Catching Up

It seems like most of my friends who have blogs have seriously backed off on posting often, and obviously I am with the crowd on this one.  But, I still like posting pictures of life lately, so here are some snaps:

We sort of slid right into the new year after a busy holiday season and all of a sudden it was 2016.  Cate made a project at school where one of her goals for the year is to do 100 laps around our neighborhood circle.  Oh, but each lap counts as 10.  Nice job, Cate, you are always thinking!

Cate also had her first sleepover in January.  My little one with a 7pm bedtime stayed up the latest of anyone.  It was...wait for it...ONE O'CLOCK AM when she finally went to bed.  And she was up before 7am.  OH OF COURSE SHE WAS.  She kept it together until noon and then took a two hour nap.  She looked like an angel when she woke up.

You will believe me when I say that shot looks drastically different from the Cate that I had earlier in the day.

There was a daddy/daughter dance back in February at church.  Cate was sooooo proud to be able to take her dad.  On a side note, how does her hair look almost Pinterest-worthy when it air dries?  Yet, I spend time blowdrying, teasing, spraying, and styling (only every 3 days BUT STILL) and mine always ends up lame and flat?  #notfair

Here is a random shot of Major just because he is never mentioned.  Maj is nine years old now and has one objective in life--to ensure he is as comfortable as possible.  Man's best friend, I tell you.

This was the first warm day of the year.  80 degrees in February?  Yes please.

Aunt Liz came to visit us on her way to run the Austin Marathon.  We were lucky to see her!  She was especially helpful preparing Cate for her quiz on the Presidents.  And here are the results...

Cate lost her first tooth in March and it felt very momentous.  It was loose for a LONG time, but when it finally came out, it took me by surprise.  I mean, it didn't even come in THAT long ago.  Her giddiness made me happy though.  Here she is with her tooth.  By the way, what do you do with baby teeth?  It feels weird to keep them, but heartless to throw them out--especially the first one.

School was busy that month too.  Cate had a first grade performance and Go Texan Day...

I swear, Cate is not my only child--she has just been busy this year.  Emery is a full on force of nature.  He has made leaps and bounds (almost literally) in the past few months.  He loves to bike around the neighborhood...

He also loves food!  I didn't know what it was like to have a baby that would down meat like it's candy.  Bacon, turkey, steak, bison burgers--he scarfs it all.  He doesn't totally love veggies, but I put a bunch of spinach in a smoothie for him every day and he happily drinks it all up!  Shhhh--don't tell!

Peek-a-boo is his absolutely favorite thing to do...

I will post next time about Charlotte and March Madness...more to come!

Life (Sort of) Lately

*tap tap tap*

Is this thing on?

It has been suuuuuuper long since my last update and I actually really miss having a place to write and post pictures.  I know my readership is so small as in, I *think* my sister still reads (Hi Betsy!) and, yeah, that's about it.

October through December was an absolute blur, but I wanted to show everyone Betsy some of the latest photos and update you on what we've been up to.

Halloween in our new neighborhood is THE BEST THING EVER.  Seriously, it is amazing.  It's basically a bunch of mini block parties where neighbors get together and have a few drinks.  Kids come by and can grab several houses worth of candy in one little stop.  It's warm and everyone is in a great mood.  Wins all around.

Cate chose to do a pumpkin carved like a skull on fire (side note: ??????????) and Charlotte chose the spider carving.  It was the first year that good old Mr. Amazon Prime made the costumes so I spent less than $50 and zero anxiety points on the whole ordeal.  Yippee!

A witchy witch and Minnie Mouse :)

Cate's pumpkin--color me surprised.

Charlotte turned four in November and Minnie Mouse was the theme of the day, of course.  She was so thrilled with every little thing--the decorations, gifts, her gymnastics party--and it was hard not to look at her and smile.

A very Minnie birthday celebration

We spend most of our weekend time outside biking, walking, etc.  Charlotte got a bike for her birthday and took to it like a fish to water.  Our very sweet (and handy?) seven year old neighbor, Skyler, knew Charlotte wanted her training wheels off.  So, a few weeks ago on a weekday afternoon, while I was putting Emery down for a nap, Skyler got busy in the garage by grabbing Rhett's tools and removing those wheels.  Cate and Charlotte were cheering her on.   That weekend Charlotte learned to ride like a big girl and she is unbelievable on her bike.  

Biking around our neighborhood is the best!

Rhett also got a drone, and that is him flying it in the picture above.  He loves it!  Score one for the gift-giver (moi).  Our neighbor joked that now he can play with the eight year old boys down the street--haha!

Emery got a baby helmet at the end of November.  It has been fine--sleeping in it isn't great, but he doesn't seem too bothered.  I'm just happy that the flat spot on the side of his head is gone. and he no longer has a parallelogram shaped noggin.  This is a mold that shows a bird's eye view of his head when we started out...

YIKES!

The back right corner stuck way out and let's be clear, no head should have a corner!  We've got less than four weeks to go in that sucker :)

Baby Tarheel preparing for game time!

My name is Emery and I am the sweetest...

