Two Boys...and a Girl

Relief

2012-01-20T10:28:00.000-08:00

I am a little late in updating this but I wanted to have all of this for their "baby" books. Two weeks ago, Reed had his heart catheritization and a bronchioscope. For those of you who have no clue what a heart cath. is, let me explain. It is the insertion of a catheter through his groin area that goes up into a chamber or vessel of his heart to get a great look at everything. Reed had one at 1 year post transplant, now 3 years after and will be required to have another one in 2 more years. At that time, he will not have to have them as often.

I like to consider myself relatively calm, but on these days I am a little bit of a worrier. If you don't believe me, just ask Ryan! I can tell myself a million times, this is all in God's hands, but I guess the mother/human side of me takes over and lets my mind go a million places usually thinking of the "what ifs". Not good!!

Reed was also getting a bronchioscope to get a good look at his lungs to see what is causing all of his congestion and reoccurring pneumonia.

Well, Reed was his little trooper self and just went on back with no tears with the doctors. I, of course, shed a tear or two or three! Even though we are "used" to this, it is still hard to see your little child being taken back. After an hour in surgery, the pulmonologist came out to talk to us. Long story short, he has to have his tonsils and adenoids out February 15th. He will also do some treatments to help get his congestion out so it will not be a home for bacteria to grow. His right middle lobe is a little weak but this is not uncommon with what he has been through. So good report!

Then a couple of hours later, the cardiologist came out. I couldn't stand the wait and just said "Tell me Dr. if it's good news or bad so I can listen to what you are saying!" He said "His heart looks perfect!" Praise God!! Once again, I had that feeling of a weight being lifted. I guess that weight was really just worry though. The Dr. then proceeded to show us this really cool video of Reed's heart and all the plumbing that works perfectly.

When we finally got to see Reed, he was pretty ill. Who can blame him though. The rest of the afternoon was just spent holding him until he could be released. When the cardiologist came by before we left, we spent some time talking to him. Ryan asked the Dr. what his feeling was about heart transplants(this was not Reed's transplant cardiologist), and his response was "They are little miracles...look at him...he IS a miracle!" He then proceeded to tell us that he truly believes that Reed will outlive us with how much things have changed. Now, that may mean that he has to have another transplant on down the road or maybe not. Who knows....the big man upstairs is the one in control of this crazy little life!!! Thank you God for granting us with our wish of a heart transplant for Reed. It was 3 years ago yesterday that we got the best call of our lives. We are so grateful for the family who gave us this blessing!

Cold Weather Days

2012-01-17T10:28:00.000-08:00

What can you do to kill time with the kids when it's freezing outside...bake cookies!

Even though it's really cold, we still have to get out side on these days. Otherwise, we go stir crazy! The boys absolutely love driving their gator. Kylie rarely gets to ride in a seat. The boys will say "Come on Ky, get in the back" and she will crawl right in.

Braden taking a ride in Kylie's stroller.

We went to Craig and Tina's one afternoon to play. It was supposed to be great weather but it was far from that. I don't think that cold weather even phases the kids. I need their thick skin!

One of Craig's friends got Charley a pony for Christmas. His name is Chili. Isn't he so cute?!

Poor Kylie gets a fair dose of being picked on by Braden and Reed. They know how much she loves her paci so that is the first thing they go for to get under her skin.

Who can resist giving this little face what she wants?!

Reed doing a little bit of bribing to get Kylie to give him her popsicle. It worked!

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-26T15:24:00.000-08:00

This is what shopping with 3 kids looks like! I don't usually go to Kmart but they had the best deal on little bikes. They were $29.99 for Disney Princess bikes (usually $65), and this is what Charley wanted for Christmas. I also got Kylie one for Easter.
It was on this shopping trip that Braden got his black eye. If you ask him how he got it, he will tell you that "Reed did it...he threw his milk cup at me!" It looks awful.
Kylie Reese at 20 months old. Where in the world do the days go?! The boys were pretty entertained by the static.
Papa horsin' around with the boys. Their expressions are priceless.
Ryan reading Kylie a book before bed. My poor kids have been lacking in the sleep and nap department this past week with all the holiday fun! This picture needs a video with it. The kids were sitting on the bookcase and would run and jump on papa on the couch. The boys were hitting their heads against the glass and I told them to stop but should have made them stop. The next thing I know is my mom's breakable things on top of the bookcase fell off and glass ornaments shattered everywhere.

The one thing they are allowed to do when Uncle Craig comes around.

Putting our pajamas on for Christmas morning. Thanks to Aunt Janice for giving these to the kids on Christmas Eve at my parents because I failed at buying any new pj's!

Can you tell that the kids were worn out? Our kids are not used to staying up late especially till 10:30!

This is a picture of the boys bringing me a present that their papa bought for them to give to me. They bought me a Snowbaby that they recorded their voices on for me....I love it! The reason that my dad bought this was because my mom has a tree in their bathroom full of Snowbabies and the boys always told them that they wanted to buy one for their mom!

Christmas Morning at our house!

The stockings were hung from the chimney with care

Kylie, Braden and Reed sitting on the steps waiting anxiously to see what Santa brought them.

The kids were so excited with what Santa brought them. The boys basically got tractors and Kylie got a new table and chairs, makeup, baby stroller and clothes.

Daddy and Braden

Ryan, I mean Santa, filled my stocking with some goodies. Santa knew that Ryan lost his wedding ring in the woods hunting so he kindly bought me another wedding ring to give to Ryan!

After we did Santa, we went to church then came over to my parent's house to do Christmas with them and Craig and Tina.

My dad bought the girls their own John Deere tractor and painted the hood of it pink so they wouldn't have theirs taken by Braden and Reed. If you asked Kylie what she wanted from Santa, she would always say "Tractooor"

Charley and Kylie loving on each other
Isn't Charley such a doll?
Let's just say that my Nanny is not very happy with me for putting these pictures on here! I asked if she would rather the kids remember her as a really funny nanny or boring?! My brother and Tina bought Nanny these boxer shorts. I think these might reappear next year!
Nanny is totally naive. I told her to go pick up some paper that was lying on the floor...needless to say, it made a really funny picture.
Reed and Braden opening some more presents

Tina and Charley

Uncle Craig opening the 50th tractor the boys got:-)

Nana with Kylie and Charley Ryan and I bought the boys a Gator for their present. That's pretty much all they got from us and they LOVE it!!!
Kylie and Papa watching the boys driving...the boys do a really good job driving.
The Christmas madness
Granny and Nanny are such good sports for all the chaos on Christmas. I am so thankful for the two of them.
Me and Tina
The kids can't go a day without a Popsicle
Reed being silly with a chair on his head
The pictures do not fully explain how funny this was. I was laughing hard at Braden and when Charley saw me, she started mocking me. She would laugh then throw her hand over her mouth then bend down. Tina called me yesterday and said Charley was still doing it!
My sweet grannies reliving their childhood..did they have playdo back then?!
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with your families. I cannot help but to be reminded of how much we have to be thakful for...mainly for each person that we have in our lives!

Parties Continued

2011-11-20T14:03:00.001-08:00

Kylie Reese I have not forgotten about you. I got the "lecture" from my mom telling me that Kylie was going to end up just like me....having a 1/3 of the size baby book to her 2 older brothers!!! I know that I have not been keeping up with the blog as well but I promise that I will do better for you Kylie. Since by the way this blog is your baby book!
Kylie is a little spuny, full of like 19 month old. She doesn't not miss a beat and does her very best to keep up with Braden and Reed. I ask my mom how she is in comparison to how I was since we both have 2 older brothers. She says that Kylie is not as "passive" as I was. But in her defense, there is only 17 months between her and the boys. She has to hold her own.
We continued the boys' birthday celebrations with the girls of the family. Ryan and papa were hunting in Kentucky. I cooked lunch for everyone and we just hung out at the house. My mom, granny, nanny, Tina and Charley came to party!

Tina came through like she always does with creative gifts. She got the boys their own drill set like papa's.
Do you notice Reed's super cute glasses?!! He has a stigmatism that he has to wear glasses for 6 hours a day. We are working on those 6 hours! He totally reminds me of that cute, nerdy (I meant that in a nice way) kid that was in Jerry McGuire. Too stinkin' cute! Kylie and Charley couldn't be left out so they got new make-up.
Charley got a new puppy that dances. She absolutely loved it! Her expression was priceless.The boys got more tractors...
and a bank full of Tootsie Rolls.Charley and GrannyGranny reading to Braden
When Uncle Craig comes, it gets crazy. He is a big kid that instigates the kids doing stuff they usually aren't supossed to do.
Aunt Tina being smushed by CraigReed jumping off the couchKylie getting pushed off the couchBraden with his wild and crazy hair jumping off! Charley being thrown into the couch!
Craig teaching the kids how to roll the ball to each other.And finally, Craig picking up our 86 year old nanny!!!!

Three's

2011-11-17T15:58:00.000-08:00

We have had a busy last couple of weeks around here. We moved about 12 miles down the road, have our old house on the market (probably not real smart to move before you sell), and Reed had to go in to the hospital for pneumonia. I'll explain in more detail later. Needless to say, there is NEVER a dull moment in our house!
These pictures were the last night at our old house. It was definitely bitter sweet leaving this house. I have been at this house since 2001, Ryan joined me in 2005, Braden and Reed joined us in 2008 (well Reed joined us in February of 2009) and then Kylie joined us in 2010. Don't worry, no one else is planning on joining us any time soon!

Kylie's room as I will always remember it at our house. I still say that I will never make curtains again after I made these damask ones but I will say, I still love them. Who knew that I would be using them for my little girl's room one day. Now onto the other events that went on. The weekend that we moved, Reed started to get sick. At first, I thought it was just a cold but he kept having a reoccuring fever then began having difficulty breathing at night. I knew his pneumonia was coming back (which he had in September and never really got over). Sunday night was Trunk-or-Treat at our church so we decided to still go. Poor Reed was such a little trooper trying to walk around but he was pretty pitiful!
Here was the gorilla that Braden was not too fond of!

Martha Lynn always comes up with the best runk decorations and themes. I will say that she made a pretty good ugly witch! The boys were not quite sure who she was!
So Kylie was supposed to be a deer and the boys were hunters. Since the weekend was a tad bit busy, I just decided she would go as a bee. Can you hunt bees?!
Braden loved his gun that he got to carry around. I hope we didn't offend too many people letting our 2 year olds carry guns!
**FYI: I took Reed to the Dr. the next morning and I told her "he has pneumonia. We went for a chest X-rar at VAndy and the radiologist said he had one of the worst pneumonias that he had seen in a while. Normally they will treat it out of patient but with his history and transplant, they admitted him. We stayed there 3 days and they (Infectious Disease Team) ran a lot of tests on him to make sure there were no crazy strands of bacteria causing it. Thankfully everything came back as "just" pneumonia.**

Rainy Days
I don't know about ya'll but it makes it really hard on me when it is rainy all day. The kids and myself all get a little stir crazy. The boys and Kylie decided they would bring up their riding toys from the garage to ride upstairs. I said "ok" since I knew it would entertain them for a little while.

