Ninja Turtle

Bryant is nothing but WIDE OPEN these days! A BIG HUGE voice in a cute little package with expressive brown eyes. He likes to sing the theme song to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I can't understand it, and I'm not sure he knows what he's singing, but here it is nonetheless!

First Sick Day

Today, Tres stayed home from school because when we got home from Ava's appointment yesterday, he was one pitiful little guy. He had a fever and was stuffy and his voice was hoarse.
He didn't want to eat. He didn't want to play. He just wanted to rest, and he wanted me with him. I hate it when I feel like I can't make it all better for my kids!
Today he felt better but was still a little warm, so he stayed home from school.

Upper GI Fun

Yesterday, Hank and I loaded up our crew and headed downtown for Sophie's appointment to have an upper GI to see if she has reflux. To me, this test was just a necessary step. I KNOW she has reflux. If you saw the amount of clothing, blankets, burp clothes, and socks this chick goes through... you would know it too. Both of my boys had reflux, and we did not have to go and have an upper GI in order to get medication for them. But apparently, this is now a mandatory step with our pediatrician.
I wasn't allowed to feed her after 7:45 and her appointment was at 9:45, which was fine since she's been doing her daytime feedings every 3 hours. So we got there and got registered, and then she and I went back. The upper GI for a baby is pretty darn cool, I must say. They fed her Barium in a bottle, and then did a sort of continuous x-ray to watch what happened when it hit her stomach. Here the nurses are preparing to feed her the Barium. They wrapped her arms and legs with sheets to keep them still and out of the way. Ava was not particularly fond of this!Here's her little tummy before she ate. If I hadn't been so fascinated, and if I hadn't of been distracted by wishing I could make her stop crying, I would have made a video... but I didn't so you have to just deal with pictures! :)Here they are starting to feed her the Barium. You can see the bottle in her little mouth.And then the Barium heads to her stomach. That black trail is the Barium.It hit her stomach... and then a few minutes later, headed right back up. She was officially diagnosed with stage 4 (out of 5) acid reflux, which was no surprise to this Mom, who wears her daughter's special blend scent 'Eu de Parfum Spit Up' every day! So she is starting medicine tomorrow and she should out grow it (like the boys did) by about 5-6 months.

Morning Glory

I love morning time with Sophie Girl. Before everyone is up... it's just me and her, and sometimes a sleepy Daddy. This is when she is the most expressive, and is free with her smiles! She has also starting baby talking to me, which I love! It's a little dark because the sun had just started coming up. You can also hear her do her 'squeaker' hiccups at the end! That always makes me laugh.

Dance Party!

He makes me smile!

I know this is a short video, but I don't care! It makes me smile everytime. He is a joy. He has ALWAYS been my joy. Thank you, Lord, for five years of Tres-man smiles and laughter!

More on Sophie

I forgot to mention that when she hiccups, and that's at least one time a day, she sounds like a squeaky toy!

She has hated baths since the first tub bath, but last night I figured out that if I leave the water running she's fine! Go figure. She actually seemed to enjoy it!

She is taking naps during the day in her room now, getting her ready to move into her crib once she begins sleeping through the night.

She smiles at Momma the most right now, simply because that's who she's with the most. And she smiles at her brothers antics too.

The boys like to have her close by, even when they are playing in their room. And every ten minutes or so, they both decide to check on her and give her lots of kisses. Thank you, God, for AWESOME big brothers!

Oh, that video just reminded me! She has been rolling from her belly to her back since she was a week and a half old! Can you believe that. Her pediatrician calls her fiesty, and I have to say I agree. She cries only when she is in immediate need of attention, sleep, food, or is just plain mad... as is the case whenever I put her on her tummy sometimes! :)

Sophie Girl

Ava Sophia is 6 weeks old now! Where has the time gone? She is now over 8 pounds and I would guess about 20 or 21 inches long. I base that on the fact that she is fitting into most newborn sleepers and clothing now! Woo Hoo! Let the fashion show begin people! My living doll! This little dress came from a very special lady! Thank you, Ms. Crystal for the dress and the doll! She looks SO SUPER cute in it! And Bryant makes sure that her baby doll goes wherever she does. She is becoming more and more interactive. She follows voices and tries so hard to focus (my little cross-eyed cutie!). She is a pretty serious baby so far. But we have managed to get some AWESOME smiles from her in the last couple of days... although she is pretty stingy with them!She is sleeping pretty well. From Monday to Wednesday of this week, she slept at night in 5 hour intervals. And last night, she went 6 hours. That moves this mom a little closer to a full nights sleep! :)We are finding ways to incorporate this little treasure into our everyday life. This snuggly has made it possible for me to fold laundry, play with the boys, and cook all while keeping her close by.

So far, she hasn't lost any hair, and her eyes appear blue sometimes and green sometimes... so that's really anyone's guess right now. She is spitting up a lot though. So much so that her pediatrician scheduled an upper GI to determine if she has reflux or not. If she does, we will try medicine to try and minimize that. That's all I can think of right now!

Tres's Birthday

On the actual day of Tres's birthday, Hank took the day off, but Tres still had school. Since it's a relatively new thing for him, we felt it was important to maintain the routine of it and sent him on. We got to take his class a special treat to celebrate the day. We took sugar cookies (still warm from the oven!) and icing. They let the kids ice their own cookie. All of the girls were not their that day, but we got to meet all the little boys that we had been hearing about.
After school, we let Tres decide what he wanted to do, and (surprise, surprise) he wanted to put together Lego's. So that's what we spent the afternoon doing.We finished out the day with dinner at the restaurant of Tres's choice. He chose (surprise, surprise) Mexican at Del Toro. Then it was home for more legos and leftover birthday cake. It was a nice family day.

