The Latest and Greatest...

This is Trey wearing Hannah's overalls from when she was a baby. They were unisex and so I thought they would be so cute on Trey. I was right, he is adorable! Hannah was walking when she wore these, just to give you a clue as to how different their sizes are.

Hannah got a hold of her potty stickers. I usually don't let her play with stickers because of this reason. However she had fun and was very proud of her new look I had to take a picture!
This is Hannah's "house". She loves taking the pillows from the couch and stacking them up. If you were to come to my house unannounced, 90% of the time you would find my couch looking like this. We pulled out her princess tent she received at Christmas to hopefully sway her from using the pillows. No such luck...now she uses both!
This is Hannah first time using scissors. I thought that since she would be going to preschool this fall she should learn how to use scissors. I didn't realize how hard it is for little ones to control movements with the scissors. She did pretty well for the first time. I drew some basic shapes for her to cut out, but so far she can just go in a straight line. She really enjoyed learning a new thing.

Trey is 4 Months

I can't believe it has already been 4 months since we had Trey. He is such a blessing and a joy to have. God really did answer prayers with him. I can hear him right now in the other room just chatting it up with his toys. I missed the sound of an infant. But I do long for real communication with him and his first words and when he says "I love you" for the first time. I know those times will come so for now I will enjoy him now. Here are a few things I want to remember about him at this age:

*He can roll from his back to his side.
*He can reach for his toys.
*He will hold on to toys while playing (and sometimes will try to put them into his month).
*He talks and coos non stop.
*He laughs when excited (and tickled...he is very ticklish).
*He is sleeping though the night (unless sick).
*He has had his first real illness, an ear infections and cold.
*He is eating 7 ounces of breast milk...I am still pumping.
*He is getting cereal in his last bottle before nap.
*We are going to start cereal with a spoon very soon!
*He is wearing size 3 diapers.
*He is wearing 6-9 month clothing.
*He is weighing around 18 pounds. (I will know for sure at his next appointment)
*He hardly cries.
*He is using the exersaucer.
*He will smile instantly at any women or girl. (little flirt)
*He will smile at almost anyone.
*He doesn't like to get bored and will fuss for attention.
*He tries to hold his bottle.
*He has been to the lake for the first time.
*Loves to be out doors
*He still has his blue eyes and straight blonde hair (just like Hannah).
*He still looks like me mostly but is starting to show some Daddy in him.
*He loves to snuggle with a blanket against his face. I don't let him do this when he sleeps although he would prefer it.
*He has slept over at Grandma's house twice now.
*He is very strong and can sit up with assistance.
*He tries to crawl and draw up his legs when on his stomach.
*He can turn 90% in a circle when on his back.

Happy Birthday Trey! We love you!

Updated....aaaah.....

Update...I realized there are FIVE baby birds in the nest instead of four.

I thought the whole bird hatching thing happened just in the Spring. I guessed wrong. The nest on our front porch now has a new set of hatched eggs...FOUR baby birds this time! I am not happy about it. But I can't bring myself to knock down the nest with babies in it. So once again I will have to wait until they have flown the coop...in the mean time my porch is being pooped on. I really an beginning to hate mother nature!

What have we been up to...

It is hard to believe that I haven't posted in about a month. I have joined Facebook and that takes most of my time and leaves very little for this blog. But I will try to do better and keep both up to date. Here is what has been going on it our life this past month...

Trey learned how to play the guitar! (Matt's Rock Band guitar that is)

My mother stayed with us after having her surgery. Hannah and Trey really enjoyed having her stay with us. She was able to do a lot more than we expected and was able to play with the kids. It was a nice time to catch up with her.
Trey loves to stretch out when sleeping!

Hannah has a few chores she helps with, putting up the silverware and feeding the dog. Here she is showing off her sorting skills by putting the silverware in their correct spots. I didn't show her this, she just figured it out by looking at the sizes. She is so smart (and maybe a little OCD).

Glamor shot of Hannah...she is such a cheeser.

Here is Trey in the excersaucer. I have to put some towels around his belly so he doesn't wiggle too much, but he really loves it.