I even let them eat straight out of the Craisins bag so they will have something to do! Props to my dad for finishing my table for me. I needed a 5ft. round table and chairs and got this one on Craigslist for $100. It was a pale color glossy oak table and chairs (but of course, I forgot a before picture) before an this is the after. I think it turned out great! Turning Three
The boys celebrated their 3rd Birthday on November 12th! We did things pretty low key this year. Ryan's parents came in town and we just did things the kids enjoyed. I really cannot believe they are already 3 and 2 of the 3 biggest blessings in our lives.

Marcy Jo's is where we started their day off. This is a little hole in the wall restaurant that has really good breakfast. After breakfast, we went to Tractor Supply Co., Toys R' Us and Wal-Mart where the boys picked out even more tractors and trucks that they "really needed"! HA!

Kylie Reese being her little mischevious self!
My three little kiddos
Granpa with his 3 grandkids Any of you who know Reed really well, know that he rarely is seen without some knot on his head. He has not had one in a long time but now he has 2. He busted off of a horse headfirst on the hardwoods then tripped over a rug onto the floor headfirst. That always makes for great goose eggs:-)
When we got home, the boys opened their gifts from Granny Carol and Grandpa. They got lots of cool stuff including John Deere blankets that Granny made, tractors, and even tire horse swings. They did way too much for the kids but the boys loved everything!
My mom came over later and brought their gifts. My dad was doing more important stuff...deer hunting-) This picture really needs a video to explain but Braden loves okra. My mom bought him some fried okra at Wal-Mart. When he opened it, he said "Nana, you bought me okra!!!!!" You would have thought she bought him a real tractor. A family tradition when I grew up was that you always got an ice cream roll cake on your birthday. They are the BEST things ever that my mom (sometimes dad) makes. They put Baskin Robins and Cold Stone to shame. She made me and the boys one for our birthdays!
That night, we took the kids to Chucky Cheese. A parent's last place they want to be on a Saturday night but the kids had a blast.
The house we bought had one previous owner and they left this skooter in the garage. The man said that his wife used to ride it to town every day. This thing is like 30 years old but wasn't tunning. So my dad and this other guy worked on it and got it running. Of course, all three kids got to ride too. Don't worry, he was driving like 5 miles an hour.

Way Behind!

2011-10-26T06:00:00.000-07:00

Well if you are still checking my blog, you know that it has been a long time since I posted last. I hate when I am this far behind since this is their "baby" book.
These pictures were from their first day of school this fall. They absolutley love going to class with Miss Victoria, and they have all boys in their class. Kylie is not going to "school" yet but next year she will.
The kids still love to ride the lawn mower with papa. This was the first time they all three rode together. I really need to get some videos on here because my dad fixed our really old riding lawnmower this week, and the boys can drive it by themselves. Don't worry, it goes really slow in first gear. Braden honestly just about cried because he was so excited about it!

Our Country Boy. Ryan thinks that the boys are going to be little rednecks:-) They knwo the difference in Ford, John Deere, Honda, and Farmall tractors. We will be driving down the road and I will say "boys, look at the bulldozer" and it never fails that one of them will correct me and say "that's not a bulldozer, it's a backhoe!"

Their favorite songs to listen to on the Ipad are "Gone like a freight train, gone like yesterday" and also "John Deere Green" Secretly, I love that the boys love these things. I guess the next step is hunting!

Kylie and Charley have a good time together. Kylie loves the horses and dogs. She will definitely be the reason that we get a dog one day. Charley amazes me for an 18 month old. She is so tall for her age and that little girl will ride the horse with Uncle Craig for over an hour at a time. I'm afraid she is going to be barrell racing one day.

These last pictures are a little random but that's what happens when I don't post for so long. One night I got on to Reed for something then I went downstairs to get the laundry. When I came back up, this is what I found. Braden told Reed to lay down in his lap and he was patting him on the back. Too sweet!
I think shortly after that, Kylie got in trouble for something. I probably told her "no" and she gets her feelings hurt really easily. Then Braden told Kylie to lay down in his lap and they both started to pat her back. Braden is definitely my big helper and comforter for the other two.
Kylie Reese with her first pigtails:-)

Labor Day and Retreats

2011-09-14T19:25:00.000-07:00

Over Labor Day weekend, we went to the farm in Kentucky for a dove hunt! Actually , the guys were dove hunting while the girls watched the kiddos...boy does that sound like the ol' timey days! I have no idea how the kids slept through all the gun shots during their naps. It sounded like it was sleeting inside from all the bullet spray hitting the tin roof.
My brother was all about letting the boys shoot their first gun while we were there. We do teach them that guns are not toys and they are not around them except when an adult is hunting. (they are not sitting around in our house:-) I couldn't believe that none of the kids cried because this gun had a pretty good kick and was really loud.
I wish I had the audio that goes with this picture. After Braden shot the cardboard box, he was saying "BooYa, I got it!"
Here are Reed, Braden and Charley off to fetch the birds....don't worry, they didn't actually touch them.

Reed getting his turn and he wasn't scared at all. The kids then went to collect their "kill"...a cardboard box.
Charley even took a turn...yes, she is only 17 months old and too stinkin' cute. She got to "kill" a tin can!
Cute "little" Luke, Tex and Beth's little boy. He has the cutest chubby legs that I have ever seen.
These pics are kind of random but too funny not to post. I was putting Kylie's hair up one morning and the boys were feeling a little left out! They might make cute little girls!
Church Family Retreat at Henry Horton State Park
This past weekend we went "camping" (in a cabin) with my parents for our church retreat. What is it about hotels/rooms that aren't the kids that makes them want to go crazy. The boys had a blast running and jumping (which they don't do at home) on the beds. We didn't take any toys from home and they had so much fun just being in a new place.

Reed, Preston, JT, Lindsay and Avery eating on Saturday morning some good ol' pancakes
Lindsay, Avery, Juice, Haley, Braden, Preston and Reed getting ready for a day filled with tons of fun stuff.
Braden looks like such a big boy here. He loved to watch the big kids play and kept asking me for his bike. I guess we will request that from Santa.
Kylie Reese sporting my outfit that my mom made for me when I was little. I love how worn and dainty these old outfits are. My mom is so talented!

I need a bucket full of corn at home for endless hours of entertainment!

Madison and Macey

This pic cracks me up. Notice Reed's missing leg. He was doing his class warm-up exercises where they were hopping on one leg. Doesn't it look photoshopped out?!

Playing a little while the kids slept!

Reed thought it was hilarious to dump corn continually on Braden's head. Braden didn't mind at all and they both got a big kick out of it.

They had an old apple press to make cider with for the kids tolearn about. The boys loved this, especially drinking the fresh cider which was so good!

Mrs. Becky with her sweet grandaughter, Maddi

We had a great time and we will be off for a real camping adventure in a few weeks. That should be real fun with all 3 kids in a tent without grandparents there for back-up!!!

The End of Summer is Here

2011-08-24T19:10:00.000-07:00

(more commentary to come)...
Wilson County State Fair

Craft Time Making Lobster Prints

Class Get Together at the Calendine's

Golf Tournament in Honor of my Brother, Kyle!!

Beach Trip

2011-08-08T17:17:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe another beach trip is already here and over. A year surely does go by fast and it makes me a little sad! One thing about another year passing is that we had to actually buy the boys a seat on the airplane. Boo! It sure is nice though for them to be in a seat and not in my lap. They did really well on the plane but with a lot of help from mommy and Nana's bag.
One row was me and the boys, the one behind us was Papa, Ryan (he was coming for 2 days) and Kylie then the row beside us was Nana, Aunt Tina, Charley and Nanny. We went to a really good outdoor restaurant called Boondocks and it had some great seafood. We went Sunday night so that Ryan could get in some good food before he flew back for work on Monday night. (I had to turn the pics to B&W because my kids colors were really clashing:-) After dinner, we all went down to the beach and the kids of course were soaking wet before we were done. I have just come to the conclusion that we will not get all 3 kids looking at the camera at the same time so I have just faced the fact and let it go! Isn't Charley so pretty?! I just love here blonde hair. The first couple of days she was not really fond of the water or the beach but by the end of the trip, she was doing much better. I know what I am getting the kids for Christmas...an air mattress. Who knew this would provide so much entertainment for all 4 kids. This was the boys' bed all week and they loved it. Don't you just love how Papa and Ryan are "watching" the kids! They all loved the beach and the ocean, and Kylie was not scared at all. The boys did such a good job in the pool all week. Most of the time they just used their water wings to swim. Braden could get all around by himself and didn't need any help. Reed got around great too but sometimes he would get "stuck" in the middle of the pool and couldn't get to the other side. Reed, Charley, Braden and Kylie all watching Papa vacuum in the morning. Vacuuming took place at least once a day with these 4 making messes all the time.
Papa, Reed, Nanny, Braden and Nana on the way to play. My mom is probably going to kill me for putting this picture on here:-) Nanny is such a trooper when it comes to our vacation. She plays with the kids all the time and loves every minute of it. She is such a great grandmom! Kylie is definitely a daddy's girl right now. If I am holding her, she usually will want Ryan over me. I was so glad that Ryan got to come for a few days this year. Hopefully next year, he can come for the whole week. Aunt Tina trying to get Charley used to the water. Well, the annual attempt at getting a decent beach picture was definitely harder than even last year. Kylie and Charley were hard to get to sit still. Maybe next year will be easier, but I won't hold my breath!
By this point I didn't care anymore and Kylie proceeded to dig in the sand with her face. She is a little mess!
Braden wearing his "gobbles" as he likes to call them. He couldn't quite seem to get them on correctly!
Braden loves his cousin Charley. He was always calling for Charley to come watch him jump on the air mattress. I am so excited that the cousins will be close in age....Tina, you need to make sure the next cousin is not too far behind in age:-)
Uncle Craig came up on Wednesday and surprised most of us. Thankfully he came so that I could steal his visor to wear the rest of the week. The boys had a blast every day at the pool and ocean. Most days, they didn't even want to come in to eat. But once they did come inside, they were asking to take a nap which never happens at home!
The "big" kids were doing belly flops one day and of course, Braden thought he could do it too. As you can tell below, he did pretty good for his first belly flop. I don't know why I think taking the picture from behind for little girls is so cute but I love it! Charley swimming on her own with her puddle jumper. It was amazing how different she was by the end of the week from the beginning in the pool. Reed really got the hang of the water wings by the end of the week. These allow them to get around easier than the puddle jumpers do.
Someone asked me at the pool who was the more mischievous one and Braden is usually who comes to mind. But, Reed has us fooled. He is the sneaky mischievous one. In this picture he came up behind Braden and pushed him in. Well, this caught on and Braden then returned the favor. You can tell that Reed didn't have quite the expression on his face that Braden did:-) Kylie is also Papa's little girl too. She definitely chooses him over Nana most of the time too.
Our three little kiddos are getting so big. I really cannot believe how quickly time flies by. We do truly try to cherish each day with Braden, Reed and Kylie. I do not take one day for granted with each of them because we know first hand how someone can be taken at any moment from you. We love them so much! Kylie and Charley watching the birds. We brought bread down to feed the birds and for a few minutes I felt like we were being attacked by 30 birds, no lie. If you ever try to feed the birds don't waste your time with fruit loops because they don't like them!
Thanks to Nana and Papa for taking us to Florida again. We had a blast and cannot wait for next year. I definitely got spoiled by not having to change as many diapers, cook meals, put the kids down for naps, and the list goes on and on. I told my mom she was going to have to come home with us because she spoiled the boys at night. She would read them a million stories and lay down with them until they fell asleep at night. I guess that's what grandparents are for! Reed Hutchison WhiteKylie Reese WhiteBraden Paul White If you have followed my blog for a while, you know that we always go to the consignment store to buy the kids toys for the week then end up bringing them back home. Dad is the master packer and duck-taper. We brought home a 2 piece riding train, lady bug riding toy, a big horse barn, 2 boats, 3 bulldozers, and a big wheel. We got all of that along with some other toys for just $40 so we could'nt bare to leave them behind. My brother, Craig, flew back from Florida Friday night instead of Saturday morning with the rest of us. Ryan said this was so he wouldn't have to help us get on the plane and entertain the kids on the flight back:-) Well, he did have to come pick us up from the airport, but he must have missed the part that he had to pick ALL of us up.
You can see what he came to pick up 5 adults, 4 babies, 7 suitcases, 4 carseats, 3 garbage bags full of riding toys plus him in this truck. We seem to always have some funny story when it comes to getting us to/from airport with all our stuff. This one about tops them all!My mom and dad loading up the kids in their carseats.Tina, me, Nanny and Craig all rode in the camper part of the truck in 100 degree weather. When we first got in the back with all the pieces of luggage, we couldn't get the windows open. Tina and I were both feeling a little claustrophobic so I resorted to taking pictures to relieve our fears:-) Whose 87 year old grandmom can climb in the back of a truck with all this luggage and no air and laugh about it...Mine! Great Beach Vacation of 2011~

