce liked the horse, but didn't like ANYTHING scary...

The boys ran from house to house (at first) and trick or treated and got some candy :) but by the time we went up one side of the street, they were DONE! So... back to the house we went (and watched football and ate chili!!!!)

It was a fun weekend filled with family, LOTS of friends, and beautiful weather!!!

P.S. If you missed the previous post about Kate, please keep reading and remember to pray :)

Pray for Kate

2010-11-02T16:02:00.005-05:00

A friend passed on to me a while back... a caring bridge site of a little girl and her battle with brain cancer. I have followed it for several months now, and wanted to take a moment to pass it along to you! Kate's mother, who usually writes the entries, is a very strong believer, and is such an inspiration on how she/they lean on our Sovereign God during their huge struggle, and she is so real about how hard this trial is for their family. I can't help but put myself in their situation as I read her entries and she pleads for prayer (as would I), so I can't help but to pass this along for more prayers for Kate!! Please take the time to read, she quotes 2 Corinthians about the power of prayer!!!

Oh... just a little history (so you know what she's talking about specifically...) Kate had an abnormal scan a while back in which the doctors weren't able to discern whether or not the "spot" was cancer. So... they advised to wait a couple of months and rescan to see if any changes were made.

www.caringbridge.org/visit/mcraekate

Pumpkin Patch!!

2010-10-20T20:35:00.005-05:00

This past Saturday, we took the kiddos to a new pumpkin patch at Bennett Farms in Heflin. It was a BEAUTIFUL day and lots of fun!!!!

Our little scarecrow...
They had a small petting zoo part that they both loved:

Look at Avery on those little tip toes peering over the fence to catch a peek at the donkey :)

She was loving this goat too... and got right in his face!!

You can see a little bit of a "tea cake" in Adam's mouth (he's "holding" it for Bryce)... Bryce LOVED the "cookies" as he called them and went back 3 times (for a sample)! They had a little "cook house" and made things over open fire in pots.

On the hayride...

Playing in the "corn box." It's like a sand box, only with corn!!!!

Avery enjoyed it too (only she kept wanting to eat the corn)

When we had finished playing, Bryce went and picked out a pumpkin. He was so cute... he picked out a relatively small one, and he insisted on carrying it all the way back to the car all by himself- he was SO proud of his pumpkin :)

9 months!!

2010-10-11T20:48:00.002-05:00

Avery is 9 months old today!!! I didn't post at 8 months (I give myself the bad Mom award) ... but, truthfully not much had changed from 7 to 8 months. However, at 8 1/2 months, Avery got her first tooth and started doing this:

crawling!!! We were at the beach (hence the bathing suit) when both happened! Now, she also has her second tooth as well, and is ALL OVER THE PLACE!!! She is pulling up on EVERYTHING and likes to walk while holding your hands (although still very unsteady). You can also ask her to clap her hands and she will follow the command :) (I think it's because we sing "If your happy and you know it" so many times :) But, I think it's precious how she knows what we are saying and just smiles as she claps... she seems so proud of herself (not to mention, we cheer for her every time she does it).

She loves to eat crackers (ritz, saltines, graham, puffs,... anything along those lines), but she's still eating her baby food and bottles well too :)

She's sleeping good at night, usually from 7:30pm until 6:30am or so. The length of her naps still vary though. She's not as predictable as Bryce was, but she naps twice a day now anywhere from 1-2 hours each. (At least one of them is a good nap).

She loves to put anything in her mouth... I REALLY have to watch that. She'll pick up leaves, rocks, sand, nuts, paper, ANYTHING and put it in her mouth.

She has gotten to where she actually likes to interact with Bryce too. (I think she's gonna be a tough cookie- kinda has to be around our wild man). But, she laughs at Bryce so much and it makes my heart smile :) They really do love each other. I've witnessed Bryce "beat down" someone who was trying to take a toy away from Avery. I corrected him and he said, "that's Tinkerbugs." (I mean, we can't beat people down like that, but it's kinda sweet that he takes up for her :) Hopefully that will last :)

That just about sums up Avery at 9 months, she's still just a smiley, happy baby- SUCH a blessing!!! Stay tuned for a beach post (there's way too many pictures to sort through, but I'm working on it)

Beach Trip!!

