Longing for one (or two, or three...)

Family

2018-07-21T15:58:00.001-05:00

#5

2018-07-21T15:52:00.001-05:00

Korbyn is here! We adore our 5th little one!

He's here!!

2015-04-10T09:55:00.001-05:00

We are so thrilled to share with you the he's here!! We have a son! Briggs Andrew actually turns 4 weeks old today. He was born Friday, March 13 at 7:00pm. We love him so much!

1/2 Marathon!!

2015-03-08T21:27:00.000-05:00

Mark has been training for MONTHS for his very first half marathon!! If you've ever trained for a race, you know what a commitment it is!

On Thanksgiving, Mark ran the Fort Worth Turkey Trot 5k.

These 3 cuties braved the COLD to cheer him on!!

We loved being there to support him and all the excitement of race day! The girls remembered how fun it was and were prepping all week to go to Daddy's half MARATHON!! Well, as only a house full of girls can. They picked their outfits, practiced their cheers and watched an episode of Angelina Ballerina that was about a marathon about 10 times. :)

We live in north Texas, so we were shocked to get so much snow and ice early in the week before the race! Of course, in true southern fashion, all schools and roads shut down. Then, the Friday before the race we were all surprised with almost 5 INCHES of snow and temperatures that never got above freezing!

It was SO cold that my girls just wanted to make snow ice cream and play with it on cookie sheets INSIDE!

Saturday afternoon, Mark and a VERY excited Landrie headed out to the Cowtown expo to pick up his race day packet! Look at all that snow still on the ground! They had already cancelled Saturday's 5k and 10k because of the weather. Oh, and Landrie did have a jacket. She was just SO stinkin' excited to have a pullover that matched her daddy! :)

Mark was a little worried about running in such cold temperatures, but we researched all the best ways to survive and were READY! We watched the hourly weather forecast as the night got later. I went out to get ponchos for all of us since it was supposed to be in the 30s and raining. YUCK! I skidded all over the road at one intersection while I was out because of all the snow and ice that still hadn't melted! Around 10pm, the forecast was for freezing temps ALL night with sleet ALL night. Then, at the delayed race start time, it was going to be 30 degrees and snowing/sleeting. Ahh! They had already cancelled the full and ultra marathons. We decided it would be crazy, miserable and dangerous to do it. Even though they promised to have 13.1 miles clear (they had crews work all night long) we knew the roads getting there would be a mess. What a disappointment!!

We soon found out about a virtual option, where you can run the race at a place and time of your choosing, with at least one witness, fill out a form, and still get your medal. Just 6 days after the scheduled race, Mark took that option!

Here's my cute honey, in front of a snow-less yard running in 50 degree weather! Now, we couldn't just have a normal day at home and let him run solo, could we??

Nope!! The girls put on their "marathon outfits," which included a tutu for Tatem (she wears one EVERY DAY) and a cheerleading outfit for Landrie. The girls made signs and were sure to grab their pom poms! Mark was running down a 6 lane road when we caught up to him, so of course we honked and cheered out the window at him, then sped ahead and pulled off into a neighborhood.

We were right on his path, and the girls LOVED cheering and screaming for their daddy as he came up the sidewalk!!!

We passed him again and cheered like crazy out our windows, and raced home to prep for the big finish! (Nothing is fast with 3 little ones!) They played in the front yard, practiced their cheers and running as they watched diligently for Mark to come down the sidewalk.

I have an app that shows a real-time map of his exact location, so I could track him each minute! He was getting close, so we got our finish line ready!!

WAHOO!!!!! He made it!!! 13.1 miles in just 2:04:55!!

We are ALL so PROUD of YOU!!!!

Landrie blogs about the tooth fairy!

2015-03-07T10:11:00.001-06:00

Landrie is currently obsessed about the tooth fairy!! The only problem is that my sweet five year old doesn't have any loose teeth yet! That didn't stop our creative little one from trying! We have a tooth fairy book where the little girl puts a stone under her pillow, so Landrie was inspired to try something similar...

It will happen before you know it, Landrie Grace!!!

Tatem blogs about gymnastics!!

2015-03-07T10:06:00.001-06:00

The girls love to write stories, so I thought I'd let them publish their first personal narratives here! Tatem just finished her first semester of gymnastics and LOVED it!!

Here's her story...

She obviously loved all the flips!! She did forward and backward rolls and even got to do a forward roll on the balance "bean!"

We love our little 3 year old gymnast!!

