Shining Star

In Cooper's class, the kids take rotating turns being Shining Star.  Shining star means you get to bring a toy to show, snacks to share and line leader for the day...not sure how else they celebrate while at school. Coop is always sooo excited the morning of shining star!  This time around, he brought Teddy Grahams as a snack and his white farm truck (as he calls it).  When I picked him up, the teachers said he was super excited all day and did a great job talking about his toy and sharing his snack.  

Is it Summer yet?

Over Christmas we got cousin Emily's bins of clothing...this suit will definitely not fit when Summer comes around-so we did a little dress up!  

You'll notice the runny nose :(  I mentioned here that Laney had an ear infection, well she finished up antibiotics last Thursday and the runny nose/crankiness set back in.  So, back to the doc on Tuesday and a double ear infection it was :(.  So, so sad for Laney Faith because she had to be in so much pain and was still happy for the most part.  I think we are on the mend, definitely hoping so!

oh my gosh, i love those leg rolls!

We just booked a beach vacation for the Summer, so bring it on!!!!!

Brother-Sister Love

I don't get many of the two of them together because I can rarely get Cooper to sit still for that long, but Dad has helped me last weekend and we got a couple...

Happy Sunday everyone, I can't believe February 1st is this week!

While I was making dinner one night last week, Cooper had story time with Laney.

Is it really January?

The weather this month has been ideal! We have barely worn coats and have seen many a people in shorts/flip flops-not that warm for us!  The kids and I have spent lots of afternoons outside after nap until dinner time playing tee ball, taking walks, riding bikes, swinging, and even meeting up with some of the neighbor kids!!!  It is nothing like January last year where I felt like we didn't leave our apartment for days on end.

We didn't think he would get this much time already on his bike!

Doesn't Laney look thrilled to be outside?  

For some reason, he thought the helmet was needed even though he wasn't riding his bike...safety first!

Last Friday it was 65 by 10am, so we spent the morning at the zoo.  This was the first thing we saw when we walked into the zoo, amazing!

Ooh, sweet Laney!  Always along for the ride, content as can be!

Flamingos were a big hit-not sure where that came from

He was oblivious to the giant alligator/crocodile swimming above him.

5 Months!

I was just telling Adam the other night that I have stuck Laney at 3 months, I just always think and almost tell people she is 3 months...why?  Who knows, probably because my baby is growing up too fast and I am in denial :).  Anyways, she isn't 3 months, she is 5 months old, almost 1/2 year!!!!!!!!!  

-The biggest change at 5 months is that she is becoming so darn fun!  She's smiling, laughing (mostly at Cooper, he can do anything and she will laugh!), and interacting with her toys.  She likes to be on the floor watching whatever Cooper is doing.

-She weighs 15 lbs-I know this because we were just at the pediatrician-make that 2 ear infections this month, the latest is a double :(

-She's rolling over both ways-but for the most part belly to back.  Definitely not rolling over all the time yet though!

-losing those beautiful dark locks like crazy-that deserves a post itself!

-I have been very laid back about getting her into a routine as far as sleeping-but I think she put herself in one!  She is mainly taking 2 naps-morning and afternoon and going to bed a little earlier-9ish.  This means I am actually getting something done in the house after everyone is in bed!  She is usually up between 8-9.

-She is nursing 5 times a day.  I haven't even introduced rice cereal yet!  She seems totally content on what she gets so far and definitely isn't behind in the weight department :).  My pediatrician said it would be totally fine if we didn't start her on anything until 6 months...we will see where the next month takes us.

-Still in size 2 diaper, swore I was going to try cloth diapers with her-just haven't done it yet!  Slowly moving out of 3-6 month clothes and into 6-12 month clothes.  

-has had cradle cap for about a month now..doctor said it would eventually go away.  It doesn't seem to bother her, so as of now we are letting it takes it course.

Laughing at her big brother and Dad!