2010-10-08T13:39:00.011-05:00

We went to the beach for a week with my family at the end of September (I know, I know... it's October). Anyways, it was WONDERFUL!!!! We stayed at the Turquoise in Orange Beach. I highly recommend it (although without the oil-spill prices, I'm not sure we could have afforded it), and Gigi reminded us to "enjoy it while we could!!!!" and ENJOY we did!!!! :) This place not only had the beach, ocean, and pool to keep the little ones happy, but also had a lazy river, indoor pool with slide, and playground area! A normal day for us was to sunscreen up and enjoy the beach and outdoor pool before lunch and nap time, and then go to the indoor pool, lazy river, and playground afterwards (without having to reapply the sunscreen again, and for a change of scenery for the kiddos). The weather was BEAUTIFUL, it didn't rain the whole time we were there :) It was hot, but had a nice breeze! The ocean was still warm, although the outdoor pool was a little chilly (unless you were pretty hot... which we were at times:)

Anyways, here are some lazy river pics:

I think this is the only time Gigi rested (poor Gigi)... always trying to give us a vacation and a break :)

Here are some beach pics:

Miss Priss LOVED the sand. Occasionally she got it in her mouth, and it didn't bother her at all! In fact, if mean-ole-mom would've just left her alone, she would have been perfectly content with a mouth-full of sand (and let me tell you, it would have been easier to have let her too :)

Here she is in her baby pool under the tent... it helped to keep her contained and entertained!!! We put some toys in there and she was a happy camper :) In fact, we often laughed that she won the prize for the whole trip :)

When the guys weren't playing golf, they were fishing :) LOL!!! But, Bryce loved it and was very interested (although a little timid... especially since they taught him about the cat fish fin).

But, he LOVED the ocean. The waves were so much fun!!!

Here are some pool pics:
The outdoor pool had a zero entry side with little water fountains... perfect for the little ones :)

Look at Emory's sweet face looking at Avery. Those girls love that little "tinkerbug" too (yes, by the end of the week, they too were calling her "tinkerbug." I have a feeling that might just stick... I'm sorry Avery...

Bentley was searching for pennies... when Bryce found out what she was looking for, he was SO interested... "Bentley is finding money!!!!!!"

I love Avery's face in this picture...

Floating in the pool... with Gigi!!!

In the pool, these 2 LOVED jumping:

flipping (MUCH thanks to Hoss... I believe Hoss got a GOOD workout in that day)

and being thrown:

but, as you can see from these smiles, they LOVED every minute of it!!!

I just love this picture of Miss Priss before she jumps...

Oh, and this pool also had this waterfall in it!!! The kids loved it too!!!!

Our "condo" part (if you want to call it that), was UNBELIEVABLE!!! It was big enough for the kiddos to ride their bikes in an "indoor track-like fashion." and RIDE they did (anytime we were off the beach, these kiddos just rode and rode and rode). Bentley and Bryce loved to race and crash (guess who started that one?) Here's wild man with a ring pop and a drum-helmet on his head. That pretty much sums him up during this trip!!

We also caught sand crabs on the beach one night (sorry, no pics), but the kiddos LOVEDDDDD that!!! Hayley took some pictures of them playing at the Track one night, so I'll make a separate post about that once I get some pics from her :) Because Bryce lovedddd the go-carts and still talks about them!!!

Bryce...

2010-10-07T20:53:00.006-05:00

Just some things I don't want to forget:

1) The other day, Bryce, Avery, and I were sitting on the front porch swing watching for Daddy to come home (we do this often). Bryce looked up and you could see the moon (you know how sometimes you can see the moon even when it's daylight outside?) Well, Bryce said, "Momma, look at that moon... I want to bite it (meaning eat it). Random, I know, but I played along... "I see that moon Bryce, but how are we gonna get it down to "bite it?" (He didn't even blink an eye, and said, "a mouse-ka-tool" (it took me a minute to understand what he was saying), but on Mickey Mouse Club, they use tools to help them solve a problem. I thought that was too funny (and I admit, pretty smart of him to come up with), so again, I played along and we pretended to try a fishing pole and a lasso to get the moon down :) He knew we were just pretending then, but it was fun!!! Then Daddy showed up :) Yay!!!!

2) One day, it was just wild at our house. I don't recall ALL of the tasks that were happening simultaneously (leading up to this point)..., but I do remember at this point that Avery was hungry (and I think I've said it before, when this girl is hungry, SHE'S HUNGRY). So... she was in her high chair, and I was feeding her baby food. Bryce said he needed to poo-poo, and I got him on the potty and told him, "NOT TO GET OFF UNTIL I CAME TO GET HIM." (He's bad about hopping up when he's finished and if I'm not there, there's no telling what kind of mess he could make :) Anyways, I knew Avery would fuss when I stopped feeding her, and I wanted to be there when Bryce was finished. So... when I paused from feeding Avery to check on Bryce (just in the next room), here's what I found...

