End of Summer Adventures!

The last couple of weeks have been absolutely crazy. To illustrate that point, I'll tell you that I have THREE pictures from the last two weeks. Three. That has to be some sort of record! So, here are the pictures of the fun we had before the extreme illnesses befell our home! Daddy helped Avaree empty out the contents of both of her piggy banks. She has been saving for over two years, but she took some out earlier in the summer to donate to the VBS offering (because she HAD to help the girls beat the boys!). Daddy took her to the bank to count her money, and she had $61.00!!! We are going to let her use it for an upcoming surprise trip that we are going on! :) I love this picture! She kept saying it was so heavy!!

 We finally found the secret to cutting our grocery budget! We have to shop at Aldi for the bulk of our groceries! :) Bonus: We love their carts! Aren't my girls just beautiful? :) We had Daddy with us too, so that made grocery shopping EVEN better! 

 Daddy and Avaree discovered some kind of crazy game that they can play together on the xbox! They look like silly monkeys jumping around, and Felicity thought she was playing too! It was excellent entertainment for Mama! :)

 Avaree went to her friend Eden's birthday party, and Felicity got to tag along and play with Eden's little sister, Zoe! :) They were so cute trying to figure out the water balloons!

 You can tell that this was at least a month ago by Brandon's face! He's lost much weight since being sick (and from Plexus), but it was a still an amazing moment! Ave changed her first poopy diaper from start to finish! Wiggle worm Felicity was even still for her! :)

 Sometimes (especially in the mornings it seems) my girls play together so sweetly I just have to cry! This was one of those moments! :)

 Avaree and I baked a few batches of GF/DF cookies for several parties that we were attending! :)

 Aunt J made her this apron a few years ago, and we use it ALL the time!

On my Grandaddy's birthday, everyone gathered at my grandparents house to release balloons and have a prayer and memorial dedication for Grandaddy's rose garden. We had been traveling for six weekends in a row, and it was just not possible for us to make it, but I took the girls to the store and Ave picked a basketball balloon, Felicity picked a Mickey Mouse balloon, and Mama picked a plaid button down shirt balloon! Daddy was at church since it was a Wednesday, but we face timed with the family and released our balloons at the same time. It was a really neat experience for Avaree, and it opened up the door for many conversations that we had over the next few weeks.  Still wish my Grandaddy was here. 

Later that week, Lindsey and Greyson came to visit us! We had the best time!!! F and G are only about a month apart, so they were on the same schedule, and he and Lindsey just fit right into our little lives! :) We had several adventures (including one where Daddy had to come rescue us, haha) but we had a great visit!

The kids got a long SO well! Greyson IS laughing in this picture! :)

Felicity was obsessed with feeding Greyson the whole time he was here. She fed him his food, her food, and any other food that she could find! And he gladly accepted! :) 

Linds and I also braved Target with these three, and they had a blast in the big buggy! :)

We played outside!!!

That Friday (when Daddy was off) we went to the Fort Worth Zoo! It was SO much fun! The weather was perfect, and Felicity and Greyson LOVED the animals! F has been to the zoo twice before, but this time she REALLY noticed all the animals, and it was so fun to watch. Avaree kept asking when we were having lunch, so I guess she's over it, but I had a blast! :)

This was right when Felicity saw the tigers!!! Look at those faces!

…and this is how we got there! We put three car seats in the back seat, and B was in the way back with the wagon and stroller! Lindsey was the navigator, and I drove us! :) Talk about an adventure!

The babies loved the animals!!!

Can you see Avaree's face? :) 

We had a few snack breaks too!

That evening, we made dinner and Scott, La-shea and the kids came over to eat and play! This is the only picture that I got, but Brandon has Karrington's foot, and Ave is on his back! It was SO much fun!

…and THIS is how everyone should eat spaghetti! I just love this little guy to pieces!!

This is what happens when you send a tired little girl to wait for you in your bed while you put her sister to sleep! haha :)

That Saturday, Avaree got to attend the princess birthday party of a sweet friend from dance class! :)

Felicity thought it was the best thing ever! haha

Avaree worked the runway! :)

That night sweet Hope watched our babies, and we got to go on a double date with our friends Shane and Sally! :) We went to Joe T. Garcia's and then had dessert at Sweet Sammy's in Fort Worth! It was a pregnant lady's dream date! hahaha :)  

We came home to a restless little one, and I still love to take pictures of them when they are sleeping!

