Happy Thanksgiving

From our family to yours I hope you find yourself amongst people you love, your bellies full, and your heart over-flowing with things to be thankful for.

Blessings my friends!

Who’s that girl…

Collins will be the first to tell you that it has to be tough to be the only boy in the house (I said boy not man.)  Therefore, when it is playtime and he is desperate to play with his older sister he is willing to do about anything.  Introducing to you “Clarabelle.”

I mean seriously, if he didn't have an older sister dressing up like a girl would NEVER cross his mind. There are too many deer and ducks to hunted!!  haha!

(Wesley, please forgive me for posting this!!)

Not only do I have picture but I have video!  The kids were cracking me up.  Notice the music?  Taylor Swift.  (BTW- the concert was AMAZING!!)

Lawson and Clarabelle debut…

Wesley as Clarabelle and Lawson

Then when things got back to normal I decided to show Wesley the video.  His reaction was PRICELESS!! 

Wesley we love you…thank goodness you are comfortable with your masculinity as your daddy says!

Cailyn Video

Attached is the most precious video of my sweet Cailyn that I took today on my phone.  I thought I would share it with you. Hopefully you will be able to see and hear it! (You have to click on my blog if you receive this in your email!)

Cailyn 9.5 Months Old

Enjoy!

We got school spirit, yes we do

We got school spirit, how about you??

Yippee! Congratulations NC State in the huge win over Clemson!! 

GO WOLFPACK!!

November- This and That

When did Lawson turn thirteen???

Lawson is wearing glasses for reading now….she looks so mature!

Wesley, my sweet Wesley!!  Let’s see we had our first (hopefully only) bad day at preschool this month.  After lots of talks and discussions he is back to having wonderful days.  He is a bundle of energy and the child is on the go…ALL.THE.TIME!! He only slows down to sleep!

Here is what Wesley is Thankful for…

He is thankful for his hair!!! Good thing to be thankful for, hopefully he will be blessed with a full head of hair his whole life.  haha!

Cailyn has been battling front teeth coming in and a cold for about 2+ weeks.  I think we are on the up and up and she is back to her happy self (not that she ever was too cranky). We have been using Coconut Oil as a natural remedy and that stuff is amazing.  Check out some of the many things it can be used for.   Cailyn is a little copy cat these days.  You make a noise and she tries her best to imitate you. Fun, fun! 

She is saying “Yippee!!” She is making great strides in the last few days in her gross motor skills.  I caught her today (11/17/11) on her hands and knees rocking in the crib.  Now I am saying Yippee!!

That is the quick and dirty of all the things going on here.

One last thing…the battle of the leaves is on here in NC…we are making the most of it!!

Happy Fall!

Lawson’s First Camp-In

Lawson had her first sleepover with the Girl Scouts.  The child was counting the minutes until it was time to go.  It didn’t help that Lawson had Veteran’s Day off of school so unfortunately the day lasted even LONGGGG-ER to her (If you know Lawson you can hear her and her dramatic tones.)

About an hour before the time to leave one of her friends came over so I could drop them off together.  Here are the girls ready to go…

I have to laugh at this picture for several reasons.  Here are my thoughts…

She was taught at the camp-in…

1. Girls wear tennis shoes/hiking shoes on the trails when they really go camping.

2. You bring what you can carry!!

Anyway. She had the best time and stayed up REALLY LATE.  Like 1AM late, but that is all the fun of being a kid.  Yes, she paid the price the next morning.  She was grumpy and ill.  I had to call up my parents the next day to say…”I understand now, and wow, I am sorry!” It was a total flashback when I saw her eyes tear up because I refused to give her brownies at 9:30 in the morning!

Her first “camp-in” was a success and she had a great time!!! She stayed there the whole night and between you and me the peer pressure kept her from sucking her finger!! So she said that is why she didn’t sleep that well either. Rats…

We love you Sophie

Oh yes, Cailyn is the proud owner of Sophie the Giraffe.  Providing lots of teething relief to a precious little girl!!

Cailyn is 9 Months Old

On October 31st, Halloween Day, my baby turned 9 months old.  This little girl brings so much life to our family! She ALWAYS has a smile on her face and just lights up when anyone pays attention to her.  So far, she has really shown no signs of separation anxiety (I get enough from Wesley) she is so happy to entertain other people!

Notice the Michael Jordan pose in every picture.  We are working on teeth!

She is still my laid back baby and always content during the day! She has been challenged with teeth in her 8th month of life. See first set of teeth.

Now she is working on the top! 

In other news, we did not have the best 9 month appointment.  I am okay with it now but Wednesday I was a mess!  Here are her stats.

Weight- 16lbs 5oz (10%)

Height- 28” (65%)

Head – 5%

If you go back to her 6 month appointment she has only gained 7oz in 3 months but 2” in length.  WHAT IN THE WORLD!?! The child eats all the time never complains!  Plus, she is GOOD eater.  Right now she is up to spinach and beans and loves them.  I am nursing full time still so what is going on?  After beating myself up and trying to decide if I should quite nursing, start supplementing, etc.…I decided I am going to continue the path I am on because I know in my heart she is perfectly fine! There could have been multiple reasons why she had not gained much weight (different scale, just pooped, little cold, etc) Who knows. I thought maybe I would alter her food with formula and she acting like I was gagging her. This is not an option.  I decided to keep on as I am and in a month after our weight check we will make changes as needed. 

Cailyn passed with flying colors her language milestones. The child is a talker and tries her hardest to repeat many things you say.  I can confidently say her first words is at 8 months are dada and tag.  Seriously, you show her a tag on a toy or blanket and she says “tag.” Too funny!

The one thing she failed was her gross motor milestones.  She is not crawling, or pulling up.  I have questioned before her leg strength and it is now catching up to us.  After worrying about it, I have said it before and I will say it again the child is content and is not worried about pushing herself.  One might say “lazy.”  Well, we are working on some exercises and working on her leg strength.  2 days after her appointment she was willing and able to stand beside the Leap Frog Table without any support.  YAH, CAILYN!!  I refuse to worry too much.  I really think she is fine and will show great improvements by 12 months.

It was hard to not get a “perfect” well check-up report (my first one ever) but really what is ‘perfect” I am not going to let some doctor’s milestones make me think my child is not perfect, because in my eyes she is just that “PERFECT.”  I love you Cailyn, and I promise I trying my best to be the best mommy for you!  Who knows, maybe third time is the charm!!

Happy Halloween

I hope that you all had a great Halloween.  Our day was rainy and dreary but I guess that just makes things more interesting! 
The kids were all geared up first thing in the AM in their Halloween gear. Oh yes, we love Halloween!
We also carved our pumpkin the day before.  This year our pumpkin was HUGE!!

This is also Cailyn’s first Halloween!!! Can you tell she is excited!!
Then when it was time to go trick or treating we were all a little worried because it was pouring.  We did not go to the church festival up the street like we normally do, but Collins did take the big kids out!! What a trooper!
All my kiddos ready to go…We have our Knight in Shining Armor, The Princess Sleeping Beauty, and the Royal Cow…

Thank you Nana and Dah for the kiddos Halloween Costumes!!

The Royal Cow stayed in the pasture but she did look super cute!! Cailyn also turned 9 months old yesterday!! Post on her 9 month stats will be on Wednesday.
Just so you know Model Lawson is still here…

The kids coming home after trick or treating!! The rain coats saved the day! Thank you Grammy and Pops for the rain coats!

Finally it was time to check out the loot.  They only went to 9 house and REALLY racked up!!! SUCCESS!!

Hope you all had a wonderful (possibly dry) Halloween!!