Winter Fun!

A few months ago, Craig and I bought a sled at Toys R Us on the off chance that we would get some good snow this winter! Well, the kids in the area have been out of school for the past 3 days because we got lots of sleet and a little snow. Daddy and Avery took advantage and took the sled out. Our yard and driveway are pretty hilly, and our neighborhood is VERY hilly, so they didn't have to go far. I wouldn't let Craig take a picture of it, but Avery came away with some battle scars. She took a face plant after trying out a round sled of a neighbor and the left side of her face is pretty scratched. I thought she might get a black eye, too, but she just has a bruise beneath her eye. I would put a picture of it on here, but a certain couple of Grandmas might freak out. :) She is just fine, though, and went out to sled again the next morning!

Playing and Bath

Avery and I tried to entice Bailey to stay awake with her Baby Einstein play mat, but she wasn't very interested in it yet. Avery loves to play with Bailey's baby toys right now because they're all new to her again. I try to explain that she played with those when she was a baby and now she plays with her big girl toys, but she doesn't care!

The other pictures are of Bailey's second bath. Sorry sweetheart, but Mommy was too frazzled to get the camera on the first bath. It took Mommy and Nona to hold Bailey and Avery (so she could see) and there was no one here to hold the camera! So at least we got pictures and video of her second bath.

More of Our Bailey

Here are some more pictures of our newest little girl. We have had a great couple of weeks with her and we have slipped right back into newborn mode! Not that we love it all the time (read: middle of the night), but it has been great, too! With Avery I was so stressed all the time and always worried that she wasn't eating enough. Why didn't God give breastfeeding mothers some kind of gauge? I had Craig buy a baby scale online with her so I would know if she was gaining enough. Well, with Bailey, I haven't had to worry. This girl is a pooping machine! She constantly has a dirty and wet diaper and she has already gained 1 pound and 5 ounces since we left the hospital! Remember that babies lose some of their birth weight, so she was down to 7 lbs. 7 oz. when we left the hospital, and yesterday according to our scale, she weighed 8 lbs. 12 oz.!!! She is a hoss! Although she still looks little and sweet. :) I am so much more relaxed this second time around and it's nice! Avery still loves her little sister. She kisses her every chance she gets and has to stroke her cheek whenever she can. She always greets her in the morning and when she wakes up from a nap or even if one of them enters the room. It's really sweet. Craig has been off of work all this week and so far I have not been left alone with the two of them to depend on only me! I may be writing a different post next week. :)

Meet Bailey Mae!

On Wednesday, January 14th at 12:44 pm, we welcomed our second daughter into our family. Bailey weighed 8 lbs. 1 oz. and was 21 1/2 inches long. My labor was pretty quick and painless for the most part. We went into the hospital at 6:30 to be induced, pitocin was started about 7:30, water broken at 9:00, and by 12:44, Bailey had entered our world! I progressed so fast, it almost seemed too easy! We are so thankful that God gave us an uneventful labor and delivery and that Bailey has been perfect and healthy. Avery loved getting to be the first one to see and hold her little sister. She has kissed her, rubbed noses with her, and touched and smoothed her cheek every chance she gets. Thankfully she has already gotten use to Bailey's crying because at first it really upset her and she didn't understand why Bailey was sad. As much as we talked about things and tried to prepare her, I guess she just needed to experience it! We came home on Friday at lunch time and have enjoyed holding Bailey as much as possible since then. Nona is here to help out with everything until the end of next week, then Daddy will get to take a week off of work and be here with us the second week. Yay for help!! Thanks to everyone who prayed for us, called, visited, gave gifts, and thought of us during this most exciting time!

Awaiting Bailey

Well, there are only 2 more nights left for me as a mother of one. I am on my way to bed thinking of how I have only one more day to enjoy just Avery. Don't get me wrong--I am very much looking forward to meeting and holding my sweet Bailey Mae, but I know my life will be very different! Wednesday morning we are to be at the hospital at 6:30 am to be induced. Hooray! I don't think I could take another week of being pregnant! :)
Bailey, you don't know how excited we are for you to be a part of our lives. We have prayed for you so much and for so long it seems. Avery has been waiting to be your big sister for a very long 9 months, and I am so ready for her to meet you as well!
Please pray for us as we go through labor and delivery on Wednesday and feel free to come meet the newest Alexander sometime this week!

Little Ballerina

Today was Avery's first day of Ballet! She did such a good job and I was so proud of her! She looked adorable in her leotard, tights, and ballet shoes...thank you Nona! I was really worried she would stand there and do nothing, but she didn't at all. She did everything the teacher asked and I think it helped that there were only two other little girls in her class. She really had a good time and enjoyed dancing and singing to the songs. Here are a slew of pictures, and a couple videos. In a lot of the pictures, Avery has her tongue either in her cheek or in her bottom lip. That's what she does when she's a little nervous or shy, so it was in there a lot during class, but she still did everything she was supposed to!!