35 weeks!!

2015-02-18T09:13:00.001-06:00

This morning I had my sister in law take a quick picture when I dropped the girls by her house on my way to my appointment. I've been just terrible at taking belly pictures this time around! Baby Boy, this has just been a busy pregnancy!! 😄

The good news is that this has been an uneventful, easy pregnancy. It is so much like my pregnancies with Tatem and Harper that it's still hard for me to believe that this is a BOY! Lots of sonograms have confirmed it though! Since I'm over 36 (and over the magic age of 35) I get weekly sonograms or time hooked up to the monitors. It's a treat to get to see him so much! Today he gave us a great profile shot and he has the most beautiful little lips! We could even see him sucking💕

So, what do the three BIG girls think of their new brother coming soon??

Landrie is 5 and loves to snuggle up against my belly to try to feel her brother move. She soaks up every detail that I tell her about his development and recounts them later😄. She likes to shine a flashlight on my belly so he can see and talks to him. She was so excited when our pregnancy app said he was 18 inches, just like her new American Girl doll!!

My first-born, list-loving, take charge girl regularly tells me how it will be when the baby comes... "Mommy, I'll take care of the new baby, Tatem will take care of Harper and you can just rest. We will take care of EVERYTHING!" Sounds good to me, baby girl! I don't doubt she will be a huge help.

The other day we pulled into the garage, and I took in a load of things before coming back to get Harper. I met Landrie with 16 month old Harper on her hip! She had unbuckled her and gotten her out of her carseat for me! She loves being a little mommy💕

Tatem is three and getting so much bigger each day!! She comes over, puts her hand on my belly for 1.2 seconds and always gets so excited as she exclaims, "I feel him kicking, Momma!!" Every time we read a book, watch a show or hear of a friend with a baby boy, she is just thrilled. "They have a BOY baby and we are gonna have a BOY baby, Momma!!" She loves to point out baby things that we can get for our "new baby."

I think my favorite part of watching Tatem with this pregnancy though is when she talks with Harper. Tatem and Landrie are just attached at the hip. They play together alllll day long, since neither goes to school. When we found out I was pregnant, Harper was just 8 months old, and Tatem told her all the time, "Harper, that's you baby friend!! You gonna have a baby friend!! Harper, you so excited?? You baby friend is coming soon!!" Even now that Harper is in the mix with the big girls, Tatem still loves to tell her about her baby friend. So sweet!!

Harper turned 16 months this week! She is such a delight! She has absolutely no idea that there is a baby in my belly or that she's going to be a big sister. Right now, she just enjoys that my baby bump gives her a spot to perch on when I hold her!

She ADORES all things baby though! She loves to feed babies and stuffed animals bottles and snuggle them. She gives them kisses and puts them in her high chair!

I'm sure we will have to keep an eye on her so she doesn't try to pick up the real baby! She can say a word or two (my parent's dog's name Indy, and she's said momma and dada and ball a handful of times) but Harper does NOT like to talk! Her big sisters do plenty of talking for her. She understands everything we say, so I'm not worried about her, but maybe she'll start talking when this little guy comes!

So life with 3 kids 5 and under is kind of nutso, but such a dream come true! Here's a great example. We pulled into the driveway today and BOTH big girls had fallen asleep.

That NEVER happens, so I did what any good mom would do and left the car running and called a friend! I heard Landrie wake up and start to talk with Harper and didn't think anything of it. A few minutes later, I looked in the backseat to see if Tatem was still sleeping.

Can you see everyone?? Tatem is snoozing away, completely oblivious! Landrie took Harper out of her car seat and somehow got her back on the third row, all buckled in like an adult. Harper was thrilled and just relaxing! Landrie, on the other hand was standing on her head marveling over how soft the ceiling felt with her feet??! Oh my! It's never dull around here! We will be a regular circus when we add in a newborn, and I can't wait!! I know a lot of people might think we are a little crazy having this many kids, and having them so close together, but we know this is exactly what God has for us! During all those years of agony and waiting, He knew that he had the babies planned for us! It is NOT easy but oh, is it rewarding!! We love our little family so much and are excited to add our newest member next month!!!

Family Picture of FIVE one last time...

2015-02-14T21:55:00.001-06:00

I'd better get our Christmas picture up on here before this baby arrives! Mark's sister took these at the end of November! I ordered cards and never sent them out😁☺️

My three girls are SO excited to meet their baby brother in a few weeks!

