House Update - March 24 - March 29

Wow...this week a LOT (pun intended!  HA!) has happened!  It is so exciting to watch the framing go up!  We drove up this past Saturday and here is what we saw!  WOOHOO!

View from the road driving in...

This is the front door opening and some windows into the dining room...

This gravel pile will be flattened out this week so they can pour the garage, which goes right here...

Looking out the front...

It rained the night before...our backyard is a muddy MESS!

This is me standing in our bedroom...

Stairs to the basement...

The basement is looking a little different...

Exciting week!  I think this coming week they are supposed to pour our garage floor and then finish framing all the first floor interior walls.  Then I guess after that they can frame around the garage and get started on the second floor!  

Emory - 6 Months!

I can honestly say that these have been some of the quickest, and happiest 6 months EVER!  I'm going to sound all mushy, but Emory is just the best little baby!!  I have felt a LOT different being a second time parent.  I thought I "enjoyed" Brynn as a baby, but nothing like this.  I don't mean that to sound bad to Brynn, but I'm just so much more relaxed this time around and I don't stress about a lot of the things I stressed about last time, which has made the "baby stage" so much more enjoyable.  You know, when Brynn was a baby people would say "it goes by SO FAST so just enjoy it", but until you live it and see that it's true, it's just harder to do that.  This time I KNOW that certain things are going to end, and I am just soaking up those little moments.  Shockingly, I am ENJOYING the baby stage so much this time around.  (And most of my family and friends know I've also said that was my least favorite part).  Anyway - a sweet, easy-going baby combined with being second time parents combined with an older toddler who was already potty-trained before Emory was born (HA!) have all helped these last six months with Emory just be such a sweet and special time.  I was telling Ryan a few weeks ago I finally see how people can say "I just want to freeze time".  Both girls are at such a great age and I KNOW I will look back and miss all these special days we are having.  "Living in the present" is something I haven't always done very well, and something I have really prayed about and asked God to help me do.  I am truly LIVING that right now and it is SUCH  great feeling!  (And I have no idea how this little post just turned into a mushy sermon, but I guess that's what happens when your tiny baby turns 6 months around the same time as your older baby turns 3!)

Month 6 -

• She weighs 15.0 lbs - 36%
• She is 26 1/4 inches long - 62 %
• She is starting to wear all 6-9 month clothes.
• She is in size 2 diapers.
• Her sleeping has been GREAT!  We get her up around 7:30.  She takes a morning nap from about 9:30-11 and an afternoon nap from about 1-3 or a little later.  Then she takes a cat nap from about 5:30-6:15.  She nurses around 8:30 and is in bed before 9. 
• NURSING/FOOD - She nurses in the morning when she gets up, then has some oatmeal and fruit.  She nurses again around lunchtime and also has some veggies.  She nurses sometime after her afternoon nap, usually around 3:30.  Then if we are home I'll let her nurse a little bit after her catnap (really only to help keep my supply up).  If we are out and busy, then I don't worry about letting her nurse at that time.  But either way she has a pretty big "supper" with oatmeal, maybe some fruit, and veggies, and now we are adding meat at that time.  Then I always nurse around 8:30 before she goes to bed.
• She takes a bottle just fine when I'm working or if we are out doing something.
• She is starting to sit up all by herself pretty well, and she is starting to army crawl!  WHAT??
• She has become QUITE the little jabber-box.  She makes all kinds of silly sounds...ga ga, la la, ha-la, da-da...just a string of jabbers and it is so cute!
• She loves to sit in the jumpers and little exer-saucer things.  
• Her new favorite toy (that we just got back out) is Sophie the Giraffe...she also really likes this flat crinkly teddy-bear toy .
• EVERYTHING goes in her mouth...everything!  She is really good at reaching out for toys and holding on to stuff.
• She has the BEST little belly laugh and she loves when we blow on her belly...we can always get her to laugh when we do that.  
• She still loves her bath time...especially if she gets to get in with Brynn and watch Brynn play.
• One of her favorite things is getting to be in the "carrier".  I put it on for the grocery store or if we are out running errands and she sits in that and looks out and just LOVES it.  Grocery runs are so fun with her and Brynn!  (I can't believe I'm saying that...but it's true!) 
• People comment a lot about how happy and smiley she is...they are right!  We love our sweet little Emory!
• And I know this seems like such a happy mushy post, but this really has been a great month!  (I know with teething just around the corner, things may not be so rosy!  HA!)

