springtime evenings

our evenings are mostly spend at the ball park these days which is okay by me because I know one little girl who absolutely loves to be outside watching her cousins play sports!

a letter to avery | five months

Are you REALLY already 5 months old baby? I cannot believe you have already been here with us for 5 months! They have been some of the best months of our lives and goodness gracious do we love you to pieces. You have changed our lives little bird and we wouldn't have it any other way! You bring us so much joy its ridiculous!

You have officially eaten solid food! You have had rice cereal, sweet potatoes, green beans and carrots! So far, you have loved everything we have given you! You were a little confused at first and you didn't really know what to do with the spoon in your mouth, but you have definitely gotten the hang of it. I absolutely love giving you baby food! I love how cute your little face looks with baby food all over it and I love that you can't seem to eat it fast enough, piggy!

You have now rolled over from your tummy to your back (although your aunt Ashton is the only one who has seen it!) We still can't keep you on your back because you are always rolling over. (and you spit up so much when you are on your belly!)
 You are trying your hardest to crawl. I imagine it wont be long! You also love to grab those little feet and put them in your mouth. You are starting to "walk" in your baby walker when you're on a hard surface. You love to chew on the wheel that is on it and you will keep you arms straight out. You are starting to pick up objects with your hands and of course you bring them straight to your mouth. You can also sit up when your arms are out in front of you. You are growing so fast!

We think we will be seeing little teeth soon! You have your little hands in your mouth pretty much at all times and when I give you your cold teething rings, you love to keep them in your mouth. You also love to grab our hands and gnaw on them!

You still make that squeaky/sucking in out and it is so adorable. It is my absolute favorite sound I have ever heard. It makes everyone smile when they hear it!

We think your eyes are slowly turning brown! Time will tell, but we see specks of brown appearing in certain light! But, as of right now, your eyes are still blue and your hair is dirty blonde! You are still in 6 month clothes and size 2 diapers. We are so happy the weather is getting warmer so you can get good use out of your summer 6 month clothes.

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You love:

looking at your daddy (you can't look at him without smiling!)

smiling at everyone that talks to you

grabbing your feet and putting them in your mouth

 to be in your walker
mornings

chewing on your hands at all times

 to roll over on your belly

  "talking" really loud
cuddling

all veggies we have given you
your paci when you are sleepy

watching your cousins play baseball
watching TV
when your cousins talk to you

You hate:
to have your clothes changed
to have your nose wiped or sucked out
to be hungry
to be on your belly too long

weekend | easter celebration

avery's first easter

    

easter egg hunt

congratulations to you two!

family of three on easter

the lanfords

coley's - shawn is getting too tall!

sweet Solomon

my family

the kiddos - minus avery and Solomon

our annual easter egg hunt at mema and pepa's was a success! we had two new additions this year and we found out we will have another little baby running around next year! (congratulations haley & kendall!) our family keeps getting bigger and bigger with each passing year! I can still remember when it was just me, megan, haley, ashton and carson hunting eggs! Now, we have so many kiddos running around and it is so fun! another easter celebration is in the books and this year we got to celebrate with our sweet avery claire! i was exactly 9 weeks pregnant last easter and this year we had her here with us. we are so beyond blessed with that sweet little girl!

i hope everyone had a wonderful easter!

a letter to avery | 4 months old

You weighed 14 pounds & 6 ounces when I took you to the doctor this week (you had your first ear infection and first cough, poor thing)! You are getting so big! You are wearing 3-6 month clothes and are still in size 2 diapers. It was really bittersweet for me when I packed away your 3 month clothes, but I am so happy you are healthy and growing like you should!

After all those days of trying, you have officially rolled over! You rolled over from your back to your tummy! I made such a big deal about it that you were really excited. Anytime we lay you down now, you will roll over or scoot your body all around the mat. You are quite the wiggle worm...we find you upside down in the mornings a lot of the time. You spit up just about every time you roll over now so we spend lots of time cleaning you up. You will literally only spend 2 minutes max on your back before you are on your belly now. And, I swear you are already trying to crawl. You just aren't content staying still anymore! I don't know what it is, but there is just something about seeing you on your belly with your head popped up that makes me feel SO full of joy! I can't even explain the feeling I get every time I see you like that! I. just. love. it.

