Preschool Program, Memorial Day, and Chowin' Down

The 21st was R's last day of preschool. Man, do we ALL already miss school!!! Anyways, her school is WONDERFUL (thanks to my fabulous cousin, Melissa), and they have a big fundraiser dinner and auction before the program. So of course, we did our part.... eating.

It was one of those days that I REALLY thought she looked so pretty and so big.
Here she is doing her thang. This girl LOVES her some singing, so it was way up her alley. I have it on video, but don't have the cord to upload it yet from that camera. Soon...
Clapping for herself (she's in the middle, by the way).

We LOVE these gals....Her sweet teachers:

Mrs. Elysha

Mrs. Lisa

On Memorial Day, we spent the day with the Isbells. Took the kiddos to the park near their house that just built a splash zone. Awesome! Why don't we have this by us?!?!?! Excuse the jealousy. Anyways, maybe if we had it close and could go often, Reagan would actually use it rather than just standing there....

She and Brandon looked adorable but scared to death. Here is R crouching...about 6 feet from the spot where water would actually dump on her.

Brandon has backed further away.

I don't blame them for steering clear of the dumping buckets, but THIS looks fun! And see how dry they still are?!

So, R just found a puddle to lay down in. Check out those cheeks. :)

You can't see it well unless it is bigger, but they found a small little sprayer and just stood over it. Eventually her hair did get wet, but not that much fun was had. Guess it is a bit old for 2 year-olds...Brooklyn and Elijah hung out on the blankets. This picture is boring, but look how albino my kid looks next to Elijah! Awesome.

Lately, B has been wanting to nurse like crazy. Like every 2 hours, and I was upset because there was no keeping up with her! I was complaining/worrying about it to Emily and she reminds me that B is almost 6 months.... probably hungry and ready for solids. Duh! So, we broke out the spoons this week. Here she is tasting cereal ....

Not sure what to think....

Look of total surprise....

Then the looks of total disgust.

It was hilarious.

Here are a few videos of it.... they are really funny to us, but mostly I'm posting videos for grandparents...

This one, you can tell she is just making the horrible face before the spoon even gets to her mouth!




In true Brooklyn style, she TRIES to be happy even though she is not sure about this!!! I liked that in the videos too.... she pops in a smile every once in awhile. Just 'cause that is how she rolls. Love this girl!

But, OH WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES!! This is about 18 hours later, round two with the foods. A little squash, a little cereal... man, she is now LOVING it. She "fusses" (B never gets fussy, at least in our standards next to Reagan as a baby. She just makes noises.) between every bite, telling me to go faster!!!

And this is what I see as soon as she swallows.

So, I guess feeding is going well so far! The chick likes to eat! So, she fits in around here. :) I've already thrown in some prunes for her.... I was a bit worried how this eating thing would affect her poo. (Sorry, but yes, I'm blogging about her poo!) It can be a big issue with spina bifida. So far, so good though! She has had no problems with the eating or the pooping, so please pray this continues! I know we are SO blessed to have a NICU graduate baby who nurses and eats so well... thank you LORD for this! Another answer to prayer for this girl!

The BUG

R and I go out this morning to play on her "playground," as she affectionately calls it. We found this guy right by the slide. Now, you can't tell how big he is from this pic, but he was BIG, even for a locust. She sees him, and says "Um.... Mommy? Is that a BUG?!" I said yes, but honestly, I had a hard time convincing her because it was quite a mutant.

So, I ask her what we should do, since she obviously didn't want to slide with him right there, just staring at us. Her reply...

"We could poke it."

I laugh outloud, then go get her a stick!

She got this close, then chickened out. I don't blame her. She says, "No Mommy, you poke it." Then we go back and forth... "No, YOU poke it!" "No, YOU poke it!" We are both cracking up at this point. Honestly, it felt like a comical situation that I would be in with a grown up girlfriend, not my 2 year old. It was and is still so funny to me!
Well, neither of us poked it. He gave up on us decided to get the heck outta dodge himself. Thankfully. I am not a bug-a-phobe, but I sure didn't want that bad boy flying his revenge at my face!

Big posts to follow this weekend....

Caddo Lake

This past weekend was our annual trip to Caddo. And David's third year to miss it due to work. Boo.

Times have changed. I've been going out to my family's place on Caddo Lake for 30 years now, and it never looked like this before!!! We pack so much junk, but it was unbelieveably fun to watch all the little ones together.... from the comfort of the shade. Greatness.