Too Many Choices

2011-07-14T13:36:00.001-07:00

The boys' had their two and a half year old pictures made this week at Tucker Photography. I am so excited about how many good ones that Jason was able to get of them. This was the age I wanted to do for their big photos in our house...you know the ones that your parents probably still have hanging in their house of you when you were little. It was such an easy shoot for me because I just stayed in the house while Jason and his assistant took one kid and got their pictures. I couldn't believe how many smiles they got out of the boys. I wasn't really wanting to get them together but Jason took a few of those too.
These are just 2 of the good ones.... I would LOVE your input on some of your favorites if you have time to look through them:-)
Go to www.tuckerphotography.com/index2.php#/proofing/ and use
the password "white twins". If you see a favorite then just leave me a message with the photo number. It might make our decisions a little easier:-)
THANKS!!!

Tons of Fun and Memories

2011-07-08T08:41:00.000-07:00

I know that I am way behind on an update so here is what all we have been up to this past month! Our Sunday school class had church in the park one Sunday afternoon. Sweet Camille (or Mille-Mille as my kids call her) and Kylie are big buddies. I cannot wait to watch these girls grow up together. There is about 16 months between Camille and Kylie and there is about 14 months between Kylie and Camille's new baby sister, Cecelia.

Haley, Preston and Reed enjoying jumping on the bridge. Then Braden and Camille joined in on the fun!

Can you tell that Kylie can sleep about anywhere:-)
I sure would like to know what goes through these boys' heads sometimes!

I debated on whether or not to put this picture on here, but this is what I use to keep track of all the "wonderful" memories! I am not for sure if you can tell what is going on in the picture below but this is the boys' door to their room which has a ribbon tied on their handle attached to the bookcase along with a baby gate at the door. So here is the story....
I thought it would be a good idea to potty train and move the boys to their big boy beds all in the same weekend. Yes, I know that was pretty stupid. The potty training story is for another day (they aren't trained yet:-)

Those of you who only had to move one child to a big bed won't fully understand but the boys thought this was so much fun to play in their room, yell, turn the lights on and off, jump from one bed to another, and run in and out of their room down the hallway. I tried every parenting tatic there is to no avail so I just gave up and tied their door shut!!!! I know, not the best idea but we got to eat in peace!
Well, after several minutes of quiet, I decided that I should check on them. They had climbed up and gotten a brand new bottle of lotion off their shelf and poured it all on the hardwood floor. If that wasn't bad enough, they were skating though the lotion covered from waste down!!! All I could do at this point was laugh!!!
Father's Day ... Ryan is such a great dad to Braden, Reed and Kylie! I don't think a lot of people understand how much work goes into three little ones that are all under three years old ( I don't mean for that to sound like a pity party because we wouldn't have it any other way). Ryan works so hard at his job then comes home and plays with the kids, helps get them ready for bed then reads the boys their bedtime stories. He is a wonderful, father, husband and friend!

Family Picture. Take 1, Take 2, Take 3 and Take 4 and still not a good family photo.
We went over to my parents for lunch that Sunday. I have to also give a shout out to my dad for being an awesome dad and granddad. He is about the only granddad I know anywhere that can manage to keep three "babies"by himself all day. I don't know what my dad has done to Kylie but she absolutley loves him. She even cries sometimes when nana tries to take her from him. I think she knows already that she can get whatever she wants from him!

Braden loves to wrestle with his daddy.

Reed, Kylie and Braden hanging on the steps before we went to Monkey Joe's with our Sunday school class.

I think that Braden might be our little athlete and Reed might be our little nerd:-) I say that because Braden loves to throw any ball and Reed loves his letters. There was a day and time when I used to worry about Reed having brain damage when he had that bleeding on his brain two years ago after his transplant, but I just laugh at those days now and thank God for answered prayers! Reed knows all of his letters but not only that, he knows all the phonics of each letter and can tell you a word that relates to any letter. Amazing I think, but I know I am a proud parent of both of my boys. (I have to insert that I didn't even know all the phonics, and I sure didn't teach them to the boys. I would highly recommend Leap Frog Letter Factory DVD because that is how they learned them)
I just love the expression on Kylie's face after she drank some of nana's lemon slush!
These past few weeks have been pretty hot so we have spent a lot of time playing in the sprinkler and at the pool!

I just love little Miss Priss in her tutu bathing suit!Fourth of July weekend, Sean (Ryan's brother), Sheena, Shawna (Sheena's sister) and Colin came to stay with us for a few days. Sean and Sheena came in town for the U2 concert. It was a weekend full of activities and a very busy house:-) We went to BounceU on Saturday morning and the kids, big and small, had a great time.
Our kids are all in red and Colin is in orange.

Can you tell that there is less of my husband to love now??? He will kill me for writing this but I am so proud of him being dedicated to eating right and exercising. He gets up, most mornings, at 5 am to work out at the gym with JT and Zach and has really been watching what he eats for almost a year now. Now, I just need to get myself to start exercising so we can teach our kids how important it is to be healthy!

I love this picture that Sheena took of our family in action!
Reed, Sean and Colin in the kiddie pool at the STory's neighborhood pool.

I just love whoever invented these puddle jumpers. Kylie can get in and out of the big pool without us really having to worry about her. She can float around all by herself and can even flip herself over is she turns on her back.

I took a few pictures of Kylie on the actual 4th at my parent's house. I would have taken some of Reed and Braden but they wouldn't stay still long enough:-)

Braden absolutely loves to find the red tomatoes in my parent's garden and eat them whole. My parents have even started to "hide" cherry tomatoes in their vines for Reed and Braden to find and eat since a lot of their tomoatoes aren't ripe yet.

Charley and Kylie talking to each other. Craig, Tina and Charley came over for the 4th to eat dinner. Isn't Charley just the prettiest and tallest little 15 month old?! She looks like she is almost 2 years old because she is so tall.
I hope you all had a great holiday weekend and I promise I won't take so long next time to update. Life is just a little busy these days but oh so much fun!

Summer Fun has Begun

2011-06-03T08:16:00.000-07:00

Oh how my daughter loves cicadas! All three kids enjoy playing with them but she even likes to put them in her mouth. I haven't found much that the girl doesn't like to eat:-)
She is a little ball of energy and is still so good. However, she has started this new squeeling phase that drives us crazy! She mainly does it when she doesn't get her way or you aren't paying her any attention. She has to do something to compete with her brothers.
Braden absolutley loves anything that can be started and used like a backpack blower, lawnmower, tractor, tiller, weedeater, etc. I'm afraid it won't be long until he can actually start these things.

Kylie Reese at 13 months old

Papa built the grandkids a new playset and the boys love to swing. They haven't quite figured out how to make this swing go so you just have to push them 'really high'.

Nanny came in town this past week so we spent a lot of our afternoons at nana and papa's house playing outside for hours despite the 90 degree temperatures.As most of you know, I love crushed ice and my kids have taken to this love too. Thank goodness my parents have a crushed ice maker in the barn. Here are the kids riding the golf cart on the way to get buckets full of ice.

Reed sporting papa's sunglasses

Kylie's expression in this picture is hilarious.The sprinkler and swimming pool provided hours of entertainment while me and nanny sat and watched them. (Nana and Papa were tryng to her some yard and gardening work done)

Braden is the little mischevious one but I do have to take part blame in that because I do the same thing to the kids! He loves to fill his cup up with water and chase someone and throw it on them or sometimes sneak up on them. He got papa really good when he had no idea that Braden was planning a sneak attack!

Reed likes to watch what Braden does and follows his lead a lot. However, Reed would run up to someone with a cup full of water and throw it about 5 feet before he reached his target:-)

Can you say nap time?!!