But he didn't get up!!!!!!! LOL!!!! :) Just look at that face- it's like he doesn't even think a thing about it. He wasn't being defiant- just keeping those little hands busy until Mommy came to check on him :) I must admit, I did want to stress the point to him of how we shouldn't make such a mess with the toilet paper, but I had SUCH a hard time keeping a straight face. In fact, I had to turn around one time and get a little chuckle in and turn back around and tell him that we only use the amount of toilet paper we need :) He, he, he- I need to frame this and hang it up in the bathroom (just for laughs on a rough day) :)

Thankful for Shallowness...

2010-10-07T20:40:00.001-05:00

I know this is a crazy title for a post. Stay with me...

Lately, I just haven't had a desire to blog. I enjoy doing other (non-computer) things in my spare time. Also, I feel like our blog is SIMPLY an online scrapbook (which is why I post)- well, that and so that out of town friends and family can "keep up" with us!! But, I read all of these inspiring blogs that make mine seem SO inferior!!!! People with sick family members (including children), deployed spouses, deaths, struggles with infertility, etc. etc. These people offer me such inspiration because in each of these blogs, the writer's faith is so strong, so real, and so lived out (is that even a phrase?). Anyways, I realize that the blogs that inspire me are accompanied by a huge trial. One that they can't possibly face alone. One in which they lean on Him (God) constantly each and every minute of the day to sustain them.

Although I love the times when I feel so much more intimate with Him (for me, it's often during a trial), I admit that I am thankful for my shallow post. Not that I want to be shallow, but I am thankful that at this moment, we are not experiencing a huge struggle. However, even as I type this, I am nervous... (mostly because I am a worrier- I wish I weren't). But, God says we WILL experience trials (all of us), believing in Him and walking with Him doesn't take all of our struggles away. It's a matter of when, not if, our trials come. Trials test our faith, they refine us, they make us more in His image. I pray now that when a trial comes, my faith will stand firm. That I can praise Him in the midst of a storm!!!

But, for now I'll leave you with a "scrapbook clip":

On September 8th, Adam turned the big 3 - 0!!!! (I know, I said on September 8th... I'm always behind. In fact, I've thought I should just do monthly post from now on :)
Anyways, we had a get together at Hoss's Barn. (We love Hoss's barn. It has brought our little family so much enjoyment. Especially on Sunday afternoons (after naps), we enjoy visiting and riding on the land and breathing some fresh, country air!!!!)

I'm getting off track... but, we celebrated there. There was good food, good friends, and 2 guys came and played and sang- it was kinda like tailgating with music :) !!!

Here's Adam's face when everyone was singing to him :)

His cake... (the guy said he was nervous about making a barn), so we went with this:

The "band"!!! (They were really good, I thought)

Everyone in tail-gate fashion :)

2 of the office ladies (minus Gigi) and Adam... chilling inside the barn!

Kristin and I!!
Us with JJ and Russell!!
Thanks to Gran I have these pictures to show you!!! (I forgot my camera that night- shocker :)

Labor Day

2010-09-07T14:21:00.005-05:00

How about this weather??? This weekend felt GREAT!! (Talk about a good welcome-home present) We spent Labor Day weekend at the lake with my family... Hayley and her family came and we had the WHOLE (extended) family (all 5 more) to the lake on Sunday to celebrate the holiday and the September birthdays (Macky 86, Adam 30, and Hayley 33)

So glad these kiddos enjoy the small things in life... oh what fun a sprinkler can be!!!

Until THAT guy does THIS... (argh) What am I going to do with this boy???

I guess we'll keep him :)

Caught a little one :) not quite sure if he's wants to touch him :)

Maybe just a little poke...

Sea-Doo fun!!!

Just how much spaghetti made it into your mouth, Bryce?

Group shots... always a challenge :)

What a sweet big cousin Bentley is :)

Can you tell we were a little unprepared for the 6:30 am golf cart ride? It was chilly until the sun came out!! Thanks Gigi and Hoss for the sweatshirt :)

This was the first time ALL the grandkids actually slept together in the "grandkid" room. Avery in the crib and Emory, Bryce, and Bentley all in big beds... so it was a certainty that one of the 4 would be up bright and early... and when one got up... they all got up :) But, really (to our surprise) it worked out well :) We just started our mornings like this...

