Halloween 2010

Riley was Captain Rex, Clone Trooper. Victoria was Buzz Lightyear. We tried to talk her into being something "girly," but she insisted on being Buzz. When we suggested a princess or Jessie from Toy Story or Minnie Mouse, she replied "I know what I want to be! A hot dog!" So we settled for Buzz Lightyear. She was pretty cute! And Juliet was ... a baby in a onesie that read "My First Halloween" (thank you Grandma!!). Mommy didn't want to buy her a Halloween costume. And fortunately, Juliet was totally ok with that. :)

Ready to go to the Fall Festival at church!

The Haul! It was absolutely ridiculous how much candy the kids got! Carey sorted it last night and now we (me and Carey) have our own stash with all the chocolate. They will never miss it!

Juliet Update

Wow ... three is SO much more than two! More laundry, more time, more energy, and so much more fun!


Juliet is now 2 and a half months old. She is just a delight! She smiles at just about anyone. Loves to be held. Absolutely LOVES her big brother and sister. She coos and gurgles and makes all sort of funny little noises. She spends most of her day sleeping in her crib (YAY!!) and in my arms. She is just as happy as a clam being wagged around the house, so I comply. I have managed to fold laundry, clean the kitchen, make the beds and perform other household tasks all one-handed. She is starting to play on the floor some, but gets really upset if everyone scatters. She likes to have everyone around her.

First Sunday at church!

Sisters!

Tummy time.

She is a great eater! And she is a great sleeper! I moved her to her crib a couple of weeks ago. It was a rough few days, but she finally caved. We wrap her up like a little baby burrito and she goes right to sleep. No schedule as of yet. She wakes up at 7:30 just because that is when we leave the house to take Riley to school. The mornings we don't, she sleeps until 9:00!! She is still waking up one or two times a night to eat, but she is usually awake for only about 20 minutes. Very doable! I am lucky if she takes a long nap during the day. She usually just naps for 30 to 45 minutes about 5 or 6 times during the day. She is still young, so I am sure she will start to nap longer soon. But it is hard, since we are go, go, go. Taking Riley and Victoria to and from school, trips to Walmart, cleaners, bank, Braums and of course Sonic! She will sleep in the car, but only if it is moving. So Victoria and I spend a fair amount of time listening to her cry in the pick-up line at school as we wait for Riley to come out. But she is as quiet as a mouse once he is in the car. Weird.

Asleep in Mommy's arms. Juliet spends alot of time here!

She is growing growing. She fills out her 3 months clothes and is starting to get all rolly-polly. She was average at her last check-up. Both Riley and Victoria started growing above average at about 4 months, so we will see then.


People tell us that she favors all four of us. I can't tell. If we lined up all three of them at this age, I could probably only tell them apart because Riley was as balled as a cue ball, Victoria had eyes the size of saucers and then Juliet. They do all look alike in baby pictures. So cute!

First Days of School

Riley's first day of second grade wasn't quite as monumental as past first days. First off, I slept through the morning, so I didn't get to see him before he left. Pretty sure it was much needed sleep considering that Juliet was only 11 days old, but nonetheless, hate that I missed that. And since I still wasn't ok to drive with all the pain medication I was on, Carey took him that morning. Carey dropped him off at school and he walked in all by himself. The line to check in at the office was just too long, and well Carey is big into independence (which is great because I am not) and not so big into waiting in lines. He thought he would be just fine going in alone. Riley confirmed this when Carey asked him one time too many "are you sure?" and his response was "I said yes Daddy!"


So, we posed for the first day picture when we went to pick up Riley that afternoon. He didn't have the best of first days in his class. Let's just say that he is now very familiar with the rule that you do not talk during lesson time. But, three weeks into it and he likes his class and his teacher and I haven't heard him complain once about school (except for when it is homework time, but nobody likes that ... including me).

Victoria's first day of preschool went fantastic! She goes to the Wee School up at our church two days a week. She is alot like her brother in that I can't get a word out of her as far as what she does at school or how her day went. **sigh**


Juliet and I celebrated our first day together just the two of us with some laundry and a nap ... it was great!!

Juliet Jaelynn

We welcomed Juliet Jaelynn to our family on Thursday, August 12th at 12:43pm. She weighed 7 pounds 8 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long (my biggest baby).