My little babies are turning into little boys~

ER and Outside

2011-05-13T12:20:00.000-07:00

Well, we had made it about 2 years without Reed having to go to the ER which is a huge praise! A coupld of weeks ago, Reed was coughing a lot during the night then the next day when he woke up from his nap, he was having a hard time breathing. I am not one to rush to the pediatrican but this day I did. Ryan met me there since I had all three kids with me and he took Reed to see the doctor. She decided that he was having stridering croupe and needed a powerful breathing treatment from Vanderbilt. So off we went!
When we got there, several doctors checked him out and some thought croupe but some thought pneumonia. Long story short, they gave him a steriod shot, IV antibiotics, did a chest x-ray, tested his blood and kept us over night to monitor him, . Everything came back normal but his chest x-ray showed some dark spots but didn't think it was pneumonia.
I will tell you that I do not miss being in a hospital at all! We are so thankful for the "easy" road that Reed has had so far and we pray that all of our kids stay healthy!
Now onto more fun and lighter stuff! Kylie is a little mess these days but so much fun. She is pretty tough for a 13 month old and can pretty much hold her own against Braden and Reed. The following pictures need a little bit of explanation. The kids love to go out on the deck and watch Ryan throw this huge ball on the roof and wait for it to come back down. These expressions are Reed and Kylie waiting for the ball to drop. . One of the many reasons the boys love Papa! (Note to self: make sure that the sun is not behind the subject you are taking a picture of:-)

The boys practicing driving the tractor so we can put them to work when they get older!

Thanks to Nanny for coming to help with the kids while I finished up giving final exams. I don't know what we would have done without her.

Braden was very interested in the cicadas when they first came out. That was until he thought one of them bit him! These lovely bugs are everywhere at our house and my parents house. Those of you who don't get to experience cicadas, you are missing a whole lot of noise!

The boys love trying to ride their tricycles. Braden did learn how to actually make his go by pedalling it this week but Reed's legs are still just a little too short for it. Reed does find other ways to make it go though! Reed White at two and half years old!

Braden White at two and half years old!

Kylie White at 13 months old!
The kiddos watching daddy mow the yard.

Random pictures of the boys before bed. They also love to build a fort. This entertained all three of them for a while.

Can you tell that Kylie Reese if full of herself??!!!! Love that little girl!

Easter Time

2011-04-27T08:52:00.001-07:00

Where is the time going? I don't know about you all, but I sure feel like time is flying by these days. Sometimes that is a good thing but it does make me a little sad. Kylie Reese is trying her best to keep up with her brothers and she is not too far behind:-)She went for her one year doctor visit and she weighs 21lbs, 12 oz.and is 29.75 inches long. She has moved down to 65th percentile for both! Some of you may remember this picture from an old post. This is when the boys decided it would be fun to get the oats and spread them out all over the kitchen floor.
Well, there must be something about oats that scream "open me and pour me all over the floor for your mom to clean up" to kids! I was back in the boys room playing with them and come into the kitchen to find Kylie happily playing in the kitchen floor with oats everywhere. I couldn't help but laugh. The oats have now found a new home in a higher cabinet!

Oh, how I hate lizzards but thank goodness for papa who will catch them and show them to the boys. Right when my dad picked up the lizzard he bit him..the lizzard did:-)

I sure hope those Flav-R-Ice pops do not have too much in them that is bad for kids because my kiddos probably eat too many of them each week. 25 calories for a snack isn't bad is it even though there is some sugar in them?!!
The sad part is that Kylie can just about eat her popsicle as well as the boys can. When it is a normal opsicle, she can eat that thing with no problem. Braden definitely loves to play ball. He has a pretty good arm on him for a 2 year old. Random picture for this post but this is what bathtime looks like at our house. The kids love to take a bath(most days they will take 2), and Kylie will even throw a little fit when me or Ryan take a shower and she cannot get in.

Harris' Easter Egg Hunt - we had a great day on Friday at Harris' house. The weather was beautiful and the kids had a blast. The kids played outside for a long time then we had lunch then the kids hunted easter eggs.
Pictured below is Macey, Madison, Harris, Cameron, Camille, Colton, Reed and Braden. "Macey, smile for Keeley" ...priceless then sweet Madison hanging out on the steps!

I wish that I had the following even on video because it was so funny. This was a conversation where Reed was telling Camille to go ride a cars with him and she did not want to go. Needless to say, Camille ended up grabbing Reed and trying her best to get him to go back to the swingset. Too cute! Camille still adores Kylie and cares way more about her than Braden and Reed. Kylie gets so excited when she sees Camille. Carolina and Harris riding the motorcycle together. Don't they look like a cute couple?!

The night before Easter, Ryan and I went out to dinner with people from my work for a wedding dinner shower. We ended up spending the night with my parents so we wouldn't have to wake the kids up that night.

Easter morning was very busy because we not only had to do the kids Easter baskets, but Ryan and I had to be at church at 7:30am since we were part of the church service. A family tradition of Ryan's growing up was that the Easter bunny leaves a trail of candy leading to the Easter baskets. The boys were way more excited about the candy than the actual baskets!

Now onto why we were part of the church service. I don't know if you have seen a "cardboard testimony" service but it was wonderful! I will hopefully have the video to post soon so you can see exactly what it was because it was very powerful. The front of the cardboard has your need and the flip side shows how God answered your need.
There were a lot of people that participated and we thankfully did not have to talk at all. We just walked on stage with Reed and showed the front side then flipped over the sign. Too hard to explain the whole thing so hopefully I will uploadthe video soon!

We had to participate in both services so we let the kids run off some energy after class before the second service. Braden payed back Camille for messing with his brother at the Easter egg hunt!! I love you Camille! I can see these being used in their Senior slideshow:-) After church, we went to my parents for lunch. Isn't Charley's outfit too cute?!! By the wa, she is walking now too. She knew she needed to keep up with Kylie.

Daddy tickling Kylie!

I hope you all had a great Easter too. Now onto summer fun!

Happy First Birthday Kylie Reese!

2011-04-20T09:38:00.001-07:00

This past weekend was full of fun things. Ryan's parents came in town for the weekend to celebrate Kylie's birthday. They brought the cutest Easter buckets for the kids and they loved them! Braden was busy checking out what all was in his.

I would have never thought that a 2 year would like harmonicas but both of them really enjoyed trying to get noise to come out of them. Thanks Granny Carol for such a great idea and bucket full of fun stuff.
Kylie even got a bucket full of candy, chocolate bunnies, pinwheel, hair bows, etc.

Are these not the cutest pajamas?! These were also part of her bucket along with some headbands. Granny Carol doesn't have much experience with little girls and their bows:-) After the kids opened their buckets, Granny Carol and Grandpa hid eggs downstairs for the kids to have a little egg hunt. The weather was not cooperating for an outside one! I didn't know if Reed and Braden would "get it" this year but they really enjoyed filling their buckets full of eggs. I wish that I had Kylie on video because that girl was trying to run to the candy on the floor and stuff as much in her mouth as she possibly could. The pink eggs had cheerios in them but she could have cared less about those when she learned the others had chocolate in them. That's my girl!! Now, onto the party planning! Have any of you tried to make these infamous cake pops by Bakerella??!! They are such cute ideas so I thought I would try to make the cake pops into little chickens for Kylie's party. Well, let's just say the picture below is as far as I got with them. They were a disaster!!!
This was the cake pops before I attempted to dip them in yellow almond bark. All the pictures that I had seen of these had such a smooth candy coating and looked so pretty. Let's just say that mine looked like the boys had rolled them around in the coating and then played with them.

So onto plan B which was to just buy a cake at Publix...I should have just listened to Ryan in the first place:-) I would like to think that we taught Kylie how to show '1' with her fingers but we haven't even tried that. Wow, how things change with your 3rd child. Sorry Kylie, I do know the "pain" of being the last child!!!
I am trying to keep up with taking pictures of her though so that her baby book isn't as small as mine was compared to my brothers, Kyle and Craig. I love you mom, but you have to admit theirs were significantly fuller than mine. Oh well! Those of you who were the third child understand:-)
We had a great turn out for her party even though the weather was not the best. Of course, it had been beautiful the whole week leading up the her party then it stormed the day before and made Saturday pretty cold. So much for an outside party which was the original plan. I have learned that I have had to let my type A personality go with three kids 29 months and younger. I am sure that will be the case no matter what their age is! Sweet little Charley with Tina. She is officially 10 days older than Kylie.

Ryan's dad brought up some crawfish to boil for the party. I was not a big fan of this idea since crawfish does not smell the best. But, I did compromise and let Ryan have it as long as they boiled them outside:-) The kids did enjoy playing outside some but for the most part, most of them stayed inside. We had planned the party for my parent's house since they have a great yard but thank goodness we did because I do not know where all the people would have fit in our house. I hope that Tori, Brady, Colton, Callie, Taylor, Weston, Charley, Reese, Rylie, Maddi, Preston, and Camille all had a good time despite the cold weather.

Kylie waiting for her chocolate cupcake. I had bought her a white cake with white icing for her "smash cake" but Ryan thought that chocolate was better so that it would show up in pictures. Next year, I am going to let him plan the party....just kidding. I love you Ryan!

When does taking a family picture get easier? We are going to get a professional picture done this summer of our family but I sure hope Tucker has much better luck than this!!!

Family Picture Take 1

Family Picture Take 2

Family Picture Take 3

Family Picture Take 4

Family Picture Take 5....Oh well, maybe next year!

This was when we were singing Happy Birthday to Kylie but I think that Reed and Maddi thought we were singing to them! Kylie didn't dig in quite like I thought she would. She ate some of it but then didn't really like the cupcake being all over her hands. Maybe she is going to be a little like her mommy.

Aunt Tina got Kylie the softest and cutest little rabbit. I hope that she falls in love with this just like Braden did with the rabbit Aunt Tina bought him 2 years ago! I don't know what it is about my dad but kids love him. Reese and Rylee sat forever and let him read to them. It was the cutest thing. Reese and Rylee are twins and they have a little brother about 17 months younger than them. I tell Lia that is is very doable but you just have to let some things go. I keep reminding myself of that weekly:-)
Charley was enjoying her some ice out of the cooler.

These were what I had planned for the activity since we were going to be inside. I saw something similar to this online but they only used one finger for the ears. Didn't these turn out so cute?!!
All you do is paint your child's palm and fingers (not the thumb) white then pair up the fingers to make the ears and push the child's hand down to make the print. Then clean off their and and paint the tip of one finger pink to make the nose then paint that same finger pink to press for the pinks of the ears!!! I put the eyes on there with glue and just drew the mouth with a Sharpie. Fun and simple!

We have had a great first year with Kylie and we pray that this next year brings as much happiness as this past year did.

Sick Days and Charley Turns One!