Happy Valentines, my love!!

And just because I love this one...💕💕

Fourth of July!

2015-01-15T13:13:00.004-06:00

As I uploaded pictures from my camera, I had to laugh. BEFORE the 4th of July, I had TONS of pictures. I set up photo sessions of the three girls in the backyard, we did fun crafts, and lots of activities. Then, I found out I was pregnant! Apparently, life with a 4 year old, 2 year old, 8 month old and morning sickness don't mix well. :) We quickly switched to survival mode! I may not have nearly as many pictures, but I still want to catch up on the blog! It's our family's only scrapbook, so I'd better get moving!

Harper's first 4th of July!!

Then I attempted a group shot and ended up with a whole lot of craziness!

And more!

But this big 4 year old was so excited to pose!

So was 2 year old Tatem!

Love her!

Landrie had a ball posing with her flag! She was SO excited to go see fireworks!

Look how little they look just one year earlier! I was so happy these dresses still fit!

One of our very FAVORITE things about living in Houston for a year was that we lived just 45 minutes from my parents! As a great added bonus, my oldest brother and his family moved to the north side of Houston a few months after we did!! Houston is HUGE, so they were still almost 1.5 hours away, but we got to see them a lot! We headed over to their house for some pre fireworks festivities. I was pregnant, but had no idea yet. :) Here's my brother Eric and Mark enjoying some yummy snacks.

Sorry about your closed eyes, Dad and Mom, but I didn't get many pictures!

Aunt Melissa, Baby Harper and her cousin Bennett!

If you were anywhere near Houston last 4th of July, you know it monsooned all day! We skipped out on fireworks and mud and just enjoyed being all together. :)

When the sun came out, we met back up at the outlet mall out on 290 for a family shopping day! Here are a few of us!

Brooke, Tatem, my parents

Landrie and Haper

Hopefully this summertime post warmed you up in the middle of this freezing January!

Baby #4 is a...__________!!!!

2015-01-01T14:59:00.001-06:00

I hope y'all had a merry Christmas! A few days after we moved into our new house, we had the first checkup back with my old OB/GYN. We weren't for sure if we would get to have a sono, but a cancellation happened while we were there, and we got to have our big anatomy scan! We were SO thrilled to find out we are having a HEALTHY baby! We had the sonographer seal up a paper with our baby's gender written on it to open later. We had no idea when! Mark was DYING to find out, and we already had a family dinner planned for that evening, so we decided to just do it the same night! We stopped by Kroger on the way, and the sweet florist opened the envelope and put the correctly colored balloons in a moving box, since we had hundreds of them at our house!

Here are the girls' predictions while we waited in the parking lot for my mom to have the balloons filled. :) In case you can't get the video to load:

Landrie: GIRL!

Tatem: gull!!

Harper: cutie pie smile:)

Mark and I were SURE it was a girl too! So sure, in fact, that I posted this on Instagram and Facebook that afternoon:

"I've already been putting all the extra pink things in the nursery as I unpack. If this is a boy, I think I'll faint!!"

We gathered around the moving box, ready for those pink balloons to pop out...

WHAT??!!?!

Here's a close up of my VERY HAPPY husband!!!

Check out the girls' faces!! SOOOO surprised!!

Like I said, we totally didn't plan a gender reveal for this night, so this was just what the girls had on. I love that on this very, very RARE occasion, no one was wearing PINK! I think these are literally the most boyish outfits they own! haha!

Sweet little BOY, we are SO in love with you already!! We quickly got all of the pink stuff out of your room and friends started dropping by with boy hand me downs the very next day! Your big sisters decided they need to start watching Bob the Builder and Handy Manny to get ready for when you come!! You daddy and I cracked up as we corrected each other for WEEKS when we would accidentally refer to you as "she!" We have only known being parents to three VERY girlie girls, so we are so excited to welcome you into our family! We cannot wait to meet you and LOVE YOU to pieces already!

Guess what?!?

2014-10-20T10:52:00.001-05:00

We have a big announcement! The girls were...well, just a TOUCH thrilled when we told them!!

Our family is growing!!! That's right, this "infertile" couple is overjoyed to share that a little one will be joining us in March!! Just when it think God can't possibly have a more amazing plan for us, He does! We are so, so thankful for this baby because we didn't know if a fourth was possible. I have been horrible at keeping up with the blog, but if there are still some faithful readers who don't know us in real life, I'll give you a few days to guess before posting our gender reveal!! 💕💙💕💙

Happy Father's Day!!!

