Time for a Break!

We're on spring break! It's been so fun playing with the girls and just relaxing together as a family. We haven't done anything really exciting, but we are working on getting our house de-cluttered and cleaned up to put on the market soon. I had no idea how much stuff we've crammed into this house over the past 5 years. We've already packed up 5 or 6 big boxes and moved lots of furniture out to Brian's parents house, but it still feels like we haven't made a dent! Brian & his dad have cleaned up all our landscaping and made our yard look really good. I am glad my husband was blessed with a talent and love for yardwork, because there is no love in me for that. I do appreciate the beauty of it, as long as I'm not the one doing it. Anyway, we are planning to get new carpet and touch up all the paint inside, then we will be ready to try to sell it! I have been watching HAR.com like crazy looking at all the houses in our area for sale, and wondering which one might be our future home! It will be exciting once we can actually start looking at them and narrowing down which one we want.

Avery's gorilla face & Laney's worried face

I haven't written much about my girls lately, so I'm going to take some time to write a few of the highlights of their sweet lives lately.

Laney Hope

Laney is 9 weeks old today. She is officially in size 2 diapers now. She had her 2 month check up last week and she weighed 11 lbs, 5 oz. and was 23 inches long. It is crazy to think how fast she is growing. She's already getting cute little chubby cheeks and the most precious little chunky thighs. She is getting into a good routine of eating, playing and napping. She loves kicking. It is fun watching her lay on her playmat and kick the monkey over & over, and you can tell she is really proud of herself. If I haven't said it recently, I love my Hotsling. She lives in that thing much of the day and it is a lifesaver when you're trying to keep your baby happy and chase your toddler & preschooler around the house all day. Laney LOVES her sisters already. As long as they are running around her, talking and playing, she is as happy as can be. She definitely does not want to be left out of things. The highlight of my day is in the afternoon when A&T are napping, and Laney & I can lay back in the recliner and take a nap together, feeling each other breath and just being close. It is truly the best thing in the world. I feel so incredibly happy and blessed to be her mama. I am filled with joy that I get to watch her grow and take care of her every day of her life. She has definitely won all our hearts and we do not know how we ever got by without her.

Avery Elizabeth

Avery has been learning so much lately. She knows all her letters and if you give her a word, she can usually tell you what letter it starts with. She is also starting to write her name. She is such a great helper, she truly gets ecstatic when I ask her to help me with something. I need to do that much more. And I need to be patient while she learns how to do it right. She says to me at least 3 times a day: "Mama, I love you THIS much (as she stretches out her arms as wide as she can)! She loves teaching & helping Tatum. If only Tatum loved it too, it would be great. She has started bossing and tattling a little bit, which is something we're working on. She carries on conversations like such a big girl. Her favorite word is "actually" and she tries to add that into almost every sentence she says. She sticks by my side most of the day, kindof like a little shadow. She has a tender heart and has been known to burst into tears when Tatum gets hurt because she's so sad for her sister.

Tatum Mary

Tatum is talking better and better every day. I can understand almost everything she says now. The above picture, as well as every other picture we've taken of her lately, is about the best smile we can get out of her on camera. She is getting long curly blonde hair at the back of her head, which I love. She got some ant bites on her hand about 3 weeks ago, and every day, although the ant bites are healed, she holds her hand up to me and says "ant bite" and wants me to kiss the ant bites that are no longer there. She is very independent, she does not want help with anything that she is trying to do herself. Heaven forbid that I show her how to buckle her carseat! Whenever Laney begins to cry and I walk over to pick her up, Tatum rushes to me and cries out, "hold me, mama, hold me!" It is heartbreaking. Sweet Tatum doesn't understand why I have to pick up Laney and not her. So usually I just try to hold them both. She is the best eater you have ever seen. She will eat almost anything. She is great at sharing toys and loves to climb on things.

This is what I get when I say "Say cheese"

Tomorrow is the first real day of spring break for Brian. He's had lots of baseball so far. I don't know how he keeps everything going with all he's juggling right now, but I think he's doing a great job and I'm really proud of him.
As for me, I still don't know what I'm doing next year. Hopefully when I get back from spring break, something will come together. I still feel a great deal of peace about it that God will provide something and it will all work out. Thanks so much to all my precious friends for your prayers. Keep them coming!


Here's a video we took of the girls performing the other night.