Random Ramblings

esGet ready for some randomess.

Riley is getting really good at learning the alphabet. He now knows the letters B, D, G, J, M, T, & V. He also knows that Dada starts with D, Mama with M, Bubba with B, Vivi with V & Riley with R. Right now we are working on A & H. Riley’s favorite word right now has to be “no”. Regardless of what we ask or say to him, the answer is always “no”. Although his vocabulary is expanding every day, “no” is what we hear most.

He is obsessed, & I do mean obsessed with cars, trucks, tractors & bulldozers. Boys, boys.

We are loving the summer weather & have been soaking it up every chance we get between all these storms we’ve been having lately.

I have the sweetest babies ever.

Averly is playing & hitting at her toys more & more. She’s really becoming active lately.

My mom & I saw a huge bull stuck in a Cedar tree (yes, you read that right-IN a Cedar tree) about 4 feet from the road, not in a pasture, mind you on the way to my parents’ house a few days ago. No other cows were anywhere to be seen. Just woods all around. We still have no idea where he came from or how he got there. Very random. Oh & we did stop to see that he got un-stuck & he did, then made his way back into the woods.

My little boy is not so little anymore.

Averly has found her voice & lets us know if she is not liking something, such as getting her picture taken the other day.

Riley’s ultimate favorite toys are still his “bep beps”.

Averly has the cutest, plumpest belly I’ve ever seen.

Riley has rekindled his love for drawing with chalk & the swimming pool already this summer.

Averly wore her itsy bitsy teenie weenie bikini for the first time.

And dipped her toes in the water for a quick second but she said it was too cold for her just yet!

Huggies diapers hold a LOT of water!

I was supposed to go a couple Saturdays ago to Brette’s Bachelorette Party but the morning of I woke up with 103+ temperature. Just my luck. So of course I didn’t make it. It sounded like they had so much fun. It had a theme of “Wiggin’ out for the Bride” & everyone wore funny wigs. That’s what the wig was for that you saw in this post. I really hate I missed it. Also, that would’ve been my first night away from Averly so that hasn’t happened yet either. At least not all night long anyway. Last weekend another one of my good college friends, Alicia, had her Bachelorette Party as well. I did make it to that one but didn’t take any pictures…just this one with the kiddos before I left. This was TAG’s first night in charge alone with both of them. He did a very good job! The other girls stayed the night at a hotel, but I came on home to be there first thing in the morning when they woke up. So technically I don’t guess that counted as my first night away from her either.

Averly slept in her crib for the first time on May 16th, the night before she turned 10 weeks old. She has been in a Pack-N-Play in our room up until then. I had been wanting to move her in her room for a while because she sleeps so well, but I just kept chickening out. I love having her right beside me. But I finally took that hard step & she did great. I did much better than I thought I would too. She is such a wonderful sleeper! I can’t stress enough how excited I am about that!

I love these two kids more than I could ever say!

A-O Cutie Pi

I’m an A-O, A-O cutie, cutie Pi

And I’ll be one til the day, the day I die

I’m so proud, so proud about it

I can’t help but, help but shout it

I’m an A-O, A-O cutie, cutie Pi!

I've caught myself several times over the last few days singing "The Rose" & other rush songs to Averly. It brings back such great memories of college with some very special girls.

Just a few pictures of my future AOII in her panda pajamas!

Alpha Love,

Happy Mother’s Day

Today was my first Mother’s Day as a Mama of 2. It has been perfect! I love these little angels that made me a mom so much! Riley & Averly, I love being your Mama more than you will ever know. I pray that you will always know how much you are loved.

My 1st Mother’s Day with this little girl.

I have the best mom anyone could ask for. She is not only my mom, but my best friend. I am blessed enough to be able to see her almost every day & when we aren’t together we talk on the phone daily-sometimes multiple times a day. I hope & pray that my babies will grow up wanting to hang out with their Mama too like I always have. Happy Mother’s Day, mom! I love you & appreciate you soooooo much! Thank you for all you do. None of it goes unrecognized.

Happy Mother's Day!

