Weekend of people

This past weekend was fun. We got a babysitter on Friday night and had a dinner party with some old and new friends. It was nice to get the husbands together, as the Moms know eachother and hang out together often. We ate brisket and some yummy cole slaw that I want the recipe for and then for dessert had chocolate fondue! I was so excited to be in charge of this..we got to use our fancy fondue set up and I bought lots of dippers and lots of chocolate because who would want to chance running out...and we got to take it home for leftovers!! We also played Catch Phrase and chatted quite a bit. It was a good night and so nice to come home to a quiet house! Hayes even seems to be getting back to sleeping through the night (fingers crossed)!Saturday I got my hair highlighted and Sam (Granddad) and Juliette (Grandma Jules) came in for a quick visit. Georgia was really shy up until it was time for them to leave, of course. Emmaline was still prissing around and Hayes was just hanging out. He slept almost the whole time I was gone (why do they always seem to do that??). That night we had plans to meet up with one of Daniel's doctors and his family. Their kids are the same age and sex as ours. It was pretty crazy..Their daughter will be 4 on March 9 (1 day before E) and their next daughter turned 2 in August (1 month before G) and their son was born 2 weeks before Hayes! Crazy! They are really nice and they took us to yet another place that is kid friendly (Tycoon Flats)..had a band playing, enclosed space to run and a kiddie play area with castles and slides. The weather was perfect for a night outside! Another reason we love SA is all the places that cater to families!! The girls ate nuggets & drank lemonade while we had burgers and Coronas! Everyone is happy! By the end of the night the girls were all holding hands and were dancing to the band!When we got home on Saturday we shared fondue with the girls..they were soooo excited!!
Sunday was a semi-lazy day.. I did my Bible Study on David andDaniel built another stool for the girls to use..and the girls played outside almost the whole day.
It is fun to meet new people and find new places to go! I don't have any pics of the new people we met because I didn't want to scare them away!! But next time I see them they better watch out!

Nae-kid

Little Hayes is getting so chubby and round! I am loving it! He has really picked up on solid foods and gets them preferably twice a day, but sometimes 1 or 3 depending on what we have going on. We are already mixing up different flavors and he seems to love sweet potatoes and pears mixed with either rice cereal or barley. I try to make my own food but haven't set aside any time to do this yet so I have bought majority of it so far. Of course the sweet potatoes and bananas are easy to do our your own. I am excited about trying him on avocado next. We also got him some prunes to help ease digestion..all this food seemed to stop him up a bit..makes me wonder if I am feeding him too much too fast or if something particular is the culprit.Either way, he is tolerating it all fine and really gets excited to sit at the table with us to eat! So far he eats: sweet potatoes, pears, bananas, carrots, apples, prunes, rice cereal, barley, & oatmeal.
I also got him a sippy cup but he is a little slower at figuring it out. He wants to drink it but can't seem to wrap his lips around it to make it work. Practice makes perfect!!He goes to his ENT appt. on Thursday afternoon, so I am praying that all goes smoothly and the dr is able to figure out what is going on and the best way to deal with it!! Please do the same if you would!

BFF

Hayes Bryant and Jackson Jay are good friends already..really whether they like it or not! They are 11 days apart with HB being the oldest and Carrie and I hope they continue to be friends even when they have the choice. But for now, we will make them hang out and grow up together. It is fun to see their differences in growth and ability. While Hayes is definitely bigger than Jackson and has started eating baby food and such, Jackson is sleeping through the night (almost since birth) and can sit up for short spurts and rolls over. Today we shopped for a bit, put together a diaper cake while the boys bounced in the Jumperoos and ate Chuy's. Here they are at 4 months old! I was just happy that Hayes was not crying or fussing in these pics! The girls love Jackson and talk about him regularly. Emmaline said, "When I said 'Ahh' Jackson said 'Ahh', but Hayes can't do that." Then Georgia chimed in and said, "Nah uhh, Hayes can say 'Ahh' too!" I am not really sure what they were referring too, but it was funny to hear them discuss it all! They also like to talk about Marvin, Jackson's puppy dog!
The Listis love the Kamrowskis and will be so sad if they move, but excited to have a new place to visit!

Wooly Bully

So apparently I have a bully on my hands. This has become evident a few times this week. First, at the park, there was a little boy, younger than G, who was trying to climb the stairs. Miss Thang just stood there legs spread out and her arms stretched across from pole to pole, saying "nope" as she would move to whichever side he tried to squeeze by. I was appalled and then as I was trying to nicely intervene and get her to move, she just blatantly ignored me and stood her ground. I was holding Hayes in my arms so I couldn't quite snatch her up like I wanted to, but I managed to eventually drag her off the playset, apologizing to the kid and parent, and try and set her straight.
Well, it went pretty much as most things do with her...read:
"Georgia, that is not nice to block that little boy from the stairs. He wants to play too."
"OOOHHH, ok!" - smiling and then she runs off.
Like she just now realized what she was doing was wrong and if she had only known before it would have never occurred. I hear this all the time and it is always accompanied with a smile. "OOHH, ok!" Second, we were at an office and this little boy came and sat next to her, obviously wanting to play or chat, and G looks at me with a disgusted face and pouty lips, "I don't like that boy. I don't want him to sit by me! HHMMM!!" - crossing her arms and glaring at him from her eyes cut to the side. Of course she can't leave it at that, so she continues to point and say out loud that she doesn't like him, she isn't going to play with him and she wants him to move!
Isn't she lovely?!In the way of our family, she has made Hayes bleed this week from scratching him, though she usually is nice enough..but I think she has learned the 'no tolerance' policy on this one. She also brings Emmaline to tears on a regular basis. Daniel and I now tell Emmaline she is the Big Sister and needs to take a stand. Yeah, we tell her to fight back. I know, not the best idea, but something has got to give. So young, cute and blonde, but so not innocent! We aren't fooled...anymore that is..

