Let the Blogging Commence!

I don't know how you guys have made it this long without me! :) But this is my day to catch up on a lot of stuff... laundry, bills, and blogging! So sit back and enjoy the last two weeks of our lives!

Three Months Old!

Ava Sophia will be 3 months on Wednesday! Can you believe it? Sometimes I can't. At times, having another baby seems really easy and laid-back. And at other times, it can make me crazy! But this little angel has done nothing but add joy to our lives. She is so sweet and pretty. She smiles and coos a lot, and I especially love it when she crinkles up her nose when she's smiling!

She has been sleeping through the night for 2 weeks now! Yeah!! She goes to bed about 8 or 9 and sleeps until 5 or 6, then she eats and goes back to sleep until 8 or 9. I think she'll even drop that early morning feeding soon. She still sleeps in the co-sleeper by our bed and I think she will until she drops that early morning feeding! I had her in her crib until she went to the hospital, then I just wanted her close to me.

When I took her in for her two month check-up she had a little cold, so she didn't get her shots, but she did weigh 10 pounds!!!!! And she was 22 inches long. She is getting too long for her newborn sleepers now. And that makes me sad! :( I guess because I know she is my last baby, I find myself savoring this time. I'm not rushing it or saying things like, "I can't wait until she's this old or doing that." I'm just content with what is happening now! I feel blessed to have a happy baby girl! And I feel relieved that I'm able to handle all that adding a little one to our family entails. Thank you, Lord for my three BEAUTIFUL and WONDERFULLY DIFFERENT children!

A couple short of a dozen!

The last time we had all the cousins together AND Grammy Boemer was there for a visit, we took a picture. That was when Tres and Donovan were newborns! I think they were about a month or two old. So five years later, here we are again!
Grammy Boemer likes to show-off her great grandkids! So we framed this picture for her to take home with her.

Felicity Corinne

My best friend, Traci, had her little girl on September 25. We got to see them when they were in town visiting Traci's parents.
Look at all that hair on that sweet baby girl! When she was born she weighed 7 pounds, 6 ounces and she was 18 1/2 inches long.

Mrs. Phyl wouldn't take no for an answer on getting a picture of us together! I'm looking some kind of rough in this one, but I couldn't resist putting it on here! Who knows when I'll get to see them in person again, so here it is! Sophie's looking at Felicity like, "Can I get some of that hair, please?"

UGGHHH!!!

The whole house hunting process is driving me bonkers!! Looking for the right house and still making sure my family is cared for can get a little manic.

Roadside Pumpkin Patch

On the way home from Valdosta, we stopped at a very cool Pumpkin Patch. It was a roadside market and pumpkin patch that caught your attention. They had all kinds of stuff though! I wish we had had time and energy to stay and explore! But we were ready to get home.Our little girl is still small enough to look miniature next to this giant pumpkin! That pumpkin was even bigger than her pumpkin seat!Bryant is nothing but ALL BOY! And he matches the pumpkins!And here are my three goblins.

More from Valdosta!

The first night of our Valdosta trip, Bryant tripped and skinned his nose pretty good. I was a little bit frustrated cause we were gonna do family pictures when we got back, but couldn't because of Mr. Accident Prone!! Then after we got home, he sneezed a bunch and burst a blood vessel in his eye!
Heather tries to figure out how many days till Christmas!
Aunt Jackie gets her baby fix in!

The boys spent from dawn till dusk outside playing, swimming, and running. Donovan has a lot of midevil dress-up stuff and swords, and the boys had a field day with those!! We were treated to a duel every time we sat outside!
Ryan, our only teenage boy cousin couldn't resist our little charmer either!! He asked several times to hold her. I love how all these kids love each other.

Ashton looks like a pro with Sophie, huh? That's probably due to little sister Heather! Ashton is very natural with babies and little ones! She is one of the most precious and sweet spirited young ladies I know!
And Fletcher jumped right in there with Sophie too! This was his second or third time holding her! I think Ashton, Fletcher, and Heather all wouldn't mind another baby in the house. But my SIL isn't cooperating, are you Bets?

It was a fun-filled visit, as usual! The kids were loud and funny! The girls were more girly than I remembered. And all four of the little ones had such a blast with each other, they even started out the trip with a sleepover in Grammy's den! We'll be back at Christmas to see you all.

Grammy Boemer meets her TENTH great-grandchild!

This is Hank's Dad's Mother, Margaret Boemer. She was at the Boemer's visiting when we came down, so she got to meet her tenth great-grandchild, and fifth great-granddaughter, Ava Sophia. She was a huge hit with all the girls!!All five girls together! Sophie evened out the boy-girl ratio on the Boemer side of the family!

Heather is Bryant's age, and was especially taken with the newest baby girl! She liked the 'trick' Sophie could do! It's also a favorite of my boys... getting her to hold your finger or small toys.

Lots to say, but no time to post right now!! I need to catch up on laundry and feed Soph. I have a lot of fun pictures from our recent trip to Valdosta to introduce Ava Sophia to Hank's side of the family. It was a fun trip and the boys DID NOT want to come home!