2011-04-11T14:56:00.001-07:00

Before we get into the fun stuff. I have to write (for their "baby book") about these last couple of weeks of sickness with ALL 3 kids! It all started with Reed getting sick at Mother's Day Out on a Monday with the stomach bug then he took a turn for the worse. He was as sick as I have seen him since he has been home from the hospital 2 years ago. He would not eat, play, walk, turn his head to look at you,etc.. So my mom calls me at school on Thursday and says "we are concerned that he might have meningitis because he does not want to move his neck." Not the best thing for her to call and tell me 10 minutes before I am going to teach Calculus class:-) I, of course, am a basket case and think that Reed is going to have to go to the hospital for an aweful illness. Long story short, they did a quick strep test which came back negative and the doctor just said she thought he had a bad virus with a really sore throat because his lymph nodes were really swollen. Well, we had a follow up visit the next morning and his congestion had gotten much worse so she sent us for a chest x-ray which came back as viral pneumonia. Then later that day, the nurse called and said the culture came back positive for strep. I was so excited to know a reason for all of this! The antibiotic didn't help that they put him on over the weekend and he ended up getting an ear infection too. He was still not really eating at this point and hardly drinking his milk. I called the doctor and she put him on a new antibiotic which worked!!! I had called cardiology several times during all of this just to make sure that he didn't need to come in. It actaully made the doctors feel better since the others were sick too. Braden also had strep and Kylie had a double ear infection with thrush. It was probably my hardest week as a mom minus the hospital days! Praise God they are much better now!!! Now onto the fun stuff. Kylie Reese is getting around everywhere and mostly by walking. She is going to be celebrating her first birthday this upcoming Friday! Where has the time gone?!!

The great grannies came for the weekend to celebrate Charley's birthday. The boys were enjoying the warm weather especially since they could eat Popsicles outside. Kylie walking with her papa. She is going to have some tough feet...who needs shoes?!

My little girl is growing up but she is so much fun. She is so well natured and pretty laid back. Don't get me wrong though, she lets her brothers know if she doesn't like when they mess with her! Braden is still ALL boy. He loves to do anything outside and is really into throwing balls and playing in the dirt. The boys were running to get out of the driveway from the big trucks at my parent's house and they both wanted to be picked up by nana! Braden is terrified of the trucks. He will not even get close to the driveway if he hears or thinks a big truck is coming down the driveway. I guess this is a good thing though!

Oreo's anyone??? It is such a relief to see Reed feeling much better. He has lost weight since being sick so we pretty much let him eat whenever and whatever he wants! Charley's First Birthday Party!! Isn't she just the cutest thing? She is a little mixture of Craig and Tina. Tina had everything decorated so cute and the "berry" theme was carried out throughout everything. She had cute little cupcakes, sugar cookies for party favors along with bubbles for the kids, a strawberry pinata, and pink and green candies.

My dad and I were both taking pictures of them so I didn't get all of them looking at the camera at the same time. Charley didn't care a lot about her cake because Craig gave her one of these rock candy suckers that she did not want to let go of. She ended up sticking the sucker in the cake to eat the cake!

All of the "big kids" had already left when we did the pinata so my boys were the biggest kids left to try and bust it open. Needless to say, Ryan had to help with that! Nana having a little talk with Kylie. These two are going to have some good times growing up together.

Tina, with her brother Jason, entertained the boys for a while with the sand and water table. This is one of those fun toys that I refuse to buy because I don't want to clean up the mess:-)

The boys went down to the pond to do some fishing. Can you tell that Braden and Reed were about past going?? Ryan showing the boys his 'big' catch!!

Oh, little Miss Charley can have a little fit when she wants to. Nana was giving her water out of the water bottle and this is what happened when Nana took the bottle from her. Guess who won this battle? Papa, Tina, Charley, Kylie and Nana

These next two pictures summarize who's each of their favorites. Well, not really but most of the time when you ask Braden "Whose boy are you?" he will reply "Papa's!" and when you ask Reed "Whose boy are you?" he will reply "Nana's". I know it's not Easter yet but we have to get at least two wears out of these outfits:-) Don't they look too cute?? I know some of you think that dressing the boys in knee socks at age two is pushing it, but I love it!!!

Horsin' Around

2011-03-25T09:35:00.001-07:00

Can you tell that the boys have not forgotten their love for poscicles?! Not a week goes by that one of them, especially Reed, does not ask for a pop-sick! We took the kids to Craig and Tina's one afternoon to play. We had to take full advantage of the warm weather we had last week.

My mom keeping the kids entertained. They all love her so much but it might have a little to do with the fact that she would or does give them just about anything they ask for. Wow, how quickly you throw away a lot of those parenting "skills" and trade them for the grandparent ways:-) I wouldn't have it any other way though!

Braden watching what's coming up the hill...

The boys were awestruck watching the horse come up the hill!

Braden is up first on Red. He was not scared at all to get on the horse which I was a little surprised about. I was so proud of him!

I knew Reed wouldn't hesitate. It's funny because Braden is the energy ball but he is sometimes more hesitant than Reed in some situations. Before he even rode. Reed was bouncing up and down ready for the horse to go!

Craig then rode all three kids around. The boys LOVED it especially the running part!

Pure joy!!!

Can you tell that they liked to ride?!

Miss Kylie was not too sure about Uncle Craig. It could have something to do with the crazy faces he makes at her. Kylie likes being on the horse but she did not like running!

Kylie and Charlie are going to have so much fun growing up together but I secretly hope they don't enjoy riding horses. I used to love to ride until I got majorly bucked off and got a huge black eye. Craig did make me ride Red but I am much more cautious than I used to be. IT could be the fact that 3 kiddos plus Ryan need me...haha!!!

Disney's Fort Wilderness Trip

2011-03-18T08:11:00.000-07:00

Well, we survived our first family of 5 vacation, and we had a great time! This trip definitely required a LOT of packing since we were going to be camping at Disney but it was well worth all of the work. Yes, we even took a Uhaul to get all of our stuff down there. It sure did make Ryan's job much easier than trying to pack the van but our stuff would have never fit!

We left Thursday, March 10th late afternoon heading for Valdosta, Georgia to spend the night. Here was our thinking: we will leave around 3:30, the kids will watch Sesame Street, eat snacks , read books and then we will stop to eat around 6:30 then the kids will sleep the rest of the drive to Valdosta (total of a 7 hour drive) and mom will be able to relax and grade some test papers for school.

Here was what really happened: we left at 4 (not bad), the kids didn't really want to watch anything, they said "momma, momma, MOMMY" probably a thousand times at least, the boys fought over who got the Elmo book, they ate a ton of snacks, and we did stop around 6:30 to eat. Boy were we so glad to get out of the car and hear something besides "mommy, daddy, mommy, daddy...". After we ate, we got in the car and Braden, Reed and Kylie fell asleep. Thank goodness:-) Well, wishful thinking that they would sleep till we got to the hotel. Reed woke up after an hour and cried/whined the rest of the way wanting to get out of his car seat and go "night, night". Mom got 0 test papers graded and relaxed none. Oh well, memories!!!

The kids were so glad to be out of the car and in the hotel at 1 am. You would have thought it was 8am by the way they were acting. They were really excited to be in the hotel jumping on the beds:-)

The next morning went much better on the way to Disney. The kids stayed awake for a little bit then slept about 1.5 hours before we got there.

We made it!!! Ryan and I were much happier than the kids were to see this sign.

Let the fun begin of camping at Fort Wilderness for almost a week.

When we got there the Story's were already there unloading stuff. Most of what you see in the picture below is our stuff. Each person had their own bin packed full of their clothes. We also had packed a tent, 2 bikes, bike trailer, bike seat for Kylie, diapers, heater, bedding, pack-n-play, cooler, double stroller, single stroller and 3 riding toys....I'm sure I left some stuff out of that list.

Kylie and Avery (who turned one on the trip) sat in the stroller and just watched us set up. Thank goodness they are really good "babies"!

Who knows how to hook up the RV pipes?? Not our group. Me, Lindsay, Kylie, Avery and Haley all stayed in the RV and Josh and Ryan stayed in the tent with the boys.

Those of you who know Josh T., you need to ask him about his experience hooking up their pipes from their RV?!?

The first night, we were all pretty tired from setting up so we went and ate dinner at Downtown Disney at Earl's. They have the best bread! The Terry's camped too along with Josh's parents and Mandi's dad and nephews.

There were about 45 people on this trip with us, including 12+ kids. It was pretty cold the first day but then we had great weather the rest of the trip.

Thanks to Missy who let us borrow this bike trailer because we used it all the time. The kids loved riding around in it. That's one thing about this trip that was so great because you could bike just about anywhere you wanted to go.

Martha Lynn, who is expecting another little girl in June, was doing a little hair cutting on her husband Zach the first day!

Big Brent can sleep about anywhere and anytime:-) He was out "monitor babysitter" sometimes so that we could ride around while Kylie took a nap.

We didn't really know Mr. Brownlee before this trip but he is such a nice man. His wife didn't make the trip this year but I am not for sure if he even noticed:-) He fished a lot of the time we were there and was always a good extra hand that we needed with the 3 kids!

Ryan hanging with the boys before bed time. They were way off their routine of going to bed before 7 and most nights were in bed between 8-9! I think that's why they did so well sleeping in the ten because they were so tired by the end of the day.

Isn't Catherine's shirt too cute? She and Adam are expecting their first child in June. I think this is like her 20+ year for doing this Disney trip!

ML sporting her sassy pose...you wonder where Camille gets her prissiness from?!!!

Great first family vacation and we already reserved our spot for next year!

Every day, we would wake up and eat breakfast with everyone, let the kids play then get ready for the pool. The kids loved the new kiddy area, especially Braden. Braden would watch the older kids then try whatever they were doing like sliding down backwards sitting up.

Reed was more of a spectator. He needs some more meat on his bones so that he doesn't get cold so easily! He enjoyed it but not as much as Braden.

Camille then Preston sliding down.

Kylie LOVED the water. When she got tired, she would just sleep in her stroller.

The water was a little cool for me but the 80 degree weather made it much better!

Brooks and Heather The guys had to take a break and watch some of the NCAA tournament. I don't this really qualifies as camping with a flat screen TV there:-)

On Monday morning, we got up early to go to MAgic Kingdom when it opened. This was my least favorite part of our trip. Mainly because the kids are still too little to fully enjoy it and there were 64,000 people there too!

Avery and Hailey waiting for the bus to pick us up to take us to the boat.

This was most of the group that went at 7:15 that morning. The things we do for our kids!

We rode the Dumbo ride first and the boys wanted to "ride again" when it stopped.

This is about all that Kylie got to enjoy on the park day but she was great. She did enjoy the parades though.

If I had to do over, I would have just done one of the character breakfasts because they really liked seeing all of them in the park.

This was Braden while he was going through "It's a Small World" ride. Priceless!

