Thursday, November 20, 2008

Our Trip to Auburn








A few weeks ago we made our first road trip as a family of five. I have been wanting to go to Auburn for a game for quite awhile so we decided to go for Homecoming. It went surprisingly well. Mark took Friday off so we could take the day to make the drive and it did take FOREVER. Lunch took an hour and we only went to Chick-fil-A. Then we hit traffic outside of Clemson. Mark decided it would be a good time to use the GPS and see if we could find an easy way around it. Without going into too much detail... we didn't. Then there was traffic in Atlanta (surprise!) and when we finally got through it and on our way again Maryn threw up! It just wouldn't be a trip for the Rays without someone throwing up. I'm just surprised it wasn't Parker (those of you who knew Parker as a baby he threw up ALL THE TIME!) I think it took us close to 8 hours to make a 5 hour drive. Whew!

But the weekend was great!! Joseph and Sarah are always great hosts. Since a lot of what I miss about Auburn is the food I always get to choose where I want to eat - Momma Goldbergs and Niffers (Amsterdam was not accepting take out BOO!!) and Sarah made her wonderful breakfast casserole for Saturday morning.

The game was at 1:30 Saturday. Our plan was to walk around campus some and then Mark and Parker were going to the game. Miss Emma is not taking a bottle so I didn't think it would be a good idea for me to go even though Sarah offered to keep her so I could go too. It wouldn't have mattered much anyway because Parker didn't even make it through halftime. We heard the front door handle jiggle and in walked my boys! Parker had been up since about 5:30 or so... I think they had fun but it was just a little too much for a very tired little boy. Mark had to carry him the entire way back to the car which was parked, for those of you who know Auburn, at Auburn Jr. High on Samford. Not a short trek.

One of my favorite parts of the weekend was listening to all of the people ask if Ford and Maryn and Emma and Luke were twins. We made quite a sight. Ford and Maryn were in one of the double strollers (remember they are exactly a week apart in age and kind of look alike- very different in height but you can't tell that in a stroller) and Emma and Luke in the other (also a week apart). It was great I was walking in the back of the group and I would hear people say, "Did you see all of those babies?!" And many stopped to ask if they were twins. Quite amusing!!

Thanks to Joseph and Sarah for having us for the weekend. We love you guys so much!!



Just chillin'



Could we be any cuter??




Parker and Daddy



We did get a cute family picture but I may use it for our Christmas card so you don't get to see it!

Side note: one of Parker and Maryn's new favorite things to do is after their bath they take off their towels and race through the house together, naked. The other night when getting out of the tub Parker says to Mark, "I want to wait for Maryn. She's my best friend." Yes, I cried. For all of their fighting they really do love each other.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Halloween and a 4 month old


One morning we played hide and seek and the kids wanted Emma to play. I put her safely in her crib to "hide."



Emma "hiding."


Isn't she a doll? showing a little leg!!



Emma often cranes her neck like this to look up at you or will do it when she's lying on my bed to look back at Parker and Maryn.



This is Maryn and Emma at about the same age. What do you think? Emma is 4 months old- as of yesterday. She doesn't have her appointment until later this month but I think she weighs about 13 pounds. She is definitely lighter than Maryn was at this age! Emma is a very good baby. She has been sleeping through the night lately which could be due to my earplugs :) I do think I could hear her if she really needed me but the earplugs keep me from hearing the little squirmies that I used to get up for. She is very smiley and loves watching her big brother and sister. For several weeks she has been rolling from tummy to back and just last week went from back to tummy.



a banana, a ladybug and a fireman

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Birthday Girl

A birthday post for a very special little girl. Maryn turned 2 on Oct. 26 so we're a little late. We had a lot of fun although I didn't really like having her party on her birthday. You know me I like to spread out the celebration!!


This is the awesome present that my supper club friends gave Maryn. It's great that they all go in together and get one great thing. I'm not sure why I don't have a picture of them riding it but they have a blast. The night she got it I think she and Parker rode it at least 50 times.


This is what Mark and I got her. It makes her doorway into this little doorway or you can play with it stand alone. It even has a doorbell, peephole and mailbox. She loves it!!


My little princess. She got lots of cute dress up stuff from a couple of people and this totally cool coat from Andrea.


Maryn and baby Sofia- who really isn't too much of a baby anymore. Maryn LOVES Sofia. Isn't she beautiful? And that's her dad, our good friend Juan, holding her.


Decorating cupcakes. A fun activity and saves me some work!!


Lilly showing Maryn how to be a princess (the trunk is full of dress-up clothes).


more princess


Mark and Parker working on our backyard project. This was a major headache for mommy. Of course, I didn't have to do much work but the red clay got ALL over the kids every time we went outside, not to mention on Max. But Mark did a wonderful job digging out the yard to make a bigger space for the swing set. He also put all of the dirt around the patio so that we could take out the rotting boards that was holding it up. It looks sooo much better. Now for that wall...



Part of the finished project. Pretty impressive, huh? He dug it out all by himself- well, except for Parker's "help."



Marn helping me bake her cake.


I can't believe she's two!!