Our Spring Break

Wes is on spring break this week and we decided to go on a little day trip Monday. We went to Hot Springs and visit Garvan Woodland Gardens for the Tulip Extravaganza. Neither us of had ever been there and it turned out to be a great place to go. Alyssa Kate loved running around and we had a nice picnic by a little pond. The weather was great and the tulips were beautiful. We spent about two hours there and have decided to to make this a yearly family tradition. We then found a park in a neighborhood and played on the playground for a little while. We ate dinner in Hot Springs and then came home with two very exhausted little girls. It was a great family trip and I hope we can get away and do it again soon!

What was I thinking? :)

Every year I take Alyssa Kate to Wye Mountain to take pictures with the daffodils. Last year I had an idyllic visions of her and her soon to come baby sister (in their matching outfits of course) taking breathtaking pictures together. WELL, then there was yesterday. I work weekends now so I needed to go during the week. I knew I needed someone to go with me because it would be hard to get their attention and take the pictures. For some reason yesterday I got the brilliant idea to go by myself at the spur of the moment, at nap time, after leaving Jon and Ashley's house visiting big Jake. I am not a spontaneous person, I usually plan something out until it is not fun for me anymore but for some reason yesterday I was living on the edge :) So when I got there they were both sleeping, despite the short nap they were both in good moods. Alyssa Kate loves to run in the daffodils and apparently Caroline loves to eat them. I hope that daffodils ingestion does not cause any long term damage because I am sure she probably ate at least parts of 6 of them. That does not include the pounds of grass she attempted to shove in her mouth. Most of the pictures I have them together Caroline is putting something in her mouth and Alyssa Kate is attempting to take it out. I also have never been so wholeheartedly ignored by two people than by them when I wanted them to look at me :) It was a nice warm day but by the end of our wrestling match I was worn out and HOT :)

Yummy daffodils!

All in all we ended up with some cute ones. Next year though I am definitely taking some one with me :)

Last week Wes had the Flu and was out of commission for a few days. During those days I slept in the girls room so he could have the bed to himself. Alyssa Kate sleeps like a wild bear so we could not share her twin size bed. She slept in her sleeping bag in the floor and thought it was really cool. Well now that Wes is better I have relocated back to my bed but she is still sleeping in her sleeping bag. I took a picture of her on the floor the other night and with her perfectly good bed in the background. Last week also in the midst of big Jake being born Caroline finally got her first tooth, well actually she got both of her two front teeth on the same day. She is very cute and keeps licking them, trying to figure them out. They are still so little I haven't been able to get a good picture but will post one when you can actually see it :) Today Wes came home early and played with the girls outside. I looked out the window and this is what I saw.They both loved it and as long as Alyssa Kate drove Caroline would sit and laugh. Wes stayed close at hand to make sure she did not bail ;) It is so much fun now that they are getting older and can play together. Sharing is a battle but one that I can see a little progress in. I always wanted a sister and hope that they can find a friendship that lasts a lifetime.

I AM AN AUNT!!!!!

Today I became an Aunt for the first time to the cutest little boy, Jacob "Jake" Michael Sumners. He was born at 9:14 am with one push (way to go Ashley) and weighs 7 lbs 4 oz, 21 inches long. He is of course very handsome and I can also tell he will be very smart and successful :) He has the Sumners nose and Ashley's big toes :) Jonathan and Ashley are exhausted but doing great! Alyssa Kate got to hold him this afternoon and told him that she loved him. When we got home she told Wes she held her baby brother today :) We are in Arkansas afterall :) We did not let Caroline get too close to him because she likes to "pat" baby heads a little too rough but I did get a cute picture of Mom with all of her grandbabies :)

I know this has nothing to do with being an Aunt but I have to include it. Alyssa Kate has wanted a scooter for a while and I found one for $7 yesterday at Duck Duck Goose so I couldn't pass it up. Last night she put on all of her safety gear and because it was raining and 35 degrees outside she rode it around the kitchen. I thought it was hilarious that she was so "protected" in our small kitchen. It is not cool when your mom is a pediatric nurse :)

A very busy day!

