Wedding Weekend

Last weekend my cousin Cami got married and Collier was her ring bearer.  It was such a fun weekend with family that we don't get to see as often as we wish we could.  We love spending time with them and we just never seem to have enough time to get caught up with everyone.  As we drove home Sunday I kept thinking of people that I had seen and hugged their neck but didn't really get to sit down and catch up with them.  The entire weekend was amazing!  Every event was perfectly fun and we were honored to be included in this very special day for Cami and Jason.

Thursday we arrived in Jacksonville and went to pick up his tux...aka 'super duper suit'.  Oh boy it was just too funny and cute when he saw himself in the mirror.  He was so upset when we wouldn't let him wear it out of the store...he laid on the floor in total disappointment.  He sure was sharp and seemed so big in that tiny little tux.

I think that he liked the bow-tie the least and loved the rest of it.  this was when he was just trying on the shoes and the seamstress was adjusting the pants and jacket.  Justin and I were just cracking up.

The wedding festivities started Thursday night with a casual BBQ with family and friends of Jason and Cami.  I failed to even pull my camera out of the case.  So, I didn't get any pictures.  Cami wanted to teach and do some Arabic dancing...so a few of our aunt's taught and danced the dubkey (no idea if that spelling is correct). I was feeding Kenley during the majority of this so I missed out but thanks to Aunt Jeanie for capturing Collier joining in on the festivities (we have to figure out how to get it from her phone to me).  The boy certainly brought his dance'n shoes for the weekend! After they did the dubkey...he wanted to teach Madison and Blake his dance.  They were so sweet to play along since his dance is along the same dance as The Ronald Miller from Can't Buy Me Love..shaking and flinging his arms and legs. He also go to meet so many Aunts, Uncles and Cousin's that he hasn't ever met or has been since he was just born that he has seen.  He really gravitated toward a few cousin's in particular...Madison, Taylor and Blake.  He is still talking about Madison!

 this was me trying to explain to him how to hold the pillow and how to be very careful with it.  Aunt Christie had sewn real rings on the pillow because he kept talking about carrying 'all the rings'

 in true BOY fashion...he threw it all around instead of being careful and gentle with it.  Thankfully the rings were good and secure.

Friday we relaxed around Gramper's house and ran a few errands before we headed to rehearsal and dinner.  Collier got his pillow and I did all that I could to explain and practice what this whole 'ring bearer' thing was all about.  He was just mostly interested in following the girls around.  Friday he didn't get a nap and by dinner time he was running on fumes.  We didn't last very long but it was an awesome night and dinner.

 This is Taylor...she was also the Maid of Honor.

 The Bride and Groom

 The precious girl in yellow...this is Madison!

This is how we ended our night...running all around on the dance floor.  Shortly after this picture he came to me begging to go home and so we did!  All the going and festivities will wear out a little man, especially with no nap!

Daddy!!!!

Happy Father's Day to all of you men.  and Especially to the Dad's in my life!
Justin, Thank you for being such a good, fun and loving Dad to our babies.  They sure are blessed to have you as their daddy.  Thank you for all that you do for them and us as a family to provide, help, play and of course to keep us all laughing!

Justin and I have both been greatly blessed with very good Father's as well.  I know that I say all the time that we have good parents...but they really are great and we are so thankful to have them not only be  involved with us but now also with our children.  They are amazing Grand-Daddy's!

Thank you Justin, Dad, Randy and Charles for being strong and amazing Father's and Grandfathers!

We love you

3 Months

Today Kenley is 3 Months. It is passing too quickly. She is stealing my heart more and more with each passing day.  Friday's are so much fun.  Today was my first Friday in several weeks that I didn't work at all and it was fun to just hang with the kids and play and nap together!  It was really a great day.

Kenley desperately wants to sit up, when I lay her down she will lift her head up and try and pull her body. She just isn't quite strong enough. She does good with tummy time and even almost rolled over today..it wasn't all the way over but she got her upper body over and needed a little help with her legs. She is eating great and sleeping great [Thank you Jesus...a huge answer to prayer for me].  She is still spitting up a lot even though she is on Zantac.