5 years

Today Daniel and I are celebrating our 5 year anniversary. I guess, technically we celebrated last weekend in Dallas. So we are going to do nothing this weekend and I am excited about it. I think we are both exhausted and need to recover and hope our kids sleep this weekend..cause that is what we want to do! It has been a long week, rainy, cold weather and everyone has had trouble sleeping for some reason. We are having lobster for dinner and hopefully something yummy for dessert!
After 5 years of marriage, we have a lot to show for it. I can only imagine what the next 5 years will look like. I hope Daniel knows how much I love him and am thankful everyday, even those days I don't seem like it, that he works so hard so I can stay home with our children. When I met him in the summer of 2001 I never imagined we would be where we are now. I do wish we were back in Cancun this weekend celebrating with our family and friends beside us! Sure would beat these dreary, dark days we have been having.
3 houses, 3 kids and 5 years later here we are! Another thing..it is almost to the day 2 years since we moved back to Texas. Here is a collage of pics from that time..E was almost 2 and G was 4 months (just like HB is now) and well, Hayes was but a twinkle in his father's eye! Speaking of Hayes, he rolled over today for the 1st time ever..it was back to front!! YEA! He also has been eating baby food once a day and is doing great with that..he has now eaten rice cereal, bananas & pears (a noticeable favorite).Happy Anny, Baby! I love you!

Hayes Bryant is 4 months

I am loving this 4 month old little boy I have. He is so much fun and so much work, but it is so worth it. He is smiling more each day. He is trying to sit up by himself and can almost get there. He is definitely getting more interesting in what is going on around him. He is cooing, laughing, blowing bubbles and making potty noises..he must be a true boy. Emmaline is in this stage where she thinks and talks about the potty a lot so she thinks that is hilarious. Hayes hasn't rolled over yet, but can almost do it both ways. He can go over to his side though. He loves his Johnny Jump-up where he really gets bouncing and his high chair that he sits at with us during dinner. Really he enjoys anything for a little while, usually in 10-15 minute time spans. I think his favorite thing is his sisters (mainly Emmaline, I think G scares him a little) talking to him and them having little conversations..he just smiles and flirts right back. He also smiles and bats his big blue eyes at most ladies when we are out also.He wears size 2 diapers, but I think is ready for 3 our next time we buy them. He fits best in 6-9 month clothes, but can still wear some 3-6 months. I still nurse him almost exclusively but have introduced some rice cereal and bananas. He has taken a bottle more after the Cotton Bowl weekend and it is my goal to give him at least one a day.
We are not really on any schedule, though he usually takes a long morning nap and goes to bed around 10 at night. He will cat nap the rest of the day between feedings and playtime. He was sleeping through the night but got sick this last month and that has now unfortunately stopped. I am hoping he will pick it back up soon. He had an ear infection in one ear and took antibiotics to clear it up. Luckily, it didn't seem to affect his floppy trachea or cause any respiratory problems. We will go to the ENT in a few weeks to get it looked at to see what to do next. Hopefully he will outgrow it as he gets bigger and stronger. He is usually just waking up once or twice to eat quickly and back to bed.
He weighed 15 lbs 12 oz today and is in the 75th% and is 26.5 inches long and in the 95th%. His head circumference is 42 cm and is in the 40th%. The doctor says he looks strong & healthy!Hayes started to go to a little nursery at Oak Hills Church one time a week while I am in my Beth Moore Bible study. I think it will be great for him. I walked in to get him and he was swinging fast, just smiling and kicking his little chubby legs! They said how cute he is and how happy!! I don't think you can ever hear that too much!I think my favorite thing that has happened this month is him sitting in the high chair. He seems like he is such a big boy and I love that he is more a part of our family activities. His blonde hair is growing on the top lots! I am also loving him snuggling me! What a sweet boy..I am stealing all the kisses I can!

