4th of July Weekend: The Great Room Transition(s)!

Daddy had Thursday and Friday off, so we started our long weekend off by taking the kiddos swimming at Mrs. Kay's house. It was Brandt's first time in a pool, and he loved it! :) He just immediately relaxed and enjoyed floating around and kicking his legs. He floated for about 30 minutes, and then it was time for him to eat, so I fed him in a lounge chair by the pool while I watched Daddy and the girls play.

Felicity had a blast! It was such a fun family morning!

Avaree enjoyed every second of being in the water, but her skin paid for it afterward. I did all of our normal precautions, and we swam in Mrs. Kay's pool last year with no reaction, but this year, her skin broke out within an hour of getting out of the pool. Poor girl. She hates it, and so do we. I don't think we'll be swimming again this summer unless it's in a blow up pool with water hose water. 

That afternoon, Daddy used some raincheck movie passes that we have had for over a year, and he took the girls on a date to see a movie! This was his first time to go on a date with both of them. They all had a blast! 

I love those happy faces!!! 

Avaree's legs were itchy, so I spent some extra time reading and cuddling with her that night. I started singing her favorite night night song, and she fell asleep holding my hand. Thanks for the picture, Daddy. :)

On Friday, we just hung out together all day, and we enjoyed the day! Chef Daddy made us some yummy quesadillas, and his presentation was beautiful! 

Everyone gobbled up their dinner!

That night was Felicity's last night to sleep in her crib. 

…and Avaree's last night to have a room to herself and be on the bottom bunk!

Brandt loves to "jump jump!" :) 

…and eat his sunshine! ;)

On the 4th, I tried to get a group picture with my phone, but it was just a hilarious series of bloopers! ;)

My little man looked at me though! This sweet little blanket was made for his Mommy about 32 years ago! :)

He's always happy!

…and looks straight into my soul!

These three… ;)

That afternoon Mr. Bobby and Miss Bekah came over to ask Avaree if she would be the flower girl in their wedding next summer!

She was so excited for her Frozen goodies!

  That evening was the great room transition! Brandt moved to Felicity's room, and he finally got to sleep in the beautiful bedding that Aunt Jamie made him before he was born! :) This sweet crib has held all three of our babies!

I just love his bedding so much! Thank you, Aunt J!

He had a rough first night, but he started out sleeping really well! 

Little sis was so excited to move to Avaree's room! She's actually done so much better than we anticipated! When we ask her where her room is, she goes straight to Avaree's room. It took her no time at all to claim that room as her own. She has only asked for her crib once, and she sleeps really good in the big girl bed. The only issue has been her waking up super early, but we're working on that. Look at that happy face! This was her first night!

The girls read together on the bottom bunk, and then Avaree goes to the top! Felicity will tell her, "top," if she is ready to go to sleep! ;) They slept all night the first night! YAY!

I washed their outfits that evening, and they got to wear them again for church the next morning!

It's never a dull moment at our house!

Mommy had been up all night the previous night, so Daddy brought me a coke that afternoon, and it said, "Share a Coke with "better half." :) It was so sweet!

That evening, we had a little reading time before bed!

The second night was even better than the first! 

We are thankful for a pretty smooth transition for our big girls and our boy!

:) 

Brandt Grows Up: 6 Months!!!

Sweet baby boy is six months old! Happy half birthday, Brandt Ryder!!!  This little guy brings so much light and love to our lives and our home! I can't imagine life without him! 
Stats:  Weight: 19 lbs, 5.5 oz  Height: (I'll fill in after our Dr.'s appt on Monday!) Head: (I'll fill in after our Dr.'s appt on Monday!)
Sizes: Brandt is still wearing size 3 diapers! He's also in 6 and 6-9 month clothes, but he fits better in 9 month jammies. The jon jon that he is wearing is the only thing that I bought him while I was pregnant! :) It's one of my favorites. 

Sleeping: Brandt moved to Felicity's room (and Felicity moved to Avaree's room), and it has been so great not to hear every single time he moves in his bed! He's still not the best sleeper, but he has gotten better!Brandt wakes up anywhere from 1 to 6 times per night! (ha!) He takes two very consistent naps during the day (10 am and 2 pm), and then he almost always needs a little cat nap around 5:30 pm. However, if he doesn't get it, he just goes to bed a little earlier. Right now, he wakes up between 6 and 7 am, and he goes to bed at night between 7:30 and 8 pm. While I am looking forward to him sleeping more one day, I love how snuggly he is right now. In fact, when I put him to sleep, he wraps both arms around my neck and snuggles in under my chin. I know he's asleep when I feel his whole body relax and his arms start to slip to my shoulders, and then his face turns toward mine. I love to kiss his cheeks. I hope I never forget the feeling of his sweet little arms around me.

Eating: Little buddy has had some big changes in the eating department. In addition to breastmilk, Brandt has started eating oatmeal every evening (after we finish supper), and he eats mums mums (rice rusks) every time we are eating a meal at the table! :) Next week, he will likely add oatmeal for breakfast, too! (His poop has already started to change. I tried not to cry the first time I changed his diaper, and it wasn't mustard-ish and seedy. Watching your babies grow up is so bittersweet!) Brandt still nurses every 3-4 hours during the day, and he eats once or twice (if i'm extra tired and desperate from him to sleep) during the night. This next month, I plan to make sure he only eats once at night, and now that I know his ears are on the mend, we are going to do some sleep training.