Reed was the only one to meet Mickey and Minnie because BW and KW were asleep. After this, we started to head back to the campgrounds for naps. Reed started to not feel well before his nap so I took him to Walgreens to get some Tylenol. Well, while we were in there, he decided that he would throw up all over me in the middle of the store....making Monday for sure my least favorite day of the tip. I think there was a bug going through camp because several people got sick.

The 3 kids enjoying their riding toys.

Ryan searching for his wedding ring that he lost while playing teatherball. The Disney staff looked for it with a metal detector to no avail but some girls camping found it 2 days later. Yea!!!

The Three Amigos: Camille, Reed and Braden

This what most mornings looked like. The adults lounging while the kids played hard. Maddie girl looking too cute with her castle shirt on.

Oh Kylie, how you love food like your mommy! By the end of the week, she was known as the vulture of human garbage disposal!

Camille had just finished eating a Lik-A-Made that her Mimi had given her....pure sugar!

Remind me next time that it is not the best idea to put all 3 kids in the bike trailer to go watch their daddy play tennis. 20 plus pounds makes a difference when I am biking them. I guess my legs need it though.

Johnny with his granddaughter Maddie.

Braden really liked riding on the tricycle even though he couldn't peddle it yet.

Loving camping and staying outside 24/7.

Mandi riding bikes with Preston. He just got his bike at Christmas and did such a good job riding it around everywhere.

Lindsay getting the kids out of the road. The nice thing about the campgrounds were that the kids could ride all around the loop and not have to worry too much about cars. The cars that did drive on the loop knew to be watching for kids.

Reed was in the process of trying to get Braden off so that he could ride. I guess we need to get their tricycles out now.

The kids felt so important because they had their own little table and chairs to sit at for each meal. Pictured is Haley, Broks, Camille, Preston, Reed then Hunter.

Poor Braden didn't feel well on Tuesday. Right when I knew he was starting to get sick, I gave him medicine and he was good to go in about an hour.

3 of the nights we were camping, we all ate dinner as a group. We all helped with one of the cooking nights and the meals were so good.

Anna Claire knew that Kylie looked like she wanted to some homeade ice cream and unfortunately for her, Kylie just about cleaned her bowl.

The last night we were there, we had a huge kickball game. I am really surprised that no one got hurt because there were a lot of competitive people playing.

Like mother, like daughter. Camille is such a girly girl and I love it! It will be interesting to see what her little sister will be like.

It is impossible to get everyone to look at the camera. Oh well!

Most of the kids that were on the trip. Cash and Brooks were not in the picture because they went to the parks that morning. This was out last morning before we flew back home.
Front Row: Braden, Reed, Kylie, Maddie, Avery, Haley, and Camille
Back Row: Hunter, MAck and Preston

My dad flew to Orlando then flew back with me and the kids. I had to get back to teach and poor Ryan had to drive the 12 hour drive the next day.
Kylie took a bottle during take off then slept up to the landing!

The boys did such a good job on the plane. My mom had packed my dad a bag full of stuff and we didn't even open it during the plane ride. It really helped that they had their own seats (the only benefit of having to pay for them).
Jenny was even on the same flight back with us. Her girls are a week older than the boys and they all did really well. Who would have thought that 4 two year olds would sit and behave the whole flight. Thank you kids!

Reed's little face got burned by the sunscreen we used on it the last day. I had been using the cream kind then forgot it at the pool so I told Ryan to just spray his hands with the aerosal kind and put it on his face. Not a good idea!

Braden entertained himself with his Happy Meal toy for a good part of the ride then he even laid down in my lap too. Not usual for him!

We had a great trip and I cannot wait to go again!

Is Spring Coming?!

2011-02-27T10:53:00.000-08:00

Thank goodness we have finally been able to enjoy the outdoors without snow on the ground. I am so looking forward to those 80+ degree summer days watching the kids play in the sprinkler! My parents were getting some pipes fixed in the back yard so the kids enjoyed sitting in the back of my mom's van watching the backhoe!
I still forget sometimes that these 3 are ours. I know that may sound weird but until you see your family in pictures it doesn't really hit that we have 3 kids....all under 27 months:-) What's even crazier is that I have always said that I would love to have 2 boys then a little girl and God blessed Ryan and me with just that!

Reed loves his Nana. I do have to record that part of this is due to that fact that Nana babies Reed, rocks Reed, gives him his paci when he shouldn't have it, sings him song after song, rocks him to sleep and the list could go on and on. I guess that's what grandparents do though. She would do the same to Braden but he will not sit still long enough for her to rock him or hold him longer than 5 minutes. These tractors look so small compared to how they looked just a little over a year ago at Christmas. The boys decided to get these back out and ride them. They definitely look like little country boys riding their tractors in the Carhart overalls!
Braden loves any book or thing that has to deal with tractors. He is one big ball of energy that goes non-stop all day with a 2 hour nap break and then on he goes until bedtime. He is such a big helper and loves to bring Kylie her bottle, Reed his paci and daddy his phone but this sometimes ends in a game of chase! Braden also loves to test the waters and see what he can get away with. He is so much fun to watch how he enjoys life to its' fullest! I think Braden could just about outrun me if he got a little bit of a head start. He is very independent and likes to "do it self!" His best friends still are his chocolate rabbits that his Aunt Tina gave him last Easter. He now has about 8 of those rabbits that are interchanged so they won't stink. So much of Braden reminds me a lot of how his Uncle Craig is now but he also makes these facial expressions that are just like his daddy:-)
Reed's eye surgery was successful and his eyes do not cross any more. Yea! Reed is just about opposite of Braden. He is much quieter and doesn't test things as much as his big brother. People usually describe Reed as a very sweet kid (dont take it that Braden is not sweet too!) and I think that pretty much summarizes him and his personality. However, he can be a little pistol when he wants to. It is still usually the trend that what Braden does, Reed will usually do a month or 2 later. We are so proud of how far that he has come and he is a smart little guy. The thing that we are working on now is trying to fatten the little guy up. He usually eats really well but when he doesn't feel well, he doesn't eat well. I was always really skinny growing up and I think he might take after his mommy in that aspect. We are now giving him whole milk mixed with 1/2 and 1/2 to drink. Any other ideas???
The thing that some people do not realize is how much lying in a bed affects your muscle tone. Those first 3 months of his life he just laid in a bed without a lot of movement. He is still trying to catch up in that department but he is doing great. We praise God every day for allowing Miracle Reed to be here with us along with Braden and Kylie! "Ky-Ky" Reese is all over the place! She is now 10 months old and such a joyful addition to our family. I will say that she is a determined little thing and very persistant. She might not look like her mommy but she does have a little bit of my feistyness! She babbles a lot and manages to say dadda and nana but no momma. She has some big ol' teeth totalling about 7. I have a feeling that she will be walking soon because she is cruising from furniture to furniture. She also will stand and drink one of the boys' sippy cups without falling. Let the fun begin!!!
This was the picture of Reed today. The poor little guy goes from eye surgery to having a double ear infection and a ton of congestion. The first antibiotic they put him on last week did not work so they put him on another one and it is working better. He is one whinny little kid when he doesn't feel good and just wants to be held. I try to remind myself at times like these that there will be a time that the kids won't want their mommy to hold them! The picture above definitely reminded me of this day about 2 years ago when both boys were not happy campers. Reed still can master the pouty lip and Braden doesn't cry as often but he can have his share of meltdowns usually when he is really tired. This picture seems like yesterday and now we have 2 toddlers that have come oh so far. Thank you God!

Behind Again!

2011-02-16T07:14:00.000-08:00

Wow, where in the world did January go? Since it's been a while, let me go all the way back to mid-January when we celebrated Reed's two year heart birthday on Jan. 19th. What a blessed day! The boys enjoyed some cupcakes but had no idea what for:-) That day always brings back a flood of emotions but mostly joy. We definitely spend part of our day praying for the family who has a totally different flood of emotions for January 19th. I still pray that the donor family will one day choose to meet us but totally understand if they don't!
Braden was all about destroying the cupcake but really had no desire to eat it! January was a good month but the boys are really ready for some warmer weather so they can go outside and play.

The boys are so much fun these days. Their language is really developing and their little "conversations" are so cute with each other! Braden can put sentences together a little bit better than Reed right now but classic Reed style, he will "catch up" usually a month or so later than Braden.
They love to sing songs, especially the ones they have learned in children's worship like "I'm in the Lord's Army." They still love anything that has to do with tractors, amimals, or trucks. I think we might hae some future farmers on our hands:-)
Kylie is now 10 months old and doing great. She is still just the best little thing but definitely has a personality that can be strong at times. She is all over the house crawling 90 to nothing and now will let go and stand on her own without help. Oh how I cannot wait for the walking days to begin. I am not wishing anything away but I do not really like the crawling stage.
She makes some of the funniest expressions and lets you know if she doesn't get her way. She can hang with the boys pretty good and is going to give them a run for their money when she gets bigger.

We celebrated Ryan's 30th birthday January 29th and went on a little weekend trip without the kids. We had a great time! He is a great dad to our kids and they love when they hear the door beep when daddy gets home from work. If Ryan is gone to work, the boys think that he is either working, working out or hunting with Zach:-) I am so thankful for how much Ryan helps with the kids when he gets home and how he can handle all three on his own with no problems...for the most part:-)

This past week, we took the three kiddos to visit Grandpa and Granny Carol in Pensacola, Florida. This was a great time to make the 6.5 hour trip because Reed had scheduled eye surgery the following Wednesday in Mobile, AL which is only 1 hour from Ryan's parents' house.
Reed has strabismus, also known as lazy eye, which was only noticable at times. You could really see his eyes cross when he was tired, sick or looking down. The surgery took about 1.5 hours and it involved going in and cutting and tightening the eye muscles. He did well but was in a bit of pain following the surgery.
I wish that I had some pictures to document our trip home from Mobile, AL. We left there around 11 am and didn't get home until 8:30pm. I will try to make this as short as possible:
Reed rode in the back of the car by himself so Braden wouldn't bother him or his eyes. Poor thing just wanted to be held but I obviously couldn't do that. We stopped for lunch around 1:00 and decided that we would drive as far as we could until we had to stop. Well, not a great decision considering that a snow storm was coming Nashville's direction! We got 40 miniutes from of our house when the snow started falling around 6 pm(we had not stopped since lunch). It took us 2.5 more hours to get home. For about 1.5 hours of that, all 3 kids were crying wanting out, hungry or just wanting to be held. I was doing everything in my power to entertain them but was not very successful. While this is going on, Ryan is dealing with driving on dangerous roads that is stressing me out to the max. BUT, we made it home safely and the kids survived. They were soaked from sitting in their carseats for 7.5 hours without getting out:-( Memories!!!

