What Were They Thinking?

THIS is what Mimi and Papaw T choose to give the girls for Christmas....so glad it's staying at their house and NOT coming to mine! Ha!  They also gave them a keyboard....oh the noise they'll enjoy at their house!



Church Christmas Program

The girls love to perform (right now at least).  Hope they don't take after their Mom and hate being in front of an audience later lol.  So proud of them (and their sweet friends).



8 Months Old

This little blondie is 8 months old and finally crawling really well!  She's into everything, and pulling up on everything too. 

All of that playing must have worn her out...

Trying to get the hang of crawling at the beginning of her 7th month...

and now at the beginning of her 8th month...

Think she got the hang of it!



Presley's Thanksgiving Program

She is growing up way too fast!  To my shock, her teacher informed me several weeks before their Thanksgiving program that Presley would be singing a solo during the program, but asked me not to say anything to Presley about it!  Presley's teacher is amazing, and she knows what a little diva Presley can be (they sweetly say she's a sensitive child).  They planned to have her sing the solo if she wanted, but on that day, if she got anxious or didn't want to do it, they'd pull.  I was really hoping she'd do it, and to my surprise when they rehearsed the program in front of the whole school, she did it!  That made me extremely hopeful that she'd go ahead and do it for the parents on program day too!  Come to find out, she had the whole school laughing hysterically because she delivered her lines in a British accent..ha!  Makenzie came home telling me how much Presley embarrassed her!  I'm still laughing as I type this!

I encouraged Presley to NOT use the British accent for the actual program for Makenzie's sake (I personally think the British accent would have been a riot), and my sweet girl did such a good job!!  She lead her class in all the songs, and her sweet solo was just perfect.

Presley singing...love her sweet little voice :)



In Love...

They have my heart....

Sooo in love with these two....Avery has Daddy wrapped around her little finger, and I can't get enough of the two of them.  He is so in love with her, and she loves him just as much.  Twinkies!



Pulling Up and Trying to Crawl

Avery is pulling up on everything, and she's found her voice! She LOVES to scream...it is too funny!  Makenzie likes to add to the commotion herself...

And this was just too funny not to share....

I love that laugh :)

Halloween 2012

It seems like the more children we have, the harder it is to get everyone to cooperate for Halloween costumes!  I REALLY wanted the girls and Dean to be Goldilocks and the three bears or Mary and her little lambs or something similarly cute and themed, but Makenzie and Presley had other ideas.  They each had VERY different ideas of what they wanted to be for Halloween, and none of their ideas included themed costumes :( 

As it turns out, Makenzie had a costume birthday party to attend, and we hadn't found a costume for her yet.  Mom had to improvise.  See, Makenzie thinks she's too old for "kiddie" costumes and wanted something a little more age appropriate. Thankfully, I remembered seeing some cute, sparkly cat ears and a tail in Claire's so I took her by there and sure enough she liked them!

We got home from the party, and Presley saw her "cat costume" and demanded she have one too.  That gave me an idea...easy costumes for all 3 girls, and it's a theme...the 3 little kittens who lost their mitten! Whoo hoo!! Ha!

Aren't they adorable....

We decided to dress up and go to the carnival at Mississippi State with Katie and Dean...cuties!

We had a great time...with the exception of Presley disappearing and nearly giving me (and Katie too!) a heart attack! I was watching her as she stood in line for a game while Katie stood with the other kids.  I turned to give Avery a bottle, and when I looked back over, Presley was no where in sight.  I went for a closer look and sure enough, no Presley.  I looked back at Katie, and nope, not there either.  I just so happened to be at the booth hosted by the police department so I gave them her description and asked if they'd seen her leave the line, and of course, no one had.  One officer headed off in one direction looking for her, and I went in the other.  After about 10 minutes of searching (me feeling like I was about to pass out from fear), I turned to see the little booger running over to me yelling Mommy.  It took all I had not to hit my knees, but thank God we found her.  She said she'd been looking for me the entire time.  Oy! This child is going to give me gray hair before my time!

Seven Months Old and Pierced Ears!!

