just a few giggles

bodie sporting a tiara above and the culprits below

bekah and i have been friends ever since we were babies. our moms were good friends and when we were born, we just kept the friendship going. bekah, her mom rhonda, and her sweet little aubrey came to visit us last week. we had so much fun talking and catching up, and my girls had so much fun getting to have aubrey play with them.

i have known these sweet girls my entire life (except aubrey :)), and i am so excited for bekah to be welcoming baby #2 in january. i can't wait to find out if aubrey is getting a baby brother or sister!

photography by avery: tatum waking up from nap

bodie loving his johnny jump up

avery & laney playing dress up

me & bo having our nap in the recliner... i LOVE this time of day. i usually have an hour or so while laney is napping and avery & tatum play quietly in the gameroom. laney comes down after her nap and usually snuggles with me for a few minutes before she goes about her business.

sweet happy smile

so excited it's time for rice cereal

avery starts 1st grade on tuesday. i am excited for her, but i will miss her so much around the house during the day. i met her teacher last night and i am sure she is just the right one for avery, an answer to prayer.

tatum has had several run-ins with tables and chairs lately, causing two big scars on her head. she is a hard worker and has an amazing drive to win, so i guess those things are just going to happen when you are a busy, determined 4-year old.

laney is potty trained! wahoo! she has put up the biggest fight of all the girls, but we have finally arrived and i am so thankful. with panties instead of diapers on, she can also fit into her clothes that had been getting too tight. an added blessing!

bodie is sleeping better (we had a very rough time a couple weeks ago with him waking up all night), getting up around 4am to eat, then sleeping until 7 or so. he is the happiest little guy, always smiling and laughing. he is eating rice cereal and getting a big bottle of formula at night to help him sleep longer. he is rolling from back to tummy, but he can't get back to his back, so he just cries until we turn him back over. he is reaching for things and he puts his arms around your neck when you hold him, like he's giving you a hug. his hair is still spiky and we get lots of comments on it. at his 4 month check up, our doctor estimated him to have a growth potential of 6'2", which made brian very happy. there is alot of sweet bonding between he and the girls and it is a blessing to my heart.

brian has been back to work several weeks. he is enjoying it, very busy with lots of new responsibilities, but very happy and content there.

i am super happy to not be going back to work next week, but honestly sad to not be meeting a whole new group of students. that's always the best part of teaching, getting to meet all your sweet new babies each year. the first couple weeks of school they are angelic. i have been thinking alot about all the students i've taught over the years and what a privilege it was to be a part of their lives. God is so good and i am so grateful He doesn't always give me what i want, but He gives me what is best for me. so i am rejoicing that this is what is best for me right now!

Happy 4 Months Bo

My favorite!

You are such a big 4 month old! Almost everyone who meets you can't believe you are only 4 months old. You outgrew all your 6 month clothes a long time ago and now your 9 month clothes are starting to get tight. Your cheeks are getting fuller and your thighs are so squishy, I love them! You are still a very happy baby. However, you are starting to get a little harder to please. We move you from your swing, to your bouncy seat, to your playmat, to your bumbo to our arms about 5 times every day. You are not as happy in your bouncy seat or swing as you used to be. You prefer your playmat because you can roll around and touch your toes and look at yourself in the mirror, which is pretty hilarious. I stopped swaddling you at night about a week ago and you are doing really well sleeping through the night. I am happily surprised at how you took to it so quickly. In fact, you got kinda mad at me today when I tried to wrap a blanket around your arms during your nap. You really wanted your arms to be free, so I freed them and you slept great. I guess it's the first step of letting you find your wings.

Although I have forgiven you, you've ruined several of your very cutest outfits with this crazy phenomena where your poo goes straight up your back. Baby girls don't do that, so it has been stumping me. How on earth can you be sitting up in your bumbo and all the sudden there is poo all the way up to your neck. All I know to do is put you in the bath and oxi-clean the daylights out of those clothes. Some have been saved, others have not. I need some boy-mama advice on this one... is there any diaper that can withstand this? It's happened in at least two different brands of diapers.