Gigi and Hoss put springs on the swings now!!! How fun!!!

Well, somehow I ended up without pics of the extended family and birthday celebrations, but more on that to come... (at least from the one turning 30)

Napa

2010-09-02T14:12:00.011-05:00

Adam had some business to do in CA, and we decided that I would tag along with him and extend our stay into a long weekend/vacation. So... this past week, we traveled to Napa on Wednesday and stayed at a wonderful place... the Carneros Inn! On Thursday, Adam worked while I laid here...

by the pool and looked at this...

The weather was WONDERFUL!!! Sunny and in the 70's with a cool breeze (that reminded us of fall)
On Friday, we went to look at (and sample) these...

made into wine at places like these...

and our favorite winery... started up the drive like this...

and brought us to the Castle!!!!

Here we took a guided tour and explored and learned all about the construction of the Castle (from stones, bricks, etc from England) and went inside here...

through these tunnels underground (Adam kept talking about the skill it takes to make the bricks turn corners etc. etc... he was really impressed with all of the craftsmanship) ... by the way... did any of you see the bachelor this season with Jake and Vienna? Here is where one episode was filmed!!
and here was a tasting room!!! (so beautiful and some really yummy wine too :)

But our favorite adventure was this...

riding horseback along a ranch/winery and enjoying the fabulous weather and outdoors together!!! It reminded me of how much I so enjoy jeans, the outdoors, my hubby, (and the country music we listened to on the ride up to the ranch)...

(and I try to blame Bryce's red-neck tendencies on Adam... :)

We also enjoyed a nice visit with our down-to-earth tour guide, Raphel!!!

But, I have to admit... we both were MORE THAN ready to get back home and squeeze these 2 little bundles...

That being said... we owe Gigi (and Hoss) more than a BIG THANK YOU for keeping these two hand-fulls while we were gone!!! I know Gigi sacrificed her morning walks (since we have 2 early birds), sewing time, FREEDOM, and much much more so... THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for all you did so we could have a wonderful vacation and restful time together :)

Like Daddy...

2010-08-20T17:50:00.002-05:00

We are SO glad our babies are feeling better!!!!!!!!!!!!! After Bryce got better, Avery got sick :( but now BOTH are feeling good and back to their happy selves :)

So... I wanted to share some playful moments... here's Bryce fixing things like Daddy!!!!

7 months!!

2010-08-16T09:42:00.002-05:00

I'm behind on this post because little man has been under the weather. He is better now :) and Avery turned 7 months old on the 11th of this month! She is sitting up really good without support now, and is LIKING her baby food now too!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yea!!! I'm so excited about that. Also, just about 2 or 3 days ago, she started clapping!!!!!!!!!! She just grins so big and opens her mouth wide with excitement at her new trick :) It's precious :)

I'm hoping to catch little man in a singing/playing guitar mood and I'll try to post a video of that soon :)

A little of this, a little of that = a LOT of fun!!!

2010-07-30T15:14:00.010-05:00

Well... this post is pretty much a hodge-podge of our summer days here lately. Lots of outside activities plus some milestones... baby food and potty training!!!

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Playing in the fountains at Oxford Lake with friends!!!!

Avery's view of the fountain fun while trying to stay cool in the shade of the stroller and getting splashed by the fountains!!!

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Isn't this the BIGGEST teddy bear you've ever seen???) this was Ainsley's when we visited in Shreveport!!! Here's Avery being the smiley baby she is...

until mean ole momma tries to feed her baby food...

Seriously, Miss Priss HATES baby food so far... rice cereal (can't blame her), oatmeal, apples, pears, sweet potatoes, squash... all of it so far she pinches her mouth closed and then when I get the spoon in her mouth, makes a terrible face and proceeds to spit it out!!! What am I going to do with her? I've been bragging on what a good eater she is... I guess that's what I get :)

She is liking bananas though (real ones mashed up), so hopefully it will just take a little getting used to... I'm sure I'll end up MAKING her food... I guess that's the "Miss Priss" in her... she likes her bottle just the right temperature too :)

I just don't remember Bryce hating it so much??? Any advice on how to get her to like food better is greatly appreciated!!!!