Playing: Brandt loves to play! He rolls everywhere and is sitting up on his own now, so he has a whole new world to explore. When I put him down on his blanket, it takes him less than two minutes, to roll all the way off the blanket and the carpet! Last week, in just that short amount of time, he managed to get himself stuck under the couch with his feet, and he rolled over the bottom of the legs of his bouncy/jumper! Of course, his favorite playmates are his sister, but he sure loves his mama and daddy, and he loves his Sofie, the giraffe! His favorite toys besides Sofie are his rattle, his truck, his other giraffe, and the mirror! :) He loves to see his "friend!" Brandt loves Pat-a-Cake, and he loves for us to sing and talk to him! :) 

Disposition: Brandt is such a happy guy! In fact, he recently had an ear infection for over 22 days, and his only symptom was not sleeping much! Brandon made the comment today that Brandt just lights up when he sees his mama--even more than our girls ever did! It's true. He is a mama's boy through and through! I know that will likely change in the future, and I will enjoy seeing that, too, but, for now, I am thankful and in love with a sweet little boy that loves his mama. 

Brandt is in a great stage right now. He loves to be home and to play, but he also loves to go and do things! As long as he's on my hip or can see me, he's a happy guy. It's so nice that he's so very flexible. Not to mention, he smiles for 85% of the day! I'm so proud of him! 

 Fun facts: Brandt has many terms of endearment right now! Felicity lovingly calls him "Bubbie," while the rest of us toggle between: Bubbie, Bubba, Monkey, Muffin, Monster, and Daddy's latest "Mr. Squishy Pants!" HA! He was recently on ten days of Augmentin for an ear infection, and I'll let you imagine how he got that name.   

We have the happiest boy around. 

Happy Half Birthday (tomorrow), Brandt! We love you oh so very much!!!!!!!!

You are pure love and sweet as pie! :) 

Just Another Week in Paradise :)

Mama has been crazy busy in my down time, and busy during the daytime with my little loves, so I'm just now getting caught up on the fun that we had the last week of June! :)

Little brother wants to eat so badly. (More on that later.) He looks at us with these big, sad eyes, and then he tries to reach for any food or drink that he can get! So, we decided to give him mum mums! They were a huge hit! :)

Once he sees them, he cannot contain himself. He goes bananas until he gets in in his hands, and then he goes straight to eating it! :)

Of course, I quickly learned that just a diaper is our best route with the mum mums! :)

This came up on my phone this other day as this day four years ago! I can't believe how little she was! I love this stage, but there are many things about her little self that I miss! This was her first plane ride! We were headed to Vancouver to board a boat for our Smith Family Cruise to Alaska! We had been up since 3:30 AM, and she was still going strong! :)

That Monday, I was feeling brave, and I took my three to meet up with some friends at the local splash pad! We had some cloud cover, so it wasn't super hot yet, and my three were excellent! I was so proud of them (and me)! :)  Little brother lounged in the shade of the double stroller for awhile and just played with his toy!

Avaree immediately started playing!

She's so brave! 

Felicity sat with me for about 30 minutes, and then she just warmed up all of a sudden, and she started playing in the water like she had been doing it her whole life!

Brave girl!

She was SO cute running through the water!

:)

Both girls also wanted to just sit/stand in the little circle that spouted water! 

Do you spy them both? They had big smiles on their faces when the water stopped!

See? :)

Look at this face!!! :)

We had a great time at the little splash park! I love living in a place that has so many fun and free activities for kiddos! :) These are my favorite shots from the day! I was so proud of the kiddos! 

I love this one too! She's slowly coming out of her shell (once she feels safe), and it is so much fun to watch!

The next day, we invited Mrs. Holly, Kendall and Wesley to go to the museum with us! We love our passes! We started out in the craft room! Ave and Kendall made paper flowers! :) 

The girls were enamored with the wind tunnel!! 

Felicity's favorite is always the ball!!!

Everyone loved it!

Avaree and Kendall had a ball! 

Holly and I gave in and each put in a dollar for our big girls to get in the hurricane force winds simulation! Avaree begs to do this EVERY time that we go, and she's never done it before. 

They had a BLAST. You could hear them squealing from the front door, i'm sure! :) 73 mph!!!

We made it though the museum, and after naps when we got home, Felicity built us a tower! She's really into building with her blocks and legos right now!

That night, I snuck away to Target by myself for 30 minutes. It was glorious. I sent this picture to Brandon! Check out all my gray hair! ;) 

This was my first time to get away by myself since Brandt was born! 

That next morning (Wednesday), we went to downtown Arlington and enjoyed the free children's concert at Levitt Pavillion! 

We take a blanket and sit in the shade with friends! We even got there by 9am to make sure we got a great spot for our blanket and could sit by friends! :)

We got to sit by this little cutie!

 And these two enjoyed some time together! :) Brandt has some beautiful girls to grow up with! :)

This picture shows my outgoing girl and my shy girl perfectly! Of course, if Felicity is warmed up and with her people, she's not shy either, but it does take her awhile! Avaree had a blast with her friend, and I promise Felicity was soon smiling, too! :)

After the concert, we drove to church, and we sat in the parking lot, so that I could feed brother! After he was finished, Avaree wanted to take a selfie before we went in for lunch with Daddy!

Thursday we had an at home recovery and laundry day! :) It was wonderful! The next day we were starting our great room transition, so I had a few things to do to get ready for that! :)