Cousins

Our kids with Kelly and Tiffany's boys.


Lydia and Abraham (7 weeks apart)


Clae and Kohen

Turkey Treat

More commonly known as Trick or Treat :). Clae was a lion, we had a little bit of trouble getting him into his costume but after a while he loved it. (the costume was also a lot cuter before mommy washed...and dryed it. oops.) And Lydia was a little lady bug. So cute.

Enjoying the Weather

What LOVELY weather we have been having this November. Last weekend was perfect. We spent a lot of time outside.

Girls Night Out

Lydia and I went to a bridal shower a few weeks ago. It was our first girls night out.

Eggs

I was putting groceries away the other day, I was standing by the fridge and Clae was on the other side of the island so I couldn't see him. He kept saying "eggs, eggs". I had gotten eggs so I didn't think much of it. When I finally went and checked on him ALL dozen eggs were laying out on the tile floor! He had taken them all out of the carton and he was counting them, "one, two, free, TIN". Not a single one was broken. I couldn't believe it. Oh my.

Little Teeny Girl

These are just some cute pictures of little Lydia. I love this hat.

By 'er

Every Morning Clae watches Sesame Street and He started recently saying "by 'er" while he was watching, which translated is "by her" he wants to sit by her (Lydia) while he watches Sesame Street. So, I've started putting her seat in front of the TV and they watch their little show together.

Reading the Paper

Clae is reading his morning paper. Kirby picks up these advertisements that have hundreds of pictures of tractors in them and Clae looks at them for hours. "Tractor, tractor, loader tractor, 4 wheeler, gator, tractor, tractor, tractor...."

Back to Sears

When Clae was 3 months we took him to Sears to get his pictures taken. At that time we were not very impressed. But we decided to try again and had a better experience this time and here are a few of the pictures. Lydia was perfect the whole time. Clae...not so much, in fact I'm not sure how we even got a good picture of him because I don't remember one second of him not crying and clinging to me! But we managed to get a couple of good ones of him.

Happy Little Campers

Kirby's parents own a cabin rental business on the lake so we decided to take a little "staycation" and stayed there for the weekend. We had a really nice relaxing time. If you're ever in the area and need a place to stay we recommend Pine Ridge Retreat!

Stone Project

Kirby has been working on some interesting projects this summer and I thought I would share this one. It's a picnic shelter in a park in Birmingham (obviously), so we've had fun going and playing in the park and watching daddy work.

Play Group

My friend Amy and I are attempting to start a play group. We had our first one yesterday. It was quite eye opening for me. Clae has never been around many kids younger than he is or many girls, he mainly just plays with his cousins (who are boys) and kids in the nursery who are mostly older than he is. So, our first experience being around younger kids and girls was...interesting. Audra, Amy's daugher, is a few months younger than Clae. I think he liked having someone so close to his size because he just wanted to hug her and kiss her, and hug her and kiss her, she however was not so interested in all the affection. He was pretty much a wild man the whole time and I was worn out by the time we got home. That put an end to mom's illusion that he's a perfect angel, which is part of the purpose of play group, for my kids to learn how to interact with other kids. So, it was quite a learning experience. I hope they let us come back next time!

Pictures of Clae and Lydia

Just a few pictures I wanted to share since I haven't posted many pictures of Lydia yet.

Our family with Pastor John at Lydia's dedication.

Clae loves his baby sister. He loves to hug and kiss her, and she smiles at him bigger than she smiles at anyone else.

So sweet.

Clae at the pool. At this moment he was choosing to play with his trucks instead of swim.

Tired little girl.

This is right after she got her shots. Not a fun time for either of us. For some reason I didn't think it would be as bad with her as it was with Clae. Wrong. I guess I'll be more prepared next time.

Family picture at Grandma and Grandpa's.

Clae with aunt sissy. He loves his aunt sissy, although I think we're going to have to think of another name for her since he has a sissy of his own now.

Quick Update

Sorry it's been so long since I last posted. Lydia quickly went from a baby who slept all of the time to a baby who cried all of the time! So, for about 4 weeks that consumed all of our spare time, not to mention the fact that we have a very busy toddler who still needs LOTS of attention.