Party Madness!!!

Tres had his birthday on Saturday. He was very specific about what he wanted this year. He wanted a Star Wars/Hershey Bar/Bowling party. So we did our best to incorporate all three. Here's the 'Birthday Jedi' as we kicked off the fun at the bowling alley around 11:30. We let the kids bowl for an hour. Here is Sierra taking her turn. It was a lot of fun. We had then put the bumpers up and let the kids go to town. Audrey was giving Bryant a few pointers on his bowling techniques here! There were other birthday parties going on and since one of them happened to be a Cosmic Bowling party, our party was too! The kids had fun dancing to the music and seeing the disco balls as they bowled with their glow-in-the-dark balls! Tres was helping Bryant cover his ears here. Bryant said it was too loud! They all had a lot of fun cheering for one another. I honestly can't remember who won (although I'm sure the kids do), but I know everyone seemed to have a great time.After the bowling bonanza, we headed back to Mom's house for pizza, presents, and cake.The pizza was good... but the cake was a whole different story!! I had found a silicone cake mold in the shape of a Hershey Bar as well as a cupcake mold in the shape of Hershey Kisses. They were on clearance a while back, so I grabbed them thinking I had found the perfect cake idea for Tres's party! Well, on Friday I thought I better give them a trial run. The first time through, they tasted great, but came apart when I took them out. So later that night, I tried again... and this was the result:Hard as bricks, and burnt black. I followed the directions and even took them out earlier than the previous ones. The ONLY good thing about them was that they actually came out of the molds cute. So, we ran to Publix the morning of the party and bought a blank sheet cake and decorated it ourselves. I was bummed though! I like to make their cakes for them.He didn't care! After that it was on to presents. He was super excited to get Star Wars Lego sets, but I think his favorite gift was a Nintendo DS! After that the kids played for a while before parent's started showing up. In keeping with the themes of the party, each guest got a goody bag with a Hershey Bar inside, as well as some little Star Wars stuff!

My End

Conversation with my Dad the other night...

Dad: How are you doing, Jamie?
Me: Good.
Dad: No I mean, are things healing okay on your end?
{I paused and smiled...}
Me: My end is healing just fine... Thanks, Dad!

Role Playing

The boys are quite obsessed with Star Wars these days. As a rule, Tres is usually Obi Wan Konobi and Bryant is usually Luke Skywalker. Before Ava Sophia was born, I was always Princess Leia. But now, Ava gets that distinguished role and I get to be her mom... Padamai (sp?).

The boys also enjoy the fact that Sophie will hold onto things that they put in her hands. Here she is with a miniature light saber from one of their toys. Use that force, Leia! :)

That's MY Family

Who knew that two little boys could love their sister so much? I praise God everyday that we have had no problems integrating Ava Sophia into our lives and family. Both of her brothers find her intriguing and want to be around her, beside her, and kissing her all the time. Even Tres, who finds it hard to kiss his Mommy these days, lavishes kisses on his little sister.
So watch out boys! This little girl's gonna have a built-in security system!

Future Crimsonette

Well, so far, so good on the Alabama football front. Football season isn't just a passtime in our household... it's a way of life. Crimson and white shirts, hats, and everything else in between are in full force right now. Hank is definitely looking forward to this season and seeing how it unfolds under the leadership of one, Nick Sabin. Ava got into the spirit of game day this past Saturday by sporting a cute (and not pink) Alabama onsie. Although several people thought she was a boy, she still was the prettiest girl around! I guess it's time to put some effort into locating some bows that will stay in her hair and don't make me feel like they are hurting her!

Sidenote: I took these pictures on Game Day... in the bathroom of Toys R Us. Hey, you have to be prepared to capture a picture with her eyes open at any opportunity! A lady in leaving the bathroom laughed at me, but oh, well!

Video anyone?

Has anyone been able to add video to their blog using the new video icon? I've tried several times and not been successful.

Funky Friday

Any guesses as to what happened to these pants?
If you guessed that Sophie gave it a 'special' design, you were right!!

About a week ago, we were out doing some running around with Crystal. We had breakfast, did some shopping, picked up Tres from school, then hit Target. After Target, we realized that we were starving so we drove through Arby's. Since it was time for peanut to eat, we pulled to the back of the TJ Maxx parking lot. I hopped into the back and pulled her out to feed her while we all ate and chatted. All of sudden, we hear what can only be described as a small explosion and the next thing I know, I'm decorated a nice shade of poo! This picture doesn't really do it justice. Poop was on these pants from the waist down to the cuff!! I had to change her in the van, and we had to call it a day on shopping.

Note to self: Put extra clothes for yourself in the back of the van.

Doctors, Babies, & Football

I had to take Bryant in to see the pediatrician on Tuesday. He had a double ear infection, due to drainage from allergies. While we were there, I asked them to weigh little miss Sophie. She weighed 6 lbs. 14 oz! This chick is definitely filling out and is even wearing {everyone hold your breath!} newborn sized clothing at times! :)
We've been a little busy since I last posted. For one thing, college football season started! For the first game, Hank's parents came up with my nephew Ryan. The boys were so excited to see them. We got to see them briefly when our little girl was born, but it wasn't enough for us! :)We especially enjoyed our Sunday morning with them. We all headed over to I-HOP for a late breakfast. Bryant enjoyed doing the word search with Grammy. Then it was time for them to hit the road back home. Notice Hank's new visor. They said there was a sea of Houndstooth at the stadium this year. Even the souvenir cups have Houndstooth on them! Thank the Lord that Alabama won, and we could enjoy a realtively upbeat atmosphere with our pancakes! :)