Saturday, July 21, 2012

The Greatest Surprise God Ever Gave Me. . .

Turned ONE YEAR OLD TODAY!!!  
I can call her my greatest SURPRISE because my boys were 100% planned.  I had always said if I had a third it would have to be a surprise, b/c I just wasn't sure if I could willingly enter into pregnancy again!!  Clearly God heard that statement :)

I have to admit, I'm having some mixed feelings about this sweet girl growing up--it's true that the more kids you have the faster these days fly by!  Since I haven't blogged much about her, I guess I should now!  Braelyn Elizabeth is a a sweet little thing!  When she was born she spent a few days in NICU--yep I had to actually leave her there-I have to say, the NICU at Gwinnett Medical has really improved since Camden was there.  It still wasn't easy, but it was not as frustrating of an experience as it was when Camden was there.  For one, there was ALWAYS a doctor there, we didn't have to sit and wait on one all day.  For another, the nurses were always informed and on the same page-I can't tell you how much of a comfort this was!  BUT this isn't a post about the NICU...

A few facts about B--she's definitely been my least consistent child--lots of waking in the night, probably through her first 6 months.  I mean, she was sleeping through the night at 3 months, but she had a lot of nights where she woke up just needing her pacifier--and guess who got to find it for her?  As I type this she is stirring.  .  . I'd say she's had a lot more crying fits than the boys ever imagined, it's tough because when they are babies you just don't know what they are crying for--I do think for her it's always been a stomach issue.    Beyond these things she is the sweetest little thing you've ever met!  She's already holding her own with these boys!  She crawled over to Camden the other day and tried to take a big 'ol bite out of him--she growled when she did it!  She's a very happy baby, and she knows how to flirt BIG time!!  She lowers that chin and bats those lashes-works on everyone around her!  She's into EVERYTHING-that's her age!  She can say MaMa and DaDa (though she says that when I pull out my phone right now b/c he's been in Bahrain since July 5th).  She eats pretty much everything I put in front of her--the boys did too, I'm just hoping she keeps it up unlike them!  Bottles are going to be cleaned out tomorrow, and she's transitioned to straight milk!    She's not nearly as big as her brothers--I'll post her stats next week after her check up.  As a matter of fact, most people tell me she's just so tiny.  I don't agree with that, but I am relieved that her head is SIGNIFICANTLY smaller than her brothers.  She has some sweet little dimples--but hers aren't as prominent as Camden's are.  I haven't signed her up for preschool yet, but she does spend a lot of time in the church nursery and she does wonderful there.  This is always a relief because it means I can drop her and do what I need to do without worrying about her--she's having a blast!  All in all transitioning from 2 to 3 has been easier than 1 to 2.  .  .this year has had it's moments for sure, but I'd say it's been a blessed year!!

Brand New!











2 months









3 months

4 months

5 months
6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months
11 months



  

Monday, July 09, 2012

The Week Before The Lake. . .

It's funny, when I picked this blog back up I had in my head that I would post every day.  .  .HAHAHA!!  I don't know what makes me so funny!!  It's very rare that I have a few minutes to myself to compose anything on here, which is probably why I dropped the ball on it to begin with!  Honestly though, this blog helps me to reflect and enjoy the time with my kids.  At the end of most days I'm exhausted and probably flustered b/c there was an argument over dinner, or someone wouldn't go to bed or clean their room like I asked them too--but when I get to sit down and "journal" about my day or my week it brings back those happy times to the front of my mind!!  I try to at least go through the pics from the day (you know the ones, they are on Facebook & Instagram constantly??  I know, I'm annoying--hide me if you don't like it) each night after everyone is in bed.  I really challenge y'all to do it too.  Being a parent is tough, and sometimes it takes the few minutes of reflection to remember how TOTALLY AWESOME it is too!!!!

With that being said.  .  .Here's what we did the week before we went to the lake!!!  :)


We headed off to the waterpark with our Aunt Misty.  There are several Gwinnett County pools that have play areas and slides and I was curious to see how my boys would do.  Honestly, I'm so glad I left B with GiGi b/c having her there would have been miserable.  She needs to be older, and I couldn't have used her little raft to float her in--we will have to wait until next year for Sweet B to join us!!  The boys had a BLAST and it was a super bonus that some of our friends showed up to play too.  

Camden running away while Logan is totally posing!!