2014-07-16T22:26:00.000-05:00

What a fun Father's Day! We celebrated all weekend!

We started off with dinner at one of Mark's favorites, Rudy's Barbeque! The girls were all smiles!

After dinner, of course I wanted to get a picture of Mark with the girls! I just started snapping away, hoping for a good one when I realized Tatem was happily talking on her plastic phone! The second picture shows EXACTLY what she thought of me making her put it down! haha!!

Sunday we went to church, then met my parents for Mexican food early that evening. Landrie sure loves her P-Pa!

I love my dad too!!

Such a sweet one of everyone!

I can't believe that on Mark's 5th Father's Day he's already a dad to THREE girls!! He is SUCH an AMAZING dad!! They absolutely adore him! One line that they pray almost every night at dinner is "...and thank you, God, that Daddy came home!!" unless it's the weekend, then it's "...and thank you, God, that Daddy is home ALL DAY LONG!!" :)

ChickFilA Day

2014-07-12T11:02:00.001-05:00

This year was the first year we tried out Chick Fil A's customer appreciation day, and it was a huge success! The girls had a ball dressing up like cows, complete with cow ears and black spots! Landrie especially like to check herself out in the mirror:). At the end of our meal, the giant CFA cow came out to greet everyone. The girls couldn't believe it!! Tatem was excited to meet him until he got close. Then she looked up at him in awe and said, "Him's REAL!!" Only Landrie was brave enough for a picture. :). Maybe next year we will even convince Mark to dress up with us...haha!

Cousin time!

2014-06-24T22:07:00.002-05:00

Look who came to visit us! Just WEEKS before we found out we were moving away from Fort Worth, Mark's sister Megan and her family moved just a few minutes away from us. We were so sad to leave our "neighbors!" My brother-in-law had to come to Houston for work, so Megan and the kids came along and we got to play!

The Houston Children's Museum is AMAZING. I think it's my favorite thing in Houston for kids! That's where we spent the day! Here's the whole crew after 5 HOURS playing there!

Landrie and McKinnan ready for the superhero show!

Tucker was helping them find the villain!

Tatem was too, but at this point she was waaaay too tired to take her thumb out! haha!

Tucker, Cade, Colson

Tatem, Harper and Megan

Landrie and McKinnan went up on stage afterwards to dance with the cast!

Excited!

Tucker got to love on his tiniest cousin!

These 3 had a ball together! This was right after McKinnan painted everyone's faces. :)

All the kids made their own SLIME!

This cutie was a trooper!

Cade showed Tatem how to do her own computer animation. :)

We love y'all!!

Florida!!!

2014-06-10T22:32:00.000-05:00

We waited for ages to go to FLORIDA to see Mark's parents! It seemed like everyday that the girls asked, "When are we going to Florida??"

We were a BIT overwhelmed with traveling with three little ones and all their STUFF! Mark dropped me at the curb with the 3 girls, their 3 car seats, and our bags. I was finished curbside check in when he got back from dropping the car at the remote parking lot! It was suprisingly easy!

Mark had 3 bags full of snacks, electronics, games, and toys. The girls did great!!

Harper slept most of the flight in the Moby Wrap! Of course, she made lots of friends with the folks around us when she woke up. :)

Mark's parents live outside of Orlando, and the guys had a big fishing trip planned a few hours away in Tampa. We all headed out there and played at the beach for a few days!

Mark with one of his many catches of the day!

Mark and his dad had an amazing time!!

A little family picture after dinner one night

Harper enjoyed hanging out with Ama in the shade at the beach. :)

This beach was on the gulf side of Florida, and it was beautiful!

We spent a few days back at their house, then took one more beach trip to the Atlantic side! This time, I actually remembered to bring my "real" camera.

This sweet girl LOVED the beach!

Happy girl!!

Tatem immediately say down and poured wet sand all in her hair. She never stopped giggling!!

Landrie adores the beach too!! She cracks me up. In a pool, she is often hesitant about getting her face in and takes awhile to start swimming around. At the beach, he only problem was that her eyes kept stinging from keeping them open underwater!! Silly girl! She has no fear about the waves!

Harper loves her PonPon!

Wahoo!!!

