1st Birthday Party and More...

Alex's 1st birthday party was so much fun! Alex enjoyed all the people, cupcake, and festivities. She was not overwhelmed at all as she loves people and activity.

This was my first cake to ever homemake the icing and decorate (besides the trial cake I did the weekend before). I thoroughly enjoyed making the icing, cake and cupcakes.

My Aunt Martha made her version of an edible arrangement. So cute!
Alex loves balloons
"Alex" blowing out candle

Alex enjoying her cupcake. She was actually quite neat while eating it.
Alex licked the icing off of the plate when she finished her cupcake.

This was her first time to have cake and icing so she was loving it!!!

Aunt Robin and cousin Amber

Aunt Martha, Mom, and Robin came to town to help prepare for the party and celebrate with us. They did much more than expected in helping, clean, set up, etc. Thank you so much!!!

Jasmine feeding 7.5 mo old Nirvan. He can already walk a few steps!!!

Opening presents

After Alex finished opening her presents, I told her to say thank you. She waved and blew everyone a kiss. So sweet!

Alex enjoying pizza with Wendy

Above is Alex going to Reagan's 1st birthday party when she was 3 weeks old. Below shows them together at Alex's 1st birthday party. My, how they have grown!

Kiddos (who hadn't left yet) at party

Of course, Alex is kissing Gracie.

Alex wearing her birthday dress to church

(Thanks for the dress, Mimi.)

Playing with New Toys

Below Pics are from family visit

Cuz Amber had her own "cell" which Alex loved to play with so Amber gave her one of hers. The phone is actually small like adult phones. She is very happy now as she is not allowed to play w/our cells.

Pool time with cuz Amber

Sweet Kisses
Eating brekky together

Fun Times! Grandmother dancing with Alex and Amber

Alex turned ONE today!!!

I can't believe my baby is ONE! Time flies so fast. Feels like Alex was just born. I can remember every stage of her life so far as if it were yesterday and I've loved them all. Many people warned me that the walking stage would be hard, but I love it so far. She is not into things anymore than when she crawled. Alex has gotten quite good at walking I must say...so much so that she can walk and drink from her sippy cup at the same time. Pretty impressive to me.

One Year Old Stats:
Weight: TBA (hope to go weigh her tomorrow)
Milestones Reached: walking, talking and repeating, dancing (is that a milestone..ha), cleaning (ok, maybe not fully, but she knows how to "put it back" sometimes, cooking (ok, maybe not physically, but she has watched me enough to know how to mentally I think...ha), throwing (sippy cup and balls of course), giving and blowing kisses, changing own diaper (just kidding), signing (does "all done" sign, but still working on eat, more, drink, milk, please, thank you), making animal sounds, surfing the net (ok, maybe accidentally as she pushes buttons), etc....
Teeth: Has 2 on mid bottom; top middle ones are on the verge of coming
Eyes: Stayed blue
Hair: getting lighter brown
Ticklish: Yes! in tons of places....neck, underarm, tummy, sides...
More stats to come...




Our sweet punkin at 2 weeks old... Oh, how she has grown!
Alex's first day at Mother's Day Out this Fall. She did great except when they tried to make her nap at a time that fell in between her normal naps. She gave them a workout and wouldn't nap on their schedule.
Her walk has become a run...j/k. Alex was so excited to chase another kid that she slipped. I don't think it slowed her down though as she caught the kid very quickly.
Alex with the substitute teacher at MDO

Pool Time at Home

Just because the neighborhood pool closed for the summer didn't stop us from having our very own pool time. We acquired this discounted pool from the end of summer sales to enjoy more water splashing on the deck out back. Of course, Alex loved it: splashed, played, sat, stood, sat, stood, climbed in and out, etc...This proved to be much easier than loading up to go to the pool. No sunscreen required as we found a shady spot and no packing up. However, we did miss our pool friends. Yes, that is an acorn in her hand...aka "ba-all" because it is round. This is going to be a long process to teach her that everything round is not a ball. ha!