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Here's our BIG BOY using the potty!!!! He's doing so good, really. All of a sudden he just seemed ready and has done really well!!!

and he loves to read his tractor book while on the potty- it's the only way to get him to sit there for any length of time :)

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Here's his latest inside trick... jumping off his bed and landing on his bean bag- STOMACH FIRST... have I said he is ALL BOY???

Speaking of ALL BOY... I think it's safe to say red-neck boy too :) He's found a mud puddle at the farm (more on the farm below)

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Playing baseball in the sprinklers (with big boy underwear on)... again, you might be a red neck if you play in the sprinklers in your underwear (but at least it's the BACK yard right?)

Avery in the swing with the fans blowing on her... (she's a trooper... at times it takes some creativity to have her join in the fun with us and stay cool at the same time... but she usually does it with a smile :) look at those sweet eyes!!!!!

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THE BARN!!!

So... Hoss has been VERYYYYYYYYYY busy getting the barn ready at the farm for us to enjoy. It has sort of become a Sunday afternoon tradition to head out to Ohatchee after nap time and see the progress. Well, this past Sunday got us really excited!!! It looks great and will be ready for us to enjoy very shortly!!!

Here is the view of the barn from the outside... a covered area to park the tractors etc. and...

the inside...

(from the loft)

These boys just about can't wait until it's completed!!!

Getting snuggles and kisses from daddy... so sweet!!! (in the air-conditioned barn)!!!

Doesn't the barn have so much character??? The outside wood is scraps from an old barn that Hoss had stored, and the railing is made from trees from the land that they cut down!!! They are still working on the kitchen part of it, but it does have a bathroom and is air conditioned!!! Such a special place to hang out!!!!

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Shreveport

2010-07-23T20:45:00.010-05:00

Last weekend, we packed up and headed to Shreveport to visit family and to attend a wedding. This was the first long trip we had taken since Avery was born and we were interested to see how it would go with 2. I just knew that as soon as Avery was asleep, Bryce would have an outburst and wake her up, but... all in all... it went good!!! I was able to sit in the back with them and keep them entertained (or fairly quiet) depending who was napping at the time :)

On Friday, Bryce and I went to a kids discovery place -kinda like McWane Center- (i think- we haven't been there yet) while Gran was sweet enough to keep Avery while she napped :) It was fun being able to give him some one on one attention!!! He loved this "pump yourself up" seat... it was by far his favorite!!

Putting on his hard hat before driving the truck :)

Going through the "ant" tunnel...

Hanging on some sort of pulley??? (I know... I'm sure I could have learned a whole lot if I had read all the info, but... when you are with an energetic 2 year old who really just wants a fun place to run and explore (in the cool)... who has time for facts????)
Trying to fly the plane!!
Cool piano :)
On Friday evening, we headed to Longview, TX (where Adam's sister, Aubrey, lives) for a birthday party for Uncle Lance!!! They have a new house (well, new since we had been for a visit) and it was so nice and had a great outdoor space and pool!!! Here is Bryce doing his canon ball (one of his latest tricks)!!!
and his belly flop :)

Bryce has really all of a sudden started LOVING the water and jumping off the diving board. Earlier this summer, he didn't like to go under, but now... he's running and jumping (and even trying to do what he calls a "back flip" (jumping off backwards). Besides giving his Gran a near heart attack, he was loving it!!!!
and even had his personal tug boat to pull him to the ladder!!!! Thanks Ainsley!!!!
Meanwhile, Avery had her personal playmate (Aunt Aubrey) letting her do exactly whatever she wanted :) Avery loved this COLD water coming out of the spout!!!
and lounging on the float with toys... do you think our kiddos are spoiled yet???
and yes, we were celebrating Uncle Lance's birthday- not Bryce's (contrary to what it seems). Although it appears that Bryce has already made it into the icing... (I think he snuck that bite)
and Aunt Aubrey making sure he got a good one :)
It was such a fun celebration!! Swimming, great meal, really yummy cake and homemade icecream too :) and hanging out with family!!!! I know my kids loved the extra spoiling (and I'm pretty sure they loved giving it too :)

On Saturday, we all went downtown to the Farmer's Market for fresh fruit and veggies!!! and let Bryce play in the fountains (which he LOVED... sorry, no pics- i didn't have my camera) and Avery even got a few splashes on her too (it got hot quickly)

then... that evening, Adam and I went to the wedding (one of our family friends married a girl from Shreveport- believe it or not!!!)

