Happy 3 Month Birthday

Sweet Ansley is growing so much.  Every time I look at her, which is all the time, she looks different.  She smiles at familiar faces and rolls that bottom lip out at unfamiliar voices.  She tries to hold her bottle which is crazy to me and she watches everything and everyone.  She LOVES Avery and you can see it in both of their eyes.  Avery will talk and dance in front of her and she watches in amazement.  She found her toes and tugs at her socks when she can reach them.  When she is in the bath tub and right after you get her out you would think I had given her sugar or something.  Her legs are going 90 to nothing, she is smiling, and she is not quite sure what to do with her hands!!!!!!  It is the funniest thing.  She had to go to the doctor due to a double ear infection.  My poor babies inherited my terrible allergies that affect them year round.  She still struggles in the car at times but it is because she wants to cuddle and it breaks my heart.  But there is nothing I can do when she starts crying.  Overall she is a happy baby and I love that way she looks at Jason, Avery and I.  She knows she is loved and taken care of.  Love you sweet girl!   

Weight:  14 lbs 13 ounces 

Diaper Size:  1

Clothes Size: 0-3 and 3 months

Eating: Nursing and bottle feeding (5-6 ounces every 3.5 to 4 hours) 

 

Happy 3 Month Birthday Sweet Ansley Grace!

She looks terrified......every time I put my camera down she would smile ear to ear....pick it back up....this face.



I laugh every time I look at this picture.  You would think I hypnotized them!

Sweet kisses!

Love her baby blues!

Family / Ansley's Newborn Pics

Not much to be said.....I love them all. 

I can not thank Jill Ann Melton (www.photographybyjillann.com) enough for our awesome Newborn, Family, and Avery's 3 year old pics!  She did a great job and I can't wait to see what she does at her 6 month session!  Thank you!

Summing Up Summer

This summer has been very eventful; some good and some bad.  I can't say I'm sad to see it go.  The one blessing the summer did produce was our precious Ansley in June and then it seemed liked we could not get a break.  My grandfather had a quadruple bypass, then I had an irregular EKG and had to have a stress test (all came back normal except for my cholesterol which the doctor feels like I inherited due to how well I performed on the stress test.  I may just have to live with it.), my Dad had a bypass, one stint, and then they found two pulmonary embolisms and a blood clot in his leg.  He was in and out of the hospital four times over a two month period.  He is now on the road to recovery.  On top of all that our house sold, then unsold, then the very next day sold again to the people who bought it.  We moved in the August heat, thank goodness for movers, and then were gone a week.  I feel like hospitals and house talk took away our summer.  Then poor Ave hardly got to go swimming this year with Jas at work and Ansley being so little.  My emotions have definitely took a hard hit with all the changes.  We love our new home and it just feels right.  We are further from our immediate family, but it was the best thing for our family and we are so happy!  I found a MOPS group through one of Jason's cousins and we plan on starting to look for a new church this weekend.  Our neighbors are so friendly and always outside, which we love!  

With all the changes we really worried about how Ave would adapt to everything.  She loves her new school and new house but we have noticed a few changes in her.  When she gets upset she really makes a fuss which is not her personality, but we think it is her way of getting our attention.  We have really had to reevaluate how we discipline her and try other things.  She absolutely adores her sister and is always willing to help.  Not sure if the change is due to our new changes or age.  I just have to keep praying and reminding myself that "this to shall pass".  With Ansley sleeping through the night, all the boxes unpacked, and finding our way around a new area I feel like we are finally getting a routine to some degree.  It's hard with a baby!  So for now we will enjoy the festivities that occur with the coming of Fall, the start of the State Fair, the splash pads being open till the end of the month in our neighborhood, Texas Tech Football, the smell of Fall candles filling the house, afternoons at the park, and play dates with all of our Ft. Worth friends!  I have shared a few pictures of the girls that we have taken and I pray that Fall breaks a lighter load for many.    



Entertaining sister.  She is a huge help.  Ansley will be crying and Ave will walk over and start talking to her and she immediately calms down.

Sweet baby cheeks

Helping mommy make pumpkin bread!

Cutest Lil' Red Raiders Around

Ave wanted to feed Ans and about three minutes into she looks at me and says, "Mommy I think you should do it".  Guess she could not go 100 mph while feeding baby!

Avery loves to play with my poms from high school!  She calls them her "pomis"!  She is a hoot!

   

Who needs a dog bed?  New use for the bouncer!

Such a sweet smile!

I hear her voice, "Mother what am I sitting in?"

Happy Baby

Gifts we made for Avery's teachers!  Thank you Pinterest!

Cheering on our Red Raiders!  Love College Football season!

Playing at the splash park in our new neighborhood!

Loved this!  Go Tech!