Walking Talking Southern Girl

Alex started taking 4-5 steps a few weeks ago. However, she began walking 10-20 steps several times while on our vacation. I just filmed some yesterday. She is so excited when she walks, but still resorts to crawling occasionally as she is still faster at that. Enjoy!

Alex loves balls...especially since Daddy taught her to throw them a while back. Even though she can spot a ball a mile away, Alex associates anything round with a ball, too: apples, tomatoes, pumpkins, exercise balls, the red concrete balls outside of Target, etc... So, her favorite word has been ball for a while now (even though she can repeat just about anything you say). However, she adds her southern touch to "ba all"and makes it a 2-3 syllable word depending on the day. ha!

Alex has also come to love the couch. She sits, stands, jumps, lays, dances, climbs off, fell off once - oops, etc.

Anna Cate Update

Anna Cate was taken off the ventilator yesterday as she was breathing better. Her feeds have been increased again and she now weighs in at 2 lb 7 oz.

Home Sweet Home

We spent the last 8 days traveling/visiting in Mississippi. As much as we loved the visits, we were so glad to come back to our home in Little Rock. Alex was so excited when we arrived home yesterday that she squealed with glee as she played with her toys, hustled throughout our familiar house, greeted each of her stuffed animals, etc. We were all so exhausted from the trip that we all napped twice today. Alex missed more naps and night time sleep this past week than in her whole life probably. She struggled getting to sleep while away which is not normal for her especially being a "Babywise" baby. Don't know if it was more teething, sleeping in 3 different places, her increased separation anxiety or a combination of it all. However, Alex must have missed her bed as she went to bed last night (and tonight) without a hitch thankfully.

Update on Anna Cate: The family was initially told that there would be ups and downs through this process. Until recently, there had mostly been ups. However, this past week, Anna Cate was put back on the ventilator which has been a down time for the family. Please keep praying for God to strengthen little Anna Cate (who now weighs 2 lb 5 oz). See pics midway down.

Grandmother loving on Alex and cousin AmberAlex and Amber hanging out
Alex giggled as she woke Amber up from her almost 3 hr nap.
Alex enjoyed seeing Uncle Steven, Aunt Robin, and Amber at Grandmother's house
Alex rocking the baby doll
Grandmother with Alex and Amber
Alex enjoyed seeing Mimi again
Alex loved Uncle Craig as he is great with kids. Also, she was intrigued by the hair on his face.
Alex loved reuniting with cousin Hunter and Grandaddy
Chris' sister, Cathy, has held sweet Anna Cate 3 times now. What a precious picture!
Cathy can touch Anna Cate each time she visits through the port holes if the top of the incubator is not lifted.
The nurse lifted Anna Cate for big brother Hunter to see a few days after she was born. Anna Cate has outgrown the multi-colored hat she is wearing here. Some volunteer women have now knitted her a solid pink hat to wear. :)
This was our first time to see Anna Cate. Notice her waving to the camera. :)
Hunter teaching Alex about baseball
Hunter and Alex riding the conveyer belt in the grocery store
"I've learned how to roar like a tiger, pant like a dog, moo like a cow and hoot like a monkey. Well, while mommy and daddy visited with Rod and Carol Cutrer, Carol taught me how to bock like a chicken." Now, basically everything that looks like a bird (goose, chicken, duck, etc) says "bock, bock." LOL!
"I'm sporting my new bow from Mimi."
"Look at me. I climbed up here all by myself."
Ryan, Tonya and 2 yr old Katie met us for breakfast our last morning in Hattiesburg. What a great reunion with these friends! And yes, they are expecting baby #2 in a few months.
What a joy to attend Christy Carley and Michael Pritchard's wedding! It was an incredible ceremony which glorified our God.
We enjoyed visiting with the Mink Family in Jackson as well. They were so generous to keep Alex while we attended the wedding. Alex especially enjoyed 8 yr old Wilson Mink (above) as he entertained her. :) Thanks again Nancy, Billy, Mary Margaret, Ann and Wilson!!!
We stopped in Vicksburg for lunch on the way home to visit Tim, Cindy, Kailyn and Julia McCarley. Sweet Julia kissed Alex several times.
Alex was so tired that she fell asleep in mid chew of a carrot (notice the carrot in her mouth)! This depicts what we all felt like on the drive home yesterday.

