My Baby Is Turning 14!

On April 3rd, my baby, my boy who made me a mommy, my sarcastic side kick will be FOURTEEN. How on Earth did that happen so fast?
 
During this last year year McLain:

• Finished 7th and began 8th grade
• Auditioned and made Honor Orchestra
• Went to Valley Crusis for summer camp with his youth group 
• Completed his eighth season of soccer 
• Went to D-Now and stayed at Gene McCord's house with our church's middle school boys
• Had a sleepover for his 14th birthday (2 weeks early) that included 10 boys taking over our home
• Went to Disney World with the LMS orchestra

He loves:

• To be sarcstic and/or completely random
• Watching soccer, especially the World Cup
• Florescent colored clothing 
• Shoes
• Sleeping in past lunch time
• Playing video games on the x-box with his friends
• Chicken wings, Pringles, Yoohoo, his Mammy's ham, and his mama's fresh out of the oven chocolate chip cookies
• To moon and torture his little brother whenever and wherever he can
• Playing soccer with his dad
• Watching the Goldberg's on Wednesday nights with his mother 
• The Walking Dead

He hates:

• Vacuuming
• Picking up after himself 
• The word cute
• Smiling during pictures

His milestones:

• He started shaving! 
• His voice started changing.
• He grew taller than his Mimi.

Happy birthday, McLain! Stop growing up so fast!

K.P. and the Big Eight!

On February, 7th, my wild man turned eight. How can that be? He really, really wanted to share his big day with baby Annalise, because her due date was on his birthday. Keaton said, "Mom, we can be TWINS!" :) We told him repeatedly for nine months that babies are rarely born on their due dates and that his sister probably wouldn't be either. He handled her coming 10 days early like a champ and has been very excited and a big help since her arrival.
 
This year Keaton:

• Invited Jesus into his heart after an amazing week at Bible school
• Was baptized by Pastor Justin at our church
• Completed his fourth year of soccer
• Finished first and started second grade
• Earned two medals as a math champion for his class 
• Invented an apron with suction cups to contain messes for toddlers in the invention convention 
• Was Fly Guy for character dress up day 
• Is big enough to hold his baby sister while standing and loves to show people how he can do that now
• Realized that chicken wings are amazing and loves to order them at Wallace's BBQ and U.S. Cafe, like his big brother

Funny things he says all the time:

•  Are you SERIOUS? 
• DUDE! (This is usually yelled at McLain)
• What up, YO?

He loves:

• To moon his big brother whenever and wherever he can
• To dance
• To order sprite with no ice when we got out to eat
• Skylander
• Duck Dynasty
• Chicken Wings
• Pokemon cards
• Running away from Mr. Collins who chases him down the MES hallways all the time
• Spending the night at his Mammy's and his Mimi's house
• Watching Minecraft videos on YouTube
• Playing soccer with McLain and his dad in the front yard
  

Happy birthday, K.P.! I can't believe you are already eight!

Blessing #5: Annalise Elizabeth

On Wednesday, January 28th at 5:17 PM, my sweet Annalise Elizabeth entered our family. She weighed 8 pounds 1 ounce and was 19 inches long. While her labor was the second longest of my five (20 hours), her delivery was the quickest, lasting only four minutes. No exaggeration I promise! I have her big day outlined and will fill in the details to complete her birth story before her first birthday.

Annalise has been with us for seven weeks now and her arrival into our family has been a very smooth one. She is a champion nurser and has been from her first latch. This week she has slept for 4-5 hour stretches at night, which is far better than her siblings ever did at this age. Like her brothers and sisters, she is fantastic at pooping up the back whenever I am busy. She is still sleeping almost all day, which makes our many daily car pool trips easy. My sweet girl loves to have her hair washed and will turn her head back and forth while we pour water on her to rinse out the shampoo.

Annalise's biggest fan is her sister. Amelia-Grace adores her and has turned into a little mama. She loves to announce, "Baby's hungwy!!!" whenever Annalise cries, and she and Collin argue often over whose turn it is to give her her binky. A-G also loves to put hair bows on her baby sister and to help swaddle her. I love it.

Thank you, God, for blessing us with this precious baby girl. She is a perfect fit for our family.