newest member

We have a new family member...

Meet Acadia;

 Chris and I have discussed for awhile now about wanting a car with more room. Anytime we want to bring along extra passengers(which we could only fit 1) they would have to squeeze between a toddler and infant carseat. We had been dreaming of a 3rd row and captain chairs. I always loved how my parent's van had captain chairs, especially with 2 kids (no middle seat to fight over). Chris did some research, number crunching and some hard praying and decided that now was the perfect time. We got a great deal and are so excited. Its more of a "mom mobile" but still not a mini van :). We got one with AWD so it can also pull the boat. We'll be rolling in style to the beach and the lake this summer!!

 Here are some pics of my kiddos lately. Liam is such a chunk, we just love his rolls!!! Does he not look so grown up here?

 Liam's first time in the stroller without his carseat! And Ave looking so cute!

Me and my baby girl! love her

Happy New Year

Our year in review;

January;

We announced to the world that we were expecting baby number 2!

February;

We discovered that our soon to be baby was in fact a baby BOY! Avery got to really play in the snow for the first time!

March;

We had fun at a couple playdates, I could really tell how independent Avery was becoming. We also celebrated all the March birthdays; Me, Chelsea, Rusty and Cindy.

April;

Nothing really big this month but we did celebrate Easter and Avery loved hunting for eggs.

May;

Avery got to go to the zoo and Great wolf Lodge (an indoor waterpark). She still talks about both. We also went to Oklahoma where my sister hosted a baby shower for Liam and I.

June;

This month was HOT and momma was big and tired!! :) We celebrated Chris' birthday and had a texas swim/babyshower!

July;

Liam David was born but was born with RDS(Respiratory Distress Syndrome) and spent 11 days in the NICU

August;

Avery got to meet her brother for the first time and we finally brought him home on Aug 3! This month Avery got to go out on the boat, she loved it!

September;

Avery started Mothers Day Out! We took a trip to Oklahoma to see Great Papa and Mommom, they got to meet Liam for the first time.

October;

We celebrated Avery's 2nd birthday at the pumpkin patch. Liam had become quite the little charmer and a chunk! Avery really enjoyed trick or treating this year on Halloween.

November;

We took several trips to Oklahoma. We also celebrated Thanksgiving in Arkansas with my side of the family and again in Texas with the Rhodes.

December;

Melissa got MARRIED! :)

The rest of this month was a little rough, I had a "fairly simple" outpatient surgery that landed me in the hospital(due to an infection) for 4 days just before Christmas. I am already looking forward to next Christmas because I still feel like I missed out this year. Just happy I was at least at home for Liam's 1st Christmas.

What a crazy and amazing year! Hands down the best moment was the birth of Liam. He has blessed our little family beyond my imagination. I'm pretty sure we have the most amazing kiddos around. Looking forward to seeing what 2012 has to offer :)

Happy New Year to all our friends and family!

5 months

Little man is 5 months old

• He started sitting up on his own at the beginning of this month, he hasn't fully mastered it but he's getting stronger.
• His little giggles are the cutest thing. He's started "talking" alot more, sounds like he's having a serious conversation with us. It even sounded like he said "da-da", I was really hoping "mama" would be his first word.
• He likes to be surprised, he will giggle like crazy when you "boo" and pop into his vision
• Liam got to see santa for the first time, I am so excited for his first Christmas.
• He has been such a good sleeper lately, we started only rocking him for a minute or 2 and then putting him down awake so he can learn to go to sleep on his own. He has done surprisingly great and hardly cries or fusses when we put him down. Whew, complete opposite of Avery.
• He started rolling over this month, on 12/11 he rolled from his tummy to back 3 times! of course when we pulled out the video camera he just fussed but wouldn't roll. But I did get a video on my phone. What would I do without my camera phone? :)
• Liam loves to look in the mirror, he smiles and coos
• He has started grabbing for things and is very interested when we eat, imagine that!
• He is wearing mostly 6-9 and 9 months clothes now, everything else is too small.
• He also wears size 4 diapers at night (the same size Avery wears during the day)
• Liam has gotten much better hand-eye coordination. He loves to hang onto things, especially a burp cloth or his octopus and bring it to his mouth.
• He has changed so much and is such a joy to our family. I just love this little guy more and more everyday.

Happy 5 month birthday Liam!

happy 5 months Liam

Today Liam is 5 months old. I can't tell you how fast these past few months have flown by. I wish this was his 5mo post but unfortunately I am in the hospital and unable to post his pics. I will get the post up soon after I get home. As to why I'm in the hospital; Last week 12/12 I had an outpatient surgery that I developed an infection from. Yesterday I was admitted in the hopes of another surgery that evening but it ended up being pushed to this morning. My doctor basically went in to take a look and flush the area. I did have an infected area and I'm praying that she was able to clean it and that all the swelling will go down. I've been on alot of antibiotics. Of course this is probably the worst time of year to be in the hospital. I haven't gotten to talk to my doctor since before surgery but she told my mom that "hopefully" I will be able to go home before the holidays. :( I'm trying not to get my hopes up. Kinda feels like when Liam was in the hospital, the unknown. I do thank God that its me in the hospital and not either of my kiddos. Our family has seen entirely too much of Baylor hospital this year. I will have to have one more surgery to re-stitch the area in the future once the infection is completely gone. Ugh, this has not been a fun week and a half. I can't wait to get back home with my babies, this week has been rough on my little Avery Jo. She's been asking about mommy and saying "is mommy getting better?". I know its hard on her that I can't pick her up, get down and play with her and overall be there like normal.
** update; I did get released on Christmas Eve and was able to spend Christmas with the Rhodes family and see Avery's face Christmas morning when Santa had arrived. She was very excited. I'm still working on trying to heal, it may be a long process, I'd appreciate your continued thoughts and prayers!**

Rolling rolling rolling.....

Yesterday Liam mastered rolling over from his tummy to back. He did it several times yesterday and today. Even at 6am this morning he decided to talk to himself and attempt his new trick. Hopefully this early waking won't last too long. Here is a video I captured of him rolling, this was his 2nd of 3 rolls that afternoon;

Love my little chunk! he's growing up too fast though

4 month check up

Liam had his 4 month well baby visit this past week. His doc says he looks great! He weighed in at 17.2lbs (93rd percentile) and was 25 inches long (70th percentile)! He's definitely getting enough to eat :). His doc said we'll keep him on his reflux meds while he's still spitting up alot, re-evaluate him around 6 months but he may need to stay on them for a year! He's getting so big.

Christmas cards

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