Family visit

Last weekend we had some of James' family in town - his brother John and his kiddo from Maryland... Also, Aunt Mary and cousin Shelley from Louisiana, and Shelley's kiddos Savannah and Caroline. Also included in the festivities was brother Jay's family. All together we had 7 adults and 10 kids at our house. What a treat!

I didn't get a ton of pictures but it was great catching up with everyone.

I have to include a picture of cutie-pie Cole since he was napping while the other cousins were swimming.

Cousin John brought over his genuine NASA uniforms to play with - the kiddos had a fun time pretending to be astronauts. I have an idea on what Austin might be for Halloween this year...

And the forecast is....

So we spent some time on Friday making videos - who knew this would be hours of entertainment for the kids.

Here's Abby, Austin, and Cole giving one of their many forecasts. Emily was too nervous to be on camera.

Little Longhorns

Austin saw Cole in his Longhorn gear and wanted to do the same.

Then Abby wanted to also. I told her she didn't have anything Longhorn, so she pointed this out in the closet... it is a size 2T cheerleading dress. It fits more like a shirt now.

Emily wanted to put hers on also then, but didn't want to participate in any pictures.

Then I had the grand idea of putting them in their Texas Tech gear.

Little traitor!!! You can't really tell, but he's doing the "hook 'em horns" sign with his hands (as opposed to the "get your guns up" sign). James has a little too much influence in this house!

2 months

Cole - you are 2 months old now!

What are you up to?

You love being held. I love putting you on my knees and talking to you - you "talk" back to me and smile constantly. The second you see your Daddy you instantly smile. You especially love being held by Austin, who will hold and talk to you for what seems like forever. It is the sweetest thing to watch. Abby will come over and do her baby talk, repeating the same thing over and over like "hello Coley Moley" - somehow saying it with enthusiasm and absolutely no inflection at all. Sometimes you think it's funny, other times not so much. Emily is always asking to hold you, but when I'm not looking she will take away your pacifier or start bouncing you up and down not so gently - this doesn't make you very happy. For some reason, the sound of a crying baby doesn't bother her at all.

You go to bed around 11:00 and wake up once in the middle of the night, somewhere between 2:00-4:00. Usually you will go back to bed pretty well. You prefer sleeping in your car seat, but we'll get you into your bed one of these days.

Usually the only time I can get a good nap from you is if we go in the car somewhere. The car instantly puts you to sleep for a good 3 hours. If we're at home it's hard getting you to take a nap... which makes for a fussy baby at night time!

You love the water! You love taking baths and recently you even got in the pool. You enjoyed watching your sisters and brother swim, although you really don't fit into your floaty yet. I held you most of the time on the steps.

You love watching the ceiling fans in our house and a few of them have even got some laughs out of you. Who needs expensive baby toys, right? You also love to make bubbles. You have finally started sitting in your swing and bouncy seat, although it's not your favorite thing to do. I did catch you kicking your legs and cooing in enjoyment the other day so hopefully this is changing!

At your 2 month doctor's appointment:
you weighed 9lbs 10 oz.
you were 20 3/4 inches long
your head circumference was 39 cm.

You have finally graduated to size 1 diapers and you are outgrowing your newborn size clothes.

You are a very loved little boy and we thank God every day that he has blessed us with you!

Summer Staycation #1

With the addition of Cole this year, we decided to skip a long family vacation. Instead, we're planning several short "staycations." Our first one started last weekend through Tuesday. Here are the happy kiddos at the zoo. The zoo with animals - not the zoo we call our house these days. :)

About 20 seconds earlier, this bird tried to build a nest out of Emily's hair. She was a good sport - our little fearless one.

Here's Abby striking a pose near some birds behind glass. Many of the "glass houses" had soap rubbed on them - it's a technique they use to ease animals into their new homes (they can't see the visitors as well). Of course this is clear - so these birds are veterans.

This is a North American Cutie Pie. Don't be fooled, they can turn on you in a second. And you shouldn't give them too much sugar - it can cause unintelligible rants and fits. However, if you can find the right formula of food, attention and sleep, they make great company.

All of my kiddos love Komodo Dragons (including my husband). This is a cool exhibit. You can literally put your face 2 inches away from his (or her) face. And they have really long forked tongues.

Day #2 we headed to the rink to watch our future figure skating stars take to the ice. This is one of those high risk/reward trips. We were either going to have a blast - or it was going to be a disaster. Fortunately they all really enjoyed themselves. Whew.

Okay, so if you haven't been ice skating since the 70s or 80s (or longer), you might wonder what in the world Austin is using. This is where the people who live up north are probably having a chuckle. Yes, that's a skating walker - used to keep southern kids from falling when they "ice skate." Pretty funny looking, but quite effective.

Watch out, Kristi Yamaguchi. (Or your job is safe, Kristi Yamaguchi.)

James and I skated also. I think we were starting to get the hang of it after about 3 hours. I didn't fall once, but had several balance checks. James was a different story. He fell right on his face once and swears he cracked a rib.... then once when he was racing Austin. This is the only time Austin fell down - because James ran into him at the finish line. I have a pretty funny picture that he'd kill me for putting on here!

Hello!

Long time no post. I am exhausted. It's been a busy couple of weeks and I haven't been able to get on the computer very much. Abby is sick once again. With strep - which for most kids involves a sore throat and antibiotics. With her it includes a fever in the 104 range, topping 105 at one point and vomiting around the clock. We got her some antibiotics yesterday but she can't hold them down. Poor thing - I hope she feels better soon.

Last week the kids had VBS and had a blast. I have a feeling this is where the germs came from. This is from their performance... Saddle Ridge Ranch.


I didn't take many pictures during the week - but they did tons of crafts and learned some really catchy new songs that have been embedded in my brain (and theirs) ever since.

My sister Katie came in on Friday from Atlanta for a short visit. We had a great time, including a shopping day on Saturday... without kids. I was in desperate need of some new clothes since I haven't lost all the baby weight yet. So we shopped, we ate, we swam, we caught up and had a great time. Here she is with her new nephew.

Here's a close up of my cutie - isn't he adorable? Such a sweet boy.

On Sunday mom came over and we hung out. Then Katie, me and the kids headed to a local church for fireworks, fun, and food. The Robbie Seay band performed and was completely awesome. Now that I think about it, maybe this is where the germs came from. James and Cole had some bonding time at the house.... didn't think it was a good idea for his little ears to be exposed to the noise. The concert was very loud, not to mention the fireworks...







Emily hated the fireworks this year. Last year it was Abby who covered her ears the whole time, this time Emily was begging to go home right at the beginning.

On Monday we had some friends over and spent the whole day in the pool and BBQ'd some yummy food. Then the rest of this week has been full of sickness and sleepless nights.

I discovered that I haven't had a picture with me and Cole - like ever. Yikes. That's pretty bad. I'm always behind the camera so Austin took this picture of us.... not the best - think I could use some makeup. I think I have maybe worn makeup twice in the last year. Must invest in some one of these days.

Emily and Austin have been good sports this week... here's Austin picnicing with the princesses. Poor kid, it will be nice when everyone is healthy and all the rain around here stops. He is looking forward to going to a friend's house tomorrow. I don't blame him.