Catching up and Libby's getting big

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while.  I'm not gonna lie, I don't remember the day to day through the end of April but people brought us meals every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.  When our friends the Grubbs brought us a meal, we had them stay and eat it with us and the Caldwells had us come to their house to eat dinner instead of bringing it.  The month of May included two Birthday parties we attended, both boys turning three.  We also went to the pediatrician for Libby's 1 month well-check.  She weighed 8 lbs. 12 oz and was 21 1/2 inches tall.  That put her in about the 30th percentile for weight and head circumference and the 50th for height.  I've never had such a big baby before, she's already starting to wear 0 - 3 month clothes.

Her hair gets kind of puffy after baths

Haley loves to cuddle with her

Another post-bath shot, she looks kind of mad, haha

Another one of Haley and Emily cuddling

The first Birthday party we went to had a superhero theme and the favors were superhero masks and capes.

They got to arrive in costume, Haley was pretty excited about that.  She had a great time.

Emily had a good time too

They tried to get a picture of all the kids with superman but it didn't really work out.

May also included Mother's day!  Dave had to work so that kind of put a damper on the day actually.  He did rally the children together and they made me a mother's day cake.  I also got a necklace pendant with the girl's names on it which I just love.  Mother's day evening we had the Yeakley's, Grubbs, and Feenstra's over to play games.  

My mother's day cake.  Apparently Haley picked out the colors.

Also, sometime in May, Haley and Emily took baths and acted silly

Emily especially

Another picture of Haley and Libby cuddling

I'm not sure why this one is upside down

The girls watching presents get opened at the other Birthday party

Last Sunday the girls wore matching outfits from Amanda Caldwell

They were pretty excited about it

Random picture of Emily being weird

It has started getting hotter down here and we've gone to the splash pad a couple times.  The big splash pad that we usually go to is no open yet because they are adding on to it so we went to a smaller one at a different park.

Haley braving the cold water while Emily watches on

Libby has taken some nice naps while at the splash pad

Haley insists on wearing her bathing suit from last year and it is almost always riding up in a permanent wedgie.

A video of them playing

Haleyism:

Every night we ask Haley to share prayer requests before we pray and put the girls down for bed.  More recently she has consistently been requesting that we pray that Emily will not hit or bite or pinch and be nice to her.  By the way, Emily does not do those things very often and only when provoked.

Emilyism:

Emily likes to yell mommy and daddy repeatedly until we are right in her face asking her what she wants.  She is not satisfied with us simply acknowledging her, she wants us to come up to her and be inches away before she will stop yelling our names.

Libbyism:

Libby has not pooped since Monday (today is Friday).  We're all gearing up for a big one.

Libby's Sip 'n See and the rest of the week

WEDNESDAY (April 30th), Libby slept really great.  Actually, that whole week was Libby's best week of sleep in her life so far.  Her sleep that week ranged from 5 - 7 1/2 hour stretches.  Needless to say, it was a great week for me as well.  David didn't have to work until the afternoon so he helped me get the girls ready and out the door so we could get to Bible Study fellowship on time.  It was our last week of official BSF with childcare, the next week was just a sharing time so the kids were not invited.  I really wanted to go so that Haley and Emily could have one last week and say goodbye to their teachers.  Libby did really well.  I fed her before we left the house and then I ended up feeding her again right at the end of lecture.  Haley's teacher was actually teary-eyed as we were picking up our kids.  I am guessing they were mostly tears of relief after a long year with 2 and 3 year olds!  After Bible study we came home and David helped me feed the girls lunch before heading out on his trip.  Then I put them down for naps.  After they woke up we laid low until it was time for Wednesday night church.  I made Mexican rice with chicken because it is easy and I had some leftover chicken.  I fed Libby right before we left so that I wouldn't have to feed her while we were there which worked out nicely.  Libby actually stayed in her infant seat during the entire meal time and then I took her out and held her while Haley and Emily were in their class.  Another Mom helped me carry everything out to the car and load up to go home.  When we got home I gave the girls a snack to eat while I fed Libby and then I put them to bed.  I let Libby lay with Haley in her bed while I read the Bible story and tucked Emily in.  David got home shortly after I put them to bed.