Top: Harper 2014

Middle: Tatem 2014

Bottom: Landrie 2009

When packing for the beach, I packed the same bathing suit and sun hat for Harper that Landrie wore on her first trip to Florida. I knew I had to get a picture! This was Tatem's first trip to Florida too, so I stuck the hat on her, thinking I might get her to take maybe one picture for me. She thought it was hilarious and wanted to take tons!! haha!

Mark and I even got a date night out!!

(Of course, Harper came along with us! She's still reallllly attached to her mommy!)

The girls LOVE their Ama and PonPon!!

So sweet!!

With our hearts full, we headed home on another great flight!!

We love you, Ama and PonPon!!

First day of BALLET!!

2014-06-02T16:46:00.001-05:00

The girls were SO excited to start ballet classes today! Landrie hadn't been since we moved, and this was Tatem's first time to go. Tatem is in a two and three year old class, and I love that her teacher said, "Now when does Tatem turn four?" Haha!! My tall two year old won't be four anytime soon😊

As we were getting dressed, Tatem told Harper, "When you get big, Harper, you can wear ballet clothes and do ballet too! And wear big girl panties too!! Yes, Harper, you can!!"

Love these sweet girls!!

Happy Easter!!

2014-05-05T21:44:00.000-05:00

We had such a great time celebrating Easter this year!

We started off at a local festival. Landrie was the only one brave enough to pose with the chick!

We accidentally ended up in the area for the 6 year old hunt with our 4 and 2 year old right when it started. I began walking them in when a sweet volunteer told me all parents had to be outside the (huge) fenced in area. I gave them the option of staying or going and they both wanted to stay! The hunted with several hundred six year olds. Landrie stayed right with Tatem and helped her the whole time. Look at their faces as they ran towards us at the exit at the end! LOVE!

They danced at the Radio Disney stage, pet a SNAKE, checked out a fire truck, and even got to sit on a motorcycle!

Meanwhile, Harper snuggled and slept through the whole thing in the Moby Wrap!

The next weekend was Easter, and after celebrating at church (complete with face painting for the kiddos!) we headed to my parents.

Our Family!

My parents:)

Poor Tatem got an ant bite on her foot and did NOT want to take a picture, but it sure is sweet of everyone else!

Just like when we were kids, my parents hid candy in different rooms for each kid. Landrie LOVES candy, but I am so thankful that at 4 years old, she's really starting to understand how much God loves us and the true story of Easter!

Tatem, well, she's still learning! I posted this on facebook one day:

We've been teaching the Easter story to the girls. As I told the familiar story, I kept pausing dramatically so the girls could fill in the next part. It was going great when I got to the big finish and dramatically put my hands up on my head! (inadvertently touching my headband) "When they looked in Jesus' tomb, they found...!!!??" Tatem shouted, "a headband!!" haha!!

While the big girls searched for candy, P-Pa snuggled with a happy little Harper!

After the candy hunting, we got started on lunch, and my mom whipped up some of her famous guacamole!

The girls helped me make a bunny cake and we brought it over. After several attempts, this was the best picture we got! Ever since Easter, Landrie has been telling me that she REALLY wants a bunny cake for her next birthday!

After lunch, the little ones took a nap and Landrie got to do this 4 foot puzzle with my parents.

puzzles + grandparents = a happy Landrie!

We so enjoyed spending the afternoon celebrating our risen savior with my parents this year!

NOT Bluebonnet Pictures

2014-04-13T16:46:00.000-05:00

I planned on taking bluebonnet pictures of the girls. If you are from Texas, you know it's a big tradition to risk your family's life, park on the side of the road and plop your kids in some itchy GORGEOUS bluebonnets and take their pictures! They grow on the side of the highways here (thank you, Lady Bird!) and occasionally someone plants them in a less lethal photo location. In the springtime, it's not unusual to see several cars pulled over next to a nice, thick field of bluebonnets! We got the girls dressed and headed out to find some. I MIGHT have even messaged a friend on our way to ask where her pictures were taken! It was HORRIBLE planning on my part. We drove around, looking for them and couldn't find even a single blue flower! We revamped our plan and settled on some pretty landscaping at the front of a neighborhood. Whatever works!

Tatem (2.5 years), Harper (5 months), Landrie (4.5 years)

Here is our very first attempt four years ago with baby Landrie! You can tell exactly what she thought of it! Great new parents that we were, we kept snapping away! haha!

I finally just held one in front of her back in the air conditioned car. :)

We probably took 100 pictures to get just one! This was the runner up! The rest of them don't even come close to third place...hahaha!!