Bubble machines, bouncy castles, playdough, paint, PowerWheels.... doesn't get much better. Not sure what Adam is doing here, but looks like Brady is about to get it.
This girl LOVES her some bubbles! Btw, those of you reading this.... I am on the hunt for more bubble "straws" like this. I got them at our grocery store, and they no longer have them. Anyone know where to find any??
Reagan running in this one... classic. Such a girl.

Ella and Reagan were quite the partners in crime this trip. They are a LOT alike in lots of ways (sneaky, accident prone, etc), but they had the whole first day together to become good friends... they were cute.

Bouncy castle action shots!

Look of PURE JOY on Charlie's face!

These THREE actually had the whole first day together. Charlie shared his bouncy balls with R, which she couldn't live without while she jumped in there. Weirdo.

That's Katie Lou, the gymnast, upside down. I think Elizabeth was helping her straddle...

Pooped out!

Yay for Adam, Amie, and Bradley for taking the youngest ones out on the boat!

(thanks to all of y'all for sharing your pics with me...) Amie, I think you look fabulous. :) With some REALLY cute kids, too.

Alicia was on aunt duty all weekend, but found time to play with and read to other kiddos too. She and Charlie are pals. I love this picture.

Oh, how I remember playing with us girls on the top bunks!! Guess it has passed on!

All the girls, minus Brooklyn. I love how Ella's eyes didn't leave the little tv...

R got to practice her driving skills on the Bramletts' jeep, thankfully, since I had no way of getting ours down there. She did OK, getting better!

But this is what we call "the blind leading the blind." Neither of these can drive that thing, but it didn't stop them! R did pretty good actually, thanks to help from Granddaddy!

Charlie, hang on for dear life!

LOVE this one. Addison was helping Charlie, and he was LOVING it!

Again, the Bramletts came to my girls' rescue and let us use their play pen thing that keeps out bugs. Brooklyn was in heaven.

Give her a spot with a toy to chew on, and she's golden.

Little golf lesson from Granddaddy. It was her idea. She wanted to "knock those balls into the water." Generally that is not a good thing in golf, but it works at Caddo.

Sweet cousins. David said this pic of Charlie is about the cutest thing he had ever seen! Not that Brady isn't cute, of course, but Charlie's look as Brady sat down was hilarious!

Can you tell we are fine with throwing in a weekend of pure WT?

Brooklyn's therapy box was perfect for the kitchen table. She could see everybody! Here, she's trying to figure out what to make of Adam....

Now they're pals!

Now, she looks away. Such a flirt.

Since I've been a Mommy, seriously the greatest way I feel love is seeing people love my kids. (It has taught me a lot about God and why He wants us to love Him by loving His children around us.) Here is my sweet Katie giving B some lovin'. OH, I just LOVE Katie! Notice her dress and fancy hair for Caddo church. She brought heels too. Hilarious.

Helping her sit back up straight...

Of course, B had the best weekend ever. That girl is happy 24/7 no matter where she is or how bad her schedule is thrown off. Grandmommy helps bring out the smiles, too, for sure. But look at that grin... I could just eat her up!

Thanks to Janet for the fun artsy stuff!

Thankfully the bigger girls didn't mind too much that Reagan can NOT grasp the concept of keeping playdough colors separate!

All the girls being crafty.

And Charlie too. Amie made him a snake necklace.... click here to read about her snake story from the weekend!!!

Both the boys seemed to love Brooklyn. Brady laid on the bed for awhile, entertaining her like crazy. She just laughed and laughed! I felt bad that I had to keep telling him not to touch her face... he wanted to love her so badly! But, I don't think he realized the extent of his snot and the boogies all over his fingers....

Katie, again, with smiley B.

And sweet Addison with smiley B. She is SUCH the great big sister/mom to have around. Both the girls are SO good with babies, which works out great since they will have another baby around in Nov!!

LOVE this one.

Christy and Addison playing with B. I love this one mostly because of Brenda's arm tickling her back as she walked by. So sweet.

I know what you're thinking... "Christy doesn't look pregnant! What was that she said about a FOURTH... ?!" Well, she is. She just is the cutest pregnant person on the planet. (Last year I was preggo with B. Everyone guessed I was about 17-18 weeks.... nope, 7 weeks. That's how I roll. Literally.)

Here's Grandmommy giving B her bath. Without David being there, my parents were LIFESAVERS with the girls. Can you tell by the waves that B is enjoying herself?!

Sweaty girls needed some down time with the TV and AC. :)

There it is! I can't wait for next year!! :)