2 Months

Sweet Averly, you are 2 months old today & it is so hard to believe that I have a 2 month old already! At your 8 week check-up on May 6th, you weighed 14.3 pounds (greater than the 95th percentile!!), you were 22 1/2 inches long (90th percentile!), and your head circumference was 39.5 cm (75th percentile). We've got a chunky monkey on our hands! Helllooo 3 month clothes! You’ve done a lot of new things this past week too.

You coo & talk so big now! I just love hearing your sweet little voice.

You moved up to a size 1-2 diapers!

This picture was taken at my parents' house in her crib there since we came here for Mother's Day weekend.

You went on your first stroller ride around the block with big brother.

You sat in the Bumbo chair for the first time on May 5th. You loved it & sat in it for a long time just looking around so content!

You even wore your first wig, but were less than thrilled about it. ;0)

Happy 2 months today & 9 weeks tomorrow sweet angel baby! I love you so, so much!

I Love Everything About You

Your chunky little arms & legs.

That beautiful gummy smile you have, especially now that it's a conscious smile at us.

The way you look at me when we talk & play.

The completeness that you bring to our family.

That your ears are a perfect half & half mixture of your daddy's & mine.

Hearing you coo.

How tolerant you are with Riley constantly picking at you.

Your big bright blue eyes.

The cute little grunts you make in the mornings to wake me up when you are ready to get out of bed. You aren't fussing or crying. Just grunting because you are ready to be up for a while.

The fact that you & Riley are so close in age & will be the best of friends as you grow up together.

Your sweet little lips & nose.

Your tiny fingers & toes.

That your eyelashes noticeably grew the day you turned 8 weeks old and are now growing longer & longer.

How relaxed you are in the bath tub. You love a good warm bath.

Your thick, dark hair.

That you are perfectly healthy & well.

How great you sleep at night. You sleep anywhere from 8 to 10 hours every night!

That you made me a mommy all over again.

Your chubby cheeks.

That you are your daddy's girl in more ways than one!

That you are YOU & God so graciously blessed us with you as our child.

Averly,

Your Daddy & I love you so much little girl. So much that it hurts. You & your brother are such wonderful blessings. God made you perfectly perfect for us.

Crawfish Boil 2010

This past Saturday we had our 3rd Annual Crawfish Boil to celebrate TAG & Josh’s (our brother-in-law) Birthdays. The weather ended up getting pretty nasty but it didn’t stop us from boiling some crawfish. It never got too bad where we were but there was a tornado that touched down within 10 miles of us & another that was about 15 miles away. I am so thankful it didn’t get too bad. Despite the storms we had a great time!

  

The kids found a mud hole so we let them play.

 

Part of the crowd.

We walked across the street to the park for a little while too.

Third outfit of the day & in the mud again! After this time we just let them play in their diapers.

Sunday was the worst of the storms for our area. While TAG & Josh were cleaning up, the rain started pouring & in a matter of 30 minutes it was rushing in the car port & their yard was nowhere to be seen.  TAG took the kids & me to Josh’s parents’ house down the road because they live up on a hill, then came back to help Josh & Brooke get things like their deep freeze & grill to higher ground. They also began to prepare to move things to the attic if need be.  The water rose to about 10 or so inches & the creek behind their house overflowed completely. Luckily, it started slacking off after too long & the water dropped a good bit. I know this is nothing compared to the tragedy in Nashville, but it sure was scary.

I snapped these pictures before the water got real high. It was probably 6 or so inches deep out in the yard at this time.

All of the people affected by these storms & floods are still in our prayers!

Just a quick note

Thank y'all for your thoughts & prayers for my dad. He seems to be doing better. The doctor didn't think it was a disc, but something with his muscles. Wednesday he stayed in bed all day but Thursday he was feeling a little better & got up, took a shower & even walked back to his garden. But that kinda overdid things & he was hurting the next day. He is taking several pain medicines & some steroids for the swelling. The doctor wanted him to go back to get an MRI done, but he wants to give it a little more time. Hopefully he will get better in the next few days. I know it's killing him not to be able to get around because he is normally so active.

Also thanks for all your sweet comments. I have a long way to go to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight but y'all are all so sweet!

We did have our crawfish boil yesterday, tornadoes & all! I will get to that post as soon as I have a minute to upload the pictures.

Have a good Sunday!