Abilene

A few weekends ago we went to visit the McAdams in their new hometown of Abilene. To say that we have missed them would be an understatement. Ava and I have both had a very hard time with them leaving. We jumped at the first opportunity we had to go and stay with them before baby Cason  is born.We drove in on a Saturday morning and were pleasantly surprised at how quick the drive was. Only 2 1/2 hours nonstop....seems like a breeze compared to our other drives! The McAdams were the perfect hosts and we loved every minute of our weekend with them. Wish it was longer!

As soon as the girls saw each other they ran and gave each other a hug. :)

After a yummy brunch, Amy and I took the girls to get pedicures! This was Ava's first time to go to the "nail shop" and she loved it. They had the cutest chairs for the girls to sit in while they got pampered.

They picked out the perfect color for their toesies....

Pink with sparkles of course!

She did a great job holding still. Much better than when I paint her toes at home.

When we got home the boys went golfing and the girls took a nap. After naps it was more playing. We took the girls in the backyard to do some sidewalk chalk. Afterwards they took a bath in Rocky and Amy's jacuzzi bath tub. The girls thought it was so fun!

Rocky and Amy made us a delicious steak dinner complete with wine and one of my new favorite desserts, peach dumplings with ice cream (she new my favorite dessert was peach cobbler so she tried out this similar dessert from pinterest) They treat you right when you come to visit!!!!

On Sunday morning we went to the Abilene Zoo. I LOVE the Abilene Zoo! Close to their home, very clean, small, but still plenty of animals to see, not crowded....wish we had that! We had the best time. 

We passed on our double stroller that we hardly ever used. We tested it out with Connor in the front seat and Brinley in the back. Gosh he looks big!

Before we saw the animals the dads took the girls and Connor on a train ride. Ava has a huge fascination with trains so she was super excited. 

Who let these creepers on the train with our children?!

Our favorite part about the zoo was that you could hand feed the giraffes! How cool is that?! Of course Ava was not afraid in the least bit. She stuck the cracker between the fence and the giraffes giant tongue swiped it up. It was so neat to see them up close.

We were there during Connor's nap time but he sat quietly in the stroller and chewed on his toys. 

Our little monkeys

Thank you Rocky, Amy, and Brinley for such a fun weekend. It made me miss yall even more! We definitely will be making many more visits to Abilene. Love you guys!!! It's crazy to think that the next time I see yall there will be a new addition to the family. :)

Grandparents

This post is long overdue. Still trying to play catch up with recent events. I need to get these kids on the same napping schedule so I can have some time to get these things done.

Over the past couple of months we have had many of the grandparents come visit us. We are so thankful that they are willing to come see us too. Traveling with kids is never an easy task!

I can't remember if it was my dad or Papa and Gramielle that came to visit first but either way their visit was very special. Ava just soaks up every bit of attention she gets from them.

Ava loves to help me in the kitchen so we made some banana bread for Papa and Gramielle.

Notice my new labeled containers for the pantry. I went a little label crazy in our house recently. They make me happy. :)

(I printed mine off of Better Homes and Gardens site if you are interested. Super easy. Just print on a full sheet label and cut out)

 

 

Connor getting some Papa tickles

P & G let Ava pick out anything she wanted from Target and she chose, very thoughtfully I might add, this princess makeup set. Probably should have told her that the lipgloss is not eyeshadow.

 

My shining beauty



 

Gramielle got made over as well



Somehow my picture got deleted but she was very helpful in taking care of Papa's boo boos from bike riding. She wanted to make sure he always had a new band aid on.

 



Although a little small for grown ups her twin beds have been nice to have when people come and stay with us. She loves getting to sleep on an air bed in our room when company is over.

 



 

Yeah, she wouldnt sit in a normal fashion so this is what we got.

 



My dad came to visit us as well and while he was here Alli and Greg brought Granny Jeanne over to visit with all of us...and her puppy dog Ike. She is in an assisted living type place right now and so Alli and Greg graciously volunteered to take Ike to live with them. GJ missed her sweet boy and I could tell that he missed her too.

