New Things...

...that we love!!!

JMA and RCA love the new iPad.

RJA and I love, love, love this new sling by Seven!

We have done so much with it already...grocery shop, wash dishes, do laundry, hunt Easter eggs, go to church, have dinner at Outback, attend bible study, prep dinner, and my most favorite use so far.....use the restroom. :)

(I realize my tense is off in that sentence, but I'm ok with it.)

Easter 2011-Year of the Egg Hunts

No dying eggs this year. Far less presents. Egg hunts galore. (They were a hit!!) Lessons to be learned.

The girls and I started our festivities this year on Friday at Mimi and Papa's with Julie, the girls, and the Bray 3. We did tons of cousin pictures in Easter outfits, ate pizza, and GAB hid eggs for a hunt. (This was the first year they weren't stuffed and that I didn't hide them.) Mom's mobility and stamina is poor, so the festivities were limited...which sometimes less is best. Maddie and Reagan were team purple!

Rileigh was a TROOPER during all the pictures. She had her "lunch" which wasn't pizza and then passed out. Here she is before the hunt...

And here she is after the hunt with her $1 from Mimi (which Rea put there) for doing a good job...

Saturday we attended our church's big annual EGGtravaganza. It was challenging for JMA and I not to serve at it, but this year we needed to be with our girls. We brought GAB with us which was fun for RCA. RJA just chilled the whole time in the sling. (a post to follow about the sling) Here is the 2 year old (and her helper) during the 2 year old hunt....

RCA would shake the egg to see if it was filled. If it didn't rattle, she would throw it back down. We later discovered some of those had Chick-fil-a coupons in them!

I didn't get any other pics that morning, but she loved the inflatables and she had her first snow cone...but without any flavoring...just ice. :)

Sunday we went to church for a rockin' service. I listened to the preaching in the stairwell while I fed RJA because I didn't plan well. We attempted to take a family picture afterwards. Then an impromptu lunch with friends.

Mom, dad, and Bray kids came over for dinner. It was our first family style dinner at our new table. Love it! (no pics taken though) :( Then we went down to the pool for a swim. RCA's inaugural swim of the season.
(I can't wait to get in there with her this summer to see what she can do.)

This is what RJA was doing...
Some of the Patterson family was coming in town the next day, so we waited to celebrate Easter with them the next night. I had a challenging afternoon (maybe a post for another time...let's just say the girls and I were all crying at one time) and was super late for the gathering. As a result, they graciously postponed the egg hunt until after dinner. Well...during dinner, it started storming for the first time in WEEKS! After waiting some time for it to at least stop lightning, the hunt began...in the dark....while it sprinkled...and my child didn't have pants or shoes on! Nice!!! Classy! Eggs were hard to find and candy was wet, but we certainly made a memory. Look at the big picture below..think my girl enjoyed herself?!?

I love the way God CONTINUES to use situations that are not what I had "planned" to stretch me and challenge me to be more like him...to see his plan, to seek his will, to serve him, to be still and know he is God...REAL and ALIVE...sitting on the throne. I rest confidently knowing that on Easter and everyday throughout the year my family and I are held in the palm of his hand.

New do!

5 inches or so off!

Happy Easter!

We tried! (It was super windy and sunny, taken with an iPhone, and involved 2 under 3. We'll get better.)

4 weeks and 2 3/4 years

My 4 week-er...
You are changing and getting big already. Stop it, please! Happy 1 month birthday! This is our first week without a dr appt or lab visit. Your eyes are really starting to "work"...looking at toys, faces, etc. You have started to give the slightest of smiles (not just the reflex) to a few people...Dr. Ben, me and Mimi. Daddy-o and I are impressed with how strong your neck continues to be. Your needs are more predictable which makes life easier. You have a good 6-7 hour stretch of sleep at night, but you sleep in the swing. You are well aware of Rea's voice. You get very still when she talks to you. You even stop crying at times when she rushes to check on you. We call you "fuzzy head". You and I are becoming good buds.

My 2 and 3/4 year old...
You too are getting big too fast. You are a lot of crazy fun! Everyday you're doing something new...I just love it! Since the short
stuttering period, you have developed a whole slue of new words and phrases. A few letter sounds are still off, but I (usually) know what you're saying. You love to pretend, pretend, and pretend...all the time! You talk to yourself or your pretend things, hum, and sing when you're doing what you do. When you have to leave toys behind, sometimes you kiss them and tell them "see you another day". When I get you out of bed in the am, you tell me "its a new day". When others sing out loud, you tell them to "calm down". Sometimes when Rileigh is crying, you say "it's too noisy". You are into birthdays and the birthday song. Love to hear you sing it. You tell people yours is coming and that you'll be six, but you don't know when it is. It's super cute to hear you sing your ABC's except sometimes you miss a few. We love you and your often intense personality. You're big, just so big and you make me really happy.

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Good Morning

It's another Monday and we're very grateful for it. New day. New week.


Lots of reading when Big Little is getting dressed...





"Playing" already (haha)...