And to compare...Emory (above) at 6 months...and Brynn (below) at 6 months!  (I should have put Emory's hair in pigtails to help compare!)

We are just SO THANKFUL for our Emory!

The AMAZING Birthday Weekend

This past weekend was just the BEST weekend!  Since Brynn's birthday was on Saturday and my sister Lindsey's birthday was on Sunday, Lindsey and Curt were able to come into town on Thursday afternoon and stay all weekend!  We spent a TON of time together, hanging out and visiting and celebrating!

Thursday after school we headed over to my parents house and Lindsey and Curt got there around 4:30.  It was a beautiful day and we got to play outside, eat dinner together, and hang out until the girls' bedtime.  After Ryan and I put the girls to bed, I stayed up WAY too late icing some Hello Kitty cookies for Brynn's birthday party.

On Friday morning my mom came over and watched the girls while my sister and I had to run 7 miles (yuck!) as part of our half-marathon training.  It was SO NICE to run with Lindsey instead of just listening to music.  Then Linz and my mom ran errands and the girls and I met up with all of my friends at the park...it was WONDERFUL...a BEAUTIFUL day!!!  We went home and took naps and then went over to my parents house around 5 to visit with my grandparents, aunt and uncle, and my cousin Jared and Kelly and their boys who all came over for a family dinner since Lindsey was in town.  We all went a fish-fry here in town and it was SO GOOD!  Then everyone went back to my parents for dessert.  Lindsey and Curt even let Brynn open her birthday present a day early!


Brynn and Camden put on a "magic show" and it was HILARIOUS!

Brynn's really been into making "surprise" faces lately.  I'm not sure what this one was about?

We were all laughing SO HARD over Camden's magic tricks...hilarious!

LOVE THESE GIRLS!

On Saturday morning we had Brynn's birthday party at our gym, Fitness Plus.  I'll post a TON of party pictures in a separate post, but it was SUCH a great morning celebrating Brynn, and I think she had a BLAST!

After the party we headed home for naps (even for us!).  When the girls got up, Brynn had so much fun looking through all her toys and playing with all of her new stuff.  Then we headed out to our lot to see the progress from the past week, and Brynn and Ryan even flew her birthday kite!

By then it was supper time so we ate at Bella Italia for a special birthday dinner for Brynn and Lindsey!

Brynn and I made some silly faces before dinner...

Emory spent the beginning of dinner snoozing away...

Lindsey picked Bella Italia and Brynn was excited because she loves "noodles"...clearly...

See what I mean about the "surprised" face??

While we were eating these girls and their dates walked in.  Cape was having a formal dance and Brynn asked us if that was Elsa (from the movie Frozen! HA!)  The girls were SO SWEET and even took a picture with Brynn!



Sunday morning while we were all getting ready for church Brynn was hard at work on a craft kit she got from one of her little friends...

All ready for church...

All weekend long we've enjoyed having on the basketball games...MARCH MADNESS has begun!  We are big fans in our house!

Even Emory was having fun playing around with Daddy while the games were on!

Curt is a HUGE Tennessee fan, so after naps we headed over to watch the game together and eat supper (we had lots of leftover pizza from Brynn's party).  We took Lindsey's birthday present and then Lindsey and Brynn got to go on a "birthday treasure hunt" that my mom had set up!

To start the treasure hunt Lindsey and Brynn had to decorate their "treasure bags."

Curt was a little more into the game than watching the treasure hunt...HA!

They searched all over the house for special cards and at each spot there was a special treat.

First treat?  New socks!  And the "surprised" face again...=)

Then some Hello Kitty cotton candy hiding in the bath tub!  HA!

We tried taking a girl picture, but it didn't really turn out too well!  HA!

Then Brynn, who really wasn't into the picture earlier, decided we needed a "boy" picture, but she got to be in all of them...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINDSEY!

This weekend was SUCH A BLAST and I am so thankful we were able to celebrate Brynn and Lindsey's birthdays as a family!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRYNN AND LINDSEY!