Family Pictures

Thank you, Melanie, for capturing our family.

This cracks me up

Booster Seat

Cheeeze!

Maddie is becoming such a big girl. I finally bought her a booster seat. We have been squeezing her in the high chair for a little too long. I also bought some polish for her nails that helps discourage thumb sucking. At first, she said "I like it". Great, I just wasted my money. A few minutes later, she started spitting. We have been thumb sucking free for a week!!

2 Months Old

My sweet boy is growing!! We went for his 2 month check-up, and he weighs 11 pounds 14 ounces. Yes, he gained 2 pounds and 4 ounces in one month! He also grew 2 inches in one month. He skipped over a few lines on the growth chart. He has really settled in to our family in the last few weeks. I will be honest, the first weeks of having him home required some major adjustments on our part. Now, he has a routine, he falls asleep on his own in his crib, and he only gets up once at night. Lately he has been sleeping 7 or 8 hours before he gets up, then he goes right back to sleep. We can't ask for more than that! He is smiling and talking all the time, and Maddie loves for me to put a big blanket on the floor for them to play on. She is so kind to him. She sings the ABCs to him, and she likes to show him different toys. He grins so big for her.

My friend Melanie took this picture. I will post the family pics when I get them from her. She has captured a lot of special moments for us. She also took Maddie's birth announcement photo, and she took pictures as we found out the gender of both our babies. You can see her work at http://www.thevelvettrunk.com/.

We tried the Bumbo last night at dinner. He liked the it, thank goodness. He wants no part of the swing or bouncy seat. We'll take what we can get. Maddie called the Bumbo Preston's potty! She was so mad that I wouldn't let her bring her potty in to the kitchen. She is so silly. Oh, she's naked again cause we had spaghetti.















I better hold on.


This is fun!!

We visited Ms. Linda last week. She was Maddie's caretaker for the 1st year and a half of Maddie's life. She is WONDERFUL!! When we moved, her house was too far for me to drive to everyday. She also let us drop Maddie off at her house at 4:45 on the morning that Preston was born. When things at the hospital went south, I at least knew Maddie was in good hands and I didn't worry about her. I wish Preston could go to her for a while. I am not looking forward to him being in preschool at such a young age. I somehow didn't get a pic of Ms. Linda with Preston. We will just have to go back for a visit.

I tried to get a picture of Emerson, Mary Clark, and Maddie.
Emerson, Pam, Mary Clark, and Maddie

Emerson was so excited to hold Preston!

My sweet boy has started "talking" to us. He coos and sighs, and it is so sweet. I got a picture of his little grin. When I try to take a pic of him smiling, the camera distracts him and he stops.

Sweet little feet

She is a Sephora baby in the making!! My girl LOVES product. This is the morning routine...pulling out everything under my vanity. She's naked because we are hard core potty training...note potty next to product. She is doing so well!! She get's so excited when she uses the potty, and she gets a potty prize (5 or 6 m&m's).

This is what I call a Hallelujah moment! Two kids sleeping at the same time. Ahhhh..... By the way, M&M's melt in your mouth, on your mouth, on your hands, and on anything else in reach of a little girl. See her sticky chin??

Here comes the bride!

The main reason for our trip home was to be there for my sister's wedding!! Yes, she and Howard finally got married, and I also have another neice and a nephew. We love Howard, Gracie, and Daniel very mich. They have been part of our family for almost 4 years, but now it is official. Let me just say that Maddie loves Hailey, Daniel, and Gracie. They are so good with her, and she loves to have all of their attention. When we left the wedding, I somehow ended up with all 5 kids by myself. As we were going to the cars, Gracie and Daniel held Maddie's hands and kept her safe. Hailey helped with diaper bags, cameras, and my purse. We were crossing the street, and we received a lot of stares. One lady made a comment that I had my hands full, and I thought, no, not really. For just a brief second, I thought it would be fun to have 5 kids. Then I remembered that I don't really like being pregnant. I also don't think Marty would go for it. Okay, I KNOW Marty wouldn't go for it. He's the youngest of 6. Anyway, we are all thrilled for the happy couple and the kids. Howard is so wonderful. He always has something positive to say, and he is great with the kids. Marty and my dad are no longer outnumbered by the Arwood women.

Daddy got Maddie her 1st glove. He's a lefty and I'm a righty, so he took her to the sporting goods store and watched her throw a ball a few times. He decided she's a righty. While we were at my parent's house this week, she threw with her left hand. She writes with both hands too. She's not ready for the big leagues yet, but she sure is cute!

We had lots of visitors this trip. It was not enough time to see everyone, but we sure tried. I intended to take pics of Preston with all of his visitors. It started off well, but then I just forgot. Sorry to everyone that I missed!! Here he is with Mary Beth, Kelly, Kenny, and Gerand. Oh, Hailey and I got to babysit Ella for a little while. I had a newborn, a one year old, and a two year old. It actually was not bad! Ella is so sweet. Thank goodness I had Hailey to help me because Maddie was being a stinker!

Okay, Liam has the best head of hair!! Doesn't he look like a Pottery Barn Kids model?

1st day at church

Preston and I made it to church with Maddie and daddy yesterday. Our church has a special board for new babies. We took a picture next to Preston's wings. So how did it go?? Well, we left the house 10 minutes after the service started. We missed all of the music and The Lord's Supper. I'm sure Maddie's Sunday School teacher thought we were crazy for dropping her off so late. We heard most of the message, but Preston had the hiccups the whole time!! I believe Jesus knew we had good intentions.

Ice Cream

Daddy took Maddie for a special treat. I am going to be cleaning "sticky" off of the high chair for a week!

He didn't get any ice cream.

Bryson came over for a play date, and the kids had a blast. Maddie spilled her bubbles on our patio table, then laid in them and wiped them all over herself. She was a mess!! So in to the tub they went.