I also have some funny Tres storied regarding school. And a couple of videos I've been meaning to post! Soon! Very soon.

A Wild Hair

We were going to meet a friend this morning and I was getting the boys ready. Bryant decided he wanted something a little different done to his hair today.We left it this way! He has been getting attention from folks all day, and I think he likes it! He just grins really big and giggles! Oh, and Tres wanted his hair 'just like daddy's' today.

Fall = Football

The boys got to go to the Alabama homecoming game with Hank this past Saturday, while Sophia and I were at Children's. And before anyone gets mad at Hank for that, it was my idea that they still go. I was only a phone call away!

It was Bryant's first game!
We thought that he might not enjoy it because of how loud it gets and because they don't understand the game entirely. But Hank said they both did GREAT!! He took their Nintendo DS, got plenty of snacks, and brought his MP3 player. Tres immediately told Hank it was too loud. So Hank let him listen to the MP3 and all was well.

Later that day...

After I got home from Tres's field trip, I came right in a fed Sophie. When I burped her, she had a severe coughing spell. She had done it the night before and while I was gone also. The coughing spells took her breath away and made her really red and upset. The first time, I thought she might have gotten a little chocked while she was eating. But when it happened while I was gone and when I got there...I immediately called her pediatrician. They were going to make me come in around 4:30, until the nurse heard her coughing in the background while I was making the appointment. She told me to come right in.

I got to the pediatricians office, and the doctor came in to look at her. I told him about her cough, and the only other symptom she had was a loss of appetite (which was hurting Momma!). Her lungs sounded clear, and everything looked normal. So he took some blood, and wanted to do a chest x-ray on her. So after that, he came in and told me that the level of virus fighting antibodies in her blood were extremely low, and another level that should have been high was low. Also he said her iron level was low... and that she could possibly be anemic. I was taking all this in studiously, and was calm up until he said "I want her observed in the hospital for 48 hours." Then I could feel my heart racing and slight panic set in. He told me that he was concerned that she had the onset of Pertussis, commonly known as Whooping Cough. She had not received any vaccines for this yet, and apparently they have seen a rise in Pertussis in infants and the elderly over recent months.

So off we went to Children's... Ava and myself. My mom kept the boys at home. Hank was still at work. I got to Children's and got her registered, and they put us in a holding room while a space was being made for her. While we waited, they came to take blood AGAIN. The doctor told me that he wanted to go ahead and get her set up for an IV 'just in case.' He told me that if they couldn't get it the first time, they wouldn't try again. I left the room for this one and I wish I hadn't. I went into the lobby and heard her SCREAMING the whole time. When I went back in, she had her little IV set-up in her hand AND a band-aid on the other. When I asked them what that was, she said it was where they had tried to get it in the first time! WHAT!! I was not very happy about that. Not only did they stick her twice, but the blood they drew from her was unusable because it had clotted so they informed me that they would have to draw some more. I determined then and there that I would not be leaving her if I could help it.
They decided to observe her in the Special Care Unit. This is essentially a huge room with curtained off areas for each patient. They children are monitored constantly through-out the right. She was hooked up to a blood pressure cuff that went off every hour, another sensor measured how many breaths she took in a minute, and yet another was her oxygen level. Then a nurse came around every couple of hours and took her temperature. So she had all these wires attached to her and she had to lay in the bed unless I was feeding her or changing her diapers so that the reading were accurate. Also, because Pertussis is highly contagious, she had to wear a mask (actually one was just laid over her mouth because all of them were too big for her), all the nurses that took care of her had to wear a mask, and Hank and I had to wear masks.
In the Special Care Unit, you are not allowed to eat, drink, or sleep. They did allow me to drink bottled water since I was nursing. I stayed with her every minute I could. The only times I left were when their was a shift change. All parents were required to leave for 2 hours, so I would go a eat something, then I would go and catch a nap in the van for an hour. Then it was right back upstairs to sit with my little peanut.

The first night was exhausting, but thankfully she was fine. She coughed only occassionally and all of her levels that they were monitoring were good. Her blood work came back and that wasn't very encouraging, so the doctors wanted her to stay one more night. But this time we got to move to a private room. That meant sleep to me! The afternoon we moved into the room she was running a temperature, but after a bath, that came right down and stayed down. The doctor said that was a good sign that her body was recovering on its own.

By Sunday morning, they told us we could go home. Thank the Lord all her levels were okay...not great... but okay.

The Pertussis screening results should be back today (they couldn't run it over the weekend because the lab was closed). And she has an appointment tomorrow with our regular pediatrician.

Throughout the whole ordeal, she was very good.She smiled and cooed at all of her nurses. She cried only when provoked... you know, by a needle or something! I was a proud momma. It also gave me some one-on-one time with her. Better safe than sorry.

Last night she was more congested than she has been, and she has taken to eating in small, frequent doses today. But she acts fine and has no temp. No cough either which the main symptom in Pertussis!