Kylie loved the spinning top and she really loved Granny Carol's dogs. Ryan says that we won't be getting a dog, but I am making it known that in the future when this little girl comes to her dadyy and says"I want a puppy," he will give in for sure!!!

Braden was feeding the stuffed dog some of the dog food and water! This is typical of the boys in the morning or right before bed. They love to drink their milk together and watch Sesame or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

One good thing about being in Florida was the warmer weather. We enjoyed playing outside with the kids and Cousin Colin!
Reed and Colin playing some football

Kylie just cheering the boys on!

Grandpa playing chase with Braden. What a cute picture!

Do you think that Braden is up for holding his daddy's hand?! She already has him wrapped so tight!!!!

We had a great time but I think if Reed has to do a follow up surgery in the future I will just fly with him by myself!!!

Winter Days

2011-01-19T11:33:00.000-08:00

I am a little behind in posting the winter pictures but here they are. We had a beautiful snow in Nashville last week but it was pretty cold and windy. We only went out one day to play in it because it was too cold for me the rest of the week.
You will see that it is next to impossible to get Reed, Kylie and Braden to look at the camera at the same time. I have given up on that and getting a smile. When do kids learn to look and smile at the camera?!!
Thanks to Aunt Tina for the super cute hats the boys are wearing. She always finds the cutest gifts!

These pictures below were while the boys were waiting for papa to get the bulldozer for them to ride in. Kylie didn't last very long outside because it was time for her nap. My mom and I went sledding with the boys for a little while then they were ready for a nap too!

Is this a twin things?! They were pointing at papa on the bulldozer!

Yes, I get the mean mom award for doing this to Kylie. I took her outside and sat her right in the snow with no shoes on (I hope my mom isn't reading this or Ryan), and I got the response that I deserved!!!

Once she figured out she could eat the snow, she was happy. That's my girl!

Maddi's Birthday Party!
Little Maddi Terry just celebrated her 1 year birthday this week. The kids had a good time at her party and the ice bucket was entertainment for them! They love ice just like their mommy!

It was a cupcake themed party.

Maddi was the first one of the girls born last year then there was Taylor in February, Avery in March and Kylie in April.

Kylie is not a big fan of the headbands but thanks Aunt Sheena. I still try to make her keep them on.

I don't think we have to worry about Kylie not liking her birthday cake when that day gets here. I think she ate more of Maddi's cake than she did!

Mandi and her daughter Maddi!

Random Sunday Pictures

Christmas Catch Up!

2011-01-07T10:01:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T18:51:00.000-08:00

I hope you all are having a wonderful Christmas Eve. We just got home from my parents house for Christmas Eve dinner. I will have more pictures next week with the actual Christmas weekend events! Here are some pictures from the last couple of weeks leading up to Christmas.
December was a very hectic month with finishing up the semester and my dad having sextuple(6 for those of you who don't know anything past quadruple..ha)) bypass heart surgery. My dad is doing well and thank you all for the prayers!
Breakfast with Santa at our church. The kids didn't cry and really did not have much emotion for Mr. and Mrs. Claus. I think they were just in shock!
I took some pictures to use for our Christmas card this year at my brothers' farm. I ended up getting a few that were decent to use. The boys and Kylie really enjoyed the horse and were not scared at all. I think Kylie would have gone on in to 'play' with the horse!

I love this picture of Craig having a little talk with Reed. They love him because he drives them on the big tractor!

Kylie seems to like to crawl under anything she can get under these days. You would think that I would remember what each stage has in store since I just did all of this with the boys, but I cannot seem to recall anything! I guess it is all a blur!

We love hats.....

The kids in their church clothes this past Sunday. They all had a stomach bug this week and Sunday was just the beginning. Right when we got home from church, the kids watched "The Farmer in the Dell" but it quickly turned into a wrestling match then the crying game:-)

I took the kids one day this past week to Bass Pro...this is what my buggy looks like when I am by myself. They did great and loved the fish tank, choo choo train, the big bear, and santa!

Stay tuned for the real Christmas pictures...Have a Very Merry Christmas tomorrow!!!!

Prayer Request

2010-12-07T17:11:00.000-08:00

Please keep my dad in your prayers tomorrow. He went in last week for his heart checkup that he does every 3 years. They knew that there was a blockage then so they had him go in for an arteriogram yesterday. We were hoping that a stint would fix the problem but come to find out he needed quadruple heart bypass surgery. He is scheduled for surgery first thing tomorrow morning. We are so thankful that the doctors caught this before he had a stroke or heart attack and see this as a huge blessing. However, surgery is always a little frightening but we know that the "Big Man" upstairs has great plans! Thanks for the prayers!

Birthdays and Thanksgiving

2010-12-01T06:58:00.000-08:00

Ryan's friends from college came to visit a couple of weeks ago and brought the kiddos presents. Braden, Reed and Kylie are going to love Christmas this year or at least more than last year! Below is Reed, Kylie, Emil and Braden...way too hard to get 4 kids to look at the camera

One Saturday morning, we were watching the Food Network and they were doing a behind the scenes on donuts so we decided that Krispy Kreme was calling our names! The boys enjoyed watching the donuts being made but didn't really like eating them! I am sure if Kylie could she would have eaten one:-) No, that was not a fat joke!!!

The Birthday Boys and Girl!!! We did a joint birthday party at Pump It up for our boys' birthday and Camille's. Sweet little Camille had a double ear infection this day so she was not really loving all of the activities. I felt so bad for her but at least everyone else had a good time:-)

My full of energy little Braden is now 2! I cannot believe that they have been here for 2 years already. It seems like yesterday but also like forever ago when they were born. Here are a few things about Braden that I need to remember for his baby/blog book:

Braden loves tractors, lining up his cars and trucks
Repeats everything and is really trying to make sentences now but definitily puts 3+ words together all the time
Shooting ball with daddy
Running from the time he wakes up until he goes to bed
Knows his whole name plus his brother and sister
Adores his papa
Has to have his chocolate rabbits to go to bed
Loves to love on Kylie and make her laugh
Can jump higher and run faster than most 2 yr. olds I know
Little harder to discipline because he thinks standing in the corner is funny and if you spank him, he will laugh or act like it doesn't bother him:-)
Joy to be around and has a smile that lights up a room

Our little miracle heart transplant baby, Reed, is now 2 years old! Wow, he has come so incredibly far these past couple of years. We are so thankful for the health that he has been blessed with and we pray that he continues to do well and have no complications! Here is a little about Reed and things that he cand do and loves:

Knows his whole name even though Hutchison is a little hard to say plus Braden Pauland Kylie Reese
Loves to read his Elmo book and books about shapes
Knows the difference in a circle, oval, triangle, rectangle, square, heart and star
Knows a lot of his colors
Enjoys playing with trucks and tractors
Likes to wrestle with daddy and Braden...as long as no one is smushing him!
He is tender hearted and it hurts his feelings when he gets in trouble
Adores his nana but loves for papa to take him on the tractor, lawnmower and bulldozer
Has to have his paci but he has bitten the tip off of all of them and still wants them
Not quite as energetic as Braden but plays until he is ready to crash
He can also say about anything you ask him to and puts three words together

Charley is crawling now and Kylie is trying to follow her but cannot quite get there yet. It won't be long though!

Mom and dad entertaining the girls. I don't think Kylie slept much this whole day...she was afraid that she might miss something.

All the kids that were able to come to the party. I think they all had a great time and I think a lot of the dads had more fun than the kids! It was definitely nice not having to clean my house, cook a lot of food, and clean up after the party:-)

My granny gave the boys their first red tricycles! Reed was past going and pretty much asleep in the car already but Braden was still going full steam. Uncle Craig was showing him how to ride it in the parking lot! The next day after their party, they tested their tricycles out some more. I think they are going to really love these next summer!

Is anyone expecting a package??!!!

Where do I begin with sweet KylieReese:

She is now 7 months old
Still a really good baby
Sleeps through the night
Loves her some baby food!
Watches everything her brothers do
Trying to crawl but somehow manages to get from one point to another
Has to sit with no baby beside he in the bucket seats at church because she pulls the other kids clothes and takes their toys...you can tell she has 2 "older" brothers
Plays really well by herself
If she is fussy, she's either hungry or ready for bed
Wears mostly 9 month clothes
90th percentile for weight and 65th for height...her brothers have never toppped over 5oth for anything:-)
I love this little girl!

For Thanksgiving this year, we went to the cabin in Kentucky and just spent it with our family, my mom and dad, Craig, Tina, Charley and Nanny. It rained just about the whole day which was no fun for the boys!

This picture does not do any justice to Ryan showing off in his camo. He was putting on a dance for my mom and nanny! Last year, he discovered that he loved duck hunting and this year he has decided that he likes to deer hunt. He, Craig and my dad went hunting that afternoon but didn't kill anything. It was a nice, relaxing Thanksgiving day!

Cousins! Poor little Charley and her bows...Kylie had just pulled her bow out in this picture then they somehow ended up in a wrestling position! (yes, Kylie also blew out her diaper in the second picture)I hope you all had a wonderful November and now it's time to enjoy the Christmas season...I LOVE it!!!

Our Life is a Zoo...Sometimes!

2010-10-31T18:08:00.000-07:00

What else would be fitting for our family right now other than zoo animals! This pretty much describes what some days feel like with 3 little ones under tha age of two but I wouldn't have it any other way!
Braden the zebra, Kylie the pink elephant and Reed the lion.
Braden was ready to get this costume off! I don't know why though ...who doesn't love having a hot suit on with a huge head of a zebra hanging over your head!

Has anyone seen my chubby little pink elepant?!!!

Is this face not too cute?! I love little Camille or "mille-mille" as the boys call her. Martha Lynn didn't look too bad either dressed up as the girl version of Peter Pan:-)
Where do I begin with sweet little Macey's great expressions!!! I just love when she gives me this look because it reminds me so much of how Braden would look at people when they were new to him. It just makes me laugh to see her do this because it is so not her personality once she warms up to you. She will look back on these pictures one day and laugh!

Camille, Macey and Madison.

Braden couldn't decide which sucker that he wanted first. He actually was not the one who ate candy the whole time... Big skinny Reeed did!

I have no idea why in the world I try to attempt a family picture at these things or as a matter of fact ever attempt one! We are getting professional pics done this Wednesday and I am not expecting much. If we get one good one, I will be elated!

Wright makes such a cute little puppy dog with his dad and mom, Ingle and Jennifer.

Benton was a much happier lion than Reed was at times. What a life to get pulled around by his mom and dad, Amy and Matt, all night!