We didn't do anything for the 4th since DJ was working...so we went out on the lake this last Sunday with his family. It was so nice to get to go...we haven't been in a couple of years. To put it into prospective the life jacket Trey is wearing was bought for Hannah and only worn once. It has been that long. The kids really did like it. Trey just started laughing when we put the life vest on him. The wind from the boat wasn't too fun for him, but he was a great trooper. Hannah loved every bit of it. At first she was scared, but warmed up to the idea quickly. Even though it looks like Trey is upset, he really is enjoying himself.

Here is everyone (except me and Trey) swimming. I had just finished feeding Trey and was about to get him ready to go swimming.

Here he is after swimming. He was tired! I hated getting him in the sun but with sunblock and Daddy's hat he had a good time.

I caught Hannah playing with Trey. I was able to get the photo before she saw me. Sometimes she is so sweet when she doesn't know someone is watching! She is wearing her Cat Halloween outfit and does this often.

The first giggles are the best!

Here is a video of Trey laughing. He started doing this just this past week. He will laugh only after you get him excited. Then you can just touch him anywhere and he yells out. It is so cute! The video is about a minute but the best part is towards the end! (Sorry for the poor quality of the video, it was on my camera.)

My mom has been staying with us after her surgery. Her and Trey have really hit it off. She is the one in the video that is making him laugh.

BIRDS...

...I officially hate them now! Well sort of, you see I hate the ones in the nest on our front porch. I have identified them as a Barn Sparrow. They are really pretty in looks but that is it! They are the meanest birds alive. They are also the most dirtiest things I have seen. They poop on my porch. The poo leaves stains on the concrete and it also attracts tiny tiny bugs. They are so small that you have to be real close to see them. They get on everything that is on the porch including DJ's daily morning newspaper. This is how we discovered them. He kept feeling them crawl on him while he read the paper and we finally figured out they were from the bird droppings. I have to clean the porch off daily to keep the bugs (and poo) to a minimal. This is were they can get really mean. It takes me about 10 minutes to clean the porch. Meanwhile the parents are circling the porch area diving down to attach me. If I try to spray them (purely defensive) they get worse and they will also recruit their neighboring friends. Today there were 6 birds total trying to attack me. I have been hospitable and nice, but I just don't know how much more of this I can take. I can't wait till the baby birds fly away and everyone leaves. I am knocking down the nest and praying they never return. Next spring I will be watching them and making sure to prevent them from building another nest. The birds last year that built a nest in my wreath were not nearly as messy or mean. I think I would rather have those birds back.

3 weeks + 30 photos = One long catch up post

I'm not kidding, this is by far the longest post I have ever created. However, it contains a lot of pictures and things we have done over the last 3 weeks. You may not really want to read a post this long and I understand, but here it is just in case you don't have anything else to do!

Parent Commitment Service, May 17th, 2009

Several times a year our church does a Parent Commitment service to allow parents to commitment themselves to raising Godly children. This is usually done when the children are newborns. We did this with Hannah when she was just a few months old too. Here is the picture of Bro. Bruce holding Trey while introducing him to the congregation and announcing our commitment.

