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. 

Pebbles Preschool

Avery loves her new Preschool!  Her teachers are Ms. Bethany and Ms. Karla and she is so excited to go everyday!  She attends Tuesday and Thursday and ask about school about a million times over the weekend!  I love it!  Here is her first day pic, eating breakfast, and her with her teachers!  She is getting to be such a big girl!

Happy 2 Month Birthday

Two months have come and gone and yet it still feels like I just had our sweet baby Ansley Grace.  She is sensitive, vocal and very alert, watching everything you do.  Just like Avery she loves to cuddle and to be held.  I feel like her second month has been full of packing and dealing with the house stuff.  All I can think about is being done with all the signing, closing, packing talk and just rock my baby and play with Avery.  It can be so consuming and stressful.  They are not little long and I want to enjoy it.  She started sleeping through the night which was awesome because I was reaching my past exhausted point.  And it was perfect timing with the move and our upcoming vacation to Colorado.  She also started smiling at us.... ALOT!  I love this point because by her reacting to me I know she recognizes our voices and knows who we are.  I'm sure that happens much earlier, but her smile reassures me of that!  I love watching her little face while she is sleeping and when she smiles while having a dream.  She is pure innocence and I become overwhelmed with how blessed our family is to have her when I look at her.  I find myself wiping alot of tears!  But that is with both girls.  I remember when Avery first called me Momma....I just burst into happy tears.  It is the greatest title I will ever hold and I thank God each night for choosing Jason and I as Avery and Ansley's parents.  To trust us with these two precious girls is an honor and we will do our best to raise them in the way of the Lord.  The thought of creation is amazing to me and to see our two girls that we help create will always be a miracle to me!  I love the dynamic that Ansley has added to our family and we made it over the hump!

Weight:  13 lbs

Height:  24.3 in

Diaper Size:  1

Clothes Size: Newborn and some 0-3 months       

Eating:  Nursing and bottle feeding (2-3 oz every 3 hours)

Happy 2 Month Birthday Sweet Girl!

Sleeping beauty!

Sweet girls!

And she was done with pictures!

So she decided that she would not look at the camera.  Little stinker!

Summer 2013

Well, I have to say that I have not felt like Mom of the Year this summer.  It has been too hot to go out and do anything with a brand new baby and I feel like Avery has been cheated.  She is used to being a pool rat all summer with Momma hanging out with her friends at the pool and this year that all came to a halt.  Everyone keeps telling me she will not remember this but I carry guilt forever.  I've got to stop being so hard on myself.  I will be honest with you, adjusting to having two children is a challenge (I would not have it any other way) and it does take time to learn how to manage your schedule.  I think the hardest thing for me has been feeling like I can't give both Avery and Ansley 100% of me all the time.  Not sure if that is even doable.  I feel like we have been a prisoner of our own home due to the heat, the move, and packing.  Poor baby girl has had her toys packed and her life flipped upside down.  I am definitely ready to slow down, settle into our new home, find a new church, have some play dates, and get back to what we consider normal.  Before we can do that we have to move this Wednesday and then we leave for our vacation to Colorado the following weekend.  I know.  Bad timing right.  Who would have thought the two things would have fallen so close together.  Then we have Avery's open house for her new school the Monday we get back and then she starts school that Tuesday.  I pray she does well and does not ask about her previous school; which we both are going to miss terribly.  Our family is excited about our new adventure to Fort Worth, but we will miss life here in McKinney.  Summer 2013 has blessed us with a beautiful little girl but brought many health issues for my Dad.  He has been in the hospital three times this summer and is currently being treated for two pulmonary embolisms and a blood clot in his leg.  All we can say is that the good Lord has watched over him and given him a purpose to overcome the problems.  He is very lucky to be here today with the blood clots and going into a heart attack right before bypass surgery.  I praise Him for wrapping His arms around my Dad and protecting him.  Like I said before, normalcy would be nice right about now.  An uneventful Fall would be nice!   

 

Twinkies.  Ready for a swim party!

 My big girl who will always be my baby!

 Happy girl!

Just hanging out staying cool!

Happy 1 Month Birthday

Happy 1 Month Sweet Ansley

This post is a month late but better late than never.  Right?  Ansley is such a lovable baby.  She loves to cuddle and to be held....spoiled much!  Her one month check-up was great; A+ on developmental and motor skills.  Once her report card is unpacked I will put her stats on here.  She is wearing newborn clothes and diapers and is strictly nursed.  She eats about two ounces at each feeding.  She takes great naps and is on a three to three and half hour eating schedule.  I did Baby Wise with Avery and it worked wonders so we have Ansley on the schedule as well.  Her pedi said she was growing beautifully and putting weight on nicely!  She is not a fan of her baths and does not like it when I stop feeding her to burp......both produce some pretty loud screams.  She knows how to work the system to a tee.....she will roll her lip out every time she cries and it is the most pitiful thing you have ever seen.  It breaks my heart to see her do it.  When it comes to the car she knows when it stops, she knows when you stop rocking in the chair, and she knows when you sit down.  She loves it outside just like Avery did.  We did learn that Ansley had two abnormal PKU tests come back showing that she had something going on with her bloodwork.  The hematologist at Children's informed us that it is nothing to be concerned about right now but told us a few things to look for and if any of those things happen that we would need to bring her in for more testing.  The abnormality is so rare that there is no name for it.  I was a wreck when the doctor called but calmed down once I learned that it was going to be fine.  At four weeks I think we have made it over the hump.  We are getting a little bit more sleep, we are managing our time better, and loving having two precious healthy little girls.  God has truly blessed us through two little miracles we call Avery and Ansley!

Weight:  10 lbs 13 oz

Height:  22.5 inches

Diaper Size:  Newborn

Clothes Size:  Newborn

Eating:  Nursing (average of 2 oz every 3 hours)

 Not sure what you are doing Mom!

 And whatever you are doing I do not like it!

 She kept crossing her eyes so I only got two or three good pics.  Did not realize it until I uploaded the pictures to the computer.  Little toot!

 This was a big deal for Avery.  She loves helping with Ansley and bringing us stuff.  Little Momma!

 Happy girl!

 Baby blues!

We love this precious little baby!