HAPPY BIRTHDAY AVERY!!!

WOW time flies!!! This was taken in 2002 when Avery started to play soccer. That lasted a few years until he discovered lacrosse but that is not where I am going with this today! 12 years ago today at 11:42am, I gave birth to Avery Ray!! Wow it seems like just yesterday that the 8lb 14oz 23 inch long baby boy came into this world. Now here he is,12 years later, 6th grade and only about 68 lbs and growing older everyday. Its so wonderful and so sad at the same time.

We have his party tonight. It was a pretty much a last minute idea, he came home telling me he wanted to have his party at my house this year. I had parties for them every year and then like 2 years ago he said he wanted one at his dads house. That sounded great to me!! I got a break from the party giving but its back to having them at home this year. We have 5 of his friends coming over to spend the night and Chris and I have decided to take them bowling tonight. Sharon was here yesterday cleaning the house and I figure if the boys stay here all night the place will be a wreck. The house looks awesome so we are heading out. The plan is to be home about 9 or so and cut some cake (cookie cake of course) when we get home and then maybe settle in and watch a movie or two.

By noon tomorrow the party will be over.... bummer for Avery. He woke up so excited this morning for his birthday and his free cookie from the lunch lady at lunch today. Its cute what the kids look forward to (its the little things).

Anyway, just wanted to minutes, before I head out to get done my to do list, to say

HAPPY 12th BIRTHDAY AVERY!!

I LOVE YOU!!!

5 MONTHS OLD!!!

WOW how did I forget to add this pictures in?????

Kennedi is rolling all over the place. She is also starting to scoot around on either her back or stomach if she wants something out of reach (like the cat). Cotton is wonderful with her! Kenendi can grab her fur and cotton sits there for a little bit and then just gets up and walks away!

Here Kennedi is rolling over to Cotton...

Kennedi and her buddy, Cotton

A little decorating

Just when we think everyone in the house is healthy, Chris has to go get sick on us! Kennedi and I finally got over the cold and sickness we had and last week Conner came down with it. He was home from school on Thursday and his dad kept him home on Friday also. At practice on Saturday he seemed to be doing a lot better, or at least I assumed he was feeling better since he was out in the cold and wind in just a short sleeved shirt. Needless to say no matter how sick he is tomorrow (if at all) he is going to school for sure. Chris woke up at the end of the week with a cold and sounded horrible. I am sure it sounded a lot worse than he felt but still. He rarely gets sick. He is around this stuff at work everyday and he picks up what we have at the house. Oh well, he is back at work today and what better place to be when you are sick but at the ER??

We took advantage of him being off for 2 days this weekend and got some stuff (decorating) done around the house that we have wanted to do for a year (since we moved in). I had ordered some Southern Living at Home items awhile back and they have been in the garage forever. Well until this weekend at least. We finally got some of those items out, along with my most recent order and dedicated part of the day to getting all of that done. I am starting to really love being a consultant for SL@H and being able to decorate with the items.

This is above the mantle. The picture has been here since we moved in but we decided to redo the rest. This was my first attempt ever with trying to make a flower arrangement. It turned out OK, good enough for now at least.

Just a closer look

We needed to add something to the bare wall going up the steps but there is not a lot of useful space on it so we tried some wall tiles. Turned out pretty good!

a closeup of the table in the sitting area in our bedroom. Another attempt of a flower arrangement.

We are still trying to find slip covers for these chairs. This is NOT an easy task at all! Sofa and love seat slip covers are everywhere but not chair and ottoman!

We also have a bunch of pictures to put up and wanted to do away with all the old frames we had so that they would now match. We decided to try Kohl's and we hit that store on a great day. All the frames were 50% off!! We took advantage of that as well as the sale they had on candles (another item we needed for decorating)!

The pictures of Kennedi and the top of all of us was taken at Christmas time with our Christmas pictures. Conner and Avery's pictures are school pictures from this past fall. Dakotas picture was taken when he was in pre-school. Unfortunately, We have not been able to get an updated school picture of him.