On Sunday, the extended family came to Gran and Pappy's house to visit and celebrate my birthday!!!! It was the first time most of them had seen Avery... and quite a while since they had seen Bryce. Again, another great meal and yummy cake for me!!!!

Avery making her "new" face (O's)
Nanny loving on that baby and Bryce entertaining us with his guitar playing and singing!!!!

Stats

2010-07-13T14:10:00.002-05:00

Well... we made it. That's all I can say- it wasn't necessarily pretty, but we made it out safely (from Dr. Sabens office that is). This was the first time both had to be seen at the same visit, and it got long and many tears were shed, but... it's over (for at least another 3 months (hopefully)) and it wasn't too bad considering...

Anyways, Avery's stats for 6 months are:

weight 17 pounds, 11 1/2 ounces
height 27 1/2 inches

between 75 and 90th percentiles :)

For Bryce: (this was his 2 year checkup- just late since his birthday fell in the "sick" months)

weight 28 pounds 1 ounce
height 36 inches (3 feet!!!!)

he's still about 25th for weight and 50th for height!!!

But, everyone is healthy and looking good :)

I'll post more on new tricks (when I get the pics together)!!!

6 Months!

2010-07-11T13:47:00.002-05:00

Avery is 6 months old today! Half a year (wow, saying it that way really seems like time has flown by). As we have said earlier, she is such a joy! She is a smiley, snuggly baby (and very ticklish too).

We go Tuesday for her check up and shots :( so I'll give you her stats when I know them... but, I have a feeling they will be big and big :) (She's my good eater)

She is sitting up really well these days (still with support), but getting stronger and stronger. We have just started giving her some baby food (not a fan yet, but she's only had squash so far). She laughs and smiles at just about anything and anybody (although she can definitely tell between someone she knows and doesn't know).

She LOVES Bryce (as you can see in the picture above)!!! She watches everything he does and LOVES for him to jump off the bed (yes, he's a wild man) and flip (his new thing) and just belly laughs (until it gives her the hick-ups)... it's precious to see!!!!

Bryce really does love his "Tinker-bug." The other day, he spontaneously sang the Barney song, "I (yove) you, you (yove) me, we're a happy family, with a great big hug (and gave her a BIG hug), and a kiss from me to you (kissed her on the cheek). Won't you say you (yove) me too!!! It was precious, so I ran to get my video camera and asked him to sing it again to "Tinker-bug" but... no cooperation (he always performs better when not asked... little stinker :)

and today on the way to church he looked over at Avery in her car seat and said, "your my little sister" (Adam and I ooed and gooed) and he continued, "I take good care of you." SO SWEET!!
She LOVES putting EVERYTHNG in her mouth (always has, but even more so lately), but so far... no teeth. She is getting closer and closer to getting on a consistent schedule with more consolidated naps... maybe in a month or so she'll be really predictable (I love a schedule... just part of my OCDness I'm sure)

But, she and they are doing great! I'll post later on Avery's stats and more on Bryce's new "tricks"!!!!

New Pics...

2010-06-21T14:39:00.005-05:00

We recently had some pictures made of Avery (5 months) and Bryce (2 years), and I thought I would share a few of my favorites...

Summer Fun!

2010-06-12T15:34:00.005-05:00

(I finally got this picture large enough to be seen :) )

Avery's mostly been up to this:
bubble blowing and...
smiling :)

Bryce has been:

to the zoo...

with Miller and Tucker :)
at the "petting" section of the zoo :)

driving the tractor :)
more smiles from Avery (at the zoo). She was pretty much satisfied with this view of the zoo the whole time :) Just happy to be outside!!!

yes, Bryce has on a leash (if you call it that). we prefer to call it his "monkey backpack" (which he loves!!!!) and it is most helpful when keeping up with wildman :)
Riding the train was too much fun!!!

Playing in the "new" play area that Daddy built!!! Imitating Bob the Builder :)

Sorry this is a VERY unorganized post, but hopefully you get the picture :)

Hope you all are having a wonderful beginning of summer!!

Rolling Over!!!