Kylie Reese already has that daddy of hers wrapped! I would never have thought that I would have seen Ryan wearing camo but I love it! He now thinks that he wants to go deer hunting in addition to his duck/dove hunting. However, he doesn't think that he is going to be the one cleaning the deer (if he actually shoots one) but I told him he HAS to clean what he kills:-) Sorry, I just went off on a tangent..back to Halloween!

My little zebra seeing what's in his pumpkin and the little lion eating more candy!

Kylie trying to give mommy a kiss. This little girl is not her quiet, calm self that she used to be:-) She has definitely found her voice and loves to scream. I could hear her in Target clear across the store while my mom was pushing her around. Oh no, is she going to be loud like me??!!

Maddi went as a duck and her brother, Preston was the hunter. What a cute idea!

Pappa getting wrapped by Kylie too!

A failed attempt at getting these three to sit and smile for a picture! Camille was the good child sitting and smiling and not trying to escape!

Another great Halloween and many more to come with the three little zoo animals...hopefully no more animals will be added to our zoo any time soon! Ha!!!

Just the Three of Them!

2010-10-28T20:45:00.000-07:00

More Pumpkin Patches

2010-10-19T06:43:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, we went to Walden Farms with the Story's. The kids had a great time but it was super crowded there. On a side note, I am so glad that we are not UT fans because I think orange is so obnoxious!!
Kind of a random picture to put with this post but I couldn't resist showing Reed's pouty face! This is usually the face we get when we take Reed's paci from him or tell him he cannot have it!
Maddi, Kylie and Avery playing together. Maddi was born in January, Kylie in April and Avery in March. I hope these girls grow up being great friends...they won't be able to escape since they will be in the same Sunday school class and their parents are all really good friends:-)
Hailey will be turning 4 in just a couple of months. I love this sassy face~

Martha Lynn and Camille. Camille is one tough little girl that can handle her own with my boys. When we spend time with them, she could care less about the boys but always wants to be where Kylie is. I know that she will be a great example to Kylie as they grow up. I am so thankful to have a little girl. I would not have cared when I was pregnant whether it was a little boy or girl but I am super excited to know that we have a little girl to raise. My mom always told me growing up that she was so thankful for me because Kyle and Craig didn't quite remember those important days like a girls does!

Finally Fall!

2010-10-13T09:33:00.001-07:00

We went two weekends ago to Kentucky for a fall festival then to my brother's cabin. Craig was hilarious with the boys and had everyone around us laughing! He was teaching Reed and Braden how to dance country style! It was actually way cooler than we expected it to be so Kylie was all wrapped up trying to sleep in her stroller. This is the before and after picture of my mom pushing Reed on the truck. Needless to say, she crashed the truck with Rw on it :-)
While the boys were outside playing, Kylie and Charley were hanging out inside. Kylie was determined to get poor Charley's bow out of her hair and she won! The following pictures do not even begin to do justice to how funny the following was. I know I am a terrible mom for laughing at my son face-planting into 6 inches of dust but I couldn't resist considering Reed didn't even care! He just got right back up and started driving his truck again.

We all love to be outside especially with this awesome weather we have been having. I am going to be really sad when winter comes!
Little Miss Kylie sitting like a big girl in her bumbo. Don't you just love that expression on her face?! Leanna was so good to play with the boys and pull them around and around in the red wagon...they loved it!

Don't you think Braden could be a model for the John Deere tractor??? Ryan thinks that he looks a lot like my brother Craig in this picture. I'm in big trouble because his personality is like Craig's too and Craig was pretty stubborn when he was little:-)
By the way, I am not in love with these outfits but this is what happens when Nana dresses them for the day....they look like little mechanics!

This past weekend, we went to the lake with the Crawfords. We had such a good time playing at the playground and going to the pumpkin patch. However, we decided that it would have been way more enjoyable for everyone if I would have bought pumpkins at Wal-Mart and just hid them in the backyard at the lake house!

Oh my goodness, the difference between little girls and boys. Camille LOVED playing with Kylie and putting clothes on her and giving her her paci all the time. She was so sweet but I am not for sure if Kylie thought it was as sweet as we did!

Back to Reality!

2010-09-29T07:36:00.000-07:00

This last week, Ryan and I were able to go to Disney with our friends Zach and Martha Lynn and we left our kids here....I know, that's pretty bad. A huge thank you to my parents and their parents for keeping our kids for 6 days so we could have some time to ourselves! We stayed at the Polynesian Resort and visited about 2 parks each day. It was not a relaxing vacation, but don't get me wrong, it was super nice to sleep in past 6 am! We went to Universal Studios the first day and this was us right before the Hulk took off. That's the best picture I could do with my own hands:-) We had no idea how quickly that ride was going to take off so I think we laughed and screamed the whole way through!

One night, the Magic Kingdom had extended hours for resort guest so we went there from 9-midnight. As you can see in the picture below, Martha Lynn was the only one on this roller coaster. We were all planning on riding this ride but ML got on before we were ready and the gates closed on us!

We are so thankful for our friendship with the Crawfords. I hope that we can do this type of trip every year, but I should probably give my parents a year warning before they are left with all 3 kids again for a week!

Back to Life, Back to Reality ... I think was the first morning that we were all back home together!!!! Look closely at the back of this picture. I went downstairs for literally 1 minute, and I come upstairs to find them sitting in a huge pile of oats! So much for making Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies! The funniest thing was that I asked who did it, and they responded with "Craig"

Sweet 'little' Kylie. She is honestly such a happy, good baby. I think I would have 2 more if they were as easy as she is! I think any baby would have been easy though compared to what all we went through with the boys:-)! She is really starting to talk/squeal more and loves to play with her brothers' trucks. Don't worry though, she does have a baby doll too that her Granny Carol gave her to play with.
Gotta love those chunky legs too in the second picture...she will thank me one day for taking a picture of her thunder thighs!!! Braden is still just full of energy. He wakes up just a jumpin'! He definitely loves to test the waters with how far he can get away with things, but he also keeps us laughing all the time. He can be very sweet to Kylie and loves to lie beside her on her play mat all the time. It will be interesting to watch their relationships develop with her.
Braden loves to walk the 'balance beam' on my parents driveway over and over. I think his daddy might have a heart attack if he wants to be a gymnast!

Reed has come so far these past 2 years, and I cannot help but to think every day what a little miracle he is. He still owes his brother big time for getting him where he is today!
Reed is getting his ear tubes and circumcision this coming Tuesday so please pray that all goes well. Hopefully that will just leave one last surgery to correct his strabismus!
Reed likes to go up to 'Ky-Ky' and just give her a quick kiss and move on with what he is doing. He jabbers all the time right now and it's like he is trying to carry on his own little conversation with us!

I think these pictures depict pretty well how they both feel about their Pappa! It makes me so happy to see how much joy our kids bring my parents. Our boys and little girl have been such a healer for our family...and cousin Charley too!

The Toy Exchange! The boys love playing with each other, but they also enjoy doing their own things. They will be riding a toy and Braden will call out for Reed and they will switch what they are playing with. This sometimes though is not a mutual desire for wanting to switch!

I cannot imagine not having the experience of twins and wish that everyone could experience it... I know some of you are thinking "Are you crazy?!" It really is one of the neatest relationships to watch develop over time. They have definitely made having a third child so close in age so much easier since they entertain each other. I love these last two pictures!!!

School Time!

2010-09-07T16:57:00.000-07:00

That's right, the boys have started a Mother's Day out program but I will start with the fun stuff first. Since the kids had so much fun at the first fair, we decided to take them to the Wilson County fair too...which is way bigger and better than the Williamson County fair!
When we got there, it decided to rain for the first hour but that made for fewer crowds which is always a good thing! Don't you think we did a good job at keeping the kids dry?!! Can you find Kylie???
The boys enjoyed the petting zoo but Braden did not like the pigs nibbling his toes at all!

Pretty sanitary, right? There is no way I can keep these boys clean or from putting their mouths where they shouldn't go! Braden's face is priceless when he sees the big cows. They finished up the petting zoo with a popsicle which they call "pop-sick" and ask for one every day! Before all the kids went back to school, the Calendines so graciously hosted our Sunday school class over for a big fall bash. They had 2 huge blowup bounce things for the kids, a horse ride, jet skis, tons of Famous Daves and the list could go on and on. We owe them a huge thanks! Everyone had a great time, especially the kids!
This is a picture of just the kids and not all the kids were in the shot! Sweet Francis held onto Kylie for dear life. Her mom was way more scared than I was that I was letting her daughter hold a 4-month old:-)

I love this picture of Macy, Reed, Madison and Braden. They were born about a week before the boys and they are all in the same Sunday school class. I think they are going to be good friends growing up! Can we do arranged marriages any more?!

The boys on their first morning of school. They are only going 1 day a week and maybe 2 days in the Spring. I wa a little nervous for them but they did well. They didn't even cry when we left them which was huge! However, they have both been way clingy with me since then. I could hardly get ready for school! They are such big boys!

Poor "little" Kylie having to take a bath with her rowdy brothers! They are getting more and more fun every day. They love to jump on you when you are lying on the floor. Ryan has definitely encouraged this behavior!

End of Summer

2010-08-14T18:00:00.000-07:00

We went to the Williamson County Fair this past Sunday and the kids loved it. I think a lot of people thought that Braden, Reed and Camille were triplets! They had an area where the kids could go through to pick apples, feed fake chickens who layed eggs, brush a sheep, ride a tractor, plant seeds and milk a fake cow.

Milking the "cow."

The kids enjoyed the petting zoo too!

Of course the fairs get you by how expensive all the food and rides are but it is worth it for one time a year! As long as the kids have fun, its totally worth it! Kylie was a little champ because she just rode in the stroller the whole time and then fell asleep..."chubbers" was showing off her rolls!

It still makes me laugh when I see a picture of our family because I still cannot believe that we have 3 kids! Braden, Reed and Kylie bring Ryan and me such joy and we are so very thankful that God has blessed us with them!

It has been super hot here in Nashville so we have enjoyed going to the bounce place twice this week! The boys enjoyed playing with Colton and Harris on Wednesday and going with Nana and Pappa on Friday!!
Braden was a little unsure of the big slides but I kept making him go up it. He just loved running around playing with all the balls. When we went back the second day, Braden was going up the slide and coming down with a smile on his face all by himself! Reed loved sliding!

Sweet Kylie Reese! She is such a joy and a great baby. She has been taking her last bottle this week around 6 or 7 and sleeping until 5:30ish!!! Her little smile just melts us, and she really likes to watch her brothers who make her laugh even though they don't have a clue she is watching them.
She is a paci girl, loves sleeping on her belly, and likes having a blanket by her face when she is getting sleepy. Thank to Aunt Janice and Donna Campbell for the blankets they gave her because she has them all the time!