Bailey's Room

Finally, here is Bailey's room! I just absolutely love it and I could sit in there for hours and just enjoy the decor! I do not take much credit. Craig painted it, my mom did all the bedding and helped me hang things on the wall, and Craig helped me put the vinyl flowers above the changing table. I pretty much picked out the colors and the furniture and that's it. :) Oh, wait, I did sew the curtain and re-cover the trunk...ok Bailey, I did contribute. The only thing I have left to do is get a lamp to put on top of her bookshelf and it will finally be finished! Anyway, we cannot wait to bring Bailey Mae home! Hopefully it will be very soon as I am 37 weeks on Monday. Avery was born at 37 1/2 weeks, so maybe her little sister will follow in her footsteps. :)

Christmas #4 with extended family

Usually a couple days after Christmas, we then get together with Craig's aunts, uncles, and cousins. His mom has 3 siblings and they all have 3 or 4 kids and some of them are married with or without kids. So needless to say, there were a lot of people there that day! I think we counted around 37 or so. It is crazy but everyone brings food and we all find a small spot to sit and eat and talk, then the little kids each get a present or two, then the adults play Dirty Santa which is really fun! This year we came home with an Old Fashioned Popcorn Popper which I am really excited to use! It's supposed to be way better than microwave popcorn...we will test it soon. Avery got a floor puzzle and a Memory game. Perfect and exactly right for her! Here are a few pics from our final Christmas event!

Painting Cookies

There were so many cute pictures from this event that I had to do a separate post. After opening all of our Christmas presents and eating breakfast the morning of the 26th, we came home to give Avery a much needed nap and then headed back over for more family fun that evening. One of the traditions in Craig's family that he did all growing up was painting cookies. His mom makes these sour cream cookies and cuts them out with the kind of cookie cutters that make imprints on the top. She made several bowls with evaporated milk and food coloring and the kids actually use paint brushes to "paint" their cookies, then when they are baked, they come out beautifully colored. They also add sprinkles! Craig and his brothers did this every year and now the tradition is being carried on with the grandkids. They had a blast and this was Avery's first year to participate (and eat all the ones she painted!). She especially loved doing the sprinkles and several times tried to shake the sprinkle container right into her mouth. I finally settled on letting her lick some sprinkles out of her hand and it was hilarious! So that's what you see in the pictures with the tongue out. :) She had so much fun and I know she will love to do it every year!

Christmas #3 with the Alexanders

Let me just say that we Christmas-ed it all week long! Literally from Saturday the 20th until Saturday the 27th, Avery opened a present or presents every day! It was insane! On the night of the 25th, we went to eat dinner at Grandma's and Avery got to open her big present and we all opened our stockings. No one else was there yet, so it was the calm before the storm! :) Grandma and Grandpa got her a chair from Pottery Barn Kids with her name on it to match her room. She loves it and can really use it for a long time--it's pretty big! The next day most of her aunts, uncles, and cousins were there minus just one of Craig's brothers and his family. There were tons of presents for everyone as usual--and Grandma said she wasn't going overboard this year! Didn't happen. :)
Besides her big chair, Avery got some clothes, lots of books, a DVD, a dump truck and tow truck (which she loves!), a princess purse, a painting-with-water board, a new doll, and a stuffed puppy dog that plays Jingle Bells. I know there are other things I am forgetting, but the point is it was great! Bailey got a few things as well. Grandma got her some cloth diapers I am planning to use, burp cloths, a little dee-dee, and a couple outfits. Craig and I also got lots of great things, but I will spare you the list! Thank you Grandma, Grandpa, and all of our great aunts and uncles who spoil us and our kids as well!

Christmas #2--Just Us

Well, Nona and Pop had to leave to go home on the afternoon of the 23rd, so Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were pretty much just the 3 (or 4) of us! I can't remember that we've ever had that, so in a way it was kind of neat! As our kids get older it is nice to have Christmas morning and "Santa" in our own home under our tree with our own traditions. We did go to Christmas Eve service with Craig's family and then ate dinner with them, then we went to Grandma's house the evening of Christmas Day for dinner and stockings. We always wait until the day after Christmas to open gifts with Craig's brothers and their families because everyone is usually not here until then. Anyway, Santa brought Avery a tool set and some neat things in her stocking. Mommy and Daddy got her a crawl through tent/tunnel set, a tee ball set, a new shopping cart, a basket for her tricycle, a disc swing to hang in a tree outside, and a new "big sister" shirt with a matching "little sister" shirt for Bailey! She mostly played with her tee ball set (it's foam) and tool set that entire day. This girl loves her boy toys! She likes her baby and makeup set and purses, but she equally loves anything from the boy aisle as well! She's very well-rounded. :)

Christmas #1 with the Warlicks

We were so spoiled as usual this year. We had our Christmas with my family on the morning of the 22nd. We read the Christmas story, and took breaks between presents to cook and eat Christmas breakfast. Avery had so many presents to open that she actually opened one or two Saturday, Sunday, then the rest Monday. The main gifts that I can remember were a vanity set, pink indoor tent, robe and slippers, umbrella and rainboots, cash register, a new quilt from Nona with pictures of Avery with their horses Ruby, Rocky, and Lola. Avery loves them and always talks to them and feeds them when we are there! Of course it was in yellow which is Avery's favorite color! She also received a new luggage set, clothes, shoes, books, two leotards, tights, and ballet shoes for her new ballet class that she is starting this month, and several other little things that I cannot even remember! Yes, it was a little much, but thank you to all of our family for how much you spoil and love our little sweetheart.

Family Pics

This year Christmas was a little different since we did not go down to Texas. It was hard not to, but as big as I am getting and as close to my due date as I am, I did not feel comfortable traveling that far away. So my parents and sisters came up here the weekend before Christmas and stayed for a few days. Sunday after church we took these pictures in front of the tree and even though I cringe looking at how big I am, I know Bailey will want to see pictures of me pregnant with her one day. So...I will let you cringe with me. :) A couple are of Avery and her new "hula loop" Nona gave her early.