2010-06-09T16:51:00.003-05:00

Avery will be 5 months old on Friday!!! Time has really flown by, but what a joy she is!!! This is such a fun age- there is so much expression!!! And... I feel like she is an extra- smiley baby. She loves her jumperoo, the exersaucer, activity mat, and being outside!!! I guess it's a good thing she likes all of these things, because (bless her heart), I feel like she is playing in them a lot of the time. I do, however, get some good one on one time with her after her second nap (while Bryce is still snoozing)... I guess the lack of a lot of one on one time is the difference between the first and second child- (either that, or I am a bad Mom... so, I'm hoping it's the former) :)

Adam and I say often how laid back she seems. We take her to the pool (with Bryce) and she just floats in her little crab and chills out. I think God must know that we needed a content baby since we have a wild man on our hands a lot of the time- haha!!! (Although we have been warned that a laid back baby doesn't necessarily mean a laid-back toddler :) and she does have her spunky moments... like when she's hungry, SHE'S HUNGRY (there's not much in between). In fact, the closer her bottle gets to her when she's hungry, the harder she kicks and the louder she gets!!!! But, seriously that's really the only time she's fussy... when she's tired or hungry, so we feel very blessed to have such a sweetie!!!!

and... our wild man has been really sweet again lately too :) Hopefully the extra roughness was just a delayed adjustment phase and he is going to continue to be our energetic (but tender hearted) little man again!!!

Anyways, here's little miss performing her latest trick...

ROLLING OVER!!!! (both ways now :)

on her back...

going...
going...
gone!!!
she looks so proud of herself :)

I just love this little face!!!!!

PC here we come...

2010-05-27T20:46:00.006-05:00

This past weekend, we went to Panama City with some great friends... Kristin, Alan, and Drake!!! Drake is like 7 weeks older than Bryce, and they also have twins about 7 weeks younger than Avery!!!! However, this trip, we decided to only bring the older boys (after all, the beach isn't the best place for infants and these guys needed a little one on one attention since both of their worlds have just been rocked by the addition of new babies).

The Harrison's have a place in Panama City and were nice enough to let us stay there!!!! It was SO wonderful, and the water was so clear and green- we were curious if the oil spill would effect it, but as of this trip, the water was beautiful!!!!

Both of the boys loved the ocean, the pool, the boat- EVERYTHING!!!

Here are some pics (sorry about the small ones- they were copied from the ones Kristin sent me on shutterfly, but hopefully you can get the effect). Oh, and excuse the random order... it was difficult to get them uploaded from different locations and so they are all mixed up...

With his snorkel mask!! We rented a boat and went to Shell Island and did some snorkeling...
Our family pic :)
The boys had a blast playing on the cart!!! (I wish you could see their faces in these pictures)

Fascinated by the masks :) LOVE these pics :)

Playing on the blow up boat :)
The daddies had the bright idea to INITIATE the boys playing a nice round of BEAT DOWN!!! (again, I wish you could see the faces in this picture, because I'm not sure who is having a better time- the big boys or the little ones). and... I'm not sure that I will ever understand just how amusing this is to the daddies to watch their sons tackle, drop kick, and head butt each other.

This really is a huge difference between mommies and daddies. I was thinking, "how is Bryce going to know that it is okay to play beat down now, but not at school or in church nursery," "are we teaching him to be a bully?" etc. etc. and the daddies were just laughing and letting them go at it (I'm pretty sure that none of these questions popped into their heads). However, I did see them step in to break up the boys hitting each other. Wow (I guess it's nice to know they had SOME boundaries :)

Look at that face... Bryce is about to initiate a round of beat down right here. (One more thing to add to the list of things to work on, "sharing." We are having just a bit of "adjusting" going on all of a sudden around our house- a little delayed reaction to Avery's arrival coupled with the terrible 2's (I think)...
Drake did get to drive, however... just took a little parental intervention (even though Bryce still isn't very happy about it...)

waving to all of the BIG boats!!!! (there's that sweet face again :)
Looking for dolphins!!!!
We spotted one right off!!!!! but, didn't see any the rest of the boat trip :( It was good though- since we saw one immediately, the boys intently looked for them the rest of the trip!!! Their little faces lit right up!!!!!

We are so blessed to have such a good couple friend!!! I enjoy Kristin's company as much as Adam enjoys Alan's, and our kiddos are the same ages too- God is good :)

ALL BOY!!!

2010-05-04T11:56:00.017-05:00

The more this boy can HANG...

RIDE...

Roll on the ground...

fall down...
BEAT DOWN...
(enlarge this one above if you are able... it's priceless)

and FLIP over...

the HAPPIER he is!!!!