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TTR

~Nursing is hard! It hurts!
~Rileigh peed on my bed in 3 different spots last night during a photo shoot and I didn't even care enough to change it.
~Little baby doo doo smells like I remember it....like buttery popcorn.
~I love to listen to the erratic breathing patterns and daddy-o loves little baby breath.
~We (RJA and I) have had 3 nights of 6.5-7 hour stretch of sleep....she's been in the swing though it hasn't been moving. 10:00 hour until 5:00 hour.
~8lbs at 3 weeks!
~"Pipe kisses" every-night between the girls.
~Wrinkled forehead, curled up legs, and long toes.
~Mouth hanging open = sound asleep!

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Besties & Water

I've talked about Addie, one of my many nieces (just welcomed my 9th one actually), before. She is one of Rea's very favorite people in the world. Addie is three months younger than Rea and just as spunky! (Addie is the youngest in the line of four girls.) They love, love, love to be together. DAILY Rea asks to go to her house and cries when it's time to leave. Before I had Rileigh, my s.i.l., Tara, would watch Rea on Tuesdays and I had Addie on Wednesdays. (Tara still keeps Rea for me on Tues...which has been really nice for both Rea and myself.)

Here they are on our last day before RJA. Rea's first time in the hose. :)

(click to enlarge)

Baby Girls

The Thursday before Rileigh was born (Sunday) my parents took Reagan to Orlando to visit a few parks with the big cousins. I FINALLY got to spend the day down south visiting one of my girls. It was such a lovely day!!!

Saw her beautiful place...ohhed and ahhed over the baby's nursery...had lunch at a favorite spot...shopping at Babies R' Us, Target, and other shops at Gulf Coast Town Center...great conversation...picture in the parking lot by a potential shopper at an art vendor under a tent.

After a lot of waiting, her Presley Brynn was born in the wee hours this morning!!!

Hoping to visit her again soon...it might not be quite as relaxing though...now with so many little ladies!

My Biggest Little

Having a candy cane because she doo-dooed in the potty!!!




Another success!


Yesterday I had to start something new...spanking if she goes in her undies. :(

She was calling me from upstairs and said she needed help. This is what I found...



She had climbed up and couldn't get down. I would have loved to see her getting up.






She had a couple weeks of stuttering and it really worried us. You never want your kids to struggle. Thankfully, it seems to have already passed.

She's totally into birthdays...well, the happy birthday song at least. I love to hear her sing it.

Words to describe her...fun, intense, busy, great memory, perceptive, expressive, testing.

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Bili Baby

Have you been wondering why RJA is undressed in so many pictures? No, I'm not that lazy and no, I'm not trying to cut back on laundry. Her bilirubin count was elevated, so she was jaundice.

When we left the hospital, it was 10...Went to the doctor 3 days later, who sent us to the lab, it was 18.8. ( I think when it gets in the 20's is the concern.)...We had to take her to the lab everyday to see if it was going up or down....Then he prescribed a bili-blanket which she had to lay on 24 hours a day...the reason for no clothes....JMA took her to the hospital on Saturday to have it checked again and it had gone back up...anyway, you get the point...FINALLY we got the ok to discontinue using the blanket!

Now we're just working on her weight! 8 lbs at birth...dropped to 7.5...then up to 7.10 after 3 days...down to 7.8 after that...up to 7.11...we go for a weight check Wednesday, hoping for 8 lbs!

Dumb & Funny

Reagan found this movie in the drawer and asked me if she could watch it.


She proceeded to tell me what was happening in the pictures on the cover.
She even began to reenact the guy giving the other guy a wedgie. So today I taught my 2 year old the word "wedgie".



Moral of the story...be careful what kind of "dumb" influences you bring into your home.

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On This Day

*During the 6:00pm hour, my brother will marry...bringing two lovely ladies into our family...a sister and a sweet niece.
*My mother fell while visiting DC. she broke her arm and possibly dislocated her shoulder...Georgetown University Hospital is now on her list of places she visited on her trip.
*My f.i.l. celebrates 59 years of life! This brings a variety of emotions. He has lived many amazing years and has created quite a legacy.
*A girlfriend brought her second son into the world.

*I fixed the collages from last Friday's post about RJA's first week.

*My 2 year old has played instead of napped during nap time. On this day, I am NOT ready to give up nap time.
*My 2 week old has decided to "wake up" since joining the world and contribute to our family in a very loud and needy way...crying! She also downed her first 2oz. bottle.



Thats a lot for one day and it isn't even over yet!

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TTR

"Things to Remember" (and not the store)

This is the first of many posts that will be a compilation of random thoughts or memories I want to remember.

Specifically about having a baby and newborn things...

~It's still amazing to think I carried a little person for 10 months and then delivered her...again!
~The second time around IS easier...I think it's because you are more confident and have a clue of what to expect.
~About 5-7 days out, my hips hurt again this time as they were getting "back in place".
~I forgot about not having much bladder control or whatever the problem was...having to pee every 5 minutes.
~I find myself holding Rileigh more than I held Rea because now I know how fast they change.
~Why didn't I use that darn lanolin stuff in advanced?!?!
~I love the tight fists up by her face when she's eating.
~I forgot how difficult dressing a curled up newborn was.
~The belly button sure can get stinky before it falls off.
~Super soft skin, hair on your ears, all balled up.

The Beginning of a Great Thing

*SISTERS*

1st Week

The first week or two looked a lot like this...

...a few other activities mixed in there, but these pictures are really the sweetest!

~meeting family~