Go Rebels!!!!

The weekend before last Brian and I bravely packed up are two children and headed to Oxford for the weekend. Our friend Farron is getting married this summer and she was having a engagement shower. Farron was very smart in the planning because having it on the weekend of a football game assured the presence of many men. We stayed with Brian's best friend Stefano and his fiance Toni. Everybody who had children brought them to the shower and it was very kid friendly. There were plenty of people lined up to hold Henley, so I hardly saw her unless she was hungry! Christian had our babysitter to play with and many other little boys. They were a little older, so he played with toys more than anything.

The weather was absolutely freezing and I believe the high was around 49. The game was at 1:30 and Brian was planning on taking Christian. When we got to the tailgate the weather actually was not that bad, but then it started to rain. The rain was quick and passed so the men were happy to stay dry during the game which was about to start. Brian took Christian to the game and Henley and I stayed behind. Christian naps around 1:00 so he was just staying the first quarter and then I was taking the kids home. Well, the hail started about 15 minutes into the game and I called Brian to come get Christian. He has had a cold and I did not want him getting worse. Christian was not happy because he was LOVING the football game! He loves football and this is the first game he has actually gone into the stadium. There will always be next year! It was a low key weekend and we just all hung out at Stefano's house. One of their other friends Amy, had a two year old little girl, who they brought over to play. We all made smores in the fire place and Christian and her had a ball playing and running around Stef's house. They were up until about 10:30 and Christian had no intention of going to sleep, but we did anyway. It was a fun weekend.

Smiles worth a thousand words!!!!

It is hard to believe that Henley is almost 8 weeks old. Here recently she has started smiling and responding when you talk to her. It just melts my heart. I captured it on camera the other day with the help from my sister. These little milestones are so sweet and I do not want to overlook them! She does alot of things that Christian did as a baby, i.e. sticking out her tongue all the time! I sometimes have to stop what I am doing and really enjoy her. It can be hard, but I am making a conscious effort. I want to truly embrace this stage in her life just like with Christian. God has blessed us with two healthy, happy children and I do not want to miss one second! Enjoy the pictures! She is so much more chunky than Christian was. I can not wait until her two month check up to find out her weight?

Little Boys

A picture is worth a thousand words, but I won't leave you wondering what happened! Our little wild man was running from his sitter last night. He evidently thought she was putting him to bed and not mommy. If you know Christian, nobody puts him to bed, but me or Brian unless we are not there. Anyhow, he ran right into the corner of the coffee table! Ouch! He came up screaming and I had seen him fall, but was not sure if he had hit the table? I asked Stephanie and she said, his cheek hit the table. I had been nursing Henley and immediately put her down! I grabbed him and checked out the damage! He was screaming and I was worried he might need stitches! I could not get it to stop bleeding to get a good look. Finally, after getting out the boo boo bunny (which is kept in the freezer) we got a cold compress on the cut. Christian missed his eye by 1/2 inch! It swelled up like a baseball and this morning started turning purple! No stitches were needed, but he got to sleep with mommy last night because I was worried about any head trauma. I thought it would be easier to check on him throughout the night if he were next to me. This morning he had all but forgotten until he looked at himself in the mirror. Boo Boo is all he kept saying and wanted the boo boo bunny to hold on it! He is fine and running around again and I just keep waiting for the next accident. I know stitches or broken bones are in my future with this little monkey!

Halloween Night

Alright so it is November 10th and I am just posting Halloween night. Why you ask? Well every time I sit down to write a post I am summoned by a newborn to eat or a toddler to read a book or something else. I started getting a little routine down, but Henley is now discovered she is alive and if she cries someone will hold her........so setbacks happen! Oh well, better late than never!
Halloween was so much fun this year with Christian. He was able to say, Trick or Treat and Happy Halloween. Reed, his girlfriend Melanie and her daughter Taylor all came over that night and brought Chili for dinner! Unfortunately we did not eat the chili until 9:00pm after trick or treating. The kids had already eaten and we were meeting the Copelands to trick or treat with Christian's little friends. If you have never been to Liberty Park during Halloween it is a definite must see. When I say, thousands of children that is not an exaggeration! I have never seen so many kids in my life. I think they come out of the wood works or something? It is a sight because all the adults are out on their golf carts with coolers and following their children around from house to house. A girlfriend of mine who also has a newborn walked and followed are toddlers because they are much slower than the other kids. Brian and Reed followed on the golf cart and Brian and I tool turns taking Christian up to the doors. Melanie's daughter is 10 years old and kind of went her own way! I do not blame her because who wants to hang out with 2 year olds?
Christian was a little hesitant of going to strangers doors, but once he realized the outcome was candy...well than he was an expert! In fact, I think he ate half his candy as we walked along. His Uncle Reed was the culprit in that who kept opening his candy bars for him!