A few days later, my sweet friend Kelli and her two girls, Kelsi and Maddie, came to visit! We also had the best time! Of course, Avaree ended up running a fever, and our plans changed a little, but it was so good to visit with them! I love this picture! :)

Felicity is usually the earliest riser in our home, but one morning, Avaree woke up at 4:30 AM (wide awake), so we went in her room and played dress up together so we wouldn't wake Daddy and sister! I think she enjoyed our one on one time together. Maybe next time it can be later in the day! ha :)

That day ended up being a jammie day, and Mommy had several loads of laundry to get through, so I popped some popcorn, and we put on Mary Poppins so I could sort and fold! They were perfect until the popcorn ran out! haha! :)

That Thursday the girls and I drove up to Children's Camp just out side of Glen Rose to see Daddy and experience camp for the day! Do you think they were excited?? :) We had the best day. We had lunch with Daddy and all the campers. Avaree got to sit by Pastor Eric, so she was happy! :) Felicity took a nap in Daddy and Mr. AJ's room, and then we went to the lake with a lot of the campers! Both girls swam with Daddy for a little bit, but then Avaree surprised all of us by going down the four-story slide FOUR TIMES BY HERSELF! Daddy went with her once, and a sweet camp sponsor named Chris carried her up a couple of times, but the other times, she wanted to go by herself! We were FLOORED! :) 

Later that weekend, Mom Mom came to town!!! The girls were so happy! 

Felicity turned sixteen months old!!!! She has expended her vocabulary with Beh-boo (for all cats), bye bye, sister, Elsa (ha! Do you think we read about Elsa and Anna a lot?), and she can now get on and off the couch by herself (safely). :) Look how big she looks!

That night Daddy and I got to go on a date to the Spaghetti Warehouse. They have a new gluten free menu, and it was SO good (and cheap too)! We then perused Babies R Us (and bought nothing--can you believe that?) just looking for a certain narrow car seat that we can use in our car to get three car seats to fit! We found the one we want, we are just waiting for a good sale! :) Then we met some sweet friends for a movie! We were home by 10:30, and we went straight to bed. Daddy was really tired. (If I had only known what was happening!!!)

48 hours later, I was in the ER with him at 2:30 in the morning. He had been running 103-104 temperature for several hours, and I could not get it down (even with medication around the clock!). I gave him sponge baths, he was having labored breathing and a bit disoriented, etc. It was really, really scary. I was so thankful that my Mom was still there, so I didn't have to wake up the girls. Mom left the next morning, and I had no idea what the next two weeks would have in store for our family!

The next day, I continued to monitor Daddy, and I brought him meds and fluids all day, but he was just not getting any better. :( I tried to occupy the girls quietly in any way that I could! Including (but not limited to) dressing up, dancing, tv, magic carpet surfing on the toilet paper package! haha! 

Meanwhile, Daddy never got even an ounce better (even after a shot, two antibiotics, a pain medicine, and 800 mg of ibuprofen every 6 hours), so I split the girls up with two precious friends, and I took him back to the doctor. They ran tests on him for almost three hours, and we learned that he had mono, bronchitis, and an additional bacterial infection. :( No one was happy, but at least we got an accurate diagnosis and correct medication for the things that could be medicated!

The next evening, Felicity started running a fever, and that led to the worst case of hand-foot-mouth that I have ever seen! It's like if you look on google images for pictures of hand-foot-mouth, and you have to cover your eyes because you can't look at that, that is what she looked like--especially her diaper area. Needless to say, we stayed inside for 8 more days, and I finally found a combo of oils that seemed to help her, but she was miserable.

Gigi and G-Pops met me in Ennis that Friday afternoon, and they took Ave for the weekend, so that I could at least get her out of the germs and let her have fun! And I am so grateful that they met me in Ennis, so that I didn't have to leave B for too long! It was a crazy, sick house for awhile. Miraculously, God protected Avaree and me! We also had about ten people from our Sunday school class come over and pray over the outside of our home and the girls and me. They even anointed me with oil and prayed for B since we are one. It was so moving and kind. Then, a few of the men came over the next day and raked and mowed our yard. It's just incredible to be a part of the body of Christ. I'm so thankful for our families, our church, and for our sunday school class! 