About to hit that water slide!!

He shocked me & Misty by choosing the enclosed slide!

I couldn't get him off of it! 
Evan loving the mini-slide

Resting


I don't know why I feel the need to capture him asleep mid-task
So the rest of the week was pretty low-key!  We just laid low for the most part, though I do attempt to schedule an outing at least once a day--for all of our sanity!!  We went with GiGi to Nam-De-Sun, our local farmer's market.  They had some different stuff--the produce was never ending!  Some prices were AWESOME, and some were just okay.  Either way, we had a blast and the boys had 2 carts to run between!!  

Showing some love!

Fruit Basket before Nam-De-Sun

Fruit Basket after Nam-De-Sun (yes, we ate it all)

Chillin' in the Conner Choo-Choo

I mean.  . . 
So I'm not sure if I've posted enough of Evan's "outfits"!  I love this child, I love how sure of himself he is.  I know one day that will get on my nerves, but right now--I love how totally comfortable he is in his own skin!  He definitely didn't get that from me, but I wish it would rub off on me!!  This particular week was astronaut week--which means he wore this costume as much as he possibly could!  He didn't care where he was.  .  .and to all of the strangers that said "I love your outfit" he responded "I KNOW" 
BREAKFAST ASTRONAUT

SPACE COWBOY

Target Lovin' Cowboy--he actually couldn't get out of the truck without his "helmet"

To round out our week we had a little pool time--it just wouldn't be summer without pool time!!

 On Friday we went to the Dollar Store--it was the boys reward for doing their chores.  Evan chose an FBI kit (it's pretty much disappeared), and Camden got some dollar sign necklace party favors (these have also disappeared).  .  .
 I bought some popsicle sticks, and since I'm the Mommy and I do more chores--I also went to JoAnns and purchased some velcro to make my Pinterest inspired sticks for the boys to make letters and shapes with.  They enjoyed them, but I learned that we need to alternate which side of the stick we need to put the velcro on so they can make more.  Good rainy day activity, or something to keep the occupied while I make dinner.
That's our week in review.  Hope you enjoyed reading about it as much as we enjoyed living it!!  See you next time!!

Saturday, July 07, 2012

Lake Fun!

We all had a great day at the lake last Saturday!!  Both boys caught their very first fish!!  They were too scared to stand too close to it, so they let Brady do the honors  ;)










Brady even caught his own fish!!

After the boys got their chance to cruise on the jet ski for a couple of hours (sorry, not sure where those pics got off to) they talked Uncle Jeff into taking us out on the boat for some tubing and wake boarding!!  Evan did not LOVE the tube as much as Camden did at his age--he lasted about 2 minutes before screaming for us to stop the boat!!!  I think Camden would've stayed on all day, especially if he could of listened to me scream every time we hit a "bump"!!  



Jason gave wake boarding a try after we were all done on the tube--he wasn't ever able to get up, but he tried and tried until his arms just wouldn't let him hold on anymore.  Hopefully next time he'll have better luck!

Crazy JetSki Hair!
Play Hard-Nap Hard!!
So it was also Misty's birthday while we were there!!  That means lots of cake for the children!!  After we grilled out we lit some toothpicks (since we didn't have candles) and sang Happy Birthday to the old married lady!!  Woo Hoo--finally, someone else is the old married lady!!  We all had a great day, and we can't wait to get back!!



Thursday, July 05, 2012

We Finished Our Reading Goals!!

So, a few weeks ago the boys (and by the boys, I mean ME) set a reading goal of reading 20 books by July.  Clearly, these are not huge chapter books like 50 Shades of Grey--so 20 was a pretty reasonable goal!!  Last week they were able to take their book lists back to the library and collect their prizes!! :)



 Returning all of our books!


 

 
So at the library the boys were able to throw their names into a couple of drawings for "Grand Prizes", and they received coupons to go to one of our local children's theaters, a free Go-Kart ride at Malibu Grand Prix, and they are able to each choose a free book!  They were super excited about their loot, I was most excited about the theater tickets because it will give us something to do later this summer!!  I rewarded them with a trip to Donut King and they were both pretty excited about that too! 

 

Wednesday, July 04, 2012

Happy July 4th!!!!

A big shout out to all of our fellow military families!!  Thank you for making it possible for us to celebrate Independence Day!!!  


Related Posts with Thumbnails