You are holding your head up all the time now and you can bear weight on your legs. You can actually walk on the floor when we stand you up. It is so cute! I can't believe how strong you are! You have found your feet so you love to reach for them. You also love to grab things in your hands...especially my hair! You love to rub your little feet together (like your momma does) and you love to bring those hands together.

Everyone thinks you are the prettiest baby and I honestly think you have started to recognize the word "pretty" because you start to smile so big when someone says that to you. It's really funny! Your aunt Ashton has started calling you "pretty" instead of Avery which you love. We get stopped all the time by strangers telling us how beautiful you are. It is so sweet when people do that...probably because I'm also one of those people who tell strangers how pretty their babies are!
But, of course, we think you are the cutest and prettiest baby in the world! :)

I am really looking forward to summertime with you! We can't wait to take you swimming and to the beach. You are going to look so cute in your bathing suits this summer and I already know you are going to love the pool so much! It's starting to get warmer out and we have started taking you to watch your cousins play baseball at the park and you absolutely love to watch them. Probably because there is a lot going on and you are still so nosy!

When you are eating or are getting sleepy, you bring your hands over your eyes. Sometimes it's hard to get a bottle in your mouth because your hands are in our way. You also love to have your hand in your mouth pretty much at all times. You love to sleep on your side sometimes and I think it is the cutest thing. You will stop on your side to sleep for a little while and then you will roll completely over to your belly and sleep that way. You still only will take your paci if you are getting hungry or tired and you love to forcefully spit it out if you don't want it.

You are such a happy baby and you are always smiling. Your teachers at "school" say you are the happiest baby and they love when you are there! You are starting to giggle now and you love when I put my hair in your face. Every single time you look at your daddy, you smile. You really love him, little bird and he sure loves you. You make the cutest little sound when you get excited. I don't know how to explain it other than it's a "sucking in" sound. It is just precious. You start to kick and move those arms back and forth and start making the "sucking in "sound and I can't help but laugh! You have THE sweetest smile I've ever seen. It is so contagious! Your eyes light up every time you smile.

You still love bath time and you still love to watch TV. You will twist your body all around just so you can watch it. I have started to take baths with you and man oh man do I love that...and you seem to love it, too!

You have slept through the night (8 WHOLE HOURS!) for about a week and a half now! What a treat that has been! Mornings are our special time together. I love to lay you down on our bed to look at you and talk to you and you just talk and talk back to me, but as soon as you spot a light that's where your attention goes.

Oh my goodness we just love you so much! You are the most precious thing to us baby! We always just randomly say to each other "I just love her." You have just been the biggest blessing to us and by far the biggest bright spot in our lives. It's hard to remember how we spent our days before you because we can't imagine doing anything else except wanting to spend every minute with you.

You are so, so loved baby girl.

this how the majority of the pictures turned out. she tried to get that sticker in her mouth so many times.

weekend | hello there, march

My weekend was spent snuggling babies and celebrating my brother's birthday with a surprise party.

And, our precious Avery rolled over for the first time!

weekend | bryson turns five

We spent the weekend celebrating this sweet boy!

our boston babies

 

 

Happy 5th Birthday, Bryson

Happy 5th Birthday, Bryson!

You are so loved! I can't imagine life without you. You have become such a fun and sweet little boy! You are so active and you are always jumping and running. Your momma sure has her hands full with you!
 You love to help out with Avery and I love to watch you with her! You say things like "she is so cute!" and you love to tell me what Avery will be able to do when she gets bigger. And, you always remind us that you are bigger than her. You like to drive your monster trucks around her and dance and act goofy so that you can get a little smile from her. She already loves to look at you! We tell you all the time that before long she will be in the floor crawling around to try to play with you and you just smile. I am so happy that she will always have you to look out for her! 

I hope you have a wonderful 5th year!

I can't believe you are 5, TuRTle!