This was the last picture I took. I cropped it closer in so you can see their expressions. Can you tell why I stopped?? I love that they are so obediently holding hands, but that is where the obedience ends and their true feelings shine through!!

Pictures of babies...WHEW!! I was definitely sweating by the time we finished, but they are oh, so worth it!!!

Landrie's 1st Book!!

2014-04-06T17:57:00.000-05:00

We opted to do preschool at home again this year. With a new baby and the move, it just made sense for us! When Tatem and Harper take their afternoon naps, Landrie and I work on school projects. Last week, we spent several days working on Landrie's biggest project yet...her first book! We love oral storytelling, so having Landrie dictate a story to me was the next step! I asked her questions along the way, like, "What happened next?" or "How did they feel?" The words are all hers though! It's loosely based on a trip to Chickfila with some friends. A little girl threw up in the play area, so they closed it, and the kids couldn't play. As you can imagine, this was a BIG deal to 4 year old Landrie. :)

So PROUD!!

Once upon a time, there was 12 princesses. They were sisters.

One day, they waked up in the morning and they said, "Let's go on a walk to Chickfila, then to the park!" They went leaving all day long. And they singed songs!

And they went to Chickfila. Then they decided to eat chicken nuggets. Then that's all they wanted.

(See the chicken nuggets and ketchup?)

Then they said, "Let's play at the play area!" Then they decided to say, "WHAT? A girl throwed up??"

(Yes, that's a picture of throw up!)

They feeled sad and they were crying and crying and crying! WAHHH!!

(This princess has earrings, two bows for her pigtails, curly eye lashes, and tears!)

Then they went to the bridge at the park. Then they said, "Blub blub!"

(That's the park, a curved sidewalk, then the bridge with grass on the sides. The "blub blub" line makes the girls laugh hysterically every time. :) )

The princesses ate dirt! And they say "Eww! That is gross!"

(This red-headed princess has a crown AND a bow on top of her dirt-covered face.)

They ate strawberries for a picnic. They said, "Yum Yum Yum!"

Then they said, "Oh my goodness! That is so adorable! Oh my! That rainbow is so adorable!" Then they burped. One little princess had a carrot.

The princesses slide on the rainbow. It was like a candy rainbow. "Mmmm! I can smell some candy right there!"

(That's an all-blue rainbow that morphed into a roller coaster. :) )

They ate it all up! "Mmmm! Mmmm! Mmm!" They singed songs all day long!

(Rainbow bites, of course!)

Landrie loves to read about the authors in the back of her books, so we had to include that too. :)

About the Author

Landrie Grace Long

Age: 4 years old

Favorite color: Pink

Favorite show: Bella and Max & Ruby

Favorite game: Connect Four

Favorite thing outside: swing on the swing

Favorite food: grapes and Fruity Pebbles

When I grow up: Hmmm...a cooker!! A vet!

Favorite toy: Dora bicycle

Favorite book: 12 Dancing Princesses

Favorite song: "Joy to the World"

And, finally, a self-portrait complete with nostrils and the freckle by her mouth. :)

We love you, sweet Landrie!!

Strawberry Pickin'!

2014-04-03T19:42:00.002-05:00

I've always wanted to take the girls to a farm and pick something. It's one of those things that makes you feel like a real stay at home mom, you know? :) When I heard that there was a local strawberry farm, I knew I had to take my strawberry-loving girls there for a visit!

Froberg Farms, I hope you are ready for some super- excited strawberry pickers!

I had been missing my "real" camera for about 2 months, so after finding it before this visit, I may have gone a tad crazy with taking pictures. :)

Have a Berry Good Day? We sure did!!

Landrie said this was one of her favorite parts. :)

Taking off at a run! It kind of reminded me of an Easter egg hunt!

They had gorgeous trees!

At 4 years old, Landrie was at the PERFECT age for this! She was totally in her element.

Tatem had a ball too! She picked great berries!

I wasn't sure exactly how they grew, but each plant had strawberries at every stage from flowers to tiny green berries to the ripe ones.

"Look at this one!!"

Love my girls!

Next year we'll have to get Harper a bucket too! We finished up our picking and headed to the little farmer's market to weigh our berries and shop. After a picnic lunch and a fresh, fried apple pie, we headed out to a little field with a playground.

Look at my big 4 and a half year old!!

This was Landrie telling me to cover my eyes and turn around...

...and the resulting flower gifts! Tatem just picked the heads of them, so I got a handful. They are so sweet!