We have started having to go into a quiet place to nurse because if you hear your sisters in the room, you will not focus on the task. You will strain your eyes as far as you can to see what they are doing. You definitely want to be a part of the fun.

You are getting on a fairly regular nap & sleep routine. You go to bed when the girls do, around 8 - 8:30. You get to attend family prayer time before bed now and your sissies all want to hold your hands or feet while we pray. You wake up anytime betwen 5 - 6:30 am. Wish that was more regular, but hopefully once we start solids, you will get more consistent. You usually doze off once in the early morning after we're all downstairs, then I put you in your crib for a nap around mid-morning and you sleep for about an hour or so. Then after lunch you go back in your crib and you sleep for 2-3 hours, which makes your mama feel like a new person. You doze off again around supper time for a few minutes, and that is about it. You still eat every 2.5 - 3 hours, except at night and during that long afternoon nap, you can go 4-4.5 hours.

So far, some of your nicknames include: Bo-bee, Bo-sephus, Bo-Bo, but usually just Bo.

You are so precious and so loveable. Your smile and laughter makes me light up inside. We are all so thankful and happy to have you be a part of our family.

Our Texas Vacation

We just got off a very fun and busy week of VBS at our church. Round Up was the theme this year and we had fun wearing pigtails and cowboy boots with our VBS shirts all week. I got to work in Tatum's room this year and we had a wonderful group of 4-year olds. I loved all of them, and am missing them now that it's over. I love that our church places such a huge emphasis on kids and goes all out for kids events like VBS. We had over 1500 kids come and 285 trusted in Christ for the first time!

The week before VBS was our little Texas vacation... We went to SA for a few days, Corpus Christi for a few days and Austin for a few days. Avery & Tatum also got to have Gramps Camp with my parents in SA for a few days, which is the highlight of their summer. This was Bodie's first road trip and he did so well. Thankfully, he loves to sleep in the car so most of the time we drove, he just napped.

We spent July 4th in SA with my parents and my brother Martin. We all lined up for their neighborhood parade, and it was so fun to see all the dogs and all the people, young and old, all decked out in their red, white and blue. We all just sat around and relaxed that afternoon, then we went to see Cars 2 that night. We also got to spend some time visiting with Paw Paw.

Paw Paw was born March 17, 1922. Bodie was born March 21, 2011.
Only 89 years difference between them!

Nana with Laney & Tatum waiting for the 4th of July parade to start!

Avery was so proud to get to hold Tex's leash during the parade.
Tex truly stole the show.

My brother Martin with Avery & Tex

I don't have too many of these two sisters together, don't know why,
but that makes me love this one even more! You can kinda see why people often ask me if they are twins.

Papa & Tatum are the two speed-walkers in the family. They got way ahead of us and had to wait for the rest of us to catch up.

On our way to Corpus on Tuesday, we stopped by Lane's store to say hi and she had a funny surprise for me! She had ordered me this book about Bodie. So here we are, two Aggies, that just named our son the same name as baby Bevo! Nice! We had no idea that was part of the Longhorn legend. We will just have to work extra hard to raise him up right! :)

Our first night in Corpus, we walked out on the beach and saw a ton of jellyfish. They are such pretty and amazing little creatures.

Tatum & Bodie excited about our day at the beach!

Our hotel overlooked the USS Lexington, which you can see below. It was fun to look out and see that massive aircraft carrier just sitting there with a helicopter and lots of airplanes on the deck.

We spent most of one day in North Padre on Malaquite Beach. When we got there around 9:30 that morning, we were one of the only families there. Slowly, more people came throughout the day, but it never got crowded. The girls made sand castles (with real sand, not the gravel we have in Galveston) and played with the tiny fish in the tide. They loved going out in the waves with their noodles. Brian took them for a long walk down the beach and they caught a blue crab. It amazes me how unafraid of animals the girls are... Avery was picking it up and playing with it, when she lost her grip and it pinched her on the thumb. She screamed and threw it back in the bucket. We set Bodie up under an umbrella in his swing and he did really well. I must've dipped his paci in ice water a hundred times. He loved that. Brian and I took turns playing in the waves with the girls and sitting back at the table with Bodie. It was so enjoyable to sit back and listen to the waves, the seagulls, and the happy squeals.