Christmas was a blast!  We hosted two sets of grandparents and made the most of it.  Here is a photo recap...

A Kier tradition: a child always puts the angel on the tree.

Family shot of all five of us--hooray!

The girls got cowboy boots for Christmas from Birdie and Papaw.  They were feeling reeeeeeal Texan after that.

The girls are leaving for the first annual Jammie Cocoa Christmas with Birdie and Papaw.  What is Jammie Cocoa Christmas you ask?  Looking at Christmas lights in PJs, drinking cocoa, eating cookies, and listening to Xmas music.  THE BEST!

Our TV and mantle, complete with many of our Christmas cards from far and wide.

Christmas morning--is there anything better?

Betsy, if you are still with me, thank you for making it to the end.  I promise to post more often!

A View Through My Lens: Our Neighborhood

The other day, Charlotte and I took my camera out on a walk through our neighborhood searching for signs of fall.  Uhhhhh...we found exactly zero.  It doesn't help that the high was 90 degrees that day.  We ended up just taking pictures of each other and stuff on our street.

However, it occurred to me on the walk, I could share some of the photos so our friends and family have a chance to see what our area looks like.  This part of Texas certainly has its own feel, and even though I didn't necessarily love the look at first, it's starting to grow on me.

Without further ado, here are some shots we took.

This is me, everyday.  Looking like a slouch, usually with a baby strapped to me.

This is Charlotte, everyday.  Off frolicking in her own happy world.

Here is what the houses look like--big, brick, with two story entrances.

Suburban in the driveway, naturally.

This is the look of the neighborhood streets--lots of trees and shade.

Everyone with a kid in middle school or high school that plays a sport has a sign in the yard.  The signs are EVERYWHERE.

Football rules in the Texas, of course.

Ice hockey?  Eh, it doesn't rule so much, but our neighbor does play :)

And everyone has their address numbers painted on the curb right outside their house.  Most are adorned with a Texas flag or, more often, a favorite sports logo--haha.

I don't have any pictures of this, but Texas A&M logos are ubiquitous.  Texas A&M to our area is very much like Virginia Tech to Salem, VA.  It's fairly close to here, and people pick their car colors based on their love of A&M.  UT is more like UVA, although you very rarely see any UT logos around.

Another thing that is different here is the mailboxes.  Mail is not delivered to your house.  There are larger mailboxes for 16 houses that are stationed around the neighborhood.  It's almost like what you'd have in a townhouse community.  Our mailbox is just two houses down, and we certainly don't mind the walk, but it kind of threw me off when I first moved here.  Cate is actually the mail girl now, she loves going to get it :)

Being in Texas makes us happy, happy, happy.  We really love it here.

Yay Texas!

Looking Back

I was looking back through pictures from the spring in Virginia, and I couldn't help but think, "Uhhh, that was THIS year?"  So many things have happened since April, anything before that almost seems in the distant past.  I am talking 2015 photos looked like they were circa 2012.  Totally bizarre!

This could not have happened in 2015.

I was pregnant a few months ago? #waitwhat #notpossible

Texas prep was underway THIS past spring??!?  Feels like it's been forever.

Part of it is that it's like Emery has always been with our family.  This ridiculously cheesy, but he is the perfect little puzzle piece to our crew.  We were at Chick Fil A last weekend, as a family of five, and Cate looked around at our table.  She then announced very honestly "This family is perfect, I love everyone here and love when we're all together!"  So glad she approves of us! ;)  And then she announced we aren't having any more babies. Haha!

Emery really is the greatest thing to happen to our family and a great baby.  He came at the most perfect time, and I love that the girls can enjoy him.  They light up whenever they see him.  And he lights up right back.  The other day he was smiling at Charlotte and she said "Oh my, Emery!  You are just too cute, I can't take it!"  And then she covered her eyes to really prove her point.  So sweet.

It took me a long time to feel like I was sort of in a groove, but I'm getting there.  I mean, I'm still generally a hot mess, but I can usually pull things together when I need to.  I will say I finally reached the point in life where I had to think **really hard** about when my last shower was.  Eww!  Dry shampoo is my best friend.  #noseriously

Emery is finally able to put himself to sleep pretty reliably, and generally goes down for the night when the girls do.  At three and a half months, he weighs more than 15 pounds, is learning to reach and grasp things in a fluid motion, sees us across the room, is able to roll, and talks/laughs/kicks up a storm when he sees Rhett or the girls.

Cate's mission in life is to hold Emery as much as possible.

Three months and gaining serious leg rolls.

Thank you, God, for this most precious gift, and all the gifts in my life.  I read recently something that said "If your children are healthy and you have a roof over your heard, you are living the dream."  How true that is.  I'm looking back on all that we've been given this year and I am so very grateful.

Six

This afternoon we got Cate's teacher assignment for first grade.  FIRST GRADE.  In real elementary school.  You know, that big brick building with those giant kids running around, and huge rooms for lunch and Gym.

Every parent marvels when their kids hit a big milestone, but doing that feels especially abrupt with your oldest.  You think, "Wait, what?  Already?  How did we get here?"  First grade sounded so young to me a few years ago, but it really isn't.  Looking around at other first graders I can't help but think just how big they are.

