3 Months

Look who's 3 months old today!

We love our little guy. He goes by Jesse, but is also known as Tiny, Jesse Grayson and Little Papoose.

He is happy most of the time and has the most infectious smile. Annley can NOT get enough of him which is sometimes a little frustrating like when I'm trying to feed and change him. Parker loves him too. Jesse likes to watch Annley and Parker play. He squeals and wiggles trying to get to them. He is very ticklish! He recently started laughing so we try to make him laugh as much as possible.

I am so grateful this little one was sent to our family.

Christmas with the Monkeys

We spent this Christmas at my parents' house in GA. Once again Annley was sick for Christmas. Luckily, this time is was just a cough and fever but she still wasn't herself. This Christmas Annley asked to get married to which the obvious answer was not this year. She then asked santa for a wedding dress and a baby doll. Lucky for her I was a miniature bride in a wedding when I was six. My mom still had the dress. It fits her perfectly.

Parker was the most excited kid on the planet. The first present he got was a truck. He started dancing and shouting "CARS". He did that every time it was his turn to open a present. It was great!

This Christmas has been my favorite since Tyler and I have had kids. I'm looking forward to several more like this one.

Georgia Aquarium

A few weeks ago while Tyler was working in Atlanta, I decided to take the kids to the aquarium and invited my mom to go. She suggested I ask my brothers to go. One of those brothers asked if he could bring a date. I said yes, thinking we could use all the adults we could get since we were taking three kids three years old and younger. The trip to the aquarium was my first outing with all three kids and I was terrified. What if I lost someone?
That being said, there is absolutely no way my mom and I would have survived that trip on our own and here's why. I forgot to pack the stroller and the aquarium does not provide rental strollers. I also couldn't find Parker's monkey leash which is kind of necessary when going to a place like the largest aquarium in the U.S. Plus Parker has the energy of threes toddlers rolled into one and he tends to be a little strong willed.

The moment we walked through the door Parker took off yelling "PISH" (fish for you non toddler speakers).  Mom had Jesse, one of the uncles had Annley so I took off after Parker. He stopped suddenly and stared in awe at the fish behind the floor to ceiling glass. He took of running again but this time it was just the length of the glass and back. He picked out a fish and followed it back and forth for a little while before we moved on to something else.

We only made it through a third of the aquarium because both kids were up at 4:30 and hadn't napped. We left as soon as the meltdowns began. Regardless, we had a great time. The uncles were the heroes of the day seeing as they carried Annley and Parker most of the time we were gone.

Annley loved the jellyfish and the sea otters. She also got to touch a starfish and an anemone and was excited about it. That was a huge deal! I've never been able to convince her to willingly touch anything that wasn't cute and cuddly.

Mice on Main

I have done a HORRIBLE job of writing about what's been going on. A few weeks before Jesse was born Lori and I took the kids on a "field trip" to Greenville.
Downtown Greenville has done an amazing thing. The city took the book "Mice on Main" and actually put bronzed mice down Main Street.

I checked out the book and read it several times with Annley before we went to look for them ourselves. They were pretty tricky to find even with the clues Lori printed out to help us.
The weather was perfect! I think this was one of the last outings we went on before Jesse was born.

Jesse Grayson

                                                                Click here to see more pictures.

Tyler and I had Parker at Labors of Love Birth Center. We had such a good experience we decided go all natural again and have Jesse at the same place.

This time around my midwife asked me not to wait so long to head to the birth center when I started labor, since this would be my third delivery.  She told us to plan on heading to the birth center when contractions were five minutes apart, just to be on the safe side.

Well my due date came and went. Tyler and my mom were both calling or texting two or three times a day to check up on me, despite my insistence that I would let them know as soon as anything happened.

On October 4, Annley got up at 2AM and asked me to take her potty and to get her some water.  I had just walked her into the bathroom when I felt a contraction that made me double over.  I thought hmm...that really hurt. I'm pretty sure they started out easier last time. I guess I'll wait and see I have anymore. 

I had another painful contraction before I got Annley into bed so I woke up Tyler to give him a heads up.