3 IN 1

2010-05-02T15:24:00.011-05:00

Here's 3 posts in 1... There's lots to catch up on. Starting with:

1. A VERY SPECIAL VISIT:

A few weeks ago, Nanny (Adam's grandmother), Papa Jack, Stacey (Adam's aunt), Robert, and Dakota made a stop in Anniston for a visit!!! It was so special because we don't get to see them as much as we would like to, and the bonus is ... we didn't have to drive 16 hours (round trip)!!!!

Papa Jack, Nanny, Stacey, Robert, and Dakota
Playing beat down with Stacey and Nanny (and yes, Nanny played as well!!! Don't think this Nanny isn't spry enough to wrestle with her great grand son... she raised 2 boys of her own... she probably invented BEAT DOWN!!!!)
Avery and Nanny!!! (Isn't Nanny beautiful!! )

2. HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOSS!!! (and... GET WELL SOON)

On April 21st, we celebrated Hoss's 58th birthday!!!!! (I don't think he'd mind me saying he's 58... In my opinion, he looks pretty darn good!!!!!) and soon to have a knee that's younger than that :) Hoss had knee replacement surgery just 3 weeks ago (tomorrow)!! We keep telling Bryce that soon Hoss will be able to out run him!!!

Hoss helper blowing out his candles for him...
and opening his presents... (can you see Hoss's "boo-boo"?) He is doing SO good and we feel will be back to 100% very soon!!!

Hoss's buddies (well, 2 out of 4 of them)
This was Avery's spot... her view from the jumper-oo!!!
Avery and JoJo!!
Goodbye hugs for everyone!!! Even CC and T (Celia and Tommy- good friends of Hoss)

and an extra special hug for Macky :)

3. OPOSSUM

So... the other night... I was up giving Avery her 10pm feeding (and then just going to swap the laundry out before I headed to bed). While putting the clothes in the dryer, movement coming up from behind the washing machine caught my eye. I jumped back, took a quick look to find this...

dropped my basket of laundry (tried to refrain from screaming because of sleeping babes), and RAN into our room, woke Adam up to tell him there was a opossum on our dryer. This news took Adam a few minutes to process since he was asleep. But, he managed to get out of bed (fairly alert) and walked towards the laundry room asking, "you saw what? where is it?" I kept telling him, "there's a opossum on top of the dryer."

Adam responded... "INSIDE the house?"(because this wasn't the first time we've seen a opossum OUTSIDE the house). (However, I'm sure he wouldn't consider it "awake worthy" to show him a opossum outside the house). I kept saying over and over- NOT OUTSIDE... INSIDE THE HOUSE!! So... he rounded the corner (sort of in a tip toe movement as if the opossum might sneak up on him) but found the opossum still on the dryer. He immediately relaxed and said... "it's a BABY!!!" (like it was cute or something!!!!!!!) and then proceeded to catch him in the LAUNDRY BASKET (the laundry basket for crying out loud!!!!!) and release him outside!!!! (after taking these pictures from his phone).

ugh... It was hard to fall asleep that night because every time I closed my eyes, I saw the opossum climbing up the dryer!!! (I do think if I had seen him in a cage somewhere it wouldn't have bothered me, but to not know this creature was there, and worse... that this creature was there (inside the house) was startling to say the least!!! Makes me cringe to think that his Momma lives right outside...

Gran, Pappy, and Thomas

2010-04-13T15:28:00.007-05:00

This weekend Gran and Pappy came in for a visit, and we took Bryce (and Avery) to Calera to see Thomas the (choo-choo) Train (as Bryce calls him). When we first walked up to where Bryce could see him, he said, "I like it." and then started waving. It was sooo cute!!!
On the "open air" car on the train.

We have LOTS of pictures (family pics)- thanks to Gran and Pappy :)

Bryce showing Gran his jr. engineer certificate- he was very excited about this... and Sir Topham Hatt even signed it!!!
I love this picture with Pappy :)

Bryce truly loves all animals. Even when I get mad at the dirty ol' cat that you might as well say lives here, Bryce says... "I like him."
Avery taking a bottle break :)

Soooo sweet. and he loves his Thomas hat!!!
Like father, like son :)
Looking at the pigs.
And Pappy wasn't going to let that baby miss out on anything either (Pappy is a BIG teddy bear)

We had such a nice visit with Gran and Pappy, and it was especially nice to have extra hands for these fun events :) We are very blessed to have 2 sets of hands-on grandparents :) So a special thanks to Gran and Pappy for a great weekend and lots of help and for giving us a night out with our friends as well!!