Papa Mike and Connor were good sports during our pretend birthday party.

 



And these are just some random pictures that I never posted...

 

Love how Connor is clinging to his daddy's arm.

 

I took Ava for some one on one time to a splash park near our house one evening.

 



C enjoying some tummy time on our bed. He is sooo close to crawling. I am NOT ready for that!



 

Stay tuned for posts from our trip to Abilene and Connor's Dedication!

6 months old

Look who's 6 months old!!

 

 

Connor, how could it be that you are already half a year old?! It brings tears to my eyes just thinking of how quickly the time has gone by and how big you have gotten. When I look back at your newborn pictures I feel like I am looking at you for the first time again. It's hard to remember you so small. I wish time would just stand still so I can enjoy you as a baby for a little while longer.

 

This month, especially the last two weeks, have been full of big changes once again.

(pics are way out of sequence)

 

To start with, here are your stats from  your 6 month check up:

19 lbs. 3.5 ounces (90-97%)

27 3/4" long (75-90%)

17 3/4" head circumference (75-90%)

 

*You are rolling over with much more ease. You have had the hardest time getting that big body of yours to roll over.

*You officially do not like solid foods. I was hoping with time that you would get used to the taste of rice cereal and oatmeal but you haven't. Just recently I have given you sweet potatoes, peaches, and bananas and you spit them out in disgust everytime. I had a feeling this was going to happen. I'm surprisingly not too worried. You clearly aren't starving or needing to put on more weight so I will just keep trying and pray that one day soon you will be a better eater. Dr. Jim says to give you another month and if nothing changes then we will explore options to help you get used to the textures.

*Your face still lights up everytime your sister is around. She is such good big sister. She always makes sure you have toys to play with and that you are happy.

*You are sitting on your own now! Talk about making you look like a big boy! I make sure I am always sitting nearby or have a boppy around you because you still fall over after a few minutes. We now play on the floor all the time. Welcome to the world of dress-up buddy!

*You have three new teeth, as of a week ago! Your top two teeth and one more on the bottom all came in at the same time. Poor thing! You haven't been too fussy but it has made napping and sleeping through the night a little more difficult for you.

*Your favorite toy are these stackable rings that light up and play music. You love them and get so excited when I hand it to you and turn on the music.

*You still continue to be one of the happiest babies I know. People make comments all the time about how layed back and happy you seem. I hope that continues!

*Another thing that people say all the time is how much you look like your momma. :) It just makes our bond even more special for me.

*You are wearing size 9-12 months in clothes and still wearing size 3 diapers.

 

*You spit up constantly so I always have a burp cloth handy.

*You can pull yourself up on your elbows and have started to get on all fours and inch along. I'm not ready for you to be a crawler!! You're so cute to watch as you try so hard to move but it isn't something I am encouraging too much at this point.

*You have started letting out the cutest high pitched squeals. This is usually the sound I wake up to in the morning. :)

*You aren't interested in me reading books to you before bedtime but part of our routine has been for me to sing "You are my sunshine" right before I lay you down. You never seem to care that I am way off key and I love how you put your head on my shoulder and snuggle when I start singing to you.

*You also now sleep with a taggie blankie and it has become your lovey that you snuggle up with (or put in your mouth).

So many times throughout our days I find myself just staring into your eyes and asking God to help me remember all the little moments with you. You are growing up so quickly and I don't to feel like I have missed out on a thing. You have my heart, little guy, now and always! You bring me pure joy.

 

xoxo,

your mommy

 

And for an added bonus ;), I have included a slideshow that I made of our summer. Many of the pictures are repeats from the blog and facebook but these slideshows are what I look back on the most so I wanted to include them again. And the song I chose has been one that we have been singing around our house all summer. Pretty sure this catchy little tune will always remind me of my family. :)

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
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