Random Stuff

Alex dances (bounces) every time she hears music of any kind. She still tries to repeat lots of words, but her most often acknowledgments are "uh, oh" rather she accidentally or purposefully drops something. She even says it when we drop things. The video below shows her dancing to the Spanish version of her toy. She was intrigued with the Spanish when she accidentally switched the setting from English. You'll see her say "uh, oh" as well. You may ask what she is chewing on...it is a piece of the leftover rubbery stuff that borders the fireplace edges. This is a mild take of her dancing as she is distracted by the "teether." "Helping with laundry is fun as mommy plays chase with me when I try to tackle all the clothes. Then, I get to ride around in the laundry basket...if only this thing had a motor."

"I've seen mommy use this a lot, especially under my high chair. She always puts her hand here. I can do it and help, too."

"I can stand by myself and even take a few steps, but I am so much faster crawling so I resort to that when I want to go far."




"Not only do I like to push the wagon, but I like to ride, too."

Anna Cate Update

Good News: At 9 days old, Anna Cate was extubated today and taken off the ventilator because she was breathing so well on her own. She is gaining weight again (up to 1 lb 14 oz) after dropping to 1 lb 9 oz on Sunday. The nurse said that she cried today and had her eyes wide open. We look forward to meeting her in a few days. Keep praying!

Surprise Baby

Chris' sister, Cathy, went into labor this past weekend at 26 weeks. Anna Catherine (Anna Cate) was born August 10 at 1:32 am and measured in at 1 lb, 13 oz and 13.25" long. Anna Cate is doing surprisingly well as a 26 week premie. To see how tiny she is, notice her daddy's wedding band dangling on her arm as a bracelet in the pic. She is on a ventilator, but breathing mostly on her own. Her color and heart is good. She is already gaining weight. Mom is doing well, too, after a long intense labor. Needless to say, Cathy is a trooper as she was in severe discomfort through the whole process.

Despite about three more months in the NICU, Anna Cate has tons of fans cheering her on and loving her already!!! Please keep Anna Cate and family in your prayers as a long road is ahead.

Play Date

Alex (almost 11 mos) and Nirvan (6.5 mos) played well together last week. Shockingly, Nirvan started crawling at 4 MONTHS OLD. He can pull up and cruise, too.

College Friend Reunion

College friends, Gina, Kristen, myself, and Souhaila (in order of pic: L to R) reunite together once a year for special times. This year we met at Gina's in Gainesville, FL two weekends ago. The reunions used to be lots of "doing and going" as well as hanging out, but with all the munchkins, we find ourselves hanging out more which was still fun, encouraging, and memorable. We did hire a babysitter twice to get away for some girl time. This year, we had 3 munchkins plus Gina 35 weeks preggo and Kristen surprised us all by taking "the test" while there showing her to be about 4 weeks preggo with her first!!! That made this reunion even more exciting.
Our gift exchange tradition at a coffee shop
Me and my sweetie pie
Gina had lots of push toys for the kids. However, the kiddos made everything a push toy!
Ha! Gina and I often checked our kiddos for poopy diapers. Well, Sable must have seen me check Alex as she not only lifted her shirt, but pulled her diaper back right before this picture. lol!
Clean up time
The kiddos each took turns being pushed in the doll stroller. They loved it. Here, Eli is tickling Alex.
The piano was a favorite toy for all
Pool time
Phil reading to kiddos
Eli, Sable and Alex playing
Alex finally got 2 bottom teeth 2 weeks ago. Just got this pic of them on our ride to the airport as we were leaving G'ville.

This was Alex's second trip by air. She has become an airport/airplane trooper. She looked out the window, played with the seatbelt and toys, read the safety instructions, read books, cried because tired, but most of all, Alex enjoyed making friends. She interacted with everyone and got lots of doting attention. The video is Alex and a passenger next to us mimicking each other...so cute. He had a 6 mo old so he was very patient and fun with her.