Today was one of the most interesting days! My best friend Alisa went back to work after 8 weeks on maternity leave and her little man Griffin got to come and play with the girls and I! He will come three times a week for at least the next 4 weeks. All I know is I have a new appreciation for those who have their babies very close together. Having two babies taking bottles at the same time was probably our biggest obstacle. All in all it was good day. I don't know how mothers of more than two children split their time though. I felt all day that I was not paying attention to one of them and felt guilty about that. Alyssa Kate loved having another baby in the house and Caroline thought he was her personal play toy, I had to watch her very carefully! Griffin is such a sweet little boy who makes me want a little boy very much!!! We had a busy morning but the afternoon proved to be the most fun. Caroline has been battling ear infections for the past 4 weeks, through 2 different antibiotics, and started yesterday with the same symptoms all over again. Alyssa Kate has never had an ear infection so this is new frontier for us. It is so frustrating because she seems to get over it and then catches another cold and that goes to her ears. I called this morning to see what our pediatrician wanted us to do and she said to come in. So, I took all three kids to the pediatricians office after they woke up from naps. I got many interesting looks from people with my 3 year old, 8 month old and 8 weeks old. I got quite a few "bless your heart" comments also from passersby :) I am sure we were a sight :) I told Alyssa Kate that Griffin would be back tomorrow and she said that she wanted him to be her baby brother like he was Greysons. I took that as a good sign that although that day was busy and at times tricky we did a pretty good job.

My girls are getting too big too fast!

Last week Alyssa Kate went to a birthday party for her buddy Hannah and after the party I was looking at the pictures and realized that almost all of them were of Alyssa Kate and Greyson together. While there were many other children there, those two seem to stay together. They played air hockey together. It was funny to see them and remember all the times as a teenager and a college student I played that game...I can't believe I already have a child old enough to play. The party was in the children's area at our church and they have a really cool set up which includes beds of old trucks and I tried to get a picture of the two of them playing in there. When I went over there they were laying down with hands under theirs chins but of course when I made myself known they both changed their poses :)

Since Caroline started pulling up on furniture and standing up she has decided that she would rather do that than anything else. It has led to quite of few bumps on head but that does not stop her. In the last few days she has let go for a few seconds and wobbled a bit then grabbed back on to whatever she standing next to. She really enjoys cruising along the couch also. It has opened a whole new world for her to get all the things we have put out of her reach!

Caroline was born bigger than Alyssa Kate but only a little over a pound but since that time she has exploded in growth. I truly believe that God has blessed us with this tall child because it really helps our small income. The girls were born in opposite seasons and I was worried we would not be able to pass along any of Alyssa Kate's clothes. But I need not worry Caroline had been able to fit at every turn. She is 8 months old and has been wearing 12 month clothing for two months. I pulled out Alyssa Kate's 18 month clothing recently and it all will fit Caroline this summer. I will not have to buy her anything to wear...that does not mean I won't but it will be a lot less :) Today I put Caroline in a dress that Alyssa Kate wore when she was 14 months old. It is one of my all time favorites of hers, it was so funny to see Caroline in it. You will notice in the picture that Caroline's hair is up in the fountain on her head...that is because she has recently decided to take her barrettes out and eat them. Her hair is so long it hangs in her face so I had to come up with a different solution...it is pretty cute though.

Warm day, Lots of play!

Today was one of those fantastic Arkansas days where it should be 4o degrees outside and it is 70. The girls and I tried to spend as much time outside as we could, considering tomorrow it will be in the 40's again. Caroline can not walk yet so she spends a lot of time in one of two swings in the yard to keep her from eating things on the ground. She loves the green swing because it is suspended from a tree and has a huge swing girth.

When Alyssa Kate was 6 months old we figured out that we had already taken about 1,000 pictures of her since her birth (I know it is ridiculous) well so by saying that the girl knows a thing or two about getting her picture taken. While we were outside today she told me she wanted me to take a picture of her with this tree and when I turned around she was already posing like this. It cracked me up! We have created a monster :)

To cap off our day of fun outside we went over to play with Alyssa Kate's best buddy Greyson. We took the kids to a park in their neighborhood. Alyssa Kate and Greyson fight like brother and sister but like a brother and sister love spending time together and have fun doing just about anything. While swinging they would just look at each other and crack up. I love that their are such good friends!

There was this see-saw that they could stand on and we were sure that Greyson would surely launch my skinny girl across the park. They may only be 8 months apart in age but he almost 15 pounds heavier than her but some how with his bouncing she held on....that's my girl!

I also just have to throw this in because I thought it was too cute of Alisa and Greyson. This bar has a step and you stand on it and spin, well Alisa climbed on there and they had too much fun. Greyson was quite dizzy though afterwards and could not walk straight.