Baker's Farm Field Trip

Tres had his first field trip on Friday. We went to Baker's Farm in Chelsea. They have hay rides, horse rides, a corn maze, a pumpkin patch, and a ton of other things for the kids to do outdoors.
The first thing that caught the kids attention was the massive corn fields!! We didn't do the corn maze, but all of the kids wanted to check out the corn fields, nontheless! "CHILDREN OF THE CORN"

The farm is actually a functioning farm. The hay, cotton, and corn they grow, they sell. They also have chickens, turkeys, ducks, and quail that they make money off of. They have an area that the kids can come and with the help of one of the farm hards, they get to pet baby animals."NOBODY HERE BUT US CHICKENS!"

We also got a lesson in how they reap the harvest on cotton. Then the kids all got to try their hand at it! Each child was allowed to put some raw cotton in their pocket to take home. Tres was very excited about showing it to Bryant and Daddy."COTTON PICKIN' KIDS!"

Then we all got to take a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch. When we got to the pumpkin patch, Tres and all his classmates got to pick out a pumpkin to bring home."HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW?"

However, the highlight for me was when I learned from another mom that Tres has a secret girlfriend named Reileigh. She is a super cute and sweet little girl. One of Tres's friends told his Mom that Tres wouldn't let anyone touch Reileigh's backpack because she was his girlfriend... but that it was a secret. Tres was pretty upset that I found out!! I laughed because he took it so seriously! "SECRET LOVERS!"

Jennie's Birthday!

Jennie turned 35 today! We celebrated on Wednesday by having a family dinner at Sol Azteca. Jennie likes to do it there because there is usually a marriochi band. But for some reason, they weren't available. She was a little disappointed, but nothing a little chips and salsa couldn't cure!The men had a football meeting. I guess they think if they talk about football strategy, somehow, our team will play better! :)And Ava Sophia wore a special shirt to help celebrate her Aunt Jennie's birthday. Can you read it? It says, "You think I'm cute, you should see my AUNT!" I had to get a picture with all of the aunts!
Here's my brother Matt giving us the helium version of "Happy Birthday." All the kids thought this was great!


Have I told you guys that Kayla and Matt are expecting again? She is due April 8th. She says she feels like its a boy again. But I'm thinking girl! Mainly because I have so many cute things I could pass on! :)And I think seeing two little girl cousins play together would be so fun!!

Two Months

How can two months come and go so quickly? Two months since our little princess entered our lives unexpectedly early! Two months since a little dark haired, serious, and quiet baby turned our little family upside down! Two months since this mom has gotten a full night's rest. And two months since my already overflowing heart expanded yet again to include one blue-eyed baby girl.

I had Bryant at the doctor yesterday, so I asked them to weigh her. She was 8 lbs. 14 oz.! What a chunky monkey, huh? The doctor was impressed that she has gained nearly four pounds since birth! She definitely loves to spit up on me... her favorite times are in the middle of the night or wee hours of the morning. And usually she does that down my shirt or in my lap.

Her smiles are much more frequent these days! I've even heard what I think could be described as a smile. She squeals when she is unhappy, which isn't that often.

She sleeps about 6 hours a night, then another 3 or so. And on two occassions has even slept 8 hours!! She slept in her crib last night for the first time. Not sure how I feel about that... but she seemed very comfortable.

She responds to voices, focuses in almost all the time now, and we are enjoying finding her new outfits in her closet every day!My favorite!

Picture Day

Tres had picture day this past Monday. I found a blue polo style shirt on clearance at Target for $1.48, and it matched his eyes perfectly!! He got a haircut, and a new style, and he was spiffed up and ready to say cheese! I took a couple of pictures of him myself just to document the day.A practice smile... which I told him to tone down a bit! :)The ladie's man look! Smooth!What more could you want? Looks, charm, charisma, and a sense of humor!!

I know I might be weird... but I am thoroughly enjoying all of Tres's firsts. First day of school, pictures, etc. I love hearing about his day and what he's learning. I love hearing the random things that happen ("Abby wiped snot on me today in line and I told her to stop!" or "Riley's mom put soup in a crayon for her lunch today. Can you do that too, Mom?"). And I am really looking forward to his first fied trip on Friday! I do sometimes long for the days when we were his whole world. But I am so excited to see the world through his eyes.

Fall Fun

We've been trying to take advantage of the slightly cooler weather with trips to local parks. The boys have been having a blast! There is one particular park in Helena-- Joe Tucker --that has loads of cool stuff for the kids. A rock climbing wall, a HUGE sand box with mechanical arms for digging and tons more stuff.

Cross-Eyed Cutie

Ava Sophia got to wear one of the little dresses that was once Sierra's this past Sunday. She looked so cute in it! It almost made Aunt Tonnie cry! :) I took this picture at church. But I wasn't satisfied with how her head was laying crooked. So I straightened her head, and took this one:Focus, Ava... focus!