So after a night of about 3 hours of sleep, I woke-up at 7:30 with a phone call to the hospital to make sure that we were still on for a noon delivery. They told me to call back at 9am. Ugh. So we went ahead and got ready and very impatiently waited for 9:00. They said we were a go and to come on in. YAY! I was really surprised that it was going to be when scheduled. I just had it in my mind that it would be later that day or evening like with Victoria.

So, Carey and I headed to the hospital and Riley and Victoria followed behind with Pops and Gigi. We arrived around 10:00 and went to our room shortly thereafter. After 2 1/2 hours of prep and waiting, I finally made that last pregnant walk to the OR. I was super excited to find out whether we were having a boy or girl. When it came time and the baby was here, the doctor had Carey tell the room. Carey said in a laughing voice "It's a girl!" and then laughed some more. I WAS SHOCKED. I thought through most of the pregnancy that we were having girl, but then the last month or so, I had convinced myself we were having a boy. So exciting!! She was just so little. I had forgotten how little they are.

We named her Juliet, which was one of the character's name on the TV show LOST. We have had it picked out for about two years now and just couldn't find anything we liked better. We wanted a good strong name that went well with her sister's name, Victoria and that was "girly." The middle name is a combination of her Pops (John) and her Grandpa (Allen) - Jaelynn. Carey insisted on the "e" and I insisted on the "ynn" so that it looked again "girly." We love the name and feels it suits her.

BEFORE

AFTER

Ready to meet the baby.

Meeting their baby sister.

The Great Big Growing Family

Proud big brother Riley. He was a bit bummed at first that he didn't get a baby brother, but got over it pretty quick.

Lovin' on sweet Juliet. They were just fascinated by her.

Daddy and his girls.

Some Summer Fun

Well ... we have been enjoying our summer, for the most part. We had a bit of a hiatus for a couple weeks. Strep and a fever virus were to blame for that. No fun. But we are back at it now. Summer fun!

We recently (like today) took a trip to the Ft. Worth Museum of Science and History with our friends Jack and Caroline. WOW ... that place has changed alot. It was amazing! The kids had a blast!

Hanging out in a dinosaur footprint.

Little Momma going grocery shopping.

Playing in the water things ... I don't know what they are
called, but they are fun.

So once we hit most of the exhibits and were thoroughly exhausted (well, at least I was), we made our way to the car. Then there was a request to go to the bathroom. Then, I had to go. So we said goodbye to our friends, ran back inside, used the facilities, saw a friend from church and chatted a bit, came back outside to make our way to the car and ... then we saw the fountain and just couldn't help ourselves. It started out as just a "let's get our feet wet" kinda thing and then escalated into totally drenched and the kids had to ride home in the car in just there skivvies.

What can I say ... it was hot today and I just gave in. Let me tell you, it took all I had to not join in. I really gave it ALOT of thought.

Riley and his bud at nature camp.

Riding bikes. No, this is not our driveway or our neighborhood ...
we wish, maybe one day. We are at Uncle Corey and Aunt Katie's place on July 4th.

The "kids" (Carey and Uncle Kev and Corey) planning the fireworks
show. Seriously, I felt like I went back in time about 20 years and
they were all like age 12 again.

Riley trying his best to blow-up a Dr Pepper can with a black cat.

SO EXCITING ... but a little loud.

Watching the boys fireworks show and some larger ones along the skyline.

We had an incredible view of about 3 or 4 largefirework shows. Plus, my brother's neighbors were putting on quite a show as well. It is amazing what a couple of hundred dollars can buy you at your local mega-fireworks stand. A little scary too.

A Baby Shower (and Pregnancy Ramblings)

First off, let's rewind to a little over 2 years ago. We loved the town we lived in. We loved our church family. We loved Riley's school. We also loved that Carey had a job as an attorney after a 3 year journey down that change of career decision road. A job that he loved. A job where he was appreciated. A job that allowed me to stay at home. A job that was about an hour and a half from our home.

That's too far. Time to move.

Here we were. We just moved out to Saginaw. Built a new house. Joined a new church. Riley was starting a new school. And what did I pray for time and time again after our move? Godly Friends. I had left friends at our old church and at my work. I missed them. I missed those relationships.

Well, the Lord blessed me and then some. This past weekend some dear sweet friends, that I have only known for just a year or two, gave me an incredible baby shower! I was just floored a couple of months ago when they approached me about the shower. I mean, this is our third baby. We have just about all the gadgets, what-nots and equipment there is to have ... and we have the boy version and the girl version. So, they opted for the diaper shower. And I tell you what ... if you have decided to go the disposable diaper route, this is best kind of shower to have. We received over 1,000 diapers. Not sure how long those will last, but my estimation is about 5 months. YIPEE!!