Bodie's first visit to the beach and he had a great time!

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We finished reading The Little House on the Prairie while we were there.

The girls had plenty of pillow fights and wrestling competitions on the hotel beds.

We went by the USS Lexington that night after we ate dinner at Red Lobster. The next day, we got to visit my friend, Carin, who used to teach with me before she got married. Now she and her husband live in Corpus and have two little girls. It was fun getting to catch up with her and let our girls play together.

The big anchor from the Lexington

One of the torpedos

On Thursday, we drove back up to SA, dropped off Avery & Tatum for Gramps Camp, and Brian, Laney, Bodie and I kept on going up to Austin to spend a couple days with Brent, Jenn & Tara. I have to say, it was a lot of fun having just our two little ones for a couple days. We got to ride the train in Zilker park and play at a fun splash park. One night, Brent & Jenn babysat so Brian & I go out on a date, which was so nice. We mostly just enjoyed relaxing at their house and watching the three little ones interact. Tara was so cute helping us out with Bodie's paci. She loved to put it in his mouth and watch him suck on it then she would take it right back out. It's so fun to see these little cousins beginning to enjoy each other's friendships.

Tara & Laney waiting for our train ride

Riding with Aunt Jenn

Bodie playing at the splash park

Tara was such a sweet little mama to Bo

Matching cousins!

Papa & Bodie

Nana & Bodie

We had a great time driving around, visiting family & friends and spending time together. It was so nice to get out of our regular routine and just relax... no dishes to wash, no cleaning or cooking to do. Our families took great care of us, fed us, entertained us and helped us have a memorable summer vacation!

Father's Day and 3 months!

Just a few pictures today...
Last Sunday, Father's Day, was declared Hawaiian day at our church, so everyone wore shorts and flowery shirts to church. Here's the girls and Bodie sporting their Hawaiian duds.


Here's Brian with the kids on Father's Day. The girls and I got up early and made him blueberry muffins, then brought him breakfast in bed with his cards. It was fun to pamper him a little bit. We also got some Pappadeaux for supper, his favorite, and it was delicious!

Here's Laney and Bodie hanging out during his 3 month photo shoot. It's fun to think these two will walk through alot of life together through school and other activities since they are only two years apart. They are officially called "the little ones," while Avery & Tatum are called "the big girls."

Bodie Luke, we are all crazy about you! I can't believe how fast you are growing up! You smile all the time, especially when we get close to your face and talk to you. The other night, you laughed the cutest laugh when Daddy was kissing your feet. You are so laid back and easy to please. You love your paci and you love to play on your playmat. You love to talk to yourself in the mirror and the cuteness of it almost brings me to tears. Your hair sticks straight up on your head and you are getting more of it each day. When I come in your room in the mornings, the first thing you do when I unswaddle you, is stretch your cute little arms up over your head like Superman and give me a huge smile. I adore the feeling of picking you up out of your crib and holding you for the first time each day. The "newness" of you being a boy has not worn off. I still am thrilled to put you in your cute little boyish outfits and I think you are the most handsome little boy in the whole world. Your big sisters adore you. They love to help make you happy by holding you, covering you up when you're cold, or giving you your paci when it falls out. I am so happy to get to take care of you and try to make you happy. I am so thankful I get to be your mama.

Here's our 3 MONTH OLD!

If the Father's Day pictures above looked familiar, it's because they wore the same dresses last year about the same time. Here's the three girls last summer. I can't believe how much they have changed... Avery still had baby teeth & long hair, Tatum had short hair and no bangs, and Laney was just a baby! And we had no idea that God would bless us with a baby boy to add to the mix!