This little cutie is 7 months old, and I finally worked up the nerve to get her ears pierced.  Makenzie and Presley both had theirs pierced at 6 months, but I put off having Avery's done for some reason.  She did great though, and I'm so glad I went ahead and did it now.

All smiles!

Avery is 6 Months Old!

My how time flies....

This sweet little girl is still just the happiest baby ever...love it!  She is now rolling all over the place, sitting up for a minute or two on her own before getting exicted and falling over :), and she is going to bed around 7:00 pm and waking up at 6:00 am! Yay!

 

Avery visited the cardiologist today, and we were so glad to hear one of her heart murmurs has completely closed! The other, larger murmer had not changed since the last visit which was to be expected.  Her cardiologist said there is a good possibility that it will close before she is 2 years old, but if not, it is likely we'll never have to do anything about it.  He said when she turns 3 he could go in with a catheter and plug it, but as of right now, the murmur is not causing any problems.  Luckily, her murmur is located in the best place possible and the stream of blood pumping through it is not hitting any walls of her heart nor doing any damage.  Her Dr. said she should have no side effects and can play sports or be as active as she'd like.  Thank God for such good news! We'll be seeing the cardiologist again in May (9 months) to check the status of the remaining murmur.  Thank you to all who have prayed/are praying for her.  We appreciate it more than you will ever know.

Waiting on the Dr. to give us the results of her echocardiogram.  The nurses spoiled her rotten and gave her this sweet teddy bear. 

The cardiology clinic weighed and measured Avery while we were there.  She is now a whopping 17 lbs. and 27 inches long! She has gained 4 lbs. and grown an inch since her 4 month check-up.  Wow!  I'm really quite thankful that her height is starting to slow down a bit.  She's already too tall to wear a lot of her clothes.  We're having to put her in 12 month clothes for the length, but they're huge in the waist so depending on the outfit, she's wearing anywhere from 9-12 month clothes!

 

Avery's First 4-Wheeler Ride

 

Daddy's been waiting to get Avery on the 4-wheeler, and she's finally big enough to go for a ride! 

 

 

She LOVED every minute of it!



The Cousins are Back for a Visit!

 

With a new baby in the family (and a GREAT reason to visit), Jan and the girls came to play!  The girls just love seeing and visiting with their cousins, and when this bunch gets together there are literally  kids everywhere, but we wouldn't have it any other way!

 

 

Mamaw and Papaw Oglesby with all their great-grandkids (minus Kerry's 2 kids who live too far away!). With the addition of 2 little boys in the family, what better reason to get everyone together for a group picture? It was just a tiny bit hectic, but we made it work! All I can say is those little boys better be tough to put up with all these girls! I have no doubt Max and Dean will be giving them all a run for their money in no time ;)

 

Ellie Kate, Presley, and Emma Grace

All of our pretty girls :)

Makenzie and Emerson

 

Papaw and Avery



A Little Blessing...

Wayne and I have a new nephew! Eddie Dean Scarbrough made his grand entrance into the world on August 28th.  We're in love all over again!

 

 

This little man didn't make it easy on his Mommy, but we finally got to meet him after 15 hours of labor, 1.5 hours of pushing, and a c-section...whew!

 

The girls think he's super special...he's the brother they've never had!

 

And they waited such a loooong time to meet him!

 

I just love this picture of Wayne and Brad.  There's nothing more special than seeing two brothers bond over babies :)  It's so fun to see Brad and Katie as parents finally, and we're excited to show Dean as much love and spoil him just as much as Brad and Katie have loved and spoiled our three girls!

 

Funny story:

 

Makenzie is such a little Mama...she just wants to hold and love on Dean all the time, but the first time the girls visited Brad and Katie at home after they came home from the hospital, Presley walked in the door, saw Brad holding Dean, and completely ignored him.  She headed straight to the kitchen to Katie, and even after Brad called her back in there to give him a hug, she turned her nose up at him and walked away without even speaking.  If you know Presley, you know she LOVES her Uncle Brad so we didn't know why she'd treat him like that until finally it dawned on me that she was jealous!  I asked her about it and sure enough she didn't like Brad holding Dean instead of her!  I took Dean from Brad, and the first thing Presley did was jump right into his lap and give him lots of loving.  Silly girl...