THURSDAY morning David didn't have to leave for work again until later so he helped me get the kids out the door to go to women's Bible study.  We were meeting at the Ferguson's house and they have a great set-up outside with a swingset, sandbox, and trampoline so Haley and Emily were busy playing the whole time.  Libby was busy sleeping most of the time so it worked out pretty well with all three.  After Bible study we invited Julianne, Jay, and Carrington over for lunch since David had already gone to work.  We made peanut butter and jelly and the kids ate and played while we talked.  It worked out well because then Haley and Emily were definitely ready for naps by the time they left.  David got back in time for dinner which worked out well because he could watch the kids while I finished getting it ready.  Mimi had cooked some chicken and shredded it and put it in the freezer so I used that for chicken enchiladas.  I think we went to the gym then after dinner to take a walk.

FRIDAY David did not have to work and I didn't have anything so we just slept in and then went to the gym.  I walked outside with Libby in the stroller while David swam and took a shower.  Then he did his Bible study with Libby while I showered, it worked out nicely.  The childcare people asked if we were going to put her in there but I feel like she is way too little to be in there yet!

Emily has been taking her backpack to the gym since Libby uses the diaper bag now!

After the gym we ran by the church where we were going to be meeting on Sunday to help unpack and store some stuff.  Bonnie Mason and Meg Freeman had everything loaded in their minivans so the girls and I basically watched while David helped them unload it all.  After that we went to the library to return some books and check out new ones.  Haley was pretty excited to find Frozen in the dvd section.  After the library we came home and had lunch and then the girls went down for naps.  When they woke up we loaded up and headed out to pick up some stuff at SAMS for church.  David set up a church membership and then we got stuff like toilet paper and trashbags and other random things he had on his list.  The girls were pretty excited about SAMS.  I wore Libby in the bjorn and then tried to keep Haley and Emily in the cart.  At one point they decided they wanted to walk and that was no good, keeping them together is like herding cats.  After shopping we came home and had dinner and then I made some popcorn and we had a family movie night watching Frozen.

Libby fell asleep during Frozen

\SATURDAY morning we slept in nice and long.  The first thing we did was cuddle:

Haley and Libby

All three of them.  Poor Libby is probably thinking, "get me out of here!"

Daddy was making the older girls laugh

After breakfast and showers we decided to head out and do our major grocery shopping.  It was a little trickier with three but not too bad.  Libby rode in the bjorn and Haley and Emily took their regular spots amid the groceries.  It was getting close to lunchtime at the end but we held them off with the free cookies for kids at the bakery.  When we got home we fed them lunch and then put them to bed.  While they slept David did some stuff for the church and I think I took a nap.  After they woke up we went out to get some stuff to make hostess gifts for our baby shower the next day.  In the south when they do baby showers, the people who help put the shower together are called 'hostesses' and they are given hostess gifts.  When we got home we fed the girls dinner and let them play for a bit.  As soon as they went to bed, David and I worked on the gifts.

Libby thought running errands was nothing to stay awake for

It's a good thing David remembers how to use the sewing machine!

SUNDAY morning David was leading worship so I set my alarm for extra early so I could get out the door with the girls.  I got ready while they were sleeping and then I woke them up and fed them breakfast and got them dressed.  It actually wasn't too bad.  Saturday night Libby had slept her longest stretch of 7 1/2 hours so I was feeling pretty good.  During church Ella Freeman, a high school girl who baby-sits for us sometimes, sat with me and helped with the girls.  Haley and Emily took full advantage and had her holding them quite often.  It really should have been no different than a normal Sunday with those two because Libby stayed sleeping in her infant seat during the whole service.  After church we came home and ate lunch and put the girls down for naps.  Then, at 3pm, we woke up the girls and went to the Mason's house for our Baby shower.  It was actually a Sip 'n See since Libby is already born.  The fun part was that it was a shower for the whole family.  Haley was so excited to play at 'Caroline's house' because she loves Caroline.  By the way, in case you don't know, Caroline is the Mason's oldest daughter, she is maybe nine?  Anyways, Haley and Emily were busy playing the whole time and I held Libby or helped pass her around.  There is another couple in our church who is having a baby in late May so it was actually a joint shower with them.  I know that sounds kind of awkward but it was all very laid back and relaxed and it was only for church people.  We didn't open any gifts at the shower and it really just felt like Wednesday night fellowship time.  Anyhow, here are some pictures of it:

The gift table

The game table

The food table, after the food was taken off, we were a little late in taking pictures.

