One Month Old!

It is hard to believe that Haven has already been apart of our lives for one month now! In a way it feels like no time at all has passed and yet we can't seem to remember what life was like before her. Haven has filled a hole in our family we didn't know existed and can't live without!

Haven is truly a sweet baby! She loves to be swaddled and held. Likes to have her bottom patted to help get her to sleep. She has really enjoyed the vibration of Everett's old bouncer chair and not the movement of the fancy new swing we got her. She has slept through the night twice which has her mom completely delighted! She is nursing every 4 hours like a champ! Haven has not been a fan riding in her car seat which has made getting out a slight challenge, however she is slowly getting used to it. She prefers to listen to Zac Brown when she is fussy much like Everett did and to the delight of her Dad! Sadly Coldplay hasn't had the same effect on her yet.

Haven has proven from the womb she will be different from your big brother. She is full of her own surprises which has included holding her head up early but the biggest surprise was rolling over at 3 weeks old!! It completely freaked us out but she has continued to perfect this movement every time she lays on her ! 

At her two week check up Haven had already grown quite a bit, weighing 7 lbs. 3.5 oz. and was 21 inches long. Her heart continued to beat in a completely normal rhythm! At a follow up cardiologist appointment two weeks later Haven 7 lbs. 15 oz.

Haven has been to Target a few times and made her debut at church twice. We get comments all the time about what a beautiful baby she is and we completely agree! 

Haven you have captured our hearts in a way we never knew possible! We love you madly beautiful girl!!

Easter 2016

We celebrated Easter on Friday this year because the weather was supposed to be cold on Sunday. Haven was just over a week old and it was our first outing with our new girl. Nana had prepared a brisket dinner at her house for the family. Before dinner we hid eggs out front for Everett and Norah's first official hunt. Nana had invited several of her neighbors over and everyone was excited to see how the kids reacted to hunting eggs for the first time... and to get their first look at Miss Haven. I tried to take some pictures of the kids hunting but managed to get only a few and despite our best attempt at a family picture we left out our newest addition. In my defense it was a little cool and very windy outside and she was happily snuggled in people's arms inside. I also neglected to get pictures of pretty much everyone else there but I did get a few of Everett and Norah and that's what matters right?!

I had neglected to get Everett's Easter basket together before Haven was born. So for my first solo outing since welcoming Haven I ran out to find some goodies to put in his basket. It wasn't my best work but thankfully he loved it anyway! He was particularly excited about getting the Lion Guard movie which we proceeded to watch on repeat 4 times that day!

Haven's Newborn pics

I had my uber talented friend Mack come take some pics of Haven at 6 days old. She also took Everett's newborn pictures but we waited a little long on his and didn't get some that I really wanted due to his not being in that constant sleepy state. So I knew that with Haven's I would need to get them done asap. Drew thought I was a little crazy to have Mack come over on Haven's 3rd day home to do pictures but I think they turned out amazing! I am so glad we have these pictures of  her in this very new state to remember forever just how tiny she was!

 

From the moment  I found out I was pregnant with Everett I kept my veil pulled out in my closet thinking if he was a girl I wanted to take his picture with my wedding veil. For 2 and a half years my veil has been in my closet waiting for my daughter. I love the look of these photos but more so the significance of them. 

 

This is the most smitten Dad I have ever seen with his little girl. I didn't know he could fall so hard for this precious baby so fast, people warned us... it is truly the most magical thing to see! 

ROAAARRRR.... Everett turns 2!

I did alot of thinking in the months leading up to Everett's birthday about what "theme" we would do. I wanted something cute, that would rhyme with 2 but also something he was interested in. As the month of February quickly approached there was only one clear contender and it did not necessarily fit my cute and rhyming criteria. Everett has been in full blown obsession with dinosaurs since seeing Rex on Toy Story. He would watch anxiously for Rex to jump out and scare woody in the beginning of the film and Roar right along with him. Santa put a few dinosaurs in his Christmas stocking and we were officially enrolled in the dinosaur fanclub. So obviously Everett's 2nd birthday would be celebrated with the help of dinosaur decorations!

We celebrated his big day on his actual birthday with lots of family spoiling and loving on our sweet little boy! With brisket sliders for lunch and cookies and brownie bites for dessert Everett enjoyed showing off for his audience and opening lots of presents. I was amazed that he continued to the end of his massive gift pile and looked semi-excited about each present. However he did start to throw some at the end. We chalked that up to being 2!

We just had Everett's 2 year check up and we walked out with a Perfect on his record. Our boy is weighing in at 29.1 lbs, 34 inches long and with a head circumference of 49.5. Very proportional being in the 50% percentiles for both height and weight. Everett is a very active little 2 year old and a fast runner. He loves to play hide and seek, throw balls, and push his bubble mower often while dragging a wagon behind with the other hand. We are in a very picky eating stage. Not liking vegetables unless in a squeeze packet, the exception is broccoli florets which he will actually sit and eat whole. Much to his Mom's dismay Everett prefers ham to turkey but not a big fan of other meat. He loves to eat pickles and cheese.

Everett loves to show off his toys and will bring them out for guests when they come over. Always starting with his blow up dinosaur from his birthday party. He loves to wrestle with it and makes lots of roaring noises for those watching. Everett still comes most to life with an audience. This boy is a performer through and through. When out eating he likes to be placed so that he can see the other people in the restaurant and will proceed to give them a show with their meal. Everett has remained a very happy and easy child. He loves to spend time with his people. Cuddling with his Mom, rough housing with his Dad, sharing snacks with his Nana, playing toys with his cousin Norah, getting tickles from his Gran-nana, giving kisses to his Aunt Nene, laughing with his Mimi. Since the weather has been nicer lately we have been spending a lot more time outside and Everett is absolutely loving it. He hates when it is time to go in. One of my favorite things to witness Everett doing is guiding his Nana around the house, room to room by the hand patting where she needs to sit. I love that he is seeing that she needs extra care and is taking on the job of giving her that. He is very protective of her and likes to help me get her ready for bed in the evenings. He supervises me getting her in her pajamas then will pat the bed telling her to lay down.