Avery- 5 Months Old

Look at this sweet girl! She's so very precious!

This past month Avery has had a lot of "firsts".  She cut her first 2 teeth, started saying Mama, Da da, and bye, and she's squealing and giving us those really good "belly" laughs now. She said Mama first (sorry Wayne!), then I was laying in bed a couple mornings ago while Wayne was in the kitchen making his lunch, and I heard Avery "talking" to herself in her bed.  She must have heard Wayne because she started saying Da da over and over again.  It was the first time she'd said it and of course, Wayne stopped what he was doing and went right in there and loved all over her.  Then Sunday as I was buckling her into her car seat, she looked up at me and said "bye!" I got so tickled.  We constantly say "Wanna go bye bye?" as we're hooking her into her seat.  Guess she caught on! Such a little cutie and so smart too!

She LOVES to be in the water.  I put her in the bathtub with Makenzie and Presley the other night, and she just kicked her little legs and squealed the entire time.  When I pulled her out of the water to get her out, she started laughing which made Makenzie and Presley laugh, and then Avery laughed even  harder.  We loved it! Wayne and I were even able to get a bit of it on video.

Avery is still sooo tall! She's now wearing 6-9 month clothes because everything else is too short on her!  I can't button her onesies! We're also in shock that she still has blond hair and blue eyes.  I never thought one of my kids would take after my Dad and get his blue eyes, but I think she just might!

She's also very interested in our food lately so we'll be starting her on vegetables this weekend.  She's done really well eating her cereal in the mornings.  She's taking 4-5 six ounce bottles a day at this point, and she's such a good sleeper.  She goes to bed at 9 pm and doesn't get up until 6 am! She loves to cuddle with us in bed, but if she's really sleepy and you're holding her, she'd rather you just put her down so she can go to sleep on her own.  Makenzie used to be the same way.  She never let me rock her :( 

Can't wait to see what new things Avery does this month!



First day of School 2012

My goodness where has the time gone?  It's hard to believe I have a first grader and a kindergartner! The girls are so excited about this year of school, and they were even more excited about seeing all the friends they've missed over the summer. 

While they were excited, they were both a little nervous too.  Neither really knew what to expect with new teachers, and for Presley especially, new friends.  Presley ended up in a class this year with no one from her class last year, and she was NOT happy that she and her best bud Jena were in different classes.

They were literally dragging their feet as they walked to the door, but as soon as they got inside and saw all their friends they were good to go!

Presley and her best bud Jena

Makenzie and her best bud Ava

Look how nervous Makenzie looks! It hurt my heart to leave them that morning knowing they were a bundle of nerves about their first day in new classes.

And Presley did NOT want me to leave her!

Thankfully, when I picked them up that afternoon they were all smiles and excited to tell me about their day!

So far so good...they are both LOVING their teachers and classes.  Makenzie gets to go to music this year so the last couple of weeks she has come home singing and dancing to the new songs they're learning.  Both girls enjoy art and are getting to do a lot of that as well.

I do have to mention some funny things that have happened with Presley so far:

The first week of school she came home dressed in different shorts.  I opened her backpack to find her original shorts soaking wet with a big rip in the rear end.  When I asked her what happened she said she was watching the older kids in PE and trying to do what they were doing.  She decided to just do a cartwheel instead and landed in a mud puddle.  Then as she stood up she noticed she'd ripped her pants!

A couple of days later, I got a phone call from her teacher telling me that she had every teacher in the school laughing at her when she asked them each if they'd like to have a tea party with crumpets and tea in a British accent.  Her teacher said they kept making her do it over and over again and that she was just hilarious lol.  I don't know where this child gets her silliness.



4 Month Comparisons

Makenzie

Presley

And little miss Avery

Avery is the only blondie from birth.  Makenzie's hair started changing to blonde by around 6 months old, and as you can see from the pictures, it's still dark at 4 months! I think it's so neat that Makenzie and Avery favor their Daddy (and each other) and both girls have Wayne's blood type while Presley has mine.

