Mini-Vacation

Several weeks ago, my sisters and I took my mom on a much-needed vacation to the Hyatt Resort in Lost Pines outside of Bastrop.

We pretty much just hung out by the pool all day...is there really a better way to spend vacation?

Here are some pics from the trip:

Cousin Pic (From the left: Brynn, Camdyn,

Reid, Asher, McKlayne, & Stella)

The Newbies: McKlayne & Camdyn

The Fam.

The Tots.

Stella Bella.

The Little Fish...this kid thinks he's about 3 years old when he's in the pool!

Little Miss Drama.

Mimi with the two big girls.

Our second favorite thing to do while on vacation.

How cute (and old-he's a 2nd grader!) is he?

Reid, Brynn, & Asher rode horses! They LOVED it!

They were not happy about having to wait their turn.

Still anticipating the pony ride.

Finally.

He was so serious...he kept saying, "Neigh, neigh," before he got on his pony, Buddy, but once he was on, it was ALL business. He held on tight and enjoyed the ride.

The End.

Asher's first hair cut

On our trip to Arlington, McKlayne met a bunch of Charlie's family for the first time. We stayed with Grandma Apel and went to Aunt Jan's for the afternoon to visit with Charlie's Mom's side of the family.

She loved her (Great) Grandma Apel, who had a way of putting her to sleep within about 3 minutes. I wanted to bring Grandma back to College Station with us.

Asher had a first, too...he got his haircut! (Don't worry...just a trim...most of you have seen him since and haven't even noticed.)

Charlie's Aunt Sharon is a hairdresser; we wanted her to cut his hair since we trusted her not to cut off all his beautiful curls.

She trimmed it up nicely, so it wasn't so scraggly anymore. (I didn't realize just how long it had gotten until I looked at these pics!)

Asher didn't even realize he was getting his haircut. He sat very still on my lap and enjoyed his Popsicle the whole time.

Thanks, Aunt Sharon! We'll be coming back to you for the big cut!

Here are some other pictures from our trip:

Sweet (Great) Grandpa Overman...he couldn't wait to hold her!

And Great Grandma Jo...the baby-machine!

Grammy with her two grandchildren!

Asher wouldn't let Aunt Kathy put him down! He loved her!

Uncle Mark

Aunt Jan

...and Uncle Fred!

Bowhead

About a month ago, I was packing up a suitcase for a quick trip to Arlington. I noticed that one by one, McKlayne's bows (since I, of course, had to pack one to go with every outfit, she'd be wearing on the trip) were slowly disappearing from the mesh netting that I had clipped them to.

I followed the culprit as he made his way over to the swing she was sleeping in. And this is what I found:



And, of course, he wanted a picture with a bow in his hair, too. This kid loves headbands and bows! It must be all that pretty hair!

McKlayne's Newborn Pics

My good friend, Lynsey, took these almost 6 weeks ago (when McKlayne was 2 weeks old) but I didn't want to post these until I has sent out her birth announcements! Well, I designed them about a month ago and didn't like them once they were printed...then life got crazy busy again and I still haven't re-designed them!

So, here are just some of my favs...I just couldn't contain them any longer...maybe I'll get to them sometime this week and you'll have one to hang on your fridge soon! You can look at them all here. (I just want to add that the pink "M" in some of these pics is only 6 inches tall...just to give you an idea of how tiny she was!)

Isn't Lynsey amazing? She's so precious to our family.

I have TWO kids now!

Sorry it's been so long since an update...and I'm sorry that I still haven't returned some of your phonecalls or emails. Chances are, I've started to and somehow been interrupted by one of my two darling children.

Life with two kids has been hectic, but wonderful! These last four crazy weeks have been filled with family, visitors, and less sleep then I've been used to for a little while! My mom was here the first few days we were home from the hospital, and Charlie was off the rest of the week. Then my sisters and their kids came the next week...overlapping one night...6 kids in our house was a little chaotic, but I'm so glad they were all here. It was really fun. Thanks, Mom, Kyle and Ave, for cooking, cleaning and serving us...we love you and don't know how we would have made it (or at least eaten) these first couple weeks without you.

A week ago was my first day alone with just the two of them...two on one. It's been difficult...nobody told me just how hard the transition from one to two would be! Two kiddos under two are definitely different than one energetic 18 month old! There have been times when I've been a bit overwhelmed...and there have been many tears, but we're adjusting.

This week I'm trying to get McKlayne on a consistent schedule. Poor baby...I haven't paid as much attention to her eat, wake, sleep cycle like I did for Asher and we're both starting to feel the effects! I had a stopwatch and timed Asher's every feeding, wake, and sleep period for the first six weeks of his life...with McKlayne sometimes she'll sleep for 4 1/2 hours during the day before I realize it's been that long...then I pay for it at night. So, this week we're concentrating on setting her little internal clock. I'm not super rigid with the whole schedule thing, but can definitely attest to the benefit of it! By this time when Asher was a baby, he was predictable...and I could schedule my day around his feedings...with her, sometimes she goes over four hours without eating and sometimes it's barely been two!

Here are some of my favorite pics over the last four weeks:

How pretty is she?

Our little Eskimo baby.

I love that spikey hair.

McKlayne & Mimi.

Asher with his Mimi.

My boys.

Pop came to visit, too.

Her crooked little nose did straighten out!

Uncle Jo with the nephews & nieces minus the newborns.

Oh, how they love the bath!

Camdyn is 8 weeks older than McKlayne.

Reid, Stella, Asher, & McKlayne.

Family Pics

The proud big brother...