I cannot believe 2 years have already gone by since we first met our sweet boy! Everett you have changed our lives in ways we never knew possible, challenged us, taught us more about ourselves and made us better people! We absolutely ADORE YOU and are so grateful God chose us to be your parents! You are the greatest gift we could ever dream of! We love you!! Happy 2nd Birthday!

Christmas 2015

We had a blessed and wonderful Christmas this year! I not only had the honor of hosting our Christmas for the first time but we also got to welcome Taren into our family this Christmas. Drew and I had talked about how we wanted to do Christmas for our family, what traditions were important to us to carry on and what we wanted to do differently. This Christmas was the perfect combination of incorporating the new with the old and some of Taren's traditions as well.

I spent the weeks leading up to Christmas preparing and planning. Buying presents from Drew and I and from Mom to all the family got to be a little overwhelming and combined with pregnancy discomfort sleeping was not a restful time the prior weeks to Christmas. It turned out to be all worth it as every moment we spent together as a family was truly special. Patrick came in early Christmas week and we got to spend some time with just him which was very special for Mom. We went out for Mexican food, looked at Christmas lights and had breakfast at Cracker Barrel before checking off the last of his Christmas list. Christmas Eve brought Taren with it and we enjoyed relaxing at home watching Christmas movies with a few last minute errands sprinkled throughout the day. Drew grilled out steaks for a fantastic Christmas Eve dinner sitting around the table discussing past Christmas' and listening to Michael Buble's Christmas album. Being a house full of adults and a toddler the anticipation of Santa Claus was a little less immediate so after putting Everett to bed we watched Christmas Vacation, which is one of Taren's Christmas traditions. I made Mom's traditional Egg Nog drink and Taren tried it for the first time and loved it. After the movie and Mom went to bed we busted out Mario on the Wii and stayed up late playing. Drew and I went to bed not quite ready for Christmas to come because with it went another year and Everett growing up even more.

Christmas Morning I woke up for my usual pregnancy pee and came back to bed to Drew ready to start the coffee and breakfast for the day... it was 6:21. I had to talk him down like an excited child. I had planned on Mom being the first to wake up somewhere around 7:30 so I was surprised to find it was actually my husband who was the first one awake. By 7 Everett began to make awake noises and Drew couldn't wait any longer for coffee so we got up. For maybe the 3 time in his past year of life Everett would not stop crying as we got him out of bed although he had already been awake. Within minutes Patrick was coming around the corner awakened by Everett's tears and Taren was soon to follow. I had to wake Mom up from her slumber... a very fitting scene for our past Christmas experiences of Ryan, Patrick, and I screamed at the top of our lungs to wake Mom so we could see what Santa brought us. Finally Mom was up and ready, Drew, Patrick and Taren were all drinking coffee and Johnny Mathis was on the stereo it was time to see if Santa made it to our house this year.

I walked Everett in to see what Santa had brought him as Drew recorded him. Santa was super generous having left Everett an adorable teepee for his room, an over sized stuffed fox and stocking filled to the brim. The first thing Everett saw after the fox and teepee were some dinosaurs tucked away in his stocking, a few roars from him and he was done looking at anything else! The rest of us were gifted with great stockings packed full of goodies!

Over the past few years I have struggled with Mom's Christmas stocking and gifts. She doesn't get as excited as she once did about gifts. It is a battle to find something she will recognize upon opening and something she needs or wants. As she woke up in a good mood this Christmas morning, she sifted through her stocking and remarked on how pretty things were. A jewelry box she had loved in the store, a stuffed kitten, a coral scarf, candy, and pajamas were some of the things I put in there hoping she would recognize. Once she gave everything a once over without taking anything out of her basket she was done and sat in a happy silence watching everyone around her. It is a hard scene  to watch on any day but especially Christmas.

 

We took a break for breakfast before diving into our family tree where we were all overly blessed with unnecessary presents. As I have grown up the part of Christmas that has become most exciting for me has been gifting presents to others. I was excited for each present to be opened that I had purchased with thought and hope that the opener would love each item. Everett took pride and excitement tearing into his presents on his own which was fun for us to watch. We spent the rest of the day watching Christmas movies and spending time together. For dinner we headed over to Aunt Tammy and Rhonda's house for our big family tree. One of the greatest blessings of being here in Amarillo is getting to spend time with our extended family, especially on holidays. Surrounded by loved ones we showered one another in gifts from the names we had drawn before with everyone buying for the kids. This being Taren's first Christmas in the family everyone decided to gift her each with a present.

Baby girl Haven had her first presents under the tree this year. A sweet little dress bought for her by her Dad, some pink converse from her big brother, and pink longhorn paci's and a plaque from her Aunt Nene, Uncle Lane and cousins Norah and baby boy Fort. I was overly emotional to open presents for our sweet girl and thinking about celebrating next year with two precious babies in our home.

Overall it was such a precious evening spent with loved ones celebrating our favorite holiday!

Yes I sure did put Harper on the Christmas card only to 2 months later change the name to Haven! Sorry Haven but for a short time you were officially known as Harper. 

She's Here!

We welcomed the most beautiful precious petite little girl on March 16th at 3:04 PM. 

Haven Molly was born after a rather quick labor and has already completely rocked her dad's and mine world! She weighed 6lbs. 8 oz. and was 19 in. Long.  We are so in love and so blessed by this amazing gift!