Some things Avery started doing this week:

1.  She started cereal.  I, for one, was not thrilled about this, but her Dr. told me to go ahead with it.  I just wasn't ready.  I'm good with keeping her my baby for as long as possible.  However, Avery on the other hand, was just thrilled with the new food.  She's eating 1 TBS of cereal first thing in the morning for now, and she is gobbling it up!  The first morning I attempted this I just knew it was going to be a huge mess.  I didn't think she was ready for it, and I assumed I'd be proven correct and get to table the cereal business for another month.  Needless to say as soon as I put the spoon in the air and headed toward her with it she had her mouth open and ready. She swallowed the first bite and was ready for the next.  Guess she was ready for cereal after all :(

2.  I'm not sure if Avery's teething or going through a growth spurt or what, but since Sunday night she has been waking up at 3:00 am and talking to herself.  Well what's wrong with that you say? At least she's not crying....I'll tell you what's wrong with it.  The little stinker gets to talking to herself and she gets louder and louder until finally I get out of bed and walk into her room to see her sweet, smiling self.  Sunday night I picked her up, changed her diaper, and gave her pacifier back to her.  I thought maybe she was hungry or she'd slept too long that day or something, but as soon as I gave her the pacifier she got quiet and looked like she'd go back to sleep.  I put her in the bed with us and she was out cold within 10 minutes so I moved her to the pack-n-play in our room where she spent (and slept soundly I might add) the remainder of the night. The same thing happened Monday night.  Then last night I decided to try a different approach.  Instead of picking her up when I went into her room, I just stuck her pacifier back in her mouth.  Immediately she closed her eyes and *looked* like she was dozing back off.  I went back to bed.  Within 10 minutes, she was talking again so I went back in and gave the pacifier back to her.  No luck.  I picked her up, took her to our bed, stuck her pacifier in, she turns into me and snuggles up, and sure enough, out cold within 2 minutes!  I think this little girl is playing me! Maybe she just likes to snuggle with Mommy...who knows? Truth be told, I'm kinda enjoying snuggling with her too, but Wayne and I have always said we'd never have children in the bed with us. I definitely don't want to make this 3 am wake up call a habit either so I have no idea what to do other than let her talk herself back to sleep.  The problem with that is she's so loud I'm afraid she'll wake everyone else in the house up. I'm not getting any sleep anyway so why not just snuggle with her...right?  Hopefully, it's just a growth spurt and she'll work it out soon!

Avery is 4 Months Old Today!

Time is flying by, and it really needs to slow down! I can't believe how big Avery is getting and how much she's changing.

We are soo in love with this sweet baby girl! She is the happiest thing ever, and I couldn't be more thankful that she's as easy going as she is.  She will never have to question if she's loved! Between Wayne, both girls, and myself, she gets enough kisses to cover her from head to toe (daily!)!

She's just as precious when she's sleeping!

This little stinker is still just as serious as ever and refused to so much as grin at me this morning when I took her picture. She got shots two days ago and hasn't been feeling the greatest since :(

Miss Avery now weighs 13 lbs. 6.4 oz. and is 26 in. long which means she's gained nearly 2 lbs. and grown 3.5 in. since her 2 month appointment! She's in the 95th percentile for height and the 90th percentile for weight.  Makenzie's baby book is stored in the attic so I couldn't check it, but I did check Presley's to see how they compare, and at this age Presley weighed a pound more than Avery, but was 2 in. shorter.  In fact, Presley wasn't the same length as Avery is now until she was almost 9 months old! Wow...

And this is the face she gives me when she is sick to death of me trying to take her picture! LOL

Here are some things she's done lately:

• Squealed with delight
• Made a laughing sound (although it's not quite the belly laugh I'm waiting on)
• "Talks" to us
• She is sitting up really well assisted or in her bumbo.  Her doctor says she has a strong back and will be sitting up quickly.
• She found her feet and loves to try to play with them
• She can use her hands pretty well and has mastered pulling her pacifier out and throwing it at me!

I can't wait to see what she does this month! I do hope she'll slow down and be my baby for awhile.  She reminds me so much of Makenzie as a baby.  Makenzie was very serious and curious too, and she did everything really quickly- she sat up alone at 4 months, crawled at 6 months, pulled up at 7 months, and walked by the end of her 9th month- so I won't be surprised if Avery does the same.  I have to say I hope she takes her time though!