We left the shower around 5:30 and came home and kind of ate dinner.  I say kind of because the shower had lots of desserts and we weren't super hungry.  I then left with Libby for a MOPS planning meeting with the other coordinator, Janette.  It was my last planning meeting since I won't be returning as co-coordinator next year.  It actually took longer than I thought and when I got home David was just putting the girls down for bed.  

Libby in her Sunday best

That's all of my catch-up for now!  I'll try and post this past week sometime soon!

Haleyism:

Haley loves to hold and cuddle Libby.  It is super cute but actually kind of a lot of work because she's not super good at it yet so I have to stay right there to support Libby's head.

Emilyism:

Emily is thirsty all of the time.  Probably her second most requested thing is water, the first is cookies (whether we have them or not, she is often saying 'I want cookies').

Libbyism:

Despite Libby's amazing week of sleep, more recently she has gone back to 3 - 4 hour stretches at night.  boo.

Our time with Mimi and saying goodbye

I know I'm way behind on here but I'm going to try and attempt to catch up a bit!  I am rewinding back to Thursday, April 24th in case you are keeping track.

That Thursday Mimi, Libby, and I went to the Mud Hut to make a plate for Libby.  Mimi helped me make one for Haley and Emily back when they were born so we had to make Libby one of course.  I have yet to pick it up but the Mud Hut posted a picture of it on their facebook:

We were pretty pleased with how well her feet turned out.  She slept most of the time we were there and then I fed her and held her while we watched Mimi work.  David didn't have to work so he took the girls to the library and then brought them home and fed them and put them down for naps.  When we got home he had just put them down for their naps and was getting ready to leave for work.  During naps Mom did her Bible study outside and I took a nap.  After naps the girls played outside and then someone from church brought us a meal, I think it was Suleidy and if it then we had chicken and rice and it was pretty good.  After dinner we gave Libby a bath because she had her first doctor's appointment in the morning and we wanted her to be clean!  Her belly button thing fell off on Sunday so we could fully submerge her!

In the tub

Her feet look huge!

Mimi warming her up afterwards

And this is what happens to Libby's hair after she has a bath... Aunt Kelly bought us those pajamas back when Haley was born and they are one of my favorite pairs, they are so soft and snuggly!

 FRIDAY morning Mimi stayed home with Haley and Emy and David and I took Libby to her first doctor's appointment.  Her discharge weight was 6 lbs. 6 oz. and she was back up to 6lb 9oz, just 2 ounces away from her birth weight.  Her height was still 20 inches which put her in the 70% and her head size was also in a high percentage, 60 or something!  Her weight was in the twenty something percentile, sorry I need to find the paper!  Fortunately she didn't have to get any shots but she didn't like it when Dr. Bagnell was examining her, especially when she was looking around in her mouth for thrush (there wasn't any).  She said she looked good and reminded her of Em (Dr. Bagnell always refers to Emily as Em).

Libby hanging out at the doctor's

In the afternoon Mimi and I took Haley to Kohl's to pick out some summer dresses for her to wear.  She still insisted on wearing her awful purple pants despite the rising Texas temperatures so we thought we could maybe try and persuade her to try some new options.  She picked out several dresses and a skirt and seemed happy about her choices.  Friday night we went to Cowboy Chicken for dinner.  We told Mimi we would take her anywhere to eat and that's what she wanted!  Afterwards Mimi watched Haley and Emy while David and I went to a school Spanish program for about an hour.  David had given a presentation on Honduras to these kids back in November and they had a program about each country they had learned about.  We were a little bit late and ironically walked in just as they had finished talking about Honduras, oops.  When we got home Emily was playing nicely but Haley was watching the Ipad after Mimi had repeatedly told her to put it away.  We were surprised that Mimi hadn't spanked her so David did, haha.  Sorry, I guess it wasn't too funny at the time.  After a bit we put the girls to bed and then David, Mimi and I played some Dutch Blitz.  

SATURDAY was a pretty laid back day.  We drove around Longview and stopped by a yard sale and then took Mimi to see the new church where we will be meeting on the first Sunday in May.  I had never seen it and Mimi was curious so we all went for a look.  By the time we were finished there it was time for lunch and since we were already out, we decided to stopy by Chick Fil A.  The older girls ate and then played on the playground while Mimi, Libby, and I sunbathed outside.  

Mimi and I getting some sun at Chick Fil A

After Chick Fil a we went home for naps.  After naps we all went to the park.