This is just a sweet photo of Trey sleeping. This is my mom, Pam holding Trey at the park after going to the Farmer's Market for a play date. She is undergoing chemo right now for breast cancer and is doing really well. She will soon have surgery to remove both breast. The cancer is shrinking very quickly and is not very aggressive, both are answered prayers.Memorial Day Weekend - Trip to Iowa
We went up to Burlington, Iowa (DJ's birth town) for his cousin Kody's marriage to Kaya. It was a beautiful wedding and Kaya's dress was so gorgeous! Here is a picture of DJ and Hannah in the hotel pool. Hannah had a blast there thus starting our summer swimming fun! First family photo with both kids! Also this was Trey's first time in a pool. Hannah's first time in a pool was in Iowa (different hotel) too. Kody and Kaya ReynoldsMy first dance with my son! He is still to young to refuse! Hannah dancing with Kody. This girl danced the whole night. The wedding was at 6pm and the reception went until midnight however we left at 11pm and that was only at Hannah's request to go to bed. She wore herself out dancing with everyone...and I mean everyone!Iva and Hannah dancing the night away. Iva danced just as much as Hannah and also with everyone!The next day we went to an indoor water park there in Burlington. It was a small one and some of the slides and rivers were outside, but it was a nice adventure for the kids. Hannah didn't really do much, but she did enjoy the lazy river with daddy. Here is Iva waddling in the kiddy area. DJ and Kaylee played alligator while Hannah and Iva rode on their backs. Here is Hannah on DJ's back with Kaylee close by. (By the way Kaylee is Kody's sister and she came home with us after the wedding for 2 1/2 weeks and stayed with various family including us.) Back in Arkansas, Trey decided he would practice rolling over (and eating his fist). He never quite made it to his tummy but he sure did get his practice in. I just love this little guy! Here is a funny picture of DJ and Trey after the fell asleep watching Sports Center together. This is DJ's lullaby and I guess will be Trey's as well! :) We took a trip to the Crater of Diamonds with Kaylee and DJ's parents. It was just after a rain and the ground was semi-muddy. I didn't really care to get dirty so I left the hard work up to Hannah and DJ to find me a diamond! However they had not such luck. Hannah did enjoy digging in the dirt all day (and I think DJ liked it too)!

Trey liked the idea of finding Mommy diamonds too!

Grandma and Hannah surface searching for diamonds.

One night we took Kaylee bowling. We had a great time but had time and believe it or not Hannah beat me (everyone did) by a few points. Everyone broke 100pts. that night......Everyone but Trey!

One day we took Kaylee to Magic Springs and Crystal Falls. Most of the rides and kiddy pool were closed, but everyone still had a great time. Hannah rode some rides with Daddy and Kaylee. Here is one with water involved. She was a little scared at first but wanted to ride it several times. You can see them in this picture in the second row from front.

Here they are after the big water splash...can you tell Hannah was just thrilled!

Again another ride with Daddy and Kaylee (purple shirt)...and again can you see Hannah's over excitement. She wanted to ride this one again too!

After a long day at Magic Springs we decided to go to Playtime Pizza with DJ's mom Cindy. Here is a picture of Kaylee (back car) and DJ and Hannah (front car) on the Go-Carts. Hannah really does like for Daddy to go fast. I don't!

We took Kaylee to Pinnacle on Saturday. It was a beautiful day for it too. I stayed down on the playground with Hannah and Trey. Here is Hannah starting to bury herself. This kids loves the dirt!

Here is Lexi (our dog) "guarding" Trey while I went to check on Hannah. She is a good dog, but just gets a little too excited sometimes. She and Trey both enjoyed the shade that day!

June 2nd was Trey's 2 month doctor visit. He was a trooper during the exam and not so much when the Dr. Thompson "fixed" his circumcision. Poor guy had it growing up and so he wasn't too happy when the doctor pulled it back down. My fault completely! Anyway, then he was a trooper thru the shots too. He only cried for a minute and then started flirting with the nurse. Such a teaser! His weight was 15lbs 2.8 oz and was 24 1/2 inches long. Both were upper 90%. One big baby!

Here is the nest on the inside of my front porch and the 3 baby birds that constantly poop on my porch. I will go out once every couple of days to spray it off and the parent birds start to attack me. This is what I get for my hospitality! Next year I am posting a "No Birds Nest" sign! Last year I had a couple of birds make a nest in my Easter wreath and ruin it. This year I didn't put up a wreath for that vary reason! However annoying they are, they are still pretty cute to watch. I hope they learn how to fly real soon though!

Hannah likes to watch them too.

This past weekend we went down to Texarkana for DJ's friends wedding. Craig was DJ's best man and has been his friend since Pharmacy school. Here is Craig and his bride Holly during their first dance.

Hopefully things will slow down for a while. This week I am picking up a few shifts at work and then next week is VBS at my church. After that I am taking a vacation from vacations and doing nothing! Well, maybe I'll clean my house for my husband!