Needless to say, he was up past 10pm that night! We did not have too many problems with Christian going to doors and in fact it was a problem keeping him from entering peoples homes! When he saw something that interested him, he simply would just walk right on in! I guess he never meets a stranger? There were a few houses that he was scared to go up to that had big mummies or moving witches. Brian and I would have to help get him motivated at those houses. We had a blast and loved watching the little ones running around. We headed home around 9pm because it was getting very cold outside and I was worried about Henley! She was snug as a bug in my sling, but I did not want her cold getting worse! I did not dress her up because she was not even a month old. I did put her in a Halloween onsie and orange pants with a pumpkin hat. She looked adorable! Hope you all enjoy the pictures.

Halloween Festivities!

In order to keep Christian's life as normal as possible we continue to do whatever we want to do and just drag our little pumpkin along with us! This past week a Baptist Church in our neighborhood has a huge fall festival with pony rides and jumpers, carnival rides, face painting and everything you could imagine for FREE! The festival started at 5:30 and lasted until 8:00pm. Lately it has been very cold at night in the 40's and I was not sure if I should take Henley out, but I knew Christian would love it! We just hired a young girl from Samford University, Stephanie to help me at night from 4:30 until I put Christian down for bed. I have her 4 nights a week since Brian is usually out of town or out with brokers. I can not tell you how great it is to have some help right now until I get a good routine going. Well we packed up the two kids (sounds funny to use the plural kids) and went to the festival. I had Stephanie with me and she had Christian and I had the baby. I have a sling to put her in and that makes it easy to carry her around and still keep my hands on little man. Well, tonight she was not having any of being in the sling. Henley was hungry and I was trying to figure out how to nurse her in this sling inconspicuously? Difficult is not the word I should use to describe this form of feeding! Thank goodness I had a big blanket because I was able to walk around and nurse her and keep covered! Not one person knew what I was doing......wow I am getting good at this moving around and nursing her! Innovation is the key when you have an active 2 year old! The festival was a hit and we had a blast! I have no pictures because that is to much to ask of me when I have two children to keep up with! Actually, I forgot my camera! I wish I had it with me because Christian was adorable in so many ways! They had one of those swings that hangs from chains and swings through the air. The swings you see at carnivals, fairs and even six flags. Well they had a double seat, so Christian and I go on the ride! I have never in his two years of life seen a smile that big! Literally ear to ear! I think that face was worth it all together! He had the best time ever! We left soon after because it was late for him and it was nearing bedtime!

The next day was Halloween festivities at school! They wore their costumes and had a parade for the parents! They actually walked out on a stage and stood there looking around wondering what in the world is happening and who are all these people staring at us? Hilarious! After that they sang a blessing and we had snacks with kids. I think the teachers were the only ones singing because the kids just stood there staring out at the adults! We were all snapping pictures and taking video, looking like fools cheering on our little ones! Christian's best friend Elijah is in his class and they are always together! He is Nemo the fish! Christian is a train engineer because he LOVES Thomas! When his hat goes on he screams, "All Aboard!" I love it! We can not believe he actually left his hat on the whole time! My mom was there too and we all hung out awhile. Christian loved showing everyone his baby and after kissing us all good bye they left to go trick or treating to the different classrooms. Just the first of many fun events and I look forward to always making a fool of myself every time!

Special Day with Daddy!

Christian has probably felt a little neglected lately even though we are doing everything to make his life seem normal. He does not quite understand this new little life that has come into his and totally disrupted it all together! He has had his share of breakdowns and makes it very difficult on us because we can not explain to him what is going on! Anyhow, this weekend Brian took him to Bakers Farm in Harpersville, Al. This is a pumpkin patch about an hour from Birmingham and has hay rides, petting farms and games for the kids. They packed up Saturday morning and met some friends Brad Stephenson and his son Chance and Sam Paolino and his daughter Malerie. Christian loves both these children and I think has a crush on Malerie! He loves her and from what I was told held her hand the whole time they were together!

The farm was very muddy considering the day before it rained all day. Perfect for a little boy who loves to get dirty! The rode on the hay ride, posed on some big tractors ( which Christian loves) and fed the horses hay! Christian now has a new obsession with horses and goes crazy if he happens to see one on TV. Brian was flipping through channels the other day and he went nuts because he saw a horse race!? Christian came home a tired little guy and very muddy. He had a great day with daddy and hopefully felt like he got a special treat that did not involve that screaming baby!