Cara's Shower

Today was Cara's baby shower.  We are all so excited to add another baby to the family.  Jaxson will be here the beginning of May.

All dressed up and ready to go.  :-)

Can't believe we'll be adding another little cousin to this group so soon.  What a wonderful time for babies!

Brown Family Chili Cookoff

Today was the Brown Family Chili Cookoff.  We did a similar thing a while back and my father-in-law asked about doing it again.  Robert and I decided to host one this weekend since their anniversary and my mother-in-law's birthdays were this week.  It was a great excuse to get everybody together.  All in all we had 5 different types of chili to sample.  

Little Miss all ready for everyone to come over.

Cuddling with Uncle David and Ashton

Robert and Tony enjoying some chili

Robert, Queen, and Pepaw

Edie and Cara

Junior and Nathan

The voting booth.  Ryker came down with a fever after church Sunday so we banished him to our room upstairs.  He joined us in spirit though and we used his Valentine box as our ballot box.

My totally awesome homemade trophy.  About an hour before everyone came I decided to make a trophy.  I took an old spoon, spray painted it, and used glitter glue for the #1.  I covered a box of Jiffy Corn Muffin mix with aluminum foil and stuck the spoon in.  Ghetto fabulous!

Nonno and his girl

Nathan and Cam wanted babies of their own.

Robert and Michelle counting up the votes.

Edie was our big winner!

The littlest members of our crew

Nonna and her thumbsucking granddaughter

Nonna and both the littles

Cam, Nathan, and I headed outside to play for a while.  We practiced some baseball, played with sidewalk chalk, and wrote the scooter.

Cam and Pepaw

Cara (and Jaxson), Michelle and Ashton, Riella and I

We had a great night and are already planning to do it again in the fall. :-)

Playing Outside!

The weather was actually really nice today and we were able to get outside and play.  Cam and I were already out when Ryker got off the bus.

There was still some snow left on the ground so the boys were shoveling it and moving with their equipment.  They crack me up.

There were tons of planes flying over for some reason today.  Cam loved finding them in the sky every time he heard one.

Then it was time for Nana to pick up Ryker.  They had a special evening and a sleepover planned.  They got dinner and then went to a movie with Papaw.

After we got Camden and Riella down for the night, Robert and I started painting the dining room.  

This was after the first coat.  I'm so glad we did it.  I always hesitate to paint since it's such a mess, but it doesn't really take that long.  I just like to know I have a set amount of time to get it done in so I can get the room back together and have it be functional again.  Now, to decide which room to paint next.  We have a lot left!

4 Month Appointment

Today was Riella's 4 month appointment with Dr.  Anderson.  She checked out great!  Her umbilical hernia has closed which is great news and one concern we can cross off our list.  She handled her shots much better this time which was a huge relief for me.  I'm not sure my heart can handle another time like her 2 month shots.

Happy baby!

Stats:

25.75" 93rd percentile

15 lbs. 3 oz. 70th percentile

Afterwards, we ran a quick errand and then went to school to have lunch with Ryker.  He was so excited to see us and was pretty pumped about having Mama Nita's delivered for lunch. :-)  It's funny to go now that I've already been several times.  Most of the kids he sits near know me at this point and love to talk to me.  Kindergartners are awesome.  As you can see from the bottom right picture, Riella was VERY popular with the girls today.  She had quite the crowd gathered around as we walked back from the cafeteria.  I love being able to join him for lunch!

4 Months!

Our beautiful girl is 4 months old today.  I always seem to struggle with this benchmark.  The newborn and infant days feel long ago by the 4 month mark.  It's so sad how quickly it all flies.  With each kid I understand more and more just how fast time goes and try to treasure it all the more.

Riella is truly a great baby.  We've settled into a great routine over the past couple of weeks.  She is a phenomenal sleeper! She goes down by 8:30 or 9:00 at the latest and usually isn't up until 9:00 or 9:30 the next morning.  She takes two long naps a day and a short 15 minute catnap in the evening. 

She is nursing 4-5 times a day for 10-15 minutes on each side.  The boys nursed more frequently at this age but she seems satisfied and is growing great so I'm not concerned at all.  It's actually really nice!  

She has really discovered toys this month and is reaching for everything in site.  She especially loves my phone. Uh oh!

She is still rolling over from her belly to back, but only every so often.  She rolls onto her side from her back all the time and can move around her crib while on her back like crazy.  She's a bit of a Houdini when it comes that. 

She is such a delight and just loves to be talked to and made over.  She is super content and will go to anyone.  She loves to coo and talk back to you in conversation.  It's pretty adorable.  

Happy 4 Months, Riella!

Happy Anniversary!

We started off the day with another two hour delay for school.  We pretty much love them here.  The boys get extra time to play in the morning and they love it!

Robert worked from home today and got some quality time with Riella as we all got ready to head over to my in-law's for lunch.

Today is Tony and Queen's 31st wedding anniversary.  Everyone but Michelle's Roberts and Ryker was able to be there.  Most of them had Korean, but Tony, Cam, and I opted for Jimmy John's which I picked up on our way there.  

Tony loves babies.  He's a happy man these days. ;-)

Almost all the grandkids with their Nonno.  Just missing Junior and Ryker who were at school.  Can't wait for the next grandson to join the fam in May.

Babysitting=Play Time

I watched Emily's kiddos today while Robert helped her move to her new place.  The kids were so well behaved and had so much fun playing together.

The boys stuck together and played and played.  There were no fights to break up and they were just so happy to hang out.  It was wonderful!

Piper is almost 18 months old now, but is the daintiest little thing and oh so cute.  She tended to stay close to Riella and I today.  She loves her baby dolls and kinda liked having a real life one to play with. :-)

The kids ate a great lunch.  My boys have a renewed love for fresh spinach leaves. They ate about 20 each.  Yay for healthy eaters!