Lydia is finally doing better. We think she had a bit of colic, and at 3 weeks she had an ear infection and a sore throat. Poor little thing, no wonder she was fussy. Clae has hardly been sick a day in his life, so having a sick baby wasn't something we were used to. She's doing great now, cooing and smiling like Clae did at her age. She's becoming a lot of fun.

Since my last post Clae and Lydia have a new cousin, Abraham David Cass, he's a sweetie, just 7 weeks younger than Lydia (although he's about as big as she is). Kelly, Tiffany, and big brother Kohen are adjusting well.

I'll post pics as soon as I get a free moment (maybe when my kids are in kindergarten), but tonight I'm too tired!

Here's Miss Lydia

Here she is just doing her thing, which these days is pretty much eating, sleeping, pooping, and crying (but not much crying, she's a pretty good baby).

Peek a Boo

Clae is peeking at his baby sister while she's sleeping.

Going Swimming

Grandma and Aunt Carly took Clae to the pool while we were in the hospital. He's striking a pose in his wet suit and aqua socks!

Going Home

Here we are headed home from the hospital.

1st Family Picture

This is our first and only family picture we've taken so far. Mama isn't looking so good, but it's the best picture I could come up with. You can't see Lydia very well but there will be many more pics of her to come.

Lydia Grace

We welcomed our sweet little baby girl into the world last Thursday, May 28. She weighed 7 lbs 2 oz and was 19 inches long. She has dark hair and dark complexion. I think she looks just like her daddy. We're adjusting to being home. It's less overwhelming the second time around and Clae is doing great with her. I'm still recovering from surgery but I think things will get much easier once I'm getting around a little bit better. I'll post a picture soon, she's precious.

Two Weeks...

Two weeks from tomorrow we will have our newest little one. I think we're still in a little bit of denial. We're both thinking, didn't we JUST have a baby? Don't get my wrong, we're very excited and anxious to meet the newest member of our family, we just know what a big adjustment it is to have a baby.

The pregnancy is going well. I'm very tired and it gets harder and harder to keep up with Clae. He's a busy guy, and I am very ready for bedtime every day. Other than that everything is normal, no problems at all.

One thing we are stuggling with is picking out a boy's name. We're pretty solid on the girl's name, the boy's...not so much. Clae wants to name him "Daddy", and at this point it's about our best option! We of course have ideas, just nothing we can agree on! We want something simple but meaningful, it's not as easy as it sounds.

We're getting things ready as much as possible. There is definitely less to do to get ready for the second one. I've gotten out the onesies, any newborn outfits I can find that are appropriate for a boy or a girl to take to the hospital, pumping attachments, bottles, and breastmilk storage bags. We have to put the car seat in and set up the pack and play. Kirby and I are going to go shopping this weekend for last minute necessities. Clae is going to stay with Grandma and Grandpa so Mommy and Daddy can have a little bit of time together before our life changes drastically again.

Clae continues to get more and more fun every day. It's amazing what goes on in their little minds and how much information they retain. He's saying a few words, da, mem, pa(grandpa), ma (grandma), cracker (tractor), and several other interesting noises he makes that we've managed to link with different objects. I don't think he knows what's coming with the new baby, I'm sure we will have a time of adjustment with him. We show him pictures of babies in books and he knows how to sign "baby" now but I don't think that will quite prepare him for what's to come. Once he gets used to the idea I think he will be a wonderful big brother.

Playin'

We got to play outside today. It was a warm but wet day. Of course Clae walked through every puddle he could find. He's ALL boy!

Easter

I couldn't get a picture of Clae actually smiling in his easter outfit, but I hope this gives a good idea of how cute he looked in it.



Kohen, Clae, and Evan at Grandma and Grandpa Cass's for an easter egg hunt.

More Pictures of Clae

There's nothing significant about these pictures. I just thought they were cute.

He's laughing at my sister's dog in this one.

I thought this was a funny expression on his face.

Just eating...what he spends a good portion of the day doing. He's a good eater.

Getting ready to go outside on a semi nice day. We haven't had very many nice ones so far this spring, but he loves to go outside no matter what the temperature.

Bath Time

Clae LOVES bath time if you can't tell.