She is always sucking on her bottom lip and playing with those toes!

Toy or toys of the moment

"Mom, let's go play trucks!"  I hear that probably 5 times a day from my little man.  Coop has been really interested in trucks and such probably since he was before 2 but just lately it has ruled this house.  Every night I find a way to coerce him into parking them all back on the "truck mat" so the drivers can go home and visit their families.  But the next day, this is one of the first things he does.  Coop lines them up one by one, not leaving a single one out.  From there, we are either fighting fires, taking them to the car wash, car repair shop, gas station or driving each to their place of work.    He usually has me right in the mix with him, but if I am busy he does a incredible job of playing with them all by himself.

Ft. Worth Children's Museum

The Fimmen's invited us to the Fort Worth Children's Museum a couple weeks ago.  We hadn't been and I really didn't know anything about it...boy, have we been missing out!  There are several different areas for the kids to explore and play in.  The kids really loved the hospital area (you'll see in pics), the grocery store, play trains and the paper airplane making station.  Not many pics, our hands were full with 5 kids 3 and under :).

They each took turns driving the ambulance and being the patient in the back...notice the Dr. coats :).

Best I could get!

Grandma Visits!

Dad has been spending quite a bit of time working out of town this month, so we the kids and I have been lucky to get some visitors...not sure who is more excited to see them-me or the kids? :)  First up-Grandma came down for almost a whole week, it was awesome!  I did things that have been on my to do list for quite some time but just never make time to do. 

Grandma's birthday was the week before, so we went to our favorite place-Nothing Bundt Cakes (seriously, I would go there for dessert every single day if the world was full of stretch pants and no swimsuits :)) to celebrate.   ps-yes, cooper is still in his Christmas pjs and it's the middle of january-don't judge.  and yes, the Biebs is a fixture in our loft :).

Holy Cow-they were all 3 looking with eyes open on the first shot!  In true Ashley style, I took this as we were literally walking out the door to go to the airport and in my mom's defense-I am sure that is Laney's snot on her shoulder and not her own :).

Thanks Mom/Grandma, we loved our time with you!!!

We've got a roller!

Yep, our Laney Faith officially rolled over on her own-belly to back!  Of course, she did it the night her dad left town for a week :(.  I credit her rolling over to her curiosity about what her big brother is doing.  When she hears his voice, she's squirming and turning trying to find him.  That is exactly how she rolled over for the first time.  I was changing Cooper's diaper, he was screaming (typical) and boom! she rolled right over to check things out!  Since then she has rolled over a few times-definitely not rolling all over the place yet!  

Last night and the night before she has rolled over back to belly-both times she has been propped up on pillows next Cooper in bed for story time.  Again, so nosy to see him and in trying to reach for him she rolled all the way to her belly.  Not sure if that is a legit roll over since the pillows definitely helped her out...

 This is right when she rolled over-looks a little frightened, prob due to our cheering for her :).

love those leg rolls!!!!

Slumber Party

Ok, it's January 20th and I am officially done with Christmas blog posts...man, I hate when I get that behind!  I don't think the pics showed all the love my kids (and Adam and I too) got from our families over those 2 weeks.  I know I have said it before, but we feel so blessed to have such supportive parents and fun siblings, cousins and friends to hang with when we go back to our original homes!  We are so, so lucky!

Moving on...our first weekend back in Texas was a crazy fun one!  Cooper got to have his best friends over for a slumber party!  They came over Friday and it was a beautiful January day, in the 70's!  These pictures look more like a fall day than a winter one as the leaves had officially all fallen over Christmas break.  We spent the afternoon outside-I even had the big kids helping me rake and pick up leaves!  How, you ask?  Well, I may or may not have bribed them with chocolate chip cookies-which I was going to make anyway :).  The 3 big kids play so well together, there wasn't one argument!  Adam and I were quickly reminded how busy a 14 month old is and that you can't take your eyes off them for a second!  And when they all went to bed, our house definitely looked like a home of 5 kids age 3 and under.  There were dishes everywhere (even though we had pizza delivered), clothes and shoes strewn all over and toys in the most random places...a sign of a fun day/night!