Contractions were about seven minutes apart and lasting about 45 seconds so he said he'd go back to sleep for a couple of hours.  I walked and tried to "rest" for the next two hours.  When I woke Tyler up at four in the morning, my contractions were all over the place but very painful and still only 30-45 seconds.  Tyler went ahead and called my mom and the midwife to let them know what was going on.  The midwife told him that we could head to the birth center, but that I probably wasn't even ready since my contractions were so short.  Tyler passed the word on to me, and I wondered if we should just wait a little longer.  He, being a good, coach insisted we leave right away.

The birth center was over an hour from where we live and by the time we'd gotten close I felt like my contractions were still really strong but getting shorter.  I was worried we'd driven all that way only to be in false labor.  Once we got there I told the midwives what I thought was going on. They checked me and said "Well, you're at 6cm. Would you like to get in the tub?"  

It still didn't seem real.  I was so excited and still talking between contractions which were getting closer together.  We were only there for 24 minutes before I felt like it was time to push. I was given the go ahead and 6 minutes later Jesse Grayson was born. Total time of Labor and delivery 4 hours and 30 minutes. I'm really glad Tyler insisted we leave when we did otherwise he would have had to deliver a baby in the car.

Tyler's mom came and brought the kids to see us at the birth center.  Annley was so excited to see her new baby brother. Parker was pretty interested too, until he got distracted by a train set in the waiting room, and went to go play. We were back home by 10:30 the same morning.

Who?

 

Annley has imaginary friends.  Sometimes they're princesses.  Well, usually they're princesses.  Lately, though, Annley has been talking about some imaginary girl named Cara.

The funny thing about Cara is that she's not like most imaginary friends.  Usually imaginary friends show up to play.  Cara is someone who has yet to arrive.

Annley loves church--I promise this relates to Cara.  When Annley talks about church, she talks about God.  She wants to see God.  She talks about that all the time.

"I need to go to the woods to say a prayer and see Heavenly Father!"

Ok.

But lately when she talks about God, she talks about Cara.

"Cara is with Heavenly Father.  She's going to come down to be my friend!"

Ok.

"Cara is going to come down from Heaven to be with me.  She has blonde hair and blue eyes!"

Hmmm...

"Cara is going to come to be my friend after Jesse Grayson is born!"

Uh...

One day Nana asked Annley to help her draw a picture of Cara.  Annley described Cara and Nana colored.  Pink dress.  Blonde hair.  Blue eyes.  Finally, Nana asked Annley if the picture was done.  It was.  Nana asked Annley if she should write Cara's name on it.  She should.  She asked Annley how Cara was spelled.

"K...E...R...A..."

Kera?

So far, Annley has only ever been able to read small words like pot and cat.  But spelling words?  And spelling a name she's never seen before?  Where did she learn to do that?

And, more importantly...who is Kera?!

Annley Says...

One night, after dessert, Annley sat down on the couch next to Tyler and sighed.
"It's been a good day. I had cake."

Here's a conversation between Annley and Nana about watching a movie. She usually only gets one movie a day.  (Annley, not Nana).

Annley: "I want to ask my Mommy if I can watch."
Nana: "You already watched."
Annley: "I watch to watch Diamond Princesses."
Nana: "But you already watched."
Annley: "I watched The Ocean."
Nana: "Yes, you did."
Annley: "I think my Mommy will say no."
Nana: "Yes, I think so too."
Annley: "But in the end she will say "yes".

I wish I'd known about this conversation before she asked me if she could watch a movie.  Because I would have said no.


Last week I got my hair cut. My hair is now about 10 inches shorter than it was. When I got home, Annley started sobbing.

"Mommy, why did you have to cut your hair?!  Can I brush it?!"

Then, on Sunday...
"Mommy, I like your hair now."
"Thank you!"
"But Abbie will laugh when she sees it."

Ouch!

And then, on Monday...
"Mommy, who cut your hair?"
"Maggie."
"Why did she cut your hair?"
"Because I asked her to."
"You shouldn't have asked her to do that. Your hair just needs to stay long. Don't ask Maggie to do that again."