Haley 'hanging' at the park.  Notice that she is wearing one of her new dresses from Mimi, no purple pants!!!

Mimi guarding Libby 

Then we came home and Mimi and the girls ate dinner together while David and I took Libby and went on a date.  When we got home, Mimi had fed and bathed the girls and they were in bed!  We got Libby comfortable and then we all played a couple games of Dutch Blitz again, I think Dave won.

Eating with the two older girls

 SUNDAY morning we all went to church.  It was nice to have Mimi there to help out with the girls during the worship part of the service.  No one was happier than Haley who got to be held during a lot of the songs, I don't hold her anymore because she's too big and quite frankly, I have two others in line before her to be held.  Our time at church ended a little dramatically when Haley fell in the baptismal tub.  They were draining it and she was standing on a stool and reaching in to touch the water as it got lower and lower.  Anyways, as it got lower she had to reach lower and eventually she fell in.  I had been watching her so I ran over but not before Dr. Mason pulled her out.  She was hardly under the water for anytime at all but she talked about it for a while afterwards.

That's a picture of the baptismal tub.

 After church we all went to a nearby restaurant/deli (it's called Newks and it reminds me Panera bread) to celebrate all of the college seniors who were graduating the following week.  Originally we had ordered sandwiches to be brought to the church but they had lost our order so we all went to the actual restaurant.  It was actually kind of a disaster because it took forever for them to get everyone's food to them and we all ended up eating at separate times.  The long wait did give us plenty of time to visit and Libby slept the whole time so I guess it ended up okay.  When we got home we put the girls down for naps and rested a bit ourselves.  In the evening we went to a Progressive dinner at LeTourneau University.  Several students who regularly attend our church set up a Progressive dinner through their dorm rooms.  They had made chips and queso (appetizers), salad and bread, and spaghetti.  We were split into smaller groups when we got there and then we rotated through the rooms.  We were lucky to have the salad first, then the appetizer, and then the spaghetti.  Some groups started with the spaghetti and ended with the chips, haha.  Afterwards we all ended up at the old chapel on campus for desserts and a group picture.   

Our whole group.  See if you can find the members of our family, none of us are standing together but we are each holding one of the kids.

We were grouped with the Freeman family who have a little girl who is a couple months older than cousin Calla, the girls had a fun time.  Here they are sitting on a college boy's bed, haha.

Mimi holding Libby between courses

After the Progressive dinner we stopped by the new student activity center to show Mimi.  She gave herself a tour and then we all sat on the couches while I nursed Libby before heading home.

Hanging out

MONDAY was kind of a sad day because it was our last full day with Mimi.  I don't remember everything we did but I think we did a photo shoot for Libby's birth announcements.  I know Mom and I thawed some chicken and then made a couple meals and put them in the freezer for later.  It was a super nice day so we spent some time playing outside too.

Mimi holding Libby and pushing Emily.

Later Mimi did some things around the house that I don't know how to do, like mending curtains:

Haley and Emy watched

In the evening we had dinner and then played some Dutch Blitz.

TUESDAY was the day we said goodbye to Mimi.  We got up and had breakfast and then took her to the airport.  We made Mimi wait until the last minute to get on her plane.  Literally the last minute, they had closed security when we finally let her go through (although what airport closes security?).

The Longview airport is under construction so Mimi and Haley watched the progress for a while.

A picture of Mimi and the girls with really bad lighting

More bad lighting

Saying goodbye

It was so nice to have Mimi stay with us, we can't wait to get to PA, hopefully sometime in June.  Actually, today (May the 6th), Haley asked me if we could go to Mimi's house tomorrow.  I guess she doesn't realize that Mimi is a 20 hour drive away!  We said goodbye and watched her plane takeoff and then headed home.  David helped me get the girls lunch and then he had to go to work.  Just before he walked out the door he leaned his head in and said, "alright, here's where it gets real" and then left.  "Real" was actually not that bad once I had the girls down for naps.  It got better when my friend Meg brought us Cowboy Chicken for dinner.  I took the girls to the gym and we took a walk around the pond in the wagon.  I pulled the wagon and put Libby in the bjorn.  It was kind of a process to actually get to the gym but it was worth it to get out of the house.  In the evening I took Libby to an end of the year MOPs dinner while David stayed home with the girls.  When I got home they were in bed and David and I stayed up a bit and then we went to bed.