But the best part was just celebrating with friends that the Lord has given me at our new church. Friends that are my age and some that are in their 60's! It just truly blessed my heart.

So, Victoria was not able to go attend the shower. She was sick ... again. But Riley accompanied me and was the photographer for the morning. Here are just a select few from is portfolio:

A candid (I am the one without the waist).

I am thinking that he was hiding under the table for this one. Hmmm.

The punch (it was REALLY good punch, I can see
why he thought it was photograph worthy).

Christina and me (not too bad Riley).

A belly shot (I actually like this picture alot).

There were some other pictures as well, including 2 pictures of himself, 3 of his shoes (they are new shoes) and about 2 dozen of some little girls that were in attendance. It was quite hysterical when I got home and looked through them all.

Fortunately, one of the hostesses grabbed my camera and took some pictures as well:

Is that not the neatest center-piece?!
Those are little diapers rolled up and made into a tower.
Victoria thought it was a birthday cake when I brought it home.
I have it displayed in the baby's room. It looks so good in there!

I FINALLY got a baby book. It is hard to find a gender neutral
baby book. Not sure if this is or not, but I really like it none-the-less.

Another candid (again, that's me without the waist).

My first born and me!

It was a good time and the haul was amazing! The diapers are all stacked up in the baby's closet with the wipes too. We also got a basket FULL of goodies and clothes and blankets. And Riley's Sunday School teacher made the baby a quilt. A hand-made quilt. I LOVE IT! Love, love hand-made things. I will cherish that gift forever. I also got some burp clothes made from cloth diapers and just a piece of material sewn in the middle. They are SO cute! And such a simple thing to do to turn a diaper into a cute little burp cloth. I am SO stealing that idea. Along with the diaper tower too!

Vaca at the Bahn

We took a mini-vacation this summer. We wanted to get of of dodge, but didn't want to go far because of the whole prego thing and all. So we decided a couple of days at Schlitterbahn and maybe another couple of days seeing this and that in San Antonio and San Marcos.

Well ... it rained ... alot. Which caused some major flooding. Which led to park closures at Schlitterahn.

Bummer.

There were some parts of the park that were open. Schlitterbahn is divided into three sections and the one located on higher ground was open. It turned out that this was just enough for the kids to totally enjoy themselves. Carey and I were bummed that they didn't get to do more there, but they were none the wiser. Actually, they could have just spent the whole day at the wave pool and been totally content. Which is alot like just swimming at Pops and Gigis, except that is free ... and it doesn't have waves.

Schlitterbahn Baby!

Victoria playing in the kiddie pool area. This is were I spent all
my time.Sitting in a lawn chair. Enjoying the shade.
Sipping on my sweet tea.

Probably their 17th trip around (totally not exaggerating on that).
It was pretty cute. Each time they went around a different person
was in the tube, or there was one less tube or one more tube,
or they were all swimming or no one was swimming.

Riley taking a break from all the water fun to play with
the dinosaurs he purchased at the gift shop. Because
nothing says Schlitterbahnlike little toy dinosaurs.

Making their way down the Wolf Pack. Riley said this one
was pretty boring. Victoria loved it!

I would have to say that the part I will never forget about our trip to Schlitterbahn is me laughing hysterically as I tried unsuccessfully 3 or 4 times to get into an innertube and finally had to have Carey and a stranger help me hoist myself in. It is amazing what you cannot physically do when the presence of stomach muscles are no more.

We also spent some time in San Antonio seeing the Alamo and doing some shopping.

So the kids loved, I mean LOVED riding in the trolley (city bus)
around downtown. Not sure if it was all the bouncing around
or the no seat belt freedom, but it was truly a high light for them.

It was a nice getaway. We were only gone for a little over two days when it was all said and done. That was probably enough for me. I can testify that I am not the best traveling companion at 7 months pregnant. Not only is there the frequent pit stops, but the walking at a snail's pace and the many "I need to just sit for a second" interruptions. But it was still a blast even with prego lady and all the flooding aftermath to deal with. I am sure that we will make this an annual thing we do to start every summer.

Next Summer - Camping in Colorado

Summer 2012 - Disneyworld!!

Can't wait!