She loves her passey and sleeps with her lovey over her face most of the time [just like her big brother did].  She prefers to be held than in her bed or laying alone...she is rotten and I made her that way.  Mom is sort of struggling with this at times when she is sleeping and a 3 year old monkey is demanding her attention; it is sort of hard to get on the floor and play with a baby in your arms. 

Her cry is loud enough to bust your ear drum.  There are moments that she is hard to console or calm down.  She seems to get worked up most when I leave her with Justin...which means that he may be def by the time she turns one!  Although Monday night I left her with Justin and she slept that whole time, which is a first! 

Her eye's are still blue.   She also has a sweet smile and grin.  She opens her mouth wide to coo and talk when she smiles.  

This is normally how she ends her final feeding of the night...full, happy and OUT!

Appleseed

Johnny Appleseed was a prayer that I grew up singing and one that I knew that I wanted to teach Collier.  With most songs or prayers he will just finish each line and we normally pause for him to finish each line but a few weeks ago he told us that he wanted to do it all by himself.  My mom cried!  Honestly, it did bring tears to my eyes.  It was just so sweet!  And I was so happy that he did it one night that we were at the lake so that my parents got to hear him do it all by himself for the first time.  This was the second night he did it and I was able to capture it...now he sings it almost every night.

We are still working on keeping our hands folded and our eyes closed during prayer time.

Little Skier

The last weekend that we were at the lake, our neighbor's youngest son was down with a few of his friends [they are all Auburn students] and they borrowed our two skies to ski.  Collier was very curious about them taking our skies and skiing.  He is a little monkey see-monkey do!  He started telling me that he wanted to ski.  Sometimes he just wants to do what others are doing and not really knowing exactly what it is.  For instance, the weekend before Mom was out in the water with Collier at the end of the dock.  The water is really low at our lake and so the dock is really high which is why the kids do most of their jumping from the back of the boat.  BUT, our neighbor jumped in off of the top of the dock.  Collier told my mom that he wanted to do that, climbed up the ladder and just jumped off the top with out my mom being really ready or close to where he jumped.  Good news is that he had his floaties on, so he was fine and came right up.  But Mom said that she sort of did a belly buster and is startled him a little!  He is fearless and willing to try anything he see's a big boy doing.

So, we borrowed some little skies from our other neighbor's and did some practicing [Daddy and Pops pulled them along the shore on the skies] before we put that little boy behind the boat!  Chris and Ashlyn came down just for a few hours on Saturday and Collier was on the mower with Chris when I went to get the skies from next door.  When he saw me with those skies he was off that mower quicker than I could blink...that is a complete shock because that little boy is obsessed with mowing the grass.  Here is how it unfolded!!

 And then he actually did it:




I was so excited and so proud of him.  It took all I could do to not scream and yell in excitement for him but I knew that would totally ruin the video sounding like a complete redneck.   I should have been in the boat to video, but for some reason was on shore.  But once his butt dropped the water splashed in his face too much and he wouldn't/couldn't stand back up so Justin stopped and got in the water with him.  He was a little scared but Justin told him how good he did and they got back in the boat.  He wouldn't do it again the rest of the weekend but he is still talking about it today.  I just can't believe that he was willing to try, I have no idea if he will do it again this summer or not.  But I am proud of him for being brave enough to do it one time!  At 3 year's old.

Back To The Grind

So, it began...W.O.R.K!  I've been working from home for the past month and I have loved every minute of it.  But yesterday I started back in the office full time and it was good but hard.  It was hard to leave both of them with my Mom and just drive off. I got a teary eye'd when I drove away and Collier was standing at the door waving bye. The hardest part is that when I have any down time at work, I just want to be at home.  It is just an adjustment and we will get into a good routine soon!