Lake City, Colorado

Right after we moved we had a trip planned to Colorado.  The trip was scheduled in December and who would have ever thought that it would fall the weekend that we actually got to move.  We moved on Wednesday and left on Saturday.  CrAzY!  I was so exhausted.  For anyone who knows me, you know I am packed and stoked about a trip weeks before leaving.  Well let me tell you I did not pack Jason and I till 1:00 am the morning we left.  Thankfully I had packed the girls weeks before we moved just in case I could not find something.  I honestly think we would have never got out the door if I had not done that.  At least I was prepared for them!  Ha!  The trip was great and hard at the same time.  With Ansley being so little it is hard to really "relax" on vacation.  I was either nursing, pumping, or rocking while Jason kept a close eye on Avery.  We enjoyed our time together, away from the move, the house, and unpacking.  The weather was AWESOME!  We wore jeans, long pants, and sweatshirts most of the time.  I prayed the weather would follow us home.  Wishful thinking......right?  We rode two days, spent one day over in Gunnison, Crested Butte and Mount Crested Butte, and one day in Silverton.  The towns are so quaint and historic.  I love the the simple life in Colorado.  But I am a Texas girl through and through and I will just visit for now!  We saw moose, elk, deer, bucks, chipmunks, and a ton of other little creatures.  Avery loved riding with Daddy and Papaw on the four-wheeler!  Ansley and I rode in the Gator with an enclosed cab to keep out of the weather and dust.  On our last day, our "do nothing but sit outside, take a nap, hold baby, relax, do a word find, pack" day, our accident free trip quickly changed.  We had built a campfire Thursday night and at 10:30 we called it a night, smothered the fire, and went to bed.  Friday we headed into town, had breakfast, and stopped by a few more places/scenic areas before heading out Saturday morning.  When we got back to the camper I had sat down in a lawn chair while Avery was playing.  Not three feet from me.  Jason had walked down to his Dad's camper about thirty feet from us.  In a blink of an eye I saw Avery back up and trip backwards over the rocks that were outlining the fire pit.  Each site had a designated area for a fire.  She let out a blood curdling scream and I threw everything out of my lap and grabbed her.  I knew something was bad because of how she was crying.  I started patting her down, because I thought she was on fire and all I could do was tell her breath......take a deep breath and tell momma where it hurts.  She finally let out "my hand" and I immediately saw the blisters already forming.  Later, after we got back, we found a smoldering rock under all the ashes that must have been what her hand landed on.  My father-in-law said to put mustard on it so I ran to the camper and grabbed the mustard.  Then another neighboring camper came over and her and her husband own a health food store.  She gave me burn cream.  After five minutes and still seeing how much pain she was in I told Jason we had to go the medics.  We flew 60 in a 30 with our flashers on and got to town within 15 minutes.  The hospital staff was amazing and treated Avery with such care.  Her right hand was covered in 2nd degree burns but the outcome was very promising.  Today, three weeks later, her hand looks great and I don't believe she will need any further treatment.  God protected our sweet girl and I am so thankful.  It could have been a thousand times worse and that tugs at my heart still today.  I try to not think about the what ifs.  She was in such pain, kicking her legs, screaming, and at one point in the car heading to town she got real quiet and looked over at me and said "I love you Mommy".  I just lost it.  No parent wants to see their child hurting like that.  The staff has since called three times to check on her!  They are so kind!  That night she went fishing and had a good time!  I took the sweet lady her burn cream back and another neighbor brought Ave a stuffed toy.  We were showered with concerns and well wishes for our sweet girl.  Such nice people.  I changed her dressing for her hand twice a day for three weeks.  Glad that is over.  After sleeping at a rest stop with both kids, we made it home safe and sound Sunday afternoon.  Home never felt so good.....even if we had only lived there three days! 

A beautiful waterfall we found on our way to Lake City.  Jason's dad knew about it and thank goodness because you can't see it from the road. 



Lake San Cristobal



Avery feeding the chipmunks

Jaws packed!

It ate right out of her hand!

Loved this church on a hill

The only bear we saw!  Ha!

Headed to get ice cream with Papaw

 

Beautiful Lake City

View from about fifty feet from our camper

First ride up Carson Road to see the ghost town.  We saw a momma moose with her two calves!  So cool!  Avery loved it!



The ride on the right was mine and Ansley's!  We stayed rather warm and dry....it was nice!



Loved that little pink helmet sticking out from behind Daddy!

Ghost Town up Carson Road

 

Could this be more perfect!

God's Creation

Getting ready to leave for day two!  We had to dress a little warmer!  There was rain, sleet, and hail that afternoon up where we were.  Avery got in with me so the girls and I were super warm and DRY!  Jas wore his Frog Togs and he was still freezing.

Happy Girl

Downtown Silverton, Colorado.  We had to park on the hill and walk (it's a hike with two kids.....I needed an oxygen tank on the way back up) because the four-wheelers can not be rode in town.  We ate at a super cool place called Handlebars! 

Vacation home?????

We took a back rode to Crested Butte and the Aspen Pines were breath taking.  While visiting Gunnison, Colorado one of the locals told us about the road.  Worth the scary drive!

We rode the ski lift up to see the views.  For some reason I feel much safer with snow below me rather than rocks or it could have been we had both girls with us and that somewhat freaked me out. 

Nice form while playing putt-putt!

 

The morning she got hurt.  We stopped by the river to skip rocks and pick one out for her to paint when we got home.  It wasn't an hour after this picture when she fell.

Loved the ski lift swings.  Clever idea!

The wonderful facility that treated our baby.  We took this pic while driving away.