Oldies but Goodies

Once again, when I went to clean out the pictures from my Iphone, I realized that I forgot to add some of my favorites to the blog.  There are a ton, and I promise I did my best to delete the bad ones, but I just couldn't resist.

View from the deck at Jackson Lake

Maysie doing some relaxing over 4th of July

Ansley adores Aunt Stacey..who has ALREADY started spoiling her with the cutest clothes!

Sydney getting some Ansley love.

At Tutu and Poppy's…the happiest place on earth

Ansley is trying to convince Uncle Tommy to come and visit us in Marietta 

Railey is just like her Daddy…happiest when on the water

Maysie taking a quick Sprite break before her flower girl duties at Jojo and Rizzi's wedding 

Ansley and Lauren.  I predict that these two will be best friends just like their mamas

Lunch date with Maysie to celebrate the first day of school

Maysie's First Day of School

Today marked the first day of Maysie's LAST YEAR at preschool!  I was more nervous walking her into her new classroom that I was sending Railey on the bus!

She was very excited to spend time with her new teachers, Ms. Libbie and Ms. Chantele, and I must have told her 100 times on the way to school how important it was for her to be nice to her new friends.  Little Miss Maysie has developed quite the "spunky" attitude over the Summer and although she was happy to have Henry in her class, he was the ONLY person she knew.  She had mentioned a number of times that she was going to miss her friends from last year.

Our conversation went something like this:

Me: Maysie, you are going to meet a lot of new friends this year and it is very important that you are sweet to them.
Maysie: Okay Mommy, I will try
Me: What will you say if a new friend comes over and asks to play with you?
Maysie: No thank you

Hmmm…well at least she will be polite.

She did GREAT and of course made some great new friends!  We are excited for another great year at Mt. Bethel Preschool.

Ansley: 7 Months Old

Time is flying by.

My youngest is now 7 months and I know that it will feel like tomorrow when that changes to 7 years.  She is growing like a weed, and is now a "Gerber" baby just like her older sisters.

Weight: 17 pounds 15 ounces - 81st percentile
Height: 27 inches - 90th percentile
Head circumference: 17 inches - 75th percentile

Since Ansley is getting bigger, she is becoming harder to manage in the bucket seat so we will be transitioning out of that soon.  Okay okay, maybe it is because she is getting so big AND because I backed over the stroller that goes with it.

Ansley is sitting up, and lifting up on her tip toes and hands while she is on her stomach.  Still no teeth, and the doctor said that she will be crawling before she gets any.

Lucky for me, my photo assistant Maysie helped me stage this picture

New bedtime is 8:00…almost completely transitioned to her 7:30 bedtime.  She wakes at 7:30 and takes two long naps and one catnap each day.

We are also feeding her more baby food, three times a day to be exact!

Railey and Maysie ADORE baby Ansley and the feeling is mutual!

Back to School 2014

2ND GRADE!  The Summer flew by and we are so ready to get back into the school routine.  Railey was all smiles this morning despite the early morning wake up for the bus.  Perk of living in Blackland Ridge…donuts on the first day of school!

Little sister came along in her nightgown as moral support.

And even posed with the "big kids" before they headed off for their first day of Kindergarten.

I hope that these pictures are a sign that Railey will let me take her picture again…please.

Here comes the bus…right on time at 7:10!

24 kids on the bus this year!

Cousin Love

Did I mention that my sister is moving to Richmond?!?  Still a long drive from Marietta, but much closer than Houston!  She loaded up her kids and drove to Destin, Tallahassee, Jackson Lake, then onto their new home…all while pregnant, with two kids, and their dog.  We were so excited to have Caden and Chance at our lake house and lucky for us, my annual girls weekend in Destin was the same week as her stay in Tallahassee.  

The boys loved their newest cousin Ansley.

After I went on my girls trip to Destin, it was time for three nights at the lake.  The roller coaster is still a huge hit!

Chance's reaction in the background is priceless

Not so great of the girls, but little Caden is too funny! 

 Despite being two grades apart, these two are inseparable.

And this little guy, he is just a riot.

Later that week, Jake and Cade came to visit….how is this the only picture?!?

We were so sad to see them leave but will definitely be making the drive up to Richmond SOON!

4th of July at Jackson Lake

We spent 4th of July at the lake house, finally slowing down a bit since all of the craziness of June.  Summer was halfway over and after swim team and our big trip to Florida, we needed the break.

Little Annie continues to grow like crazy..

And the girls continue to roughhouse with her…too much if you ask me.

Covering her hiney…too funny

Despite these pictures, we really did luck out with Annie and they are all the best of friends.

After a couple of days, we started to prepare for the arrival of the Demartinis, the girls took their decorating job VERY seriously.

Once the Demartini clan arrived, Stacey took over as photographer….THANK GOD!  SO all of the pictures you see from here on are from her.

First stop was Goat Island.  We have gotten a bit braver over the years and now let the kids get off the boat to feed them.  Probably not one of our best parenting decisions.

Then it was time for some fun in the backyard.  This succession of pictures is one of my favorites!

It truly was a weekend of good old fashioned fun.  

The hit of the weekend had to be "Big Mable." We had some technical issues and it kept on getting pulled under the water but it made for some pretty funny pictures.

Maysie took the opportunity to grab a nap.

But woke up the minute we told her it was her turn.

The kids were so excited to get their hands on the fireworks.  Nothing says safety first like lighting explosives with a tiki torch.

The best 4th of the July to date!