Cotton Bowl

This weekend Daniel and I got so very lucky to go to the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Natalie gave us tickets to sit with them in their suite and we had a front row parking spot! It was so fun. We headed out on Friday morning after a quick breakfast with the kids. Daniel's parents came to keep Hayes and Emmaline at our house. They brought their new puppy Scout for Gauge to play with. We then drove North on I35 and dropped off Georgia & Dixie with my parents. We were off and so excited..it felt weird and quiet and a little strange to be in the car by ourselves for the first time in a while. Daniel & Brian, a fellow Aggie we met while in MS, he was in the Sanderson Farms suite (who he works for) We got in town just in time to eat lunch at Mia's with Jeff and Natalie. Brisket tacos and margaritas!! Then we headed to the hotel to get ready and off to the stadium we went. We parked in the front row and 2 minutes later Reveille walked bythen 2 more minutes later the Aggie Band marched by. It was so exciting and talk about perfect timing!! So we tailgated and hung out in front of the amazing new Cowboys stadium. Finally it was time to head to our seats. There was yummy food waiting in the suite along with lots of beverages. The truffled mac 'n cheese was the best! Our seats were amazing but as most know there is no bad seat in that stadium.So as we know the Aggies didn't win, but the first half wasn't so bad. There were glimmers of hope here and there.
The next morning we woke up nice and late (forgot how that felt) and headed to State & Allen for brunch. Daniel had fried chicken and waffles and I had some random egg thing, but the real stars were our mimosas and bloodymarys. After a while there we were headed back to hang out at the room and as we stopped at a gas station fate stepped in. We were right by the hotel that Natalie likes to stay at..Hotel Zaza.
She was talking about the bar there and how much she likes their drinks..so what were we to do??! We walked over to the Dragonfly bar and tried out some of their signature drinks. We had a Big Flirt, a Pomerita, a Peach & Jalapeno drink, & Strawberry Fields. They were yum! Then we decided we needed some cheaper drinks and some food. So we met my cousins and their little boy at a more kid-friendly place to watch football. We only made it back to hotel to change clothes before we made it to our last stop of the evening. We had a great time and the whole day was so fun.
The next morning it was time to head home. Unfortunately, it was sleeting before we left and started snowing really hard before we made it too far. It was not good to drive in, but it was pretty. Luckily it didn't last past Waco and the rest of the day was smooth. Georgia was pretty adorable when we picked her up..saying she missed Daddy. She was excited to get home to see Hayes and Emmaline. It was great to see Emmaline and Hayes' sweet face too. We missed them, but it was great to get away for our upcoming 5 year anni!

Many Christmases - CS

Our holiday vacation ended up in CS with my family. Daniel unfortunately had to head home to work, but the kids and I went to celebrate Christmas with my parents and brothers and their girlfriends. It was a lot of fun to see everyone and the girls got completely spoiled with all their presents. Hayes was a doll and took it all in stride. His favorite gift was a basketball goal.
The girls got tutus, crowns, jewelry, monogrammed capes, new outfits, baby dolls and clothes for them, books, toys... Of course there was candy and chocolate and more pie. We also rounded out a few nights with late night games of Mexican Train Dominoes.
We finally got home on the eve of New Year's Eve. It was a long break but almost crazier when we came home. I feel like I was trying to find a home for all of our new stuff and it just kept overflowing. Now we need a bigger house!

Many Christmases - Louin

After our brief stay in Gulfport we made the 2 hour drive back to Louin just in time to hop in the car and take cousin Cody to the airport an hour away in Jackson. You would think we are just gluttons for punishment in the car, right. The girls did well and just slept almost the whole way. Emmaline usually doesn't but didn't feel well so she slept a lot. Georgia usually sleeps so it worked out well. And Hayes, well he just gets drug around with us, poor thing, but he is a good sport and flashed his sweet smile between naps.We ate a yummy burger, shopped a bit and played at a park while we were there. It was nice to be in Louin with our little family of 5! 5 -whow, crazy how fast that happened.We got lucky and had fairly warm weather the next day with a beautiful clear, blue sky! So we darted out the door to the land,
rode the 6-wheeler let the dogs fetch in the Lake, took pictures and ate a yummy lunch. It was a nice day for our family. That night we made gingerbread houses and I am pretty sure ate more than we decorated.
The girls were giddy with excitement of Santa's impending visit - Emmaline still stuck on her pink Barbie and Georgia still not wanting to see the fat guy come down the chimney. It was fun watching lots of Christmas movies by the fire.We made chocolate chip cookies for Santa and the elves got busy wrapping presents. Emmaline & Georgia kept sneaking into the kitchen and getting into the supply of cakeballs! Yummy!
It was Christmas morning and the girls actually slept in a bit til 7. They came in the living room which was still only lit by the tiny tree so they couldn't really see their presents. Emmaline sat on the couch by me and I said, "Did you see what Santa brought you?" She said without looking, "Oh ma'am, I missed Santa Clause!" It was so cute. She thought that Santa was supposed to be there when she woke up. I then explained to her that he leaves the presents but has to hurry off to other kids' homes. Hayes' first food - bananas! He did great!there was even makeovers being handed out!
So then she and Georgia saw their Barbies and other goodies and all was right with the world. It was a sweet morning and there was lots of laughing and fun. The day was dreary so we never made it outside but enjoyed a warm bath, playing with icecream parlor playdough, eating way too much pumpkin pie (maybe that was just me) and painting toenails.
The next morning we headed out bright and early back to Texas..so the story continues...