Best shot I could get-Laney was inside napping

My little workers

Their teachers at preschool say they are best buds!  

Movie Night-watching Cars 2

Well, I couldn't leave Laney out completely!  She was here-just not running around with the big kids-Lola kept her company.

New Years Eve 2011

New Years Eve was just another night and that was totally ok with us.  We were still in STL, with plans to leave semi-early the next morning so a big party that would equal a hangover wasn't on our list :).  So, we hung out at the house with family and friends and watched the ball drop, it was perfect!  

Maggie and Kyle's nephew Tyler joined Kellen and Coop for a round of Toy Story...this movie was played a ridiculous amount of times over the week.

Look who officially found their thumb!  This picture 100% reminds me of Coop (minus the girlie pjs) because this is exactly how he sucked his thumb in the beginning!  He was four months when he gave up the pacifier for his thumb.  She still takes a paci occasionally and very rarely (like once a week) finds her thumb to suck.

GiGi even joined us for the festivities for a bit!

Bowling x2

One night we decided we had to get out the house...bowling it was!  This was Coop's 2nd time bowling ever-all in 2 weeks.  Over Christmas break in KC he had a boys night out with dad, Grandpa and Uncles-they all went bowling.  Basically he was a pro, ha!  The kids lasted about one game, the girls two games and the guys, well they lasted until about 1am...what does that tell you?

Emily was super excited and she definitely out bowled me!

Ready, set, go!

"Hey Kellen, whatcha doin'? That looks nice, think I will try it..."

Yep, when your kids are laying on the floor the bowling alley floor that probably hasn't been cleaned since the early 2000's, it's time to go home!

Christmas with Jones'

We celebrated the Jones' Christmas the week we were all in town and boy was it crazy fun!  Mamaw and Papaw Jones treated us to a homecooked meal of steak and crab legs-delish!  We tortured the kids and made them wait until we were done eating to finally open all those presents they had seen under the tree since we arrived a few days back.

The patient photographer that managed to wrangle this group and get this pic is Kyle's aunt and a reader of the blog-Hi Jeannie!  There may or may have not been a little photoshop work done to get the best of everyone's faces in one picture :).  

Spaghetti picnic for the little boys...just noticed-how and why did we let them eat this on the white carpet???  Ava was keeping them all in line :).

We stuck the kids in bed with a movie so we could dinner in peace

Appetizer crackers for the 3 stooges

Red Solo Cup, I lift you up...come on, sing it with me!

What's wrong with this picture?

And the chaos begins, Adam was the gift hander-outer.

GiGi protected Laney from the screams of joy and flying wrapping paper.

Such a fun night!

Cousin Fun

It is a crazy, busy house at Mamaw and Papaws when we all come together=10 adults and 7 grandkids-with 4 of those kids under the age of 7.  But, it is the best kind of crazy!  Just wish I had two more arms to get my camera out more.  At all times my 2 hands seemed to either be nursing Laney (every 3 hours), changing diapers or carrying Cooper to time-out :).  Here are some cute ones I (or Aunt Tanya) managed to capture...

Cash just loves Laney!  He is always hugging/kissing on her, here he even shared his night-night, aww!

Cooper loves this singing dog 

I don't know why but every time I look at this picture, it reminds of a scene in Hangover :).  Not one specific scene-just these 3 and the way the are walking -like on a mission.  trouble!  Come on, I know you are laughing with me!

Emily treats Laney as if she were her own!  She anxiously waited on Laney to wake up each morning and from naps to talk with her and show her toys...she's gonna be a great big sis!

A rare moment when Laney was on the floor and not in someone's arms, everybody loves a sweet baby to hold!