Big News!

 

We are beyond excited and so grateful to be able to share that we are growing from a family of 3 to a family of 4!  Baby #2's due September 13th.  It was quite a long, difficult journey to get to where we are now but we feel so very blessed that we are pregnant again!

 

Avery is very excited about the new baby and is convinced that she, too, has a baby in her tummy.  It's been a lot of fun watching her slowly process the news and start to grasp the idea.   She's told me that she is going to eat a whole lot so that her belly gets bigger also.  I've asked her whether she thinks the baby is a boy or a girl, and she is absolutely positive that it's a girl.  We'll see! 

 

It has been such a joy to watch Avery grow from a small, completely dependent baby to the sweet, loving girl that she is now.  I can't wait to do the same with the next little one!

Baby Lily is Here!

Last Sunday, baby Lilian Kate made her grand debut.  Ashley and Kyle now have 2 St. Patrick's Day babies!  Lindsay and I were able to go to the hospital to visit her after church, and you would never be able to tell that Ash had just delivered a baby much less a 9 1/2 lb one.  She had a quick delivery, and I decided that she should become a Duggar strictly because she is so good at getting pregnant and having babies!  Lily is just about the sweetest thing ever, and I am so glad that I got to snuggle her when she was just hours old! Avery is thrilled to have another girlfriend.  The girls are slowly but surely increasing in size among our friends! 

 

Sweet girl was totally out!

 

She was fully cooked!  I'm pretty sure that Ave was this size at about 1 1/2 months!

 

My absolute favorite thing about Miss Lily is the little pad on top of each of her feet.  Too cute!

I am so excited that Lily Kate has come to add to all the craziness at our get-togethers!  I can't wait to see what her little personality is like and to watch her grow!

Riding Horsies

Last week was Spring Break so we took advantage of time off from school to do lots of fun activities including a trip to the barn to ride a horse.  It's no secret that Avery loves horses, and my mom has been talking about taking her to ride a horse for a while now.  Stephanie assured me that this horse was just a little bigger than a pony but when we got there, it was a tad bit bigger.  It did not look like the little ponies that you see in pony rides.  I wasn't sure if Ave would be brave enough to ride a horse that big but she definitely proved me wrong!

 

A natural right from the beginning!

 It kind of freaked me out to have my child so high up on a horse but she never seemed nervous at all.  In fact, within a couple of minutes she was telling my mom that she wanted to do it herself.  

 

So proud!



Sophia's turn!  She came prepared with her boots.

 

After they each had a turn, the girls fed some horses carrots and then helped bring Lucky out to the pasture. 

 

Sweetest thing ever

Meeting a new friend

 

After the barn, we went to my parents' house for lunch.  It was the most beautiful day, and I think everyone had a great time especially Ave!

It's Rodeo Time!

Last Friday, we went to the Rodeo.  We had been talking about it for about a week, and Avery had a rodeo day at school so she was pumped.  She used those exact words on the way down there, "I'm so pumped about the rodeo!"  The first words out of her mouth that morning were, "It's rodeo day!"  I think she was a little excited.

 

Her favorite thing about the rodeo last year was the tram ride.  She wanted to ride "all by myself" in her own seat so she could soak it all in. 

 

One of the first things that caught Ave's eye was the pony ride...of course.  Here's the progression of how the next few minutes went-



What's over there.  Oh, ponies!!!

Please Daddy!  Can I ride them?!

On Max, her prized pony.

 The Talkington fam happened to go to the rodeo on the same day so we met up with them!

 

Going through the farm section in the kid's area.  I continue to love this area.  I just think it is so cool that they get to plant their seeds, collect their food, milk the cows, etc. so that they can exchange it all at the store for money and a prize.  Avery loved it almost as much as me:)

There were a ridiculous amount of school field trips and day cares that day so we rushed a bit through.  They kept gaining on us and we had to move forward so that we didn't get lost in a sea of them!

 

Feeding the chicken some corn.  Bill encouraged her to feed the live goats this dried corn, and she promptly got scolded by a rodeo guy.  Poor girl.

 

Photo op after some handwashing

We spotted the area where kids can pay to do their own mutton bustin'.  They were taking a little break so Avery made friends with a sheep.



 

We told Avery that she could ride one ride and she chose the carousel. 

We went back inside to see if the petting zoo line had died down, and the little ones spotted the escalator or maligator as Ave calls it.  They REALLY wanted to ride it. :)





This was the biggest. rabbit.ever!

Jumping like rabbits

Guinea pigs just like Oreo from their class at school!

 

Luke had been talking about showing us the bees since we were outside, so we had to visit them.



So excited that it was finally happening!

Cheese!

The guys both got warm and took off their jackets to reveal matching shirts.  Ash and I tried to move away when they were standing next to each other to make them feel awkward but I'm not sure that either noticed :). 

 

Thankfully, most of the field trips had left so the petting zoo line was much more doable. When we were walking in, Ash noticed a sign that said that they were not responsible for damaged clothing.  She was saying how it seemed near impossible to damage your clothing from a few little animals.  Literally right after she said that, a deer came up and starting chomping down on her shirt.  I continued to watch the thing go from person to person chewing on their clothing including this poor girl who couldn't get her skirt out of the deer's grasp.

 



Going in for a snack

While at the rodeo, I learned that goats do not have top teeth.  These two little guys were cute as could be cuddling and revealing their bottom teeth.

A burst of joy and hugs randomly in the day

We milked the cows before making our way home.



 

I love rodeo time, and I think Ave shares this love with me.  I'm hoping that next year we will be able to take her to the bullriding, concert part too!

Luke's Birthday

Luke's birthday party was last weekend at the Little Gym.  It was a great place for a birthday party with free time and activities.  Ave had such a great time celebrating her BFF turning 3!

Introducing themselves to the group

 

Parachute time!

Luke's favorite part-cake!

I love that Ash captured this picture because this pretty much sums up Bill and Luke's relationship.  Bill loves bringing the crazy out of Luke!

Ave loves the balance beam.  She spent the majority of her time on it.

Bouncing- I think this was everyone's favorite part!

I just can't believe Luke is 3!  I still feel like it was yesterday that we were waiting at the hospital on St. Patrick's Day waiting for him to arrive.  Avery absolutely loves Luke and lights up when she hears his name.  I can't believe how quickly the past few years have gone.  Time can start slowing down now!  Happy Birthday Lukie!

Gloria's 82nd!

A couple of weekends ago, we had Wendy's side of the family over to celebrate Gloria's 82nd birthday.  She is about the spunkiest, sweetest person that I know, and I hope that I look as great as she does at her age!

 

Other than the propane tank running out halfway through the fajita grilling process, everything went great.  I think everyone, especially Ave, had a great time.  Brook, Bill's cousin, was there, and Ave adores her.  She followed her around for the majority of the night and was so thrilled to have a playmate!

 

Here are some pictures from the night-

 

 

Happy Birthday Gloria!