The last room we tackled this weekend was the master bathroom. The mirrors on the wall were actually a Christmas present so they were put up right after Christmas. The other items match the mirrors and we have been looking for candles for them. We still need a candle for the pedestal but the ones on there will have to do for now...

Well I am going to go sit in the family room and relax and read for a little while until Miss Kennedi wakes up from her nap! Enjoy what is left of the weekend!

Update on Kennedi

Kennedi finally seems to be doing better. Chris woke up on Friday before he had to go to work and checked Kennedi's ears and lungs again. He called me upstairs and told me to go ahead and call the doctor to get her in that day. Well of course that worried me right away when Chris tells me to call the doctor I know something is up (but he would not tell me right away why). After he called and we had an 11am appointment, he told me that he heard her wheezing and thought it maybe going into her lungs. We took Kennedi in and they did a chest x-ray on her. That turned out OK but we were given an inhaler and told to do breathing treatments 4 times a day for the next 5 days. We are in the middle of those and it seems to be working pretty well. she still comes up with a horrible cough at times but the wheezing has left.
Kennedi is turning into a roly-poly. She rolls both ways now and Avery and Chris have finally seen it happen!! They were both pretty excited to see it. Poor Conner still has not been around when she has rolled but he doesn't seem as into her milestones as everyone else. He loves her and plays with her and when she lets out the smallest cry he runs to her but he is not into that little stuff (its not really little to those who aren't teens).
Another little thing she did yesterday was that she sat up on her own for about 30 seconds. It was great. She had some stacking blocks that I would set up and she would grab and knock over and while she was knocking them over I backed away from her a little bit. We counted to 30 before she fell!
The boys go back to school this week after 20 days or so off. It has been GREAT!! I think I am the only one that is not ready to have them in school again. We spent so much time together and they were able to see a lot of their friends. They had a blast this break and now we can't wait until summer!! This break mom watched Kennedi a few times so we could all go to the movies... 4 movies actually! We were able to see Four Christmases, Marley and Me, Bedtime Stories, and then yesterday we went to Yes Man. All were great movies in their own way. I really think grandma enjoyed watching Kennedi (and so did Papa). I think she got used to watching her a few times a week when I went back to work and since I have stayed home she has not had her. It was great for the rest of us to be able to go and watch some movies we have wanted to see also.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

First of all I hope that all of you had a great New Years and a fun New Year's Eve. I hope that your 2009 is safe, happy and healthy.
Chris and I brought in the new year at the house, just the three of us (since the boys were at their dads this year). He had to work until 7 last night and so we went out to eat and then straight home. It was relaxing... we were all asleep before midnight! I woke up a little after 12 and realized that we were asleep. I knew that it would happen. It was just not worth trying to stay up with a 4 month old that is sick. I guess it didn't help that Chris had to be back at work today at noon for another twelve hour shift.
Kennedi is sick for the first time. Its horrible! I feel so bad for her and can really not do a thing to make it better. I just sit and hold her a lot. She is being such a trooper for as bad as I think she feels. Luckily she has no fever but she has one ear that has gone from pink to red and her little nose keeps running then add that horrible cough that is going around. Bless her little heart! She screams at times but in the middle of a scream she will look at you with the puffy, pink, glassy eyes and just break out in a big smile. It always happens when I feel like I am going to break down and cry and that smile seems to make it all better for awhile.
Today we started her on her first dose of medicines. I hope they kick in fast and clear her ears up! Maybe when she wakes up in the morning I will see a difference. At least she is still sleeping pretty well at night.
As for the boys, they are doing great and being such a help with her. Conner is amazing how he can get her out of the car seat and take her up to bed without her waking up. I have to figure out how he does it because I sure can't. Avery will just sit and hold her and try to make her happy. I am so lucky to have these boys here to help. They are wonderful and adore their baby sister!! The newness of her has not worn off yet because there are times when they will hold her and just sit and stare at her.
Until next time.....