I pulled Harper out of the Moby wrap before we headed home. Since she slept the entire time we were picking, she was in a great mood. Of course I had to take a few more pictures! Harper is 5.5 months old, and such a doll!

I love this one of our HAPPY girl!!

Yay! Everyone is smiling!! Wait! Harper is eating a leaf!!?! Poor third baby. :)

Sisters!

Annnnnnd...they are DONE!

We took home LOTS of heavenly strawberries and the girls have been eating them non-stop!

Moving Announcement Picture!

2014-03-31T09:00:00.000-05:00

In the midst of the crazy unpacking and organizing that goes hand in hand with moving, I stopped to take a few fun pictures for a moving announcement. My sister-in-law and my friend had both done these before, and I knew one day I wanted to do it too!

Of course the girls colored, cut and played in many of these boxes, but most of them went into the attic. That's right, we will be moving again in a few months! We just couldn't swing selling a house, having a baby AND buying a house in a new area. We opted to rent for a year, and we are SO thankful we did! Any ideas for next year's moving announcement?? :)

Thanksgiving 2013

2014-03-30T20:50:00.004-05:00

Oh, yes! I am going that far back!! I am slowly but surely catching up. :) By Easter I might even be blogging about Christmas!! :)

When we moved, it was a tad bit easier to say goodbye since we knew we would be back in just a few weeks to celebrate Thanksgiving with Mark’s family. We made the trip up on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving with the three kids, including 6 week old Harper. In case you were wondering, that was a BAD idea! The trip should have taken about 4 hours. It took SEVEN. It was also the trip we realized that Harper is not a fan of being in the car at night. UGH.

But spending the week with Mark's parents, his two sisters and their families made it all worth it! I was still up most of the night with a colicky Harper at that point, so it was so nice to have friends stay up with me and keep me company! I was horrible at taking pictures, so I only have a few. We snapped this one as we loaded up the car. Actually, I may have had my husband unbuckle the girls when I realized that we didn't get any pictures! Sorry, Babe! :)

Then Beth took over the camera so I could be in one too. Notice anything?? This was the last day of our trip, and I pulled out our last clean clothes for the car ride. Yup, I accidentally dressed myself to match the big girls! haha!

I love this sweet one of Harper getting in some serious snuggle time with her PonPon! She slept like that for hours! Although Harper sleeps GREAT at night now, some things haven't changed. Just the other day, Landrie said, "Mommy, Harper sure doesn't like to sleep in her car seat! She only likes to take naps in her crib or the Moby Wrap!" Maybe it's because she likes to snuggle and sleep on her tummy? Who knows!

We are so thankful for so much this year! At Thanksgiving we were celebrating a new career, a new home and a new BABY! We loved reflecting on the good gifts we have been given as we spent time with so much sweet family! Harper is grandbaby #9 for Mark's parents, so things were always hopping!!

Houston Zoo!!

2014-03-01T13:46:00.001-06:00

Today was one of those rare gorgeous days in Houston, so we took advantage of it by visiting the ZOO!!

The sisters were all ready for a fun day!

Tatem loved running around, out of the stroller most of the time this visit. It's amazing how much my "baby" grew up when Harper arrived!

Tatem seems like less of a baby, but Landrie seems just plain grown up! She soaked in the info about the animals and knew exactly which ones she wanted to visit.

They loved the sea lion show! Each of them said it was their favorite part.

We might just have to check out Sea World after seeing how much they loved this guy!

At one point, Mamma Landrie told Tatem, "You can come sit in my lap, TayTay!" She has the mommy voice down pat:)

Time for a picnic lunch!

Harper was out like a light in her Shelly swaddle. :)

Better than any stroller ride!

Enjoying some PINK cotton candy with my three girls! The whole time we ate, the girls listed everything pink they could see. It took awhile! Haha!

If you e ever been to the Houston zoo, you probably remember this guy! The girls were so confused about why I wouldn't let them drink from it!

Landrie squealed and took off running when she saw the carousel! I don't think Tatem remembered it from the last time we were here, but they both loved it!!

Our family sure has grown since we came here with just little baby Landrie!!

We finished off our day with a walk for the big girls while I fed this cutie on the car. I'm sure we will be back soon!!

Four Months Old and Torticollos, Take 2!