And, of course, Cate turned six last month so on to first grade we go.  Every year, I have her answer the same set of questions.  Here are her answers for this year:

Favorite Color :: Yellow and Pink
Favorite Toy :: Razor scooter
Favorite Fruit :: Pineapple
Favorite TV Show :: Jake and the Neverland Pirates [note: I have no idea why she said this, we never watch it!  I think it's because it's the forbidden fruit and so she finds it super desirable.  Ugh, is this a preview of what's to come when she's a teenager??!? ;)]
Favorite Movie :: Frozen
Favorite Thing to Wear :: My new sandals and flowy Lilly Pulitzer dress [another note: the LP dress is from Target!]
Favorite Animal :: Cat and flamingo
Favorite Song :: Jesus is My Superhero
Favorite Book :: Any "I Can Read" Book
Best Friend :: Kaitlin, Vivian, and Taffe
Favorite Snack :: Peanut granola bar
Favorite Drink :: Milk, Dr. Pepper [I let her have her first sip of soda on her bday], and a Slurpee
Favorite Breakfast :: Waffles
Favorite Lunch :: Strawberries, carrots, cheese stick, and pretzels
Favorite Dinner :: Noodles, carrots, strawberries, and yogurt
Favorite Game :: UNO
Favorite Thing to do Outside :: Hula hoop
Favorite Holiday :: Christmas
What Do You Sleep With At Night :: Yellow Blanket and Soft Pink Bunny
What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up :: An art teacher and a mommy

And here are a few recent shots of Cate:

First morning as a 6 year old!

Showing off her new Bible, a gift from Mr. Brian.

With her favorite gift, Emery.

Cate requested a pink and yellow ice cream cake with mint chocolate chip ice cream.  Ask and you shall receive! 

One Month Old

"I'm gonna watch you shine

Gonna watch you grow

Gonna paint a sign so you'll always know

As long as one and one is two

There will never be a (mother) 

Who loved (her son) more than I love you."

-Paul Simon

ELK

A couple years into dating, Rhett and I started talking about "the future."  We got to talking about children--how many, when to have them, and what their names would be.  We settled on the name Emery Lynn for a boy early on in those discussions.  Rhett is actually Everett Laverne (the third!) but we are not French royalty and decided that he would be the last one in this line.  However, we could keep his initials, ELK, and honor our grandfathers, Emery (Rhett's maternal GF), and Lynn (my paternal GF) at the same time.  Obviously, we had no idea whether or not we'd ever have a boy, but it was fun to talk about all the same and we both hoped we would.

Fast forward to last summer, when I was still going through my never-ending fourth miscarriage.  It was a real low point and it seemed like we'd never have another child, much less a boy.  Emery Lynn was something I was starting to let go of.  And then, of course, things have a way of happening, all for the best.  You can't see it when you're in the thick of the hard times, but really, each event is woven into God's big, beautiful tapestry of life.

After being surprised and elated upon finding out we were expecting in June, I went on to have a normal pregnancy very similar to Cate and Charlotte's.  Of course, I was on Lovenox, and my mind was consumed with an all-time high amount of stress, worry, and anxiety...and that, my friends, is saying something.  But, in my head, I was pretty positive we were having another girl because of the similarities to the others.

On the date of my scheduled c-section, June 5, we went in around 10:30am to prep for a noon surgery.  It was SO SURREAL to be at the hospital, waiting on the doctor.  Once she got there, she told Rhett that he would be the one to call the sex.  Rhett got suited up and they took me back to the OR a little while after 12pm.

I had to get the spinal done without Rhett (wahhhhh!).  I forgot how quickly the medicine works and a minute later I could feel nothing from the chest down.  Soon enough, Rhett came in and the doctors began their work.  I felt TERRIBLE and very exposed and so nauseous.  I remember thinking "I am not doing this again!"  They gave me some packet of oils to sniff which helped and when I heard the doctor yell out "One minute to baby" things got really real!

My doctor yelled "Stand up, Dad!" and Rhett jumped.  Then he looked down at me and said "IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!!!!"  I said, "No, it's not!" and he repeated "It's a boy!!!"  I cried, the end.

Emery Lynn entered the world at 12:43pm on June 5 and it still hasn't all totally sunken in that I have a son.  We are so happy, grateful, and amazed.

Cate and Charlotte came to visit later in the afternoon.  As we've done with all of our babies, Rhett has changed into a colored shirt, pink for the girls, blue for Emery, once we've gone back to our room.  Cate knew this and was rushing into the room to see what color Rhett was wearing.  She later told me she could barely sit still on the car ride to the hospital because she couldn't wait to see if the shirt was pink or blue.

Both girls love their baby brother very much.  Cate loves him HARD.  Like, as if he's her baby doll who can be lifted by the arms.  Charlotte is much more gentle and even though she originally said she wanted a sister, she is so happy with a brother and tells me all the time, "I don't want Emery to grow up ever!  I want him to stay a baby forever!"

Here are some shots from our first couple of weeks of us at home with our sweet ELK: