Wedding Outing

One of Craig's cousins got married a couple weeks ago in a town 2 hours away from us. We made the trek with the girls and I just knew it was going to be one of those days to remember. Bailey is doing better now but she went through a time (and may again) where she just hated her car seat. She pretty much screamed the whole 2 hours there and the whole 2 hours back. It was a nightmare! It was extremely hot this day and very windy and we pretty much all changed in the car when we got there and had to thaw out Bailey's frozen milk for her bottle in a sink with no hot water in the back of the chapel. She finally passed out and then had to be bounced the entire reception so she would stay asleep because she kept waking up everytime people would applaud. Avery had a RARE RARE accident once we got in the car so I could nurse Bailey before we drove home. Then 10 minutes onto the highway we had to pull over on a gravel road so she could go AGAIN (yes on the side of the road)! I tell you what, it's a good thing we both love each other's families because I could've done without most of this day! We did manage to get a few good pictures and already I can laugh about that day. It was one for the books....and I didn't even tell you everything! :) I love the frosting on the side of her lip!

Look closely for the ever present spit-up coming out of Bailey's mouth!

Avery acting silly.

bouncing the screamer :)

Daddy's girl

Swimming Lessons

Avery has started swimming lessons at Miller Swim School. She loves it and even though she is the youngest in her class, she is probably doing the best job out of all four kids. (OK just allow me some bragging rights!) The parents have to sit in the "viewing room" but she can see me and I can see her. She waves to me and then pays attention and takes her turn practicing skills. She dives down to get a ring and has jumped off the diving board and floats on her back! She is such a little fish and loves the water! Sorry the first couple pics aren't great. They were taken through the window of the viewing room.

Girl Party

Today we got to babysit Kolbi and Kate at the same time! Lisa went to the hospital to have baby Callie this morning and Sara had a doctor's appointment, so I told them both to just bring their girls on over and Avery, Kolbi, and Kate played so well together! There was not one single issue between them the whole time. Bailey took a long nap, so she was only up for part of the time they were here. When she was up, I had to take some pictures of the four of them. I couldn't resist. I was thinking if I had had four baby girls one right after the other, this would be my daily life--a 3 year old, 2 year old, 1 1/2 year old, and 4 month old! Yowza! But actually it wasn't bad at all and they totally entertained each other. What's also cute is that besides Bailey, the 3 older girls are all big sisters each with a little sister! (Although Kate's sister won't be born for a couple more weeks.)

Sweet girls

They were just like stair steps.

Their legs hanging off the edge of the couch were so cute. It reminded me of the "More Bars in More Places" Cingular commercials. And look at all those bruises! I'm glad my daughter's not the only one. Well she does have the most, though. :) I guess kids are clumsy.

This was cute because Avery was upset that Bailey wasn't sitting by her. So at the end I had to move Bailey down by Avery and take a picture of the two of them. Ignore her big foot stuck right in front of the camera! Do you think they look alike?? I'm not sure.

Bailey's Newest Trick

Here is Bailey's newest trick. I have been waiting for the toes to go into the mouth any day now and finally she is doing it. I just love the feet in the mouth stage! It's so cute! She has been doing it much better than she is in this video, but I had to document it. Also, I couldn't get her to do it in this video, but lately she has been turning on her side and trying to "get" the polka dots on her changing pad cover! It's so cute and she just can't figure out why she can't grab them. It's hilarious. Hopefully I can get her on video doing that soon.

Going Away Party for Chris & Sara

This past Saturday night, we had a going away party at our house for our friends Chris and Sara and their daughter Kate. Chris just graduated from medical school and he is starting a residency in Little Rock, Arkansas in just a couple weeks. Sara is about to have another little girl, Addison, so they are a busy little family. Sara has become one of my closest friends over the past few years. We have so much in common and have really helped each other out with our girls when we needed a sitter, etc. We have done MOPS together, been at church together, and just really clicked in our personal lives. I am going to miss her so much but I pray that God will bring them back to Tulsa one day!

Here are some pictures from the party. Pretty much our whole Sunday School class was there and there were little kids and babies everywhere! I LOVED IT! I wish I had gotten more pictures but when you're the hostess, you're kind of busy. We tried to get a group picture of the kids, but you know how that goes. When there are around 14 of them, it ain't gonna happen! Even Avery, who is always a wonderful big sister, let her sister take a nose dive on the concrete because she was tired of holding her up for the picture! (Don't worry, she was fine. :) Besides the bigger kids, there were 5 little babies...and Bailey was the oldest one! They ranged from 2 weeks to 4 1/2 months. It really was precious to see all these little kids and babies all over the house and backyard. Made me think maybe Craig wasn't so crazy for wanting a house full of them.

Cloth Diapers

I have been meaning to post about this for a while now. I took the plunge and decided to use cloth diapers with Bailey. I so regret not doing it with Avery now that I know how easy they are!! These are not your grandmother's or mother's cloth diapers.

This day and age they are cute, have velcro, have a waterproof outside so you don't have to use "plastic pants" and they are really a breeze to clean! I really do love using them. It saves money and is great for the planet! At least I am not contributing much to the millions of disposable diapers that go into dump sites every day. I do put her in a disposable when we go to church and usually if we're going to be out for very long just so I won't have to deal with the cloth diaper while we're out. Not really a biggie if it's wet, but if it's dirty, I just wouldn't want to mess with it if I wasn't at home.

It's really a trendy thing these days to use cloth diapers and my friend Super Mom...I mean Emily, has a new blog where she talks about what we do more in depth. Instead of spending time doing that, I will just let you read her blog since we pretty much do the same thing! http://thedomesticnotebook.blogspot.com/2009/05/converting-to-cloth.html

The only thing I do differently is I use Kushies disposable liners inside the diaper. It's just a thin liner you lay on top of the diaper and it goes against their skin. It helps minimize poop clean up when they have a dirty diaper. You just flick the liner into the toilet and flush! Less clean up for you. Also, I only use BumGenius one size diapers. They are awesome and are supposed to fit from newborn until they are potty trained! They have a snap system that lets you adjust them. I think I have only had 2 leaks with these diapers and that's because I left it on too long. I mean through the night (12 hours) plus a couple more because she slept late. Give them a try!

Boots and Bunny Slippers

I think this post is self explanatory. :)

Grandma Alexander turns 90!

Craig has one living grandmother and she turned 90 years old this past Friday! What an accomplishment. I hope I live to be 90! She was having a good day and I think she enjoyed the dinner and the cake. This was her first time to meet Bailey and we got some pictures of her with the girls. Bailey didn't make dinner very pleasant as it was getting too close to her bedtime, and she finally collapsed into a sleepy but precious heap in Craig's arms. Avery was a doll and very well behaved. I couldn't resist taking a few pictures of her all dressed up for the adult dinner.

Pretty Girls

For some crazy reason we have actually been ready for church early for the past few weeks. We took the extra time to take pictures of the girls in their dresses since we really never get to do this on Sundays. I thought they looked especially cute on these two Sundays!

Swing Set!!!!!

Avery finally got her swing set!! The grandparents and Craig and I went in together to get her a swing set for her 3rd birthday and the poor thing had to wait almost 3 full months before it was bought and put up. She was patient about it but it was hard to look at those boxes sitting on the backporch for a while before there was time to assemble it. Craig and his dad basically put the whole thing together in one day! It was relatively simple, just time consuming. Avery loves it and even Bailey has her own swing! We look forward to picnics in the tower and eventually a sandbox underneath the tower. These videos are mainly for the grandparents--I realize most people don't need 3 videos of my children swinging! :)