The day after Avaree got back, Felicity was starting to feel better, and they had a dance party (though still not touching)! :)

We taught Felicity how to do the chicken dance, and she did it over and over again! It was SO funny!!!

Then, (finally) after almost ten days at home alone, we got to have friends over! Mama had thoroughly cleaned every inch of our home, and Daddy was back to work as much as he could handle, so we were so happy to get to play with sweet friends!

Later that night after everyone was asleep, I packed our snack bags for our upcoming trip!! They are labeled and divided by day, so that all I have to do is pick up the correct day and put it in my backpack!  :) I've done a TON of research, and talked to many friends that go frequently, and I feel like we have a really good plan for our time in the parks! I cannot WAIT! I also can't wait to tell Avaree! :) We'll take a video of it when we do tell her, but we aren't telling her until next week! She's got to go to her first day of school first! :)  

Well, that's our lives lately! :)  This semester is going to be very busy! Aside from our normal ministries, we are hosting and leading a college bible study in our home, Brandon and I are both mentoring college students, and the girls and I will be doing BSF on Wednesday mornings. Avaree will be starting Pre-K next week, and she will continue to go two days a week! We met her teacher last week, and we really like her! :) I'm still taking lots of pictures in my side gig with Blessed by Grace Photography! I'm excited for this last semester at home with just two babies, and I know the holidays will be here before I know it, and then it will be January!  Happy end of August! This summer has flown by! Thank you for praying for our family!!! I'm happy to report that everyone is feeling better! Daddy is still taking it easy, but he's a trooper! :) God is good!

Indoor Fun with my Loves! :)

Last week was nutty! Ave ended up with a sunscreen allergy (from a fragrance free sunscreen that was recommended by the doctor), and we subsequently went to the doctor twice and after a steroid shot, prenisone, and some topical ointment for everything but her face, she is finally better! That was on the heels of her recent dermatitis, so everyone at the doctor and Walgreens knows me now! ;) Poor sweet girl was so puffy and sad looking, and we had to stay inside the whole week, so we had to get creative on things to do inside! I pulled out some blocks that she hadn't played with in a while, and she decided to build an ark! :) She worked on it all week, and built a few princess castles here and there too! ;) This picture was from late in the day on Thursday (post shot, and after two doses of Prednisone, you can still tell that she is swollen, but it is nothing compared to what it was! She got lots of extra cuddles, and she was a champ taking her medicine! 

 Licy was a trooper too! She didn't get held as much, and she was carted to all the doctor's appointments as well! :) She was a perfect angel! She likes to sit with Daddy when he gets home. 

 Can you tell how much Daddy loves my camera? My little lovey is fourteen weeks old today (gasp), and last night she slept from 10:45 to 7:15!!!!!! And I had to wake her at 7:15 to eat!!!! Then, she went right back to sleep and snoozed until 10:15! My big girl slept till 9:30 also! Too bad I was raring to go at 7:30! ;) I just couldn't believe that I had gotten so much sleep! I went to bed at 11:45 and I slept till 7 am, and I only got up once in between! :)

 Sissy love!!!

 Building a castle!

 She seriously did that by herself!!!! Sissy loves to watch her!

 Her poor little skin was covered in brown splotches. I'm so glad that is over. The doctor recommended that we try Cetaphil now. I'm going to try it on a tiny little spot on her arm and wait 48 hours before I use it though. And, I'm being super careful about all of her soaps. She has to stay out of all chemicals for a few more days!

 Friday morning she woke up feeling good and wanted to be Belle! :) 

 We did lots of coloring!!!!

 ...and she asks to hold sissy ALL THE TIME now! :) 

 Sissy looks thrilled, right? ;)

 Later that day she decided that she wanted to make a train, so we got some friends to join her! :) I love that she put the chairs in a perfect line! ;)

 She also had to rest with cold compresses on her face! She was not too thrilled about it, but she understood that she didn't want another shot, so she would comply with the doctor's orders! 

Coming up.... SWEET BABY EVYN is here!!!!!!! :) :) My girls are cousins, B is an Uncle, and I am an AUNT!!!!!!!!!! ;) We got to be with her in Houston for a few days, and we already miss her and her Mommy and Daddy!