Thump Thump

That's the sound my heart makes when I see Parker and Avery interact. About 2 or 3 times a day, Parker will stop what he's doing and will go see Avery. He usually will want to hold her momentarily, lay next to her or show her how to play with her toys on the exersaucer, Twice he's wanted to pick her up which he now knows is a "no no" as is swinging her in the doorway jumper! BUT, overall... he's FANTASTIC with her! When Parker is holding Avery and he's done, he tells me "All done, mommy" which is AWESOME! I was so worried he'd just crawl away or chuck her to the side! Thank God that's not the case! While these are not the greatest photos, they sure make my heart happy!

Parker took Avie's paci out to kiss her

He decided HE would be the baby!

Clearly Avery would like her paci back!

Parker pats Avery on the head a lot. It makes me laugh!

That seems to be soothing her while big brother insist on keeping her paci

Is there anything sweeter than clean, snuggly babies!?! I suppose these pictures would be cuter if Parker wasn't wearing my "Everything is bigger in Texas T-shirt!" Parker has paci envy. He never took one and every now and then I'll find him walking around the house biting Avery's. He has no clue he's supposed to suck it. Bless his heart. That's when I know he needs a little one on one mommy attention! Avery is just infatuated with her big brother! She tracks him around the room and absolutely loves him to lay next to her, kiss her toes and play with her on the exersaucer! She tolerates being held by him for about as long as he's willing to hold her which is always less than a minute. 

Tonight I was watching "Say Yes to the Dress Atlanta" and there were boy/girl twins. He had come with his sister to go shopping, picked out a dress for her and supported his sister's decision. It was SOO sweet. I've decided that's my goal for Avery and Parker. I want my kids to be so close that Parker WANTS to support his sister and go wedding dress shopping with her. Lofty goal... I know. It's not about the dress per say, but I want my children to love each other so much that they want to be there for each other's big moments in life, despite being opposite genders. So far, I think we're off to a good start!

Babies, Babies EVERYWHERE!

Our playgroup is OFFICIALLY complete! All of the 2 year olds whose mom's were pregnant are now BIG BROTHERS and BIG SISTERS! :) I got SO excited each time a mom was in labor! I couldn't WAIT to get the 1st text picture of the new precious pumpkin! I saved them all for this very post! So here's the line up!

Parker became a big brother 1st with the birth of Avery Madison on May 5th! She weighed 6lbs 13oz and was 19 inches. How bad is it that I had to look that up on her birth announcement! I don't have a text picture because I have a new phone since then but this will do!

Next was Zury's turn with the birth of her brother, Marshall Starks on July 28th! He weighed 7lbs 12oz and was 20 inches long. The 1st thing I noticed about Marshall was how much he favored Zury... especially with those kissable lips!

Lily became a big sister on August 12th with the birth of her sister, Shiloh Abigail! I think Shiloh looks like her mom! She was the smallest of the 4 babies at 6lbs 8oz and 19 inches but she certainly is a cutie! She was born insanely quickly just minutes after arriving at the hospital!

And last... but certainly NOT least is Landon Joshua, little brother to Logan! He was born less than 24 hours ago on August 18th at 3:57am weighing 7lb and 2oz and 20 and 1/4 inches! That 1/4 inch was VERY important to his father ;) He has the prettiest skin I've ever seen. 

I had the pleasure of taking Avery to visit her new friends in the hospital and have a new appreciation for the newborn photographers in the hospital. See what I mean:

Marshall, Avery and Landon

Shiloh and Avery

Shiloh and I

Me and Avery (14 weeks), Brandi and Landon (hours old!), Amber and Marshall (3 weeks)

 I am SOOO excited to watch these babies grow up as buddies! How lucky are we to be raising our children close in age together (both the 2 year olds AND newborns!)!?! I bet by 10 months, the boys will be bigger than the girls, even though Avery was born 11 weeks before the 1st boy (Marshall). We'll see! Congratulations, mamas! All of the babies are PRECIOUS and I feel so blessed to know each of you!

Mommy Moments

There are defining moments as a mom that most every mom WILL experience. It's like initiation into a club. I am already a member of said club (Thanks to Parker) but Avery made sure I re-uped my membership... possibly sending me into a club leadership role on Tuesday. What club is this you ask? 

It's the "I've worn my baby's poop" club. The rest of this post is NOT for the squeamish!

We were on the boat, you see... which is prime "poop on mom" time because did I have a change of clothes? No. Did I have wipes? No. Did Avery have a change of clothes? No. Mom of the year, I know. Thankfully, I did remember a diaper and the boat is stocked with paper towels. So here's how it went down:

We were taking some pictures....

You see Avery's face? She KNEW what was about to happen!

 ... And then....

Here's the impressive part... it was BARELY on her pants and her diaper was almost completely clean! She managed to poop so explosively that it bypassed the diaper AND her pants and landed on ME!

TA DA!

 

 

The damage... that I sat in for about an hour and a half. THAT'S LOVE!

The good news... 

1. My sister dry heaved but didn't ACTUALLY throw up!

2. I believe this incident has served as birth control for her and many other young people still reading this post

3. Avery has been WAY less fussy! It's amazing what a good poop can do!

4. Spray n wash is awesome and you'd never know my dress was once covered in baby poop!

It's a good thing Avery is so darn cute!

PBS Dance Party

SO... I know I've been a bit of a blog abandoner recently! SORRY! Life's a wee bit hectic right now with the kiddos, car problems, housekeeping (or lack thereof), summer fun and all that jazz! I've not been super great this week at snapping pictures but did shoot this short video of Parker dancing. He's not one to usually let loose as his idea of dancing is usually a modified version of raising the roof.. but... the kid does love organized dances. He's gonna be the KING of the YMCA and electric slide at weddings! This is Parker doing the PBS Kids dance party that comes on before Curious George. Obviously, his favorite part is to "leap like a lemur." :)