2014-02-15T17:41:00.002-06:00

Harper Joy turned 4 months old on Valentines Day! She is living up to her name and filling our lives with JOY!! It's hard to believe that this time last year we found out she was on her way, and today she's a giggling baby girl!! All of you just finding out that you're pregnant this month will have a cutie like this next year! :) It's time for a Harper update, so I can remember all this one day!

If you read our blog two years ago, you might remember that Tatem had Torticollis, which means that because of her position in utero, the neck muscles on one side were short and tight, and the other side were stretched out and weak. Her head tilted only to one side. Left untreated, it can cause severe facial asymmetry as it pulls the soft tissue to one side and of course it's pretty hard to go through life with a tilted head that can only turn one way! We did a YEAR of physical therapy with Tatem. Harper was in that same position in utero, but only for the very end of my pregnancy. At her two month check up with our new pediatrician, she confirmed what this mamma's heart already knew!

She was SO knowledgeable about Torticollis and all the things I could do to help. It turns out her little one had it too!! I nearly hugged her when she told me it would be crazy to drag 3 kids to PT each week, since I already knew the exercises and since Harper's was not as severe! Landrie took this one of me stretching Harper. :)

As long as I promised to do her stretches 6-8 times a day each day at home (like this one!), and Harper made good progress, we would not have to do formal PT. Well, at her appointment yesterday, after 2 months of stretching at home, the doctor said she looks fantastic!! Halleluiah! One other concern is that because Torticollis babies always turn their heads the same way, their skulls get lopsided and they need helmets, like Tatem did. We've done everything humanly possible to avoid that! Harper has slept on her tummy from day 1 and rarely sits in a swing or car seat, since those things put pressure on the one side of her head. She does LOTS of tummy time for her head shape and to strengthen her neck, and I wear her when we are out and about instead of having her in her car seat. I am SO thankful to hear it's working!! We will keep on doing what we are doing until she's nice and strong on both sides!

Harper likes a lot of the same things, like her big sisters! These girls can't get enough of Harper, and love to hold her and try to make her smile and laugh! They love to bring her toys and tell me what she's "saying." Like, Tatem says, "Harper say her want MILK, Mamma! Her does!" Landrie knows every possible thing that might make Harper cry, and helps me go through the list when she's crying. "Ummm...I think she needs to burp. Let me burp her for you...I think she has a stinky diaper. Can I do the snaps and undo it??"

Harper is DONE with her colicky days and is so easy to make smile! She is really laid back, and goes everywhere with us. I am much less scheduled with her! She ends up eating a little early or late a lot, since we have to work around the other girls. :)

She was 14 pounds and a few ounces at her check up, which is the 50th% for weight. She's in the 90th% for her height. Looks like we'll have 3 tall girls! She still breastfeeds about every 3 hours during the day and usually once in the night. She's slept all the way through a few times! Harper is starting to grow out of her 3-6 month clothes, which makes sense now that we know how tall she is!

If you are feeling a bit blue today, you must watch this one! It's a little clip of Harper's first baby belly laughs!!

We LOVE you, Harper Joy!!

Happy Halloween!

2014-01-30T22:33:00.003-06:00

Yup, I'm a few months behind here, but it's catch up time!

Halloween fell when Harper was only 2 weeks old. Mark was working in Houston already, and we were SO sad to have the night without him! This year, there were no matching outfits planned months in advance. I have some dress up LOVING girls, so I let them pick out an outfit from the dress up clothes that afternoon! Landrie was a "pink princess" with light up shoes, and she couldn't have been happier!

Tatem picked a very well-loved ballerina outfit and was in heaven!

I did buy sparkle hairspray for the girls!

Love her baby- fine hair! Landrie already had grown up hair at this age!

oh this sweet girl!

What a bittersweet night! We had dinner and went trick or treating with our sweet friends, who have such sweet families. Our kids have been friends since they were babies! I think this is the best picture we got of Harper the ladybug. :) She had this swaddle and hat newborn costume that was Landrie's, and she looked adorable. :)

Landrie was much more into trick or treating this year!! She wasn't as fast as most of the boys, but she had a ball. Tatem went to a few houses, but we started around her bedtime, so she was totally content to ride in the stroller. I wore Harper in a sling, and look who surprised us about 2 minutes into trick or treating! He came back a day early to help his frazzled wife pack and got to go around the neighborhood with us!

Last year we had no idea that 365 days later we would have another daughter!

I look exhausted in 2011...because I WAS! :)

Just 3 years ago we were a little family of 3, just starting to think about adopting baby #2!

Any fun ideas for 3 girls for next year?? :)