I spent my last week of working from home...working from the lake.  It was perfect and so much fun.  If we could I think we would live down there, but reality calls and so we return to Birmingham.  Mom and I and the kids were down there for 10 days and Justin and Dad came and went as they needed to work.  Again, my time with the kids and my Mom was just perfect and a great way to wrap up my maternity leave time off!

My morning devotional couldn't have been more encouraging yesterday morning.  It was exactly what I needed to hear read.  I know that He has gotten me through this day and will continue to walk me through the rest of this week! Here is part of it:

     'Welcome Challenging Times as opportunities to trust Me.  You have Me beside you and My Spirit within you, so no set of circumstances is too much for you to handle....  The way to walk through demanding days is to grip My hand tightly and stay in close communication with Me.  Let your thoughts and spoken words be richly flavored with trust and thankfulness.  Regardless of the day's problems, I can keep you in perfect peace as you stay close to Me.'  From Jesus Calling Daily Devotional

Not that I have any particular huge problem, but it is a challenge to come back to work and it sure was assuring to be reminded that I have a Mighty Heavenly Father who wants me to hold His hand and confide in Him my thoughts, struggles, joy and everything in between.  That is a huge peace of mind and it certainly was what pulled me through my day.  

Today, has been a little rough on Kenley and Mom.  For some reason, she hasn't eaten well and has cried a lot.  After the third time of Mom calling and Kenley screaming in the back ground I decided to go and help.  I am sure Mom's ear drum's needed a break - Kenley has a loud and high pitched cry.  I fed her [which gave me a break from pumping] and she fell asleep so that I was able to go back to work for the afternoon.  Poor little priss, her eye's are still red and swollen.  For over a month now she has been wrapped up on me and with me almost 24/7 and I am sure this is just part of separation and adjusting to her new routine!  Collier on the other hand has done great and he was more who I was worried about.  He is used to getting all of his Nammie's attention and she is now having to care for two instead of one...but so far he has done great, I am so proud of him.  We will just continue to pray for this transition!

Sleeping babies

Yesterday, both of my children fell asleep in their swing... at the same time. I wonder if I can hang two swings in my den at home?

Kenley has already taken to the swing. She is following close in her brother's foot steps..I have documented how much he loves to swing.   I am not sure what about this red swing is so fabulous but at 10 weeks she has decided that she is very content in it. She even took a 3 hour nap in it earlier this week.  My Dad calls it 'The Magic Swing' because if she starts crying and we can't get her settled down, we can put her in it and she will relax and usually end up sleeping.  We have also successfully gotten her to sleep in the baby swing as well. She didn't like it at first, but has changed her mind!  That is a good thing since Collier usually wants to 'swing high'  any chance that he gets and it helps to have an alternative for her while he has his turn in the swing.  I just think that she prefers the red swing to the baby swing but I have no idea why!

Not that sleep is a problem. Because it isn't. She sleeps about 8 hours every night with only a few stirs in the night in search of passy. Although last night she did wake up and eat at 4am, but I can handle that every few nights verses every night!


Yesterday marked 11 weeks for Kenley. She is filling out and getting longer by the day.  She a still has her blue eyes.  She laughed a real chuckle on Wednesday night, it was so cute. More than just the little coo's she has been doing.

Collier's 3 Year Checkup

This post is a little late, but I have been meaning to post it for the past 3 weeks.
Collier had a good 3 year check up.  All is healthy and good.  Here are his stat's

Weight: 34LB
Height: 37"
Head: 19.5"

No shots, but they took a little blood and everything checked out perfectly.
A few weeks ago I signed a release for Collier's eyes to be checked at school and we got a form back a few weeks ago saying that he didn't pass the exam.  So I asked the doctor about it and she looked over the results and told me that we do need to have his eyes checked by a pediatric optomotrist.  She said that it has something to do with one of his eye's not responding correctly that could indicate a straying eye.  We haven't noticed anything to that affect with him.  But she said it is just better to be extra sure and extra careful, we have an appointment at Children's in two weeks.  Just to be on the safe side!

When we had Kenley I